Frozen...but what what else happened?

[jtintx]

It was really cold here last night (mid teens) and the anemic attempt I made at insulating the CG water spigot didn't work and the pipe froze. My water hose has heat tape and insulation so I don't think it froze.

But, when I tried to get water using the fresh water tank I got nothing. Any idea what happened? Does the water coming in from the FW tank go through the pump or filter first? Do you think one of them froze? They are in a VERY small compartment. Any ideas on how to get some heat in there? I already had some insulation stuffed in there but maybe it didn't work???

At 5 a.m. I moved the heat lamp I have for the dog when he's outside and aimed it at the pipe and I also ran the gas furnace. I had water by 7 a.m.
What likely happened?

[Wiscampsin]

When it gets cold at night up here in the spring and fall I do 3 things.
1. Unhook the hose from the spigot and drain the hose. Put a cap on the end to avoid bugs.
2. Let the CG spigot drip slowly so it doesn't freeze.
3. Keep my fingers crossed.

[KMP44]

Originally Posted by jtintx

At 5 a.m. I moved the heat lamp I have for the dog when he's outside and aimed it at the pipe and I also ran the gas furnace. I had water by 7 a.m.
What likely happened?

Did you try using the FW tank again after you got the CG pipe thawed out?

Can't imagine you froze the water in the tank, so it sounds like something in the line from the tank to the pump or the lines from the pump through the filter and into the rest of the system froze. The good thing is they use mainly pex tubing on that stuff, and its pretty forgiving when it freezes - much less prone to bursting than hard pipe.

On our trailer, the pump and filter are in a space that also serves as the cold air return to the furnace, but they put that stuff in all kinds of places on different models. Some electric heat tape might be the only way to keep those lines warm.

[Eaglelover]

I am presently in North West NJ and we had 0 over night. I have tank heaters but the line from the tank to the pump is where it usually freezes. I leave the cabinet door to the pump and filter open about 6 inches so the only area would be the tank feed to the pump. It froze two days ago and we used a 350,000 propane salamander under the slide facing the tanks and that worked for the black and grey valves.
The underneath is closed in but the water pump started drawing water after about 1/2 hour. We are at 7 degrees now and frozen again with 10/15 mile winds but it will warm up at the end of the week so we will work on it then. We only have this problem when we have a very low temp. and wind. Spring is coming and I can't wait. Frank

[jtintx]

It was cold again last night and I put the outside temperature sensor in the water filter/pump compartment. It stayed above 40* all night. It must have froze somewhere between the fw tank and the filter.

[Eaglelover]

Yup my thoughts exactly. I think the same thing is happening to me. Frank

[larryscsi]

I have heat tape on the hose and it is wrapped with pipe insulation. The tank heat pads on. A 5 gallon bucket over the campground spigot with a 60 watt bulb on in there. Only problem are the inside water lines that run along the wall behind the kitchen and bathroom cabinets. Even leaving the cabinet doors open for heat, the will still freeze. Also leave the bathroom and kitchen in drip mode.


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