Water lines freezing! Help!

[jmschield22]

Hello everyone,

I have a 2022 forest river wildwood 22rbs. I've had this problem a few times, my water lines freeze within 2-3 hours of removing the rv skirt.

I am out in colorado/utah skiing and I changed locations and on my drive, all my lines froze! It was only about 20-25 degrees.

When I have my rv skirt on, Its been down to 5 degrees no problem, but everytime i remove the skirt, everything freeze.

I have a underbelly that protects the tanks, but it's extremely strange.. just the toilet and shower water line freeze first. (towards the back end of the rv).

My big question, where are all the water lines underneath the rv? I have heated tape on my low drain pipes along with insulation, once i put the rv skirt on, i have a heater blowing in there.

It's very strange, it's just the water lines that go fast, (especially the toilet and shower)

Any suggestions?

[glen1971]

You're wondering how water lines without constantly flowing water in them freeze, but don't freeze when you have a heater in the space?

Easiest solution is to blow them out when you don't have your skirt on the trailer.

[NMWildcat]

Every RV has water lines that will be the first to freeze. They are usually the furthest from the propane heater ducts in the underbelly.
Take the bottom covering off and insulate them.
While going down the road with no heater, the best advice is the above; blow them out.

[Aussieguy]

do you have low point drains so you can empty the lines while traveling?

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by Aussieguy

do you have low point drains so you can empty the lines while traveling?

He said he did ==> “I have heated tape on my low drain pipes along with insulation”.

[KyDan]

Originally Posted by jmschield22

..... I changed locations and on my drive, all my lines froze! It was only about 20-25 degrees.

Wondering how heat tape can work while on the road? Also insulation
only slows the loss of heat in the pipes. They will still freeze eventually unless heat is constantly added somehow.

Yeah- blow them out is the answer. I have the cheapo "5 gal air tank" from Harbor Freight. I usually bring it with me already filled to 100 PSI using my at home compressor but in a pinch I can fill it to 75-80 PSI using a little cigarette socket tire pump. It's noisy and takes a while but it gets the job done. I have a garden hose male thread adapter connected to an air hose quick connect that I screw into my city water inlet. I can blow out my entire trailer on one tank of air. I start with a faucet open so as not to over pressure my plumbing with that full air tank.

[Flybob]

It can be difficult to prevent freezing at 20 degrees while traveling as any heat provided by heat tape etc will be drawn away quickly by air movement. I would also be very concerned about the outside shower as they are generally plastic crack easily due to freezing.

[jmschield22]

Hi guys,

Yeah it seems like once i remove the rv skirt and/or i begin traveling, everything will freeze, starting with the water lines.

I am trying to figure out a way to protect and heat the water lines as I travel.

For example, i traveled yesterday, 8 hours colorado to utah, it was about 15-20 degrees. All my water lines froze (no kidding).

However, once i got to my new rv resort, I put my rv skirt on, i have two space heaters and i cranked my heat (opened my closet space) within about 4-5 hours, everything thawed out, It was 15 degrees out, but it was about 35 under my rv skirt!

I am trying to prevent this from happening on the road, or taking my rv skirt off and then water lines freezing?

Any suggesstions? Also, what does everyone mean about blowing out?

Thanks,

[Iwritecode]

Originally Posted by jmschield22

Hi guys,

Yeah it seems like once i remove the rv skirt and/or i begin traveling, everything will freeze, starting with the water lines.

I am trying to figure out a way to protect and heat the water lines as I travel.

For example, i traveled yesterday, 8 hours colorado to utah, it was about 15-20 degrees. All my water lines froze (no kidding).

However, once i got to my new rv resort, I put my rv skirt on, i have two space heaters and i cranked my heat (opened my closet space) within about 4-5 hours, everything thawed out, It was 15 degrees out, but it was about 35 under my rv skirt!

I am trying to prevent this from happening on the road, or taking my rv skirt off and then water lines freezing?

Any suggesstions? Also, what does everyone mean about blowing out?

Thanks,

Blowing out the water lines with air so there is no water to freeze *is* the suggestion.

Here's a pretty good video showing the entire winterization process.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qnSVjZZc_4

[Reverse_snowbird]

Originally Posted by jmschield22

I have a underbelly that protects the tanks, but it's extremely strange.. just the toilet and shower water line freeze first. (towards the back end of the rv).

My big question, where are all the water lines underneath the rv? I have heated tape on my low drain pipes along with insulation, once i put the rv skirt on, i have a heater blowing in there.

It's very strange, it's just the water lines that go fast, (especially the toilet and shower)

Any suggestions?

We don't know where all the water lines underneath the rv. There are no plans available that I know of. There are also water lines in the walls that can freeze.

What do you mean that it's just the water lines that freeze fast? The only other lines that would freeze would be propane and propane freezes at a very low temperature (way below zero). Water starts freezing at 32 degrees and it freezes faster if it's not flowing. Your holding tanks are less likely to freeze because of the volume of water and the room for expansion within the tank if freezing starts.

As others have said, opening the low point drains and blowing the water out of the lines before you travel is the best method to keep the lines from freezing. We have a tire inflator where we can adjust the pressure to 40 to 50 psi to blow out the lines (with an adapter). Your other option would be to winterize with rv antifreeze.

These rigs aren't made for cold weather, but it sounds like you've found a way to make it work.

[Aussieguy]

leave low point open while driving

the stop start and cornering should help remove any residual water in the pipes


if that don't work blowing out the lines would be the next thing I look at


once setup again after driving ... if it only takes a few minutes for things to thaw...

just crank up the heat and use bottled water?


doubt the time between driving to next campground would allow the remainder of the water to freeze solid and destroy equipment unless you're camping in the arctic

[jimspencer741]

Originally Posted by jmschield22

Hello everyone,

I have a 2022 forest river wildwood 22rbs. I've had this problem a few times, my water lines freeze within 2-3 hours of removing the rv skirt.

I am out in colorado/utah skiing and I changed locations and on my drive, all my lines froze! It was only about 20-25 degrees.

When I have my rv skirt on, Its been down to 5 degrees no problem, but everytime i remove the skirt, everything freeze.

I have a underbelly that protects the tanks, but it's extremely strange.. just the toilet and shower water line freeze first. (towards the back end of the rv).

My big question, where are all the water lines underneath the rv? I have heated tape on my low drain pipes along with insulation, once i put the rv skirt on, i have a heater blowing in there.

It's very strange, it's just the water lines that go fast, (especially the toilet and shower)

Any suggestions?

Blow out the water with air when packing up

[jmschield22]

Yeah,

I am going to release the pressure by turning off the water pump and then draining all the water out on the shower head, kitchen faucet, toilet so there is no water in the lines.

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by jmschield22

Yeah,

I am going to release the pressure by turning off the water pump and then draining all the water out on the shower head, kitchen faucet, toilet so there is no water in the lines.

There will still be water in the lines if you don’t open the low point drains.

[jmschield22]

Ah, so you're saying even before i travel, dump the tanks as well?

I don't necessarily have a problem with the dump tanks, i actually have a heated blanket/heater that i use for them.

Its mainly just the water lines coming into the rv.

Thanks guys!

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by jmschield22

Ah, so you're saying even before i travel, dump the tanks as well?

I don't necessarily have a problem with the dump tanks, i actually have a heated blanket/heater that i use for them.

Its mainly just the water lines coming into the rv.

Thanks guys!

I didn’t mention tanks. Low point drains allow you to drain water out of the lines inside your unit. You have one drain for cold water lines and one drain for hot water lines.

[Aussieguy]

Tank will take a long time to freeze

Tank heaters etc are
not real power hungry so alternator feeding the house battery should should keep up

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by KyDan

Wondering how heat tape can work while on the road? Also insulation
only slows the loss of heat in the pipes. They will still freeze eventually unless heat is constantly added somehow.

Yeah- blow them out is the answer. I have the cheapo "5 gal air tank" from Harbor Freight. I usually bring it with me already filled to 100 PSI using my at home compressor but in a pinch I can fill it to 75-80 PSI using a little cigarette socket tire pump. It's noisy and takes a while but it gets the job done. I have a garden hose male thread adapter connected to an air hose quick connect that I screw into my city water inlet. I can blow out my entire trailer on one tank of air. I start with a faucet open so as not to over pressure my plumbing with that full air tank.

Clever solution!

[Cruzrtwdgt]

if you change campgrounds a lot and just need to blow out the lines quickly for a short trip, check out Floë from Lippert. It is installed and connected permanently to your potable water system. Two versions, 12 or 115v. Basically an onboard compressor that you can winterize your rv in minutes. I'm considering one, but also considering installing a real compressor with a t and having it for tires and winterizing.

[Aussieguy]

you can run the furnace to keep trailer warm while driving

you could set it to a lower thermostat temperature while driving
if traveling more than a couple of hours to save some propane

otherwise leave the thermostat at your desired comfort level...

don't let the trailer get cold and then have to heat it up again within a couple of hours

just be aware and observe any rules for tunnels or gas stations....