Freezing coming but still not done

[NJKris]

Just an update to my anti-freeze mods, last night was a long freezing night with no wind after a chilly day mostly in 40's.

9:30 PM - temps have hit 32 and are falling. Bottoms out at 25 this morning. By 8:30 AM the temp has risen above freezing.

Small heater in wet bay set to the lowest I could set it, 60 deg.
Heated feed line from FW tank (Just installed heat cable over weekend) where it enters trailer is 37 using IR thermometer, surrounding material is at 25 deg.
Trailer interior maintained at 53 overnight using optional heat strip I had installed in my Coleman Mach 8 A/C unit.

I had filled the FW tank to about 2/3 full to prevent it from freezing.

End result is water is flowing freely from all faucets, no frozen line.

I did discover a few small drips I didn't like in the wet bay where braided fresh water line is clamped to barbs on the FW1 water filter housing. Had to run out to HD and get a PEX crimping tool and the clamps, pricey, but at least I have one now. Changed two of the clamps, trimmed off old ends of hose, all is well. Now a 3rd clamp running down to a T is dripping! Fixing that one today. I don't know if they weren't crimped well at factory, or what. Wouldn't surprise me.

[NXR]

Originally Posted by NJKris

I did discover a few small drips I didn't like in the wet bay where braided fresh water line is clamped to barbs on the FW1 water filter housing. Had to run out to HD and get a PEX crimping tool and the clamps, pricey, but at least I have one now. Changed two of the clamps, trimmed off old ends of hose, all is well. Now a 3rd clamp running down to a T is dripping! Fixing that one today. I don't know if they weren't crimped well at factory, or what. Wouldn't surprise me.

Well, time to go check for some drips, I guess.

Ray

[GFAR]

Originally Posted by NXR

Well, time to go check for some drips, I guess.



Ray

Well I went on and winterized my rv today! Cold snap coming the weekend! Got to get some of the things out that will mess up! I will set heat on 40 and forget it, just check on daily to make sure I don’t run out of propane!

[NJKris]

Originally Posted by NXR

Well, time to go check for some drips, I guess.

Ray

Ray, I ended up having FIVE leaky fittings in that compartment, all of them being the PEX clamps on the flexible braided water lines. I cut the clamps off, snipped off the ends of the hoses that were deformed from the barbed fittings, and reinstalled using new PEX clamps, it's all fine there now. I noted the hoses could all be twisted back and forth on the barbed fitting rather easily with the old clamps. Obviously the workman's crimping tool was either out of adjustment or he wasn't using it properly. Scary thing is, how many other clamps are like that in the trailer?

[NXR]

Twisting is a good test. Hopefully the inside plumber was different from the outside plumber.

Ray

[LittleBill]

Originally Posted by johnlochbuie

You don't need 30 amp plug just use good extension cord get adapter and plug into regular 120

Ditto^^^^

You only need 30 amp to run your A /C. The furnace is likely 12v like the lights. 15 amp should be more than enough to run the converter to keep the batteries charged and you should also be able to run your microwave and refrigerator as well on 15.

I would still empty the water heater and blow the lines. Your plans could change and you might not be able (for whatever reason) get back to winterized properly before it freezes. At least then you would be able to add antifreeze later with no problem. My 2 cents.

[oceangirl68]

I'm a total newbie to RV life. We are new owners of a 2019 Evo. It is winterized but we are still using it so I don't have a water freeze question but rather a hydraulic question. We are in Colorado. Temps set to get to low 20's this weekend. Does freezing weather affect the hydraulics at all?

[5picker]

Originally Posted by oceangirl68

I'm a total newbie to RV life. We are new owners of a 2019 Evo. It is winterized but we are still using it so I don't have a water freeze question but rather a hydraulic question. We are in Colorado. Temps set to get to low 20's this weekend. Does freezing weather affect the hydraulics at all?

I'd be interested in knowing what you are referring to as "hydraulics?"

Hydraulic operated jacks and slides are not usual components of a EVO.

And to answer your question... NO, freezing weather does not affect hydraulics other than the fact the hydraulic fluid (depending on viscosity) will run a bit slower due to the oil being thicker at colder temperatures. Hydraulic oil does not freeze. Nothing needs winterized.

Oh... and I see it is your 1st post welcome!

Please add a signature line so all your pertinent information is in your posts. (does not show on mobile app but can be found) and consider starting a new thread when your question doesn't exactly match the original post.

[oceangirl68]

Thanks for the answer and advice. New to it all! Learning a lot and loving it!

[RetArmyxtrucker]

I am officially winterized. I did not want to but mid 20's tonight and low 20's Tue night. Oh well.



FYI on my 2511, a 2019 model. All over you tube they said you have 3 valves to turn to bypass the hot water heater. Mine had 2 only. So I called the service mgr at my dealer and they said the newer designs some only have 2. I saw how the hoses was routed and made sense but I dug like crazy trying to find that 3rd cut toff before I made the call. I swear long arm midgets are the ones suited to reach some of these things not old fat men like me LOL

[5picker]

Originally Posted by RetArmyxtrucker

I am officially winterized. I did not want to but mid 20's tonight and low 20's Tue night. Oh well.



FYI on my 2511, a 2019 model. All over you tube they said you have 3 valves to turn to bypass the hot water heater. Mine had 2 only. So I called the service mgr at my dealer and they said the newer designs some only have 2. I saw how the hoses was routed and made sense but I dug like crazy trying to find that 3rd cut toff before I made the call. I swear long arm midgets are the ones suited to reach some of these things not old fat men like me LOL

Different brand/models use different ways of plumbing.
Not all FR products use the same plumbing procedures or even the same brand parts.

The different types of bypass valves (some even use inline check valves) are well documented in the Library section of this forum. wmtire (a moderator) has done a fantastic job of putting water heater information together for all to peruse.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by oceangirl68

I'm a total newbie to RV life. We are new owners of a 2019 Evo. It is winterized but we are still using it so I don't have a water freeze question but rather a hydraulic question. We are in Colorado. Temps set to get to low 20's this weekend. Does freezing weather affect the hydraulics at all?

Yep, 5picker is correct. An Evo doesn't anything hydraulic in it.

[cavie]

Originally Posted by RetArmyxtrucker

I forgot to add we have the heated tank switch we can activate but not sure if I need to be on 30 amp or 110 to activate. I will make a call.

30 amp is 120 volts. 50 amps is 240 volts. Amps and volts are two different things.

What was the outcome of the non working TV?

The GFI, if tripped , usually is reported to be the one at the house not in the trailer but who knows. As stated, if you have a light on at the trailer then it would be in the trailer that is tripped. Some GFI's will work in series and some will not. I had two trailer parked side by side and neither would work with 2 GFI's in series. Had to turn off the trailer one in each case to keep the shore power on. With the dog bone you will learn to manage what you can use because it is only 15 or 20 amps depending on what circuit you are plugged into. It will also depend on what else in on that circuit in the house.

[NJKris]

Happy to report the countermeasures worked well, water flowed freely despite very cold temperatures here in the Pocono Mountains this weekend.

Temp was just above freezing all day Friday, then dipped below freezing all the way down to 17, and was pretty breezy.

Low temp of 17
Total hours below freezing: 21 hours

As 5 Picker requested, here are the pics!

[5picker]

Great information and great job Kris.
Thanks for posting!

[NJKris]

Thanks 5Picker, was just glad to squeeze one last trip in, that's my 5th RV trip ever. We head back tomorrow and will winterize it then. Didn't expect it to be so cold so soon, glad to see it's possible to postpone winterization and still use our plumbing.

Also, now I know we don't need tank heaters, glad I didn't waste money on them. I'll install them myself if we ever decide to travel in winter (not going to happen, lol).

Finally, Otter Lake in PA is wonderful, but there are an increasing number of year-round campers taking up the spots that I wish were available for real campers, not seasonal 'residents'.

[RacerRalph]

Originally Posted by ependydad

If it were me and didn't have power, I would bypass the water heater, dump out the water through the low point drains, and would blow out the lines. Shouldn't take any more than 20 minutes with a helper and doesn't cost anything. As long as the temps aren't below freezing for long, I probably wouldn't even dump the fresh water or water heater.

If you had power, I'd say put the furnace on 50-60 and run it.

X 2 Blow it out. We do that multiple times a year.