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Old 01-29-2011, 03:33 PM   #1
navybanker
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Cold Traveling

First trip in really cold weather and looking for advice. Headed to Tucson through Arkansas and Texas (I40,30,20 and then 10). The forecast is two nights with lows of 17 in Texas . The highs will be in the 30's for two traveling days. We are winterized leaving Tennessee but hope to use full hookups first stop in Arkansas and not rewinterize. Planning on using full hookup campgrounds all the way. Our plan is disconnect and drain the city water hose and make sure the sewer hose is empty at night. Will run the furnace at night. We are hoping this "artic package" on our new Montana will do the rest! Any other suggestions?
 
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Old 01-30-2011, 01:46 AM   #2
bncinwv
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Not telling you it is the right thing to do, but when we travel in very cold temperatures we set the furnace on 60 degrees and run it while in transit. If you elect to do this, it is advised to turn the propane off when fueling and check the locations of your heater vents with the slides retracted. We never had an issue with our 3400 other than I blocked off the rear heating vent with tin foil since we relocated our sofa to the back window. I repeat, this is not advice, but I am merely telling you what we did when traveling in cold weather. Our reasoning was that the cat and dog traveled in crates in the rig!
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Old 01-30-2011, 03:02 AM   #3
Mrs. CountryGuy
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Not sure I would un-winterize. Baby wipes, restuarants and a few jugs of water to flush with have been our choices during really chilly weather.

If you must (and we understand! ) suggest using the fresh water tank, fill it, run pump, drain hose.

If you are only staying one night at each stop, hooking up that sewer and hose and electric and all that, a lot of work when you are tired and drove way toooooo many miles that day. We might do that every other night, but, not each and every stop.

Find what works for you.

Have fun! Enjoy the new rig.
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Old 01-30-2011, 03:33 AM   #4
boylanag
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We just came through weather like that getting to Florida from Michigan and only unhooked outside water hose at night, if we even connected it in the first place. Like Carol above, we also carry a couple of jugs of water to flush the toilet with when we have no operating water. We also use small ceramic electric heaters to heat the inside at night when traveling. This saves propane and is uncluded in the nightly camping fee. If really cold at night, may turn furnace on low to shoot some warm air into basement but, otherwise, you should be good to go with your package. Enjoy your journey!
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Old 01-30-2011, 03:34 AM   #5
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Carol is a wise cookie, I concur.
Bingo is a wise cookie as well....
Carol nd Jim, didn't see your post as I was posting, but good advice also.
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Old 01-30-2011, 03:48 AM   #6
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Navybanker please post your results as we have considered the same trip from middle Tennesse.
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Old 01-30-2011, 05:58 AM   #7
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We also are planning on winter travel, in fact leaving Western NY heading for Cincinnati Thursday 2/3/11(one of many stops on our way to Florida) Just to be somewhat safe, I had some old RV Anti-freeze (2 gallons) we are going to use as a flush and I am not de-winterizing until we get to North Carolina Feb 12 or 13. Furness I am going to run maybe last hour of the trip to start getting it warm to set up. I had asked about traveling with the furness on and got some very wonderful advise.
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Old 01-30-2011, 10:07 AM   #8
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We came across the lower midwest in Dec. Morning temps around 15, Did not hook up to water, used jugs for flushing and bottled water. If you use campgrounds in the winter that are open they all have shower facilities, etc that you can use. we did keep the furnace on at 55 so that the basement would have some heat. Nothing froze, we were very pleased with the zero package. we filled the fresh water tank after we got to VA and then unhooked the outside hose, it got down to 20 and nothing froze. It was never above freezing anytime we were traveling, and even after we got to VA it was below or slightly above freezing
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Old 01-30-2011, 10:27 AM   #9
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A lot of good advice. Now, convince DW to use the facilities at the campgrounds! Could consider running furnace during the day some. We are still checking more southern routes but from W Tn directly south to 10 and across La and Tx is a lot farther. This cold spell is going way south! As usual, Texas is going to have strong winds and cold. There is a chance of snow in Arkansas Tuesday night. But, probably not a lot. LOL. We are familar with the CGs going the direct route but not below Jackson, Ms and beyond (I 55 and 10) before you arrive in New Mexico. I will try to remember to respond once arriving in Tucson. Thanks,
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Old 01-30-2011, 10:49 AM   #10
c214dick
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We also agree with Mrs Country Guy but we use a couple of gals of CHEAP windshield washer solvent for flushing and drink the water we carry.
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Old 01-30-2011, 12:20 PM   #11
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We travel from NW Montana to Phoenix and Yuma. I de-winterize before we leave, I put about 30 gals of water on board, with 10 gal in the HWT, 2 in the lines, leaving 18 gal to run things on. In the north most CG's that are open have their water systems turned off at the camp site but usually have an accessible tap somewhere, same with sewer hookups. I will usually cycle the hot water before we leave so things there don't freeze. We then travel with the furnace set at either 45 or 50 depending on the weather. I usually wait to dump until the last night because usually we are heading to a dry camp. We have traveled this way with temps reaching 0 deg without issues.
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Old 01-30-2011, 01:56 PM   #12
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For the comments about using antifreeze to flush, you can do that, and I get it, but thought I would share with you that we have left home at 4 below, traveled 400 miles and it was still only 17 degrees. We used water for the toilet and there were no issues with it freezing. That year we were not running the furnace during the day, my olive oil solidified, but, eventually thawed out and was useable!

The next year, we ran the furnace at 45 during the day, as I had my houseplants in the trailer. All was fine. But, that has NOTHING to do with flushing and sub comfy temps.

If you feel safer using antifreeze of some sort to flush, by all means do so, just thought I would share our experiences with plain ole cheap water.

Safe rides ALL, may your toilet never be so cold you cannot deal with sitting on it! EWWWW, BRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

On edit, forgot to say, something we never ever do is drive in snow, first for safety issues, second for all that nasty salt and other road stuff that can and does rust the frame. That's our way, just sharing. Again, be careful out there!
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Old 01-30-2011, 04:54 PM   #13
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We started our travel from Ontario Canada down to Tucson December 26th so there were several cold nights on route. The best thing we have added to the Monty was a Sunbeam mattress pad heater. It takes a while to get the temperature up each night with the furnace and electric heaters and the mattress still seams cold. The mattress heater takes about 15 minutes from the time you turn it on. The trailer can still be frosty but the bed will be warm as toast. We also have a down filled comforter. It doesn't take much power and one night we didn't have hook-ups so used the Honda 2000. With the low power draw from the mattress heater the Honda ran 10 hours on econo mode and had fuel to spare.
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Old 02-04-2011, 06:35 AM   #14
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For quite a few years we've left the Kansas City area in either January or December when it's well below freezing. Once it was 12 F. We just drain the hoses and put them away, set the furnace on 45, and go. Never had a problem.

As for your overnight stays, running the furnace enough to keep the pipes warm in the basement is enough. The furnace does not have to run a lot. We run two electric heaters in the living room with fans on low and thermostats pretty high. We run another electric heater in the bedroom. Furnace is set at 60 at night. And we have no freezing problems.

On the older rigs with low point drain valves hanging below the belly, those will freeze in the exposed area above the valves. If cold enough (say low 20's and lower) those can freeze enough for ice to climb up into the belly and block the tee joint where the low point drains tee into their respective water lines. A hairdryer will thaw them out. On our 2003 Montana I wrapped a small heat tape around them and then wrapped insulation around that and duct taped to hold everything in place. We left it that way year round for 3 years and never had any more problem and never lost the heat tape. Just remember to plug in the heat tape in cold weather! We found just insulating without the heat tape only gained us a few degrees.

Dave and Ivy, we also have a heated mattress pad. Same brand as yours, I think. I love it. If I were doing it again, though, I'd spend a few more bucks for the model that heats the lower(feet) section more than the upper section.
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Old 02-04-2011, 08:16 AM   #15
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Dave and Ivy/Brother Steve and Vickie-- You guys need to toughen up some! Heated mattress pad are for the warm country people!!
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Old 02-04-2011, 01:09 PM   #16
sreigle
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Huh? Warm country people need heated mattress pads? We're in warm country that has forgotten, temporarily I hope, that it's supposed to be warm. I'm getting a kick out of the news and weather people exclaiming the "frigid" weather. Gee, the forecast was for 29 last night although it did get a bit chillier than that.

Dave and Ivy, I have myself calendared for an hour before bedtime, every night, to go up and turn on the mattress pad! No need to wait at bedtime for it to warm up!
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Old 02-05-2011, 03:23 PM   #17
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Recumbent:

We traveled south to Brookhaven, Ms, to Lake Charles, La then to San Antonio. Rain all the way to Brookhaven. Ice and snow predicted for Lake Charles so moved on to San Antonio. SA received about a 1/4 inch of ice then snow on top. I 10 closed until noon and could not get out of campground until noon due to ice on hill out of park. Arrived in Ft. Stockton and the campground well was frozen! We used fresh water tank for most of the trip and unhooked water hose at night. We are now in Deming, New Mexico and the CG is having water problems at night due to freezing so filled the fresh water tank again and disconnected the hose. Only 215 miles to Tucson tomorrow. Tucson set a record low of 15 the other night but is forecast for near 70 tomorrow. We wish you warmer weather on your trip. Montana is proforming well and we are learning more.
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