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Old 10-15-2018, 05:03 PM   #21
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Axis 25.6
State: New York
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What about now when temp could drop below 32deg.

I am new to RV-ing, thus my question
What do you do when the RV is parked for several days and temperatures may drop below 32 deg at night? However, the weather is still good enough not to winterize it.

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Old 10-15-2018, 06:25 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TomaszL View Post
I am new to RV-ing, thus my question
What do you do when the RV is parked for several days and temperatures may drop below 32 deg at night? However, the weather is still good enough not to winterize it.

If you are using it youre ok. If it gets really cold, 30 or below I empty the grey water tank and the black water tank every night. A word of caution about the black tank. Repeated dumping of an almost empty tank may cause the solids to build up. Might be better to just put some antifreeze in it if its not at least 1/3 full instead of dumping.


Be sure the water heater is on. By on I also mean the little off/on switch in the WH outside compartment. Our demand heaters have a temp sensor that turns on the flame to prevent them from freezing even when it is turned off inside. Conversely BE SURE this is set to off for winter storage ESPECIALLY if you blow out the lines instead of running antifreeze thru them. Don't want the flame to come on with the tank empty.


If in doubt pump some RV antifreeze thru the system Only takes a gallon or two max. Don't forget to run some RV antifreeze thru the sink and shower drain traps also



Since you are new to all of this are you aware of the water tank bypass valve and pipe stub for antifreeze entry?
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Old 10-15-2018, 06:45 PM   #23
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Model: Axis 24.1 Windjammer
State: Illinois
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Nothing enjoy your unit. Set a bottle of water out watch it freeze... it won't.
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Old 10-15-2018, 08:06 PM   #24
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Keep in mind that when its forecast to go to 32 overnight it doesn't do that at the stroke of midnight. It takes all night to get down that far and thus isn't likely to be at freezing long enough to cause any problems.

If you're using the unit I wouldn't worry; just leave the furnace on. If its in storage you could leave the furnace on set to low (make sure your batteries are charged up and visit in the morning to charge them backup--if you're not plugged in). Of course if it is plugged in you could also use some small electric heaters to keep it above freezing--set them all on low; don't need it 72f in there.
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Old 10-15-2018, 08:22 PM   #25
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thank you
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Old 10-15-2018, 08:43 PM   #26
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Camped where the temps dropped into the low 20's overnight with the heat pads on and never had any problems. Had elec. heater going to keep the interior cabin heated. Very seldom fire up the furnace due to heavy use of propane.
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Old 10-16-2018, 06:34 PM   #27
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Originally Posted by Lbatt View Post
We plan to do some traveling this winter and wondering what others do to winterize in between trips. We're in W. Colorado, supposedly not severe cold, but still down into the teens at times. Don't want do the antifreeze thing and then have to clean it out to take a trip, then winterize again.

We're thinking of adding a couple of 1500W space heaters, on low, so would be about 1500W total , running off 120v and 20 am fuse at the house. leaving the cabinet doors open to the fresh tanks, bathroom and water heater. the black and grey are on the other side and not accessible from the inside.

And what about camping where it is cold.... but we're in the coach...does the warm ambient air inside keep everything from freezing?
Hi Lbatt, We also live in an area that often gets into the teens during portions of the winter. We found on a previous RV that water will freeze in the pump and lines at that temperature. We were fortunate in that case, caught the problem right away and didn't have any damage to the pump, or any broken lines. Now we are very careful about winterizing. We dump any fresh water, by-pass the water heater, and open and dump the water heater. I installed the antifreeze kit into the plug that is in the wet bay, and is made for that access. I think your wet bay is the same as in our ACE 29.3. Using the antifreeze kit and water pump, we can complete a winterizing process in about 10 minutes. Place the clear tube into a jug of antifreeze, go inside, turn on the pump and start opening water taps one at a time, until each one runs pink. Then dump some antifreeze into the black and gray tanks. When we travel in the winter, it is generally not with the intent of staying in the cold, but until we reach warmer areas with the plan to stay there for a while, we travel with jugs of water inside the unit, and use antifreeze as a chaser after putting plain water into either tank. Then when we do arrive at a warmer area, it is a simple procedure to hook up to city water, and just run the taps until water is clear, then unbypass the water heater, put the plug in, and fill. Again, we can do this in about 10 minutes. Then, easy process to reverse the procedure when we return home. Or you can blow out the lines if you have the proper equipment, as was suggested by another member. We find it easier to just use the antifreeze method, because we don't have to haul out the air compressor, run it up to pressure, then drain the tank, and all that rigamarole!
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Old 10-16-2018, 06:39 PM   #28
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lbatt View Post
We plan to do some traveling this winter and wondering what others do to winterize in between trips. We're in W. Colorado, supposedly not severe cold, but still down into the teens at times. Don't want do the antifreeze thing and then have to clean it out to take a trip, then winterize again.

We're thinking of adding a couple of 1500W space heaters, on low, so would be about 1500W total , running off 120v and 20 am fuse at the house. leaving the cabinet doors open to the fresh tanks, bathroom and water heater. the black and grey are on the other side and not accessible from the inside.

And what about camping where it is cold.... but we're in the coach...does the warm ambient air inside keep everything from freezing?
Hi Lbatt, We also live in an area that often gets into the teens during portions of the winter. We found on a previous RV that water will freeze in the pump and lines at that temperature. We were fortunate in that case, caught the problem right away and didn't have any damage to the pump, or any broken lines. Now we are very careful about winterizing. We dump any fresh water, by-pass the water heater, and open and dump the water heater. I installed the antifreeze kit into the plug that is in the wet bay, and is made for that access. I think your wet bay is the same as in our ACE 29.3. Using the antifreeze kit and water pump, we can complete a winterizing process in about 10 minutes. Place the clear tube into a jug of antifreeze, go inside, turn on the pump and start opening water taps one at a time, until each one runs pink. Then dump some antifreeze into the black and gray tanks. When we travel in the winter, it is generally not with the intent of staying in the cold, but until we reach warmer areas with the plan to stay there for a while, we travel with jugs of water inside the unit, and use antifreeze as a chaser after putting plain water into either tank. Then when we do arrive at a warmer area, it is a simple procedure to hook up to city water, and just run the taps until water is clear, then unbypass the water heater, put the plug in, and fill. Again, we can do this in about 10 minutes. Then, easy process to reverse the procedure when we return home. Or you can blow out the lines if you have the proper equipment, as was suggested by another member. We find it easier to just use the antifreeze method, because we don't have to haul out the air compressor, run it up to pressure, then drain the tank, and all that rigamarole! I have not used the heat pads yet, as we have not done prolonged camping in really cold areas. But am fairly certain that space heaters will not keep things from freezing. Especially with the amount of lines that we have in areas outside of the coach. Our pump is in the wet bay, which even though it is the area where the heat pads are on the bottom of the tanks, I don't think that is considered a heated bay.
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Old 10-18-2018, 07:28 PM   #29
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Model: Chanteau
State: Arizona
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We have a C class E31 Chateau, I’m pretty sure all our water lines are inside in a heated space, so...... if we’re in a cold climate and keep the inside warm, lines shouldn’t freeze, theoretical, right?
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Old 09-02-2020, 06:27 PM   #30
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Ceramic heater at dump valves

Just an added thought to an old post.


I had to go up to Thor for some repairs in December. Got caught in a cold/snow event. I was staying at Thor's camping facility without water and sewer. I bought a little 200 watt ceramic heater and put it in the Vegas sewer dump area. Worked like a champ. I added a remote temp sensor and nothing came close to freezing.



I am now considering adding some 12 heater strips to the valves and elbows before winter just for peace of mind.
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