Montana Owners Club - Keystone Montana 5th Wheel Forum - View Single Post

sreigle · 02-17-2006, 04:55 PM

Pep1977, I got your PM but apparently too late to help you. Below is what I put in that PM. If you can tell us some things about your Montana maybe we can help you avoid further freezeups. For example, what year is it? Does it have low point drains in the basement storage area or under the belly? If in the basement storage area, they'll be near the door. There will be two lines close together with drain valves. If not in the basement then you'll see them hanging under the belly. There would be a single line that is the drain for the fresh water tank and two lines together that are the low point drains. They all have caps or valves to drain them. If below the belly, these are the first thing to freeze.

The furnace ducts into the belly and provides plenty of heat to keep things from freezing in the belly. We've been down to 8 degrees F without freezing anything. I think we could get lower than that without freezing. We had other times we froze up this winter but that was through my screwup. Anyhow, you need to make sure the furnace runs enough to keep heat in the belly. It does not have to run continously. If you have it set on 55 to 60 or above you'll be fine. When below 27 degrees or so for more than four hours, do not run electric heaters where they can keep the thermostat from triggering the furnace or the furnace won't run enough (one of my screwups this winter).

You did the right thing cranking the furnace and getting this thawed out. If it happens again you might take a hairdryer to the low point drains first, assuming those drains are outside.

I'm glad to hear you're out of the woods. Now let's see if we can keep you from getting in those woods again.

02-17-2006, 04:55 PM	#8
sreigle Montana Master Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Oceanside Posts: 20,028 M.O.C. #20	Pep1977, I got your PM but apparently too late to help you. Below is what I put in that PM. If you can tell us some things about your Montana maybe we can help you avoid further freezeups. For example, what year is it? Does it have low point drains in the basement storage area or under the belly? If in the basement storage area, they'll be near the door. There will be two lines close together with drain valves. If not in the basement then you'll see them hanging under the belly. There would be a single line that is the drain for the fresh water tank and two lines together that are the low point drains. They all have caps or valves to drain them. If below the belly, these are the first thing to freeze. The furnace ducts into the belly and provides plenty of heat to keep things from freezing in the belly. We've been down to 8 degrees F without freezing anything. I think we could get lower than that without freezing. We had other times we froze up this winter but that was through my screwup. Anyhow, you need to make sure the furnace runs enough to keep heat in the belly. It does not have to run continously. If you have it set on 55 to 60 or above you'll be fine. When below 27 degrees or so for more than four hours, do not run electric heaters where they can keep the thermostat from triggering the furnace or the furnace won't run enough (one of my screwups this winter). You did the right thing cranking the furnace and getting this thawed out. If it happens again you might take a hairdryer to the low point drains first, assuming those drains are outside. I'm glad to hear you're out of the woods. Now let's see if we can keep you from getting in those woods again.