Need advice from cold country

[CityGuy]

Amazingly little ole Pensacola is predicted to have 12 degree temperature around 6 a.m. next Friday, and be below freezing for over 40 continuous hours. In prep, I know to
--drain the fresh water system including the heater
--make sure the batteries are at full charge
--check the antifreeze level in the main engine and the generator (how? hydrometer?)

What else? The heater in the plumbing bay doesn't work. Do I need to put a shore power heater in there?

Anything more? 2006 Monaco Cayman 36, out in the open but sandwiched between other rigs and not subject to significant crosswinds.

 

[JudyJB]

Are you camping in it or is it in storage? If you are sleeping in it, make sure you have a couple of jugs of fresh water for drinking, cooking, and flushing.

 

[Isaac-1]

The other alternative is to just run the heat for a couple of days, and maybe put a small electric personal cube heater set on low in the wet bay for those couple of nights. That is what I do here in Louisiana where it has hit 12F-13 3 times in the last 6 years I have owned my current coach.

 

[CityGuy]

Responding to Judy and Isaac: it's in storage about a mile from the house. I think what I'll do is bring it home and run a little heater on an extension cord. No power at the storage lot.

Maybe get the coach over-warm inside for an hour or two my last two hours awake Thursday night?

And thank you both. (When did it get to 12F in Louisiana? Up in Nawth Louisiana?)

 

[Skipper]

Y'all help me. Won't temperature that low cause the LP Gas to freeze if the tank is below half full? If that's correct the furnace will come on but the gas will not flow. Thus the blower turns off in about a minute. No heat! Not sure, but most LPtanks are exposed below MH side compartment without insulation. Electric heaters work well when about 30 degrees upward. Just beware of amp draw on the circuit as the Heater will most likely run continuously. You don't want an electrical fire. Best to you protecting your rig!!

 

[CityGuy]

Y'all help me. Won't temperature that low cause the LP Gas to freeze if the tank is below half full? If that's correct the furnace will come on but the gas will not flow. Thus the blower turns off in about a minute. No heat! Not sure, but most LPtanks are exposed without insulation.

Noted, with thanks. Mine's nearly full. Since I won't be in residence, frozen LP wouldn't be an environmental problem anyway.

 

[LMHS]

Of course between now and next Friday, the weather forecasters will change their forecast. Right now, the Weatherbug app is showing Thursday and Friday as having a low at or below freezing. Daytime highs are 40F and up.

 

[Alaskansnowbirds]

Take it from an Alaskan.....you have to get well down into the below zero temperatures before LP stops flowing, like -44F. BTDT.

 

[Mountain high]

You'll have to go to another planet for propane to freeze at -306.4F. Uranus average temperature is -320F.

 

[Isaac-1]

Responding to Judy and Isaac: it's in storage about a mile from the house. I think what I'll do is bring it home and run a little heater on an extension cord. No power at the storage lot.

Maybe get the coach over-warm inside for an hour or two my last two hours awake Thursday night?

And thank you both. (When did it get to 12F in Louisiana? Up in Nawth Louisiana?)

I think it was 2 years ago, hit 12F on 2 nights a few days apart, which tied our 50 year low record in west central Louisiana about 85 miles inland.

 

[Wasillaguy]

Ran a maintenance contract for the USCG for 2 decades, keeping propane fired generators running on Alaskan mountaintops.
The propane doesn't freeze, but if it has moisture in it (and it all has some), that water will collect in the low spot of the line going to appliances. If there's enough of it, it can constrict or cut off the gas flow. In certain conditions it can also condense on the diaphragm of the regulator. A small amount of ethanol added when filling tanks helps dissipate the water in permanent tanks. If a smaller tank exhibits the problem, it can be purged by your local propane supplier.
The problem can be difficult to diagnose, as a small amount of propane often is able to seep past the blockage. Over time, pressure will equalize on the appliance side again if it is not operating. Then, when the appliance is turned on it works normally until the pressure downstream of the blockage drops. Appliance gets starved of fuel and faults out, but by the time someone addresses the issue, the pressure has recovered again.

 

[Dan_Frisbie]

Amazingly little ole Pensacola is predicted to have 12 degree temperature around 6 a.m. next Friday, and be below freezing for over 40 continuous hours. In prep, I know to
--drain the fresh water system including the heater
--make sure the batteries are at full charge
--check the antifreeze level in the main engine and the generator (how? hydrometer?)

What else? The heater in the plumbing bay doesn't work. Do I need to put a shore power heater in there?

Anything more? 2006 Monaco Cayman 36, out in the open but sandwiched between other rigs and not subject to significant crosswinds.

24 degrees with a wind chill of 12.
It is NOT predicted to be 12 degrees F next week.

 

[steveblonde]

We are still bbqing at -20c or -5 f

 

[Dan_Frisbie]

We are still bbqing at -20c or -5 f

When I lived in Maine, my neighbors all thought that I was crazy because I fired up the grill year-round. According to them, gilling was a Summer activity.
Getting charcoal was the hard part... If I didn't stock up enough in September, it was hard to find in stores...

 

[Mountain high]

Another entire day at below freezing. Currently 9F.

I keep a 60 Watt incandescent drop light bulb on next to our N305 Norcold refrigerator pipes when it's off on our 2016 Starcraft. We've had issues with the ammonia gas pipes leaking or getting air bubbles after the gas freezing in below 0F. Flipping it over to burp it didn't work. Replaced the refrigerator twice at $1,000 each. Maybe I should do the same thing for our 2023 Outdoors RV refrigerator.

Also, have a heated dog bowl, ice gutter heater cables, and a 125W heat lamp on down in our well to keep the pressure tank and exposed pipes from freezing. The cold water faucet in the home kitchen is dripping due to it's connected to an outside faucet which has a freeze valve. Still at below 15F with the kitchen faucet off the cold water line below the sink floor would freeze solid. All outside hoses are disconnected and drained.

 

[Rene T]

When I lived in Maine, my neighbors all thought that I was crazy because I fired up the grill year-round. According to them, gilling was a Summer activity.
Getting charcoal was the hard part... If I didn't stock up enough in September, it was hard to find in stores...

Where in Maine Dan? I’m in Farmington NH.

 

[PerroSucio]

I have a vertical 100 lb. propane tank that I use to run a small propane heater. In -20C and below temps in Manitoba, I wrap an electric battery blanket around the bottom of the tank or else the heater keeps quitting. That advice came from the propane supplier that I bought the tank from. It works !!

 

[SeilerBird]

Move to Florida.

 

[DutchmenSport]

When I lived in Maine, ...
Getting charcoal was the hard part... If I didn't stock up enough in September, it was hard to find in stores...

We've been BBQing in the winter for the last ... well ... all our married life (37 years). We don't use charcoal. We use real wood. We don't have any problems with supply and demand for that. I can't remember the last time we used charcoal. We also have a fire pit at home and a fire place in the house we use for primary heat in the winter. So, we go through a lot of fire wood. Charcoal? Nah! don't need it.

We had a couple gas grills over the years. Eventually got rid of them. Stuck with fire wood. Yea, ashes are a bit messy, but so are the ashes for charcoal too.

 

[DutchmenSport]

Regarding the orignal poster's question about cold weather. In my opinion, I don't like to play Russian Roulette when it comes to my camper. I've invested too much money, time, work, and effort into it. Especially my money! And lots and lots of time fixing and keeping it nice.

I'm sure, you do the same with yours too. NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO CHEAP OUT OR LOOK FOR SHORT CUTS. In the long run, it could cost you dearly on water leak problems, both the fresh water system and the drain system.

Do the smart thing. You've invested your time and money into this RV. You are paying dearly for storing it. So, what another $10 for RV antifreeze? You've got a LOT of money already invested into your camper, and you are going to invest a lot more before it's all over too.

So, just do the smart thing and get it winterized properly. Getting cheap or looking for a short cut is NOT a smart thing to do when dealing with freezing temperatures (even if the freezing temperatures is a short time).

If you were actively using your camper during this time, that would be a different matter. But the fact you have yours in storage and not operational (not even any electricity), then you REALLY have no other alternative.

Do it! Winterize, and do it right! Otherwise, you will pay a much higher price in the near future for water problem repairs.

Edit: sorry if I sound like I'm "barking" at you. But in a way I am. I just get so danged angered when I see folks investing so much time and money into their RV's and then try to go the cheap route when it comes to towing safety, propane safety, electric safety, and winterizing protection. They'll spend an absolute fortune for a lawn chair, but put on the cheapest tires they humanity ever made. Priorities are all wrong! That's why I'm barking! (sorry for the rant!)