How To Keep From Freezing?

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RevDen

RevDen

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Joined
Aug 13, 2016
Posts
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Location
Phoenix, AZ
How To Keep From Freezing?

This is our first year RVing; in fact, we are on our first 2-month trip right now.  LOVE IT!  I have a question that is probably elementary but I don?t know what to do about it.

I am a retired pastor who is still doing a lot of speaking in churches in OK, AR, and other locations.  We have recently moved to Phoenix and will live in the RV until we buy a house in December.

My last speaking commitment in OK is in mid-November.  Then we will drive to Phoenix for the winter.  So, my big question is, how do we keep from freezing the water lines.  Last year, I winterized before November 1.  In Phoenix, we wouldn?t need to worry about it for a while.  We would be driving from Oklahoma City, to Phoenix on November 10.

What should I do?  Winterize early and travel without water?  Drive and try to keep the Travel Trailer warm?  Something else?

Thanks, everyone,

Dennis
 
Are you going to drive straight through? If so, you will only be without water for2-3 days if you winterize early. It is either that or run the furnace on 55 and expect to use a lot of propane.
 
I might consider just watching the weather and doing nothing about it. I often don't winterize my RV until early November, and that's here in Indianapolis. I would suspect that in OK City you'll be alright till Nov. 10th. If worried about the trip, go South to Ft Worth, and take I-20 to I-10 to Phoenix. That should keep you out of most freezing weather.
 
A lot will depend on your RV -- you don't say what it is, and that can make a difference in how you handle cold weather while you're using the rig. The facilities in the campground will also affect what you do. For example, some older lower cost class Cs might have most of the water system exposed to the cold, while a newer high end rig might be good (with furnace operating) down to near 0? F. Others range between these two.

So mention what your rig is.
 
Thanks for your replies.  As I said, this is our first big trip and I don't really know what I'm doing.  We have a 2017 KZ Connect Spree travel trailer. It is 27' long.  We were planning to drive 4-5 hrs from OKC to Phoenix.  It is 1000 miles and takes about 17 hours in a car.  So, I can imagine getting to southern New Mexico and freezing, breaking the water lines, and having a terrible mess on my hands.  I'm not handy or a plumber so I don't know how to fix something like that.


 
MY wife and I traveled in the winter and stayed in RV parks for 3 months at a time in the winter.  We had an older TT and we only blew the lines out with an air compressor and did that before we traveled.  Just Drain the HW heater and install a male hose thread/air fitting to the water inflow on the trailer, drain the on board water tank too.

https://www.amazon.com/Winterize-RV-Compressor-Quick-connect-Lead-Free/dp/B017CM0134/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1504394988&sr=8-3&keywords=male+air+fitting+for+travel+trailer

Just do one faucet at a time  also if you leave the lines open they wont break even if the small amount of water freezes.  We only had water freezes up on the line from the hydrant to the TT, we solved that with a heated water hose. 

Come to Yuma AZ, it warmer in the winter and has waaaayyyy less traffic and real estate is less too.
 
    As for travelling winterized, just take a gallon jug of water to use the facilities, and another gallon for domestic use, coffee, cleaning, tooth brushing.  The limited amount going into your Black or grey tank won't damage anything should they freeze.  Once in Phoenix, you can safely use the city water.

Ed
 
My 2?.

I agree with blowing out the lines.  IF your worried I would put some antifreeze down the drains to fill the traps too.

IMO an hour or three in freezing temps shouldn't hurt you, especially if it's just freezing like 29? to 31? for a few hours.

But better safe then sorry, so do what ever your comfortable with.

Good Luck on your trip out west.
 
If your pipes are in a heated compartment like the ones in my trailer, just run the heater in your trailer while traveling. We have to do that sometimes when leaving a Salt Lake City in January. If the temps are above freezing during the day and just dip below freezing for an hour or two at night, just disconnect any external fresh water line and run off a full tank. The mass of water won't freeze in a couple of hours. If it will be nearer 20 at night and you have a heated belly, just run the trailer's propane heater at night to keep the pipes warm. That keeps us fine with low to 20. Below that and we have to be more careful such as putting antifreeze in the lines.
 
Hfx_Cdn said:
    As for travelling winterized, just take a gallon jug of water to use the facilities, and another gallon for domestic use, coffee, cleaning, tooth brushing.  The limited amount going into your Black or grey tank won't damage anything should they freeze.  Once in Phoenix, you can safely use the city water.

Ed
Click to expand...
I would think the drain valves freezing might damage them. If I was going to put anything in the tanks, I would be dumping a few gallons of rv antifreeze down there with it. Put antifreeze in all  the p traps at each sink and just dont put anything down the drains without following it with a bit of rv antifreeze to refill the traps. The toilet doesnt have a p trap, so it will be fine with the antifreeze already in the black tank.
 
    We aren't talking about a long term hard freeze, when you are travelling for a day or 2 in temps at +/- 0 C/32 F with overnight temps
-5 C/25 F and day temps above freezing, it should never be a problem.  However, RV antifreeze likely won't help as it does not mix with water, so if you have a freeze the water may still freeze.

Ed
 
My previous coach had both valves replaced. Im sure it was due to freezing them. Freezing causes the damage when it freezes, so it doesnt take long to cause damage if it freezes. I put rv antifreeze in my tanks for winter just to protect the valves. Any water in the tank will run to the low point which is the valves. Dont know about it not mixing with water. Never heard of that.
 
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