Fulltime in Minnesota

[p38fln]

What's your plan when these things happen when it's below freezing. You don't seem very mechanically adept. Find a room somewhere and be safe

I'll also answer the question fully...It is a valid question even if asked in a particularly insulting manner:

I don't give a flying rats ass if the water fails in the middle of winter. Indoor running water is a modern luxury, nothing more. I can get water at the local on site dry sump well, the gas station, McDonald's, Walmart - whatever. I want to get it working because I don't want to freeze my rear end off dragging one bucket at a time up from the well, but if that's what it takes, that's what it takes. The plan is to get heated hoses to fill the onboard tank from the well, but that's a luxury, not a necessity. There's an on-site porta potty if the black tank refuses to drain for some reason (although, as mentioned, I plan on putting heating pads on it). Still, there is a backup plan for pooping. My mother grew up in rural Kentucky using a creek as a water source before they finally upgraded to a well (without indoor plumbing). Grandparents didn't get indoor plumbing until I was around 7 from what I've been told, when I was little they would fill up buckets from the well and heat them on a coal-fired stove for baths. My mother has been an excellent source of methods to live without indoor plumbing if necessary. My aunt grew up the same way, in a city not too far from here in Wisconsin, but her family had a fancy indoor hand pump well. As my mother and aunt have both mentioned, if the water totally fails, as long as you have a stove, you have hot water.

I have indoor-safe propane heaters in case the furnace goes out.
If the power goes out, I have a generator.
If the generator fails to start when the power goes out, I know I can plug the 7 way into the trailer hitch and the furnace will kick on (I tested this earlier to be sure), and of course I still have the indoor safe propane heater.
I've even got a spare regulator and spare hoses for the propane tanks. Despite being semi-permanently parked and getting a 100 pound propane tank, I have kept the dual-tank auto changeover regulator so I can get a propane tank from one of the local gas stations or grocery stores if the big tank can't be refilled for some reason. In fact, I keep a full 20# tank attached even with the 100# tank just in case.
I'm *far* more concerned about heating and power than water. -30 overnight and no heat will kill. -30 overnight and no water until Walmart opens is just annoying.

 

[Oldgator73]

Our son has been living in SW Virginia for a couple of years without water. The first winter he didn’t have power. There is a creek and a spring on the property so he can fill 5 gallon buckets. He does have temporary power now and a cabin. I ran extension cords from the temp power and hard wired them into each 110 circuit. He has heat via space heaters and if it’s really cold propane heaters. He heats water with an immersion heater.

 

[IBTripping]

Full-time RVers in Canada survive winters up North. So, it can be done. However, they prepare their RVs for low temperatures. There are a lot of YouTube videos that show how they do it. You may get some more ideas if you decide to check out some. My opinion is putting skirting around the RV is one of the wisest actions. Wishing you the best. Please keep us updated.

 

[p38fln]

Full-time RVers in Canada survive winters up North. So, it can be done. However, they prepare their RVs for low temperatures. There are a lot of YouTube videos that show how they do it. You may get some more ideas if you decide to check out some. My opinion is putting skirting around the RV is one of the wisest actions. Wishing you the best. Please keep us updated.

Absolutely everyone is recommending skirting, I will definitely put some up.

Our neighbor/guy who's letting us park on his land is doing exactly the same thing in a nearly identical camper, his recommendation was to just strip all the plumbing but I'm being stubborn.

 

[p38fln]

Pump check valve is malfunctioning, which I learned after hooking the city water up on this beautiful weekend. After a few hours the freshwater tank was completely full and water was pouring from the gravity fill.

Im going to add an isolation valve so the city water can't even get to the water pump unless the valves are open, and of course repair or replace the pump. It sounds like the same thing happened to our neighbor, except his tank actually split in two instead of just going out the overflow. I got lucky because I kept the gravity port cracked open so the excess pressure had somewhere to go.

 

[Skookum]

100% of my cold-winter problems in Minnesota were solved by leaving. It's what people during the Westward expansion did, again during the dust bowl, Great Depression, so many people packed up and left! I really have no idea why anyone would want to stay there if not for their family. All this money spent messing around with just getting water and sewage to flow could be spent on fuel to get somewhere habitable.

Our neighbors had an ice castle... when we first moved there I couldn't figure out what the heck it was. I still don't understand how anyone thinks it's fun to fish from the inside of their RV...lol!!

 

[Oldgator73]

100% of my cold-winter problems in Minnesota were solved by leaving. It's what people during the Westward expansion did, again during the dust bowl, Great Depression, so many people packed up and left! I really have no idea why anyone would want to stay there if not for their family. All this money spent messing around with just getting water and sewage to flow could be spent on fuel to get somewhere habitable.

Our neighbors had an ice castle... when we first moved there I couldn't figure out what the heck it was. I still don't understand how anyone thinks it's fun to fish from the inside of their RV...lol!!

Picking up and moving ain’t for everybody. We moved about every 2-3 years for 36 years (24 years military and 12 years as a civilian for the DoD). We have no problem just leaving. We never had roots anywhere. Folks with roots in their communities try to to make it work. Having said that our son inherited our wanderlust while our daughter wouldn’t move across town. P38fln like where he lives and come he’ll or high water he’s gonna make it work.

 

[Skookum]

Picking up and moving ain’t for everybody. We moved about every 2-3 years for 36 years (24 years military and 12 years as a civilian for the DoD). We have no problem just leaving. We never had roots anywhere. Folks with roots in their communities try to to make it work. Having said that our son inherited our wanderlust while our daughter wouldn’t move across town. P38fln like where he lives and come he’ll or high water he’s gonna make it work.

Oh, I understand. Most of what I say about Minnesota needs to be taken with a grain of salt. I wanted to enjoy my time there but it just wasn't for me. People say nasty things about the Seattle area all the time, and I have no plans to leave anytime soon. But at least it doesn't get popsicle-cold here

 

[Kirk]

Im going to add an isolation valve so the city water can't even get to the water pump unless the valves are open, and of course repair or replace the pump.

If you get the pump working properly you won't need the valve as RV water pumps also act as a check valve to prevent backfow from the city water connection to the tank. If it makes you feel better, just add a check valve at the outlet of the pump.

 

[darsben]

If it happens below freezing and isn't repairable, I'll use a 5 gallon bucket with a pump, which I've already purchased and go buy another one for $60 at Camping World the next day that it's open. I'm not a moron. Maybe instead of hurling insults you could say something constructive?

oh my god oh my god the water pump is cycling when the water is off whatever will I do? Gee I don't know, turn off the damn switch unless I'm using it? I'm not that stupid.

i did say something constructive it was " get yourself a room somewhere and be safe"
Sorry if you do not like the message.
I hurled no insult at you but you seem to be offended.

 

[p38fln]

If you get the pump working properly you won't need the valve as RV water pumps also act as a check valve to prevent backfow from the city water connection to the tank. If it makes you feel better, just add a check valve at the outlet of the pump.

Pump is freaking brand new lol I just replaced it maybe 2 weeks ago. It sounds like the internal check valves are just very prone to contamination. I'll probably pull the whole thing apart sometime this week and see what's sticking in it. Probably a little piece of gravel, that's what I found stuck in the city water check valve.

 

[Kirk]

Probably a little piece of gravel, that's what I found stuck in the city water check valve.

What is your water source? If you put fine sand or gravel into the water system you will have problems in time that go far beyond the water pump. It sounds like you need to be using a water filter on your water supply. They are readily available from any Walmart or RV supply or you could use one of the whole house filters like are sold in home supply stores. Any kind of grit will destroy the plastic fittings used by the RV industry to save weight and money.

 

[p38fln]

What is your water source? If you put fine sand or gravel into the water system you will have problems in time that go far beyond the water pump. It sounds like you need to be using a water filter on your water supply. They are readily available from any Walmart or RV supply or you could use one of the whole house filters like are sold in home supply stores. Any kind of grit will destroy the plastic fittings used by the RV industry to save weight and money.

Well with a pump on it. I think the dirt was in the end of the hose, this is "sand country" and everything gets covered in coarse sand pretty easy. I'll definitely use a water filter from now on especially filling from a bucket.

 

[p38fln]

100% of my cold-winter problems in Minnesota were solved by leaving. It's what people during the Westward expansion did, again during the dust bowl, Great Depression, so many people packed up and left! I really have no idea why anyone would want to stay there if not for their family. All this money spent messing around with just getting water and sewage to flow could be spent on fuel to get somewhere habitable.

Our neighbors had an ice castle... when we first moved there I couldn't figure out what the heck it was. I still don't understand how anyone thinks it's fun to fish from the inside of their RV...lol!!

I got to experience Ice Fishing once. It was an ice castle RV (which for those who don't know means that it has retractable wheels and an insulated belly with removable fishing plates so it can be lowered until the belly of the RV lays directly on the ice and you can fish in toasty comfort). From my understanding, you show up, pull your ice castle on the lake, drill a hole in the ice, then drink beers until you pass out.

 

[p38fln]

I finished switching the kitchen sink supply lines to run internally down the roofline of the hallway rather than snugged up against the exterior of the RV on the floor on the unheated side. It looks just as industrial as I was afraid it would but it does work and keeps the water lines inside where I'm sure they won't freeze. I ran them down the ceiling instead of down the hallway floor since PEX is fairly soft and I thought the overhead route would keep most sharp things away from it.

 

[Kirk]

I thought the overhead route would keep most sharp things away from it.

And that is the warmest place for them too.

 

[p38fln]

Just an update, I'm still here.

In the past week we finally finished digging out a permanent parking spot and moved the camper out of our friend's driveway into an actual parking spot. The tractor blew a hydraulic line, replacing that was real pain in the butt.

I took a voltmeter to the RV and found the voltage was dropping to as low as 85 volts if all the appliances were on at the same time, traced it back to where the property owner had plugged us in. It was um...let's just say the fire inspector wouldn't have given anyone a citation because he would have passed out from apoplexy. I ordered a 50 amp to 30 amp splitter that runs one leg down each of the individual TT30 plugs and a 100 foot 30 amp RV cable, pried apart the original melted connectors, and I am now getting 110 volts even with everything running.

Fridge stopped working when it got cold, you can see my posts about that in other spots here. Easy solution was sticking a low powered space heater in the exterior compartment, it hasn't given any more problems since.

Heating pads for the water tanks will be here Tuesday. Starlink internet will also be here Tuesday.

I was laid off permanently a week ago, so instead of heated water hoses I got blow out adapters for garden hoses. I'll just have to blow them out after filling the tanks until I find a new source of income.

Current problem is the furnace is starting to fail to light every time, from the troubleshooting guide it's either the sail switch or control board. Model is Suburban NT-34SP from 1990. It doesn't make a clicking sound after the fan starts when it doesn't work. I'll pull that out soon. I read the maintenance guide, apparently you're supposed to yank the whole freaking furnace out once a year, take it completely apart and clean it to prevent sail switch issues.

 

[UTTransplant]

You are very resourceful. Best of luck on your endeavor!

 

[jackiemac]

Sorry you've lost your job. Hope you get another soon. Good.luck with the furnace!

 

[Boat Bum]

I remember the lean years well, wishing you every success.