brrrrr

noralee

noralee

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2012
Posts
405
Location
asheville
well, i thought i was ready to relax and enjoy the snow, and now with this extreme storm and cold i see that i still have things to work on. the snow is beautiful, and my camper is coming along. nearly done with the inside projects and will post pictures soon.

since it's been in the teens the last couple days, my waste tanks are frozen, and my hot water line is frozen. the bottom of the camper has been skirted to some extent. still working out how to cover the waste area so that i can have access to the drains.

i remember folks saying that they put a heat source under the camper. i'm not sure how much the heat strips cost,or if they are effective if the camper is not 100percent skirted, but i was thinking of putting a light under there.

i haven't had these freezing problems before, so i'm guessing as long as it hits above 30 in the day it will be fine. but for these storms and cold times, i need a solution, especially for hot water !!! any thoughts appreciated. thank u!
 
Try putting some 150 Watt incandescent light bulbs under the trailer. They are cheap and do put off some heat. Also try and get the trailer skirted even if its only with contractors plastic. Looks tacky but blocks the wind.

You can also wrap your water lines with heat tape.
 
thanks hiller4. back to lowes...

how is it possible for the hot water to freeze up? i can't get any hot water, or cold water even through the hot water lines. it's on, the pilot is on, the water has heated up, and the lines coming from water heater are hot. how could it be frozen somewhere else if all my lines are indoor? this makes it difficult for me to be here, no washing up, no dishes...i just can't think of a place where the water wouldn't be unfrozen by the hot water coming through, so don't see how this blockage could occur.
 
You might try leaving cabinet doors open to allow heat to water lines. Even though the cabinets are inside the TT they are not heated spaces. Leaving the doors open will allow heat into the cabinet and maybe thaw your lines. You might try using the hairdryer to thaw the water lines. Aim at any water lines you can see and follow the lines into any hidden spaces.

The hot water will only heat when it is flowing so your hot lines froze. Then the frozen water in the lines act like plugs to stop the water from flowing.
 
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yes, i followed the pipes and it seems that the pipes going through the bathroom subfloor are frozen. unfortunately there is not an easy way to reach that area so i'll have to work on it.

thanks!
 
It's not unusual up here for people to use one of the rocket ship kerosene heaters under the skirting of a trailer to keep pipes from freezing or to thaw their pipes. They just stick it in one end and heat the entire underneath. It was -23.7 this morning when I got up glad I'm not living in a camper! I think if this keeps up you may have to buy some heat tape. If your water is not running the lines will cool off fast in very cold weather just leave the taps on ever so slightly just a slight drip will do to keep the water moving. Do you have enough snow to shovel it against any skirting you might have?
 
"N" .We are reading a lot of your comments/ conditions all up the east coast.. SOme with recent camper purchase & some full timer or single people visit or full time during this very cold snap... I agree with all the prior comments.. I have three different space heaters that can be hand carried room to room for temp usage.. My BASIC one foot by one foot knob dial / thermostat setting is a great quick blast of heat with fan for hobby projects. Almost known as a under the desk secretary size / model , may see in thrift stores, etc. ..2) It almost seems you need to hand pour your water out of a gallon bottle, or two gallon jug for extreme temps.. Leave on your counter top . & HEAT your water in pot on stove top.. .. Can mix 1/2 & 1/2 to wash or shampoo in a pinch . ?
 
well, i got home today and all of the hot water lines had thawed. leaving the cabinets open helped that. my grey tank also thawed and drained. i brought home an incandescent light for under the camper at the waste tanks (all of my water lines are inside, also for the folks reading this that don't know, my camper is only 11 ft long, so the furnace and/or a space heater is plenty of heat inside. i'm toasty.).

unfortunately, the black tank has not thawed, and i have not been able to dump it. i'm hoping the incandescent and some extra skirting is enough to thaw that by morning so i can use the toilet!! then, i'm hoping that even in the extreme weather we'll have in the few days following i will have enough warmth thoughout to keep everything from freezing. not sure what else to use on the black tank if this new setup doesn't work...ideas?

by the way, this will be the coldest yet, on tuesday. actually the coldest i've ever been in period at -2. see how it goes...luckily it's only 2 days, then back to moderate cold at 20s at night and 30-55 in the day. not too bad.

@split, a few weeks ago when i had the first big freeze here, i was without water (i've sinced re-piped so all well pipes are underground) and as a precaution i filled up 6 gallon water jugs to be sure that i'd always have water available. well, now when it's cold, those jugs freeze too, ;p but my water has been fine since we repiped underground. phew
 
You may need to get a electric tank heater installed. We have them on all three of our tanks. Ours were ordered from the factory, but they make them aftermarket. They are basically pads that stick on the tank and I believe they are available in 12 volts or 120 volts. We've had ours out in temps where all are neighbors froze solid and we had no problems at all.
 
U can try pouring a gallon or so of rv antifreeze into your black water tank to help thaw. Also keep antifreeze in tank to keep from freezing
 
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jim44646 said:
U can try pouring a gallon or so of rv antifreeze into your black water tank to help thaw. Also keep antifreeze in tank to keep from freezing
Click to expand...

is that safe with happy camper? more specific, does happy camper still work with antifreeze? and is that safe for a septic tank?
 
noralee said:
is that safe with happy camper? more specific, does happy camper still work with antifreeze? and is that safe for a septic tank?
Click to expand...
I've read the pink RV stuff is biodegradable and safe for septic systems. As for using antifreeze and happy camper ??? I do know formaldehyde in holding tank chemicals isn't good for septic systems. If weather cold enough may not need happy camper.
 
MACK C-85 said:
You may need to get a electric tank heater installed. We have them on all three of our tanks. Ours were ordered from the factory, but they make them aftermarket. They are basically pads that stick on the tank and I believe they are available in 12 volts or 120 volts. We've had ours out in temps where all are neighbors froze solid and we had no problems at all.
Click to expand...

I agree with this ideal ^ pouring antifreeze in a frozen tank won't thaw it. The propylene glycol is designed to be used full strength as it is already a mix so mixing it with water will reduce its antifreeze capabilities pretty quickly and it can get expensive fast.
 
it started to thaw slowly, too slowly. i put a space heater under camper and finished the skirting. it's still not draining fully, but it's down a bit. not enough since the storm is coming in the morning for 2 days. i've been flushing boiling water down toilet to help melt, but not sure how much it's doing once it's mixed w/regular water.

so frustrating!! maybe the heater will keep it from gettinig worse and i'll just have to deal with it if there are bad cold fronts. not sure i have a budget right now for a tank heater pad.
 
Noralee, You might try using a heat gun or hair dryer on the dump valves. With you putting hot water into the tank you could have the tank melted but again there is a ice plug in the pipe. Heat the pipe from the side of the tank to the ground. that should allow the tank to drain better as the waste inside the tank melts.
 
ok, so i'm not sure what the problem is at this point. it was warm today, above 45 all day with some rain. and i had the heater going and i could tell from the end of the tank i could see that it had melted by tonight.

i did some poking around and either 1) there is still frozen stuff in the top part of the toilet valve before it opens into the tank, or 2) i stupidly and not thinking put several tissues, not septic friendly, into the toilet when i ran out of toilet paper. so if that's the case, that there's a plug of 'stuff' in the toilet valve how do i get it out? i did the obviuos and stuck a long stick and messed with it a while, but it did not release. i'm so worried now that i've plugged the toilet, yikes! how do i fix this? tomorrow the record breaking freeze comes and i don't want to have to use the outdoors :(
 
there is a cleaning wand to use on the black tank. A piece of plastic pipe that is capped and has a small hole. Hook this to the water hose to wash inside the black tank with a stream of pressurized water. If you have created a dam of some kind maybe that steam of water will blast it away.

How to Use a Flush Wand - AOL On
 
thanks for that jim-bev.
i have been using a long curved stick and it will go all the way down into the tank from what i can tell, but nothing's happening. the water, or at least some water is filled all the way to the top of the toilet valve. so, when you flush and 'open' the top of tank you see the water and it looks like the tank is filled all the way to top. i was thinking of getting an auger tomorrow, but i'm not sure that it's going to work better than the stick i'm using. the stick has a pretty good end and i can feel it's moving around fine, just not providing a release.

not sure what the next best move is to try.
 
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