Winterizing

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Ksummers

Active member
Joined
Oct 17, 2019
Posts
31
Location
Tennessee
Hi Everyone,

We need to start winterizing our camper and thought I would check with all of you for some tips...since we haven't done this before.

What is takes priority?....The underbelly? should we close it in?
What do you guys use on your water lines for freezing temps?...heat tape?

And for the propane we have two 30lb tanks and when in use the camper pulls from both.  We were thinking about closing one off so that we only had to fill one at a time.  Does anybody do this and is it a good idea?

Thank You!











 
are you trying to store it of use it.?  Where are you?
 
Ksummers said:
And for the propane we have two 30lb tanks and when in use the camper pulls from both.  We were thinking about closing one off so that we only had to fill one at a time.  Does anybody do this and is it a good idea?

Chances are you are not pulling from both tanks. Your regulator should have a changeover valve and a green/red indicator. If the red flag comes up, the changeover valve handle will be pointing to the tank which is empty. The regulator will have automatically changed over to the full tank. All you need to do is rotate the valve handle so it's pointing to the other tank, then you can remove the empty tank and get it filled.

What do you have for a RV?
Go into your profile and create a signature of yourself telling us a little bit about you and your RV. It may help later on. 
 
Are you living in it full time? Is it in a permanent spot, or do you take it on trips? And your location may affect recommendations, too.
 
We live in it. Permanent location and tied into septic.  We live in Tennessee and our winters can get pretty cold, below freezing temps are common, temps will drop to 20's and teens can happen but not often.
 
Ksummers said:
We live in it. Permanent location and tied into septic.  We live in Tennessee and our winters can get pretty cold, below freezing temps are common, temps will drop to 20's and teens can happen but not often.

Living in those temps is gonna be a real challenge.
 
You?re going to blow through a lot of propane. Any possibility of getting a large tank permanently installed?
 
Rene T said:
Chances are you are not pulling from both tanks. Your regulator should have a changeover valve and a green/red indicator. If the red flag comes up, the changeover valve handle will be pointing to the tank which is empty. The regulator will have automatically changed over to the full tank. All you need to do is rotate the valve handle so it's pointing to the other tank, then you can remove the empty tank and get it filled.

What do you have for a RV?
Go into your profile and create a signature of yourself telling us a little bit about you and your RV. It may help later on.
That's probably true, but depending on how much propane is being used, it may freeze the gas inside the can. I would suspect that the auto switching valve would switch to the other tank if the first one is struggling to keep up. When they fill tanks, they are required to wear thick gloves because the propane liquid is cold enough to cause frostbite, even in the middle of summer.

Sub-zero tamps are pretty much guaranteed in MN and sometimes even a 20lb can isn't enough for those that use them in the late fall for hunting. Ice fishing shacks almost always use a 100lb tank to minimize how quickly it freezes as the gas turns to vapor. I would leave them both on and have a spare or two in case you run low and need to take the twin 30s out to refill them.
 
Temps in the 20's are definitely doable, though you do need to take some steps as you've already realized.  I've been waking up to 15 - 29 degrees every morning for the last three weeks where I am; though it gets up around 45 or 50 during the day.  No frozen pipes yet :)

Underbelly - I've seen everything from factory skirting material (the snap on kind), lights and/or heaters, hay bales, foam board insulation, to plywood or other type of lumber boarding in the bottom.
Water hose - heated hose or heat tape definitely
Propane - you will use a good bit and a large tank you can have placed permanently where they come fill it for you would make it way more convenient.  Barring that, I would keep a close watch for a couple weeks so you know how many days you can go on a 30 gal tank.  Try to keep your 2nd one full at all times.
Electric space heaters are also helpful - particularly if you have a 'cold spot' in your RV.

Some have advised filling your fresh water tank and disconnecting the water hose (in other threads on same subject); this didn't work for me as my tank is so small I ran out in two days.  Hauling the hose out to refill the tank every other days simply isn't going to happen!

Good luck to you!  PS if you should feel like your water might freeze up, you can leave a faucet dripping overnight to keep it moving through the pipes.
 
Hi Everybody,

Went to a local RV store today and they won't even sale Heat Tape, said it would melt our hose.??
So, that's out.  And I did read here in the Library if you wrapped the hose it would melt it.  So, I think for the water line we are going to try and replace it with a PEX water line and wrap that really thick foam insulation around that.
As far as the propane tanks go...didn't even consider those freezing up...

For the under-belly, the guy at the RV store suggested filling contractor bags full of straw and packing them in under the camper....

I know we are going to use foam board insulation along with solid board skirting my husband has made.

A lot to think about...Thank Everyone!
 
a caution on using hay/straw bales that I learned the hard way. They will hold moisture if not protected from the elements and will leach that moisture into anything they come into contact with. I used them one year around an outbuilding I had plumbing in for a commercial kitchen (it was really a 12x24 wood frame shed that I finished inside) that was about 10 in off the ground. About mid winter I noticed mold along one lower wall area. In the spring I pulled it apart and where the straw bale was resting against the outside wall it had kept it so wet that the T-111 wood siding was wet inside the wall and got into the drywall inside.

 
Camco offers a heated RV water supply hose, also sold by Amazon here.  It may be a tad pricey but there's value in not having to hassle with the consequences of a burst hose.
 
Propane is good to -45F. So far as freezing? goes.  Around here they were using propane for most school busses and we see temperatures in the -30F range on a regular basis in the winter.  They would cancel the busses at those temperatures - but not because of thee propane.  The busses have now switched over to diesel and they still cancel the busses at the same temperatures. 

Yes, draw down rates may have an influence on the ?freeze up? but most don?t use a 20lb tank to run a 150000btu heater at temps low enough to cause a problem.
 
Gene50 said:
Propane is good to -45F. So far as freezing? goes.  Around here they were using propane for most school busses and we see temperatures in the -30F range on a regular basis in the winter.  They would cancel the busses at those temperatures - but not because of thee propane.  The busses have now switched over to diesel and they still cancel the busses at the same temperatures. 

Yes, draw down rates may have an influence on the ?freeze up? but most don?t use a 20lb tank to run a 150000btu heater at temps low enough to cause a problem.
I agree that it "shouldn't" be an issue, but I have had a tank freeze on me in single digit weather with a sunflower heater. Another option is to wrap it with something to "heat" the tank.
 
I just went to Tulsa today to get my daughter's trailer ready for winter. I rehooked her water up solid with PEX, heat tape & armoflex insulation. I also wrapped the black tank dump valve with heat tape & insulation, the other three grey tank valves stay open anyway. I hooked the sewer up solid when we set it up a couple of months ago.

Now, she calls me about 3 hrs after I get it all done and said she's moving to Ft. Wort. She'll be a Dallas based pilot for the company she flies for. :D    That's OK though, that's what we're supposed to do for our kids, right? :)
 
malexander said:
Now, she calls me about 3 hrs after I get it all done and said she's moving to Ft. Wort. She'll be a Dallas based pilot for the company she flies for. :D    That's OK though, that's what we're supposed to do for our kids, right? :)
;D ;D ;D
And one of mine would also say, I knew last week, just forgot to tell you.  ???
 
Once a Dad, always a Dad. My twin girls are 47 and I still get calls for help. And now my grandchildren will say, "Give it to Pep (me), he'll fix it.
 

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