RV newbie camping in freezing weather

[lizARdman15]

I am in SC, for goodness sake!!

And it is supposed to get down to 18 degrees tonite.

In case it doesn't show in the thread, the camper is a cherokee grey wolf '21 26 dbh. It has a faucet in the outdoor kitchen(which I figure the furnace running and keeping the cabinet doors open will keep it warm enough) and a outdoor shower.

Got down to 28 last nite. I had the furnace running. Inside was nice and warm, but I am concerned about the plumbing in 18 degrees.

Last nite, I just left the outside shower trickling water out the hot and cold sides of the faucet. The main hose and the shower hose remained free of ice.

Is there a better plan?

[5picker]

My outside shower compartment has a pretty large opening in the inner compartment (where the faucet knobs and hose/head stores) that let's heat in the backside from the heated inner basement area.

With a piece of insulation/closed cell foam stuffed in the door before closing, it has kept mine from freezing down to 24°.

I'm currently in GA and we're to see 23° here tonight. City water hose disconnected, some water in the fresh tank and tank heaters on for us tonight.

[lizARdman15]

Heated tanks?? Quite sure I do not have heated tanks.

Since posting this, I have noticed that a google search shows that disconnecting the hose and filling the fresh water tank is common practice , but I don't know why.

I thought about draining the water, but I left my 1-1/8" wrench to drain the hot tank, so I have insulated my low point drains and have a pretty steady stream of water coming out the shower.

Moving water is much harder to freeze so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

It is cold & pitch black dark and I hope I don't come out poorly

[5picker]

Many units have tank heating pads on them along with possibly the sewer connector piping. A switch on the control panel marked "Tank Heater" turns them on.

Yes it is common practice when it is to go below freezing to put some water in the fresh tank and use it. That way you can disconnect the city water hose/outside filter and stow it so it doesn't freeze.

Hope you did OK. We had 24° here in GA last night and had no issues even without anything in my outside shower door for insulation.

[Jcrow9]

Originally Posted by 5picker

Many units have tank heating pads on them along with possibly the sewer connector piping. A switch on the control panel marked "Tank Heater" turns them on.
.

This tees up my question.
I have a 2020 Cherokee Alpha Wolf 29dql with 4 season insulation and arctic package (I think I have that right, it's supposedly 4 season anyway), yet have no tank heater switch. Supposedly the furnace ducting heats the lower bay, which is fully foamed. But the drain pipe from the fwd (kitchen sink) gray tank is fully exposed coming down to the dump piping. Main black & gray valves are up in the insulated area.
Guess this means I'd need to dump fwd gray every evening (or just leave fwd dump valve open), and not use kit sink at all if it isn't above freezing during the day.
Not that I plan to camp in full winter, but Idaho high elevations can be cold Spring & Fall.

Thanks for any thoughts!
Jeff

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by Jcrow9

This tees up my question.
I have a 2020 Cherokee Alpha Wolf 29dql with 4 season insulation and arctic package (I think I have that right, it's supposedly 4 season anyway), yet have no tank heater switch. Supposedly the furnace ducting heats the lower bay, which is fully foamed. But the drain pipe from the fwd (kitchen sink) gray tank is fully exposed coming down to the dump piping. Main black & gray valves are up in the insulated area.
Guess this means I'd need to dump fwd gray every evening (or just leave fwd dump valve open), and not use kit sink at all if it isn't above freezing during the day.
Not that I plan to camp in full winter, but Idaho high elevations can be cold Spring & Fall.

Thanks for any thoughts!
Jeff

One option would be to install one or two heater pads designed for the size pipe from the sink to dump valves and put them near the valves.

Any water from the kitchen sink would run down and accumulate at the valve where the pipe heating pads would keep them from freezing. Some insulation wrapped around the rest of the pipe would retain any heat that migrated upward from the heating area and keep it from freezing too.

Most small heating pads of this type are only 7-12 watts so even if they have to run off battery at night the power draw should be within the abilities of a fully charged battery bank.

Another option would be to dump some RV antifreeze into the sink after every use to keep the line from freezing. Even though the antifreeze will be diluted (depending on how much water and antifreeze leaves the sink) it will protect the line in temperatures down to where most people no longer camp.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by Jcrow9

This tees up my question.
I have a 2020 Cherokee Alpha Wolf 29dql with 4 season insulation and arctic package (I think I have that right, it's supposedly 4 season anyway), yet have no tank heater switch. Supposedly the furnace ducting heats the lower bay, which is fully foamed. But the drain pipe from the fwd (kitchen sink) gray tank is fully exposed coming down to the dump piping. Main black & gray valves are up in the insulated area.
Guess this means I'd need to dump fwd gray every evening (or just leave fwd dump valve open), and not use kit sink at all if it isn't above freezing during the day.
Not that I plan to camp in full winter, but Idaho high elevations can be cold Spring & Fall.

Thanks for any thoughts!
Jeff

I don't know of any R/Vs (except high-end special order rigs) that are true 4 season R/Vs.

Yes, yours says it is... but it has been noted on more than one occasion and in more than one forum, this is marketing hype by the factory.

On the other side of the fence though, 'most' rigs marked as having an Arctic Package have tank heaters.
Maybe your switch is somewhere other than the control panel in your model? What did your dealer tell you? They should have went over all that during the PDI/Customer Orientation.

As far as the front kitchen piping... if the blade valve to dump that tank is located above the underbelly in the insulated area, the liquid will simply run out the exposed piping (back to the closed valve) and nothing will freeze.

[campers302]

We had our outside faucet freeze. I went under the bathroom sink and disconnected the pipes and put valves on both the hot and cold. We never use the outside shower anyways so not there is not need to repair or worry any longer about it. I realize this will not work for everyone.



What same night the drain pipe froze and we could not dump that morning and we needed to travel and we dumped at a truck stop hours later. This will not happen again as we not have a heat tape on the drain and plug it in when needed. Has worked fine so far.



Good luck and have fun.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Jcrow9

This tees up my question.
I have a 2020 Cherokee Alpha Wolf 29dql with 4 season insulation and arctic package (I think I have that right, it's supposedly 4 season anyway), yet have no tank heater switch.

You're believing marketing mumbo-jumbo. FR doesn't make any true 4 season RVs. Only a handful of RV manufacturers make them, like Arctic Fox or Outdoors RV.
At best it's a 3 season RV. I doubt there's anything in the specs that actually says 4 season.

[Jcrow9]

Originally Posted by bikendan

You're believing marketing mumbo-jumbo. FR doesn't make any true 4 season RVs. Only a handful of RV manufacturers make them, like Arctic Fox or Outdoors RV.
At best it's a 3 season RV. I doubt there's anything in the specs that actually says 4 season.

Oh, I never really expected it to really be 4-season, at least not here in the PNW. Nor do I plan to use it in for-real winter conditions.

The fwd gray drain blade valve is down where that pipe joins the others, so, yeah, about 6’ of uninsulated/unprotected pipe which fills as soon as any water passes thru kitchen sink. So leaving it open would work, I guess. I suppose what concerns me most is how vulnerable that exposed piping is to road hazards, gravel, etc.

Jeff

[WanderMore]

Arctic package, while better than not having one is a great marketing tool as the average winter temps at the Arctic run about -23 degrees F to -31 degrees F. See if your sales rep is willing to make that test run with you.