Full Timing in the Winter

[huckle7berry]

Well I guess I'll put in my two-cents worth. I have a 2004 bigsky & we winter in N.W. Montana. I skirt the trailer with 1 1/2" foam board & put
two 75 watt lights underneath. I also get a wired thermometer & put it underneath so I can keep an eye on the temperature underneath from inside. also put a light in the basement. We use electric heaters inside
with a De-Humidifier which keeps the moisture down & heat in. Our humidity usually runs around 32-42%, which helps save the inside of the trailer from mildew. Make sure you go through the door as fast as you can. Gawking at the door will cool it down inside FAST!! It's not uncommon to see -20 to -30 up here. Spending winters up north is what seperates the men from the boys. GOOD-LUCK

[dsprik]

Thanks, Huckle7berry. Good ideas! What Montana model do you have?

[Montana_1424]

Thanks for all the great ideas. I am trying to avoid heat tape on EVERY water line, but plan on insulating all of them and heat taping the low point drains. The good thing is, I only have to do this for this winter, as our new house will be complete in April or May, so I do not need perminant modifications, but need functional ones. I think will a mixture of some of the ideas here, I can get something to work, insulation, foam in the belly gaps. The nice thing, is I will be parked in the Inlaws driveway, between 2 houses, so the draft should be kept to a minimum. Again, thanks for the tips, and if anyone has anymore, please share them with me, I would like my untiil to last until spring so I can put it back up for sale LOL

[sreigle]

Ed, I leave the heat tape on the low point drains year round. It is covered with insulation and duct tape and the cord is wrapped and strapped to a nearby location so it doesn't hang down. It survived since last winter just fine and worked soon as I plugged it in this winter. Just a suggestion, if you don't want to unwrap it each winter.

I also use a winterized/heat taped water hose and I heat taped the parks water line. That one I'll remove when we pull out of here.

[sreigle]

We've had two nights at 13F and today's high is projected to be 16. Our water lines are fine but this morning our nearly full black tank will not drain. We ran hot water into the gray tank then pulled the valve and it drained fine although I think it was a bit slow. I am thinking we have some blockage, possibly ice, in the dump line somewhere. I opened all three dump valves hoping it will work loose and the black tank did go down a few inches. Vicki is doing laundry and I see the gauge says the gray tank is 1/3 full so we'll have to watch that. I think it's draining, but slowly.

Awhile back I noticed that hole in the front locker that goes into the belly. There are wires going through there. Same place Prariepoodle had the fire. I plugged that hole with a rag. Now I'm wondering if that opening is necessary to relieve the pressure in the belly, although I don't think the bellypan is airtight. This morning I pulled that rag out. We had no problem with draining the past two winters so this is something new. Ufortunately, once frozen it is likely to remain frozen until the temperatures get a bit higher. We're not supposed to see temperatures above freezing until Saturday, four days from now. We may try more hot water in the gray tank and see if that will open it up.

[Montana_1424]

Well, here is what I did so far, I removed all the belly pans to find my water lines above the frame, tight to the bottom of the actuslly floor, I tried to squeeze some foan insulation around it with no sucess, no room, so I put the belly pans back. To my suprise, it is not sagging much at all, and I found very few openings, and the ones I did fine, I filled with expanding foam. I then insulated the water lines in my storage area in the front the best I could with foam insulation, I plan on putting a space heater in that area, through the laundry shute, to keep that area warm. As for the tanks, I have stocked up on Antifreeze, and i am hoping added some of that each time I dump, will keep it from freezing. That has yet to be seen. I plan on wrapping the low point drains in regular R-13 insulation and holding it on with Duct Tape.
We will have to see, I am hoping the water lines being tight against the floor, above the frame, and keeping air flow in the under belly at a minimum will keep them from freezing. BTW all, my unit is up for sale, if anyone is inteested in upgrading, or know anyone that would like a Montana. I know the new models coming out will be a bit more pricey, mine is a good buy.

[sreigle]

Ed, you must have one of the first ones they moved those water lines up on. I didn't realize they did that on the 2004's. That's good news for you. Those lines shouldn't freeze so long as you keep the furnace pumping heat into them frequently enough.

[richfaa]

After reading all the post on WINTER camping on the various forums we have come to two conclusions...1.The ability of the Human Animal to survive even under the most harsh of conditions is remarkable. 2.We will never, never ever expose ourselves to the kind of cold weather you brave and hardy campers have. It is as we speak 14.8 degrees outside with about 8 inches of snow on the ground.It is snowing and blowing right now.Earlier Helen had her nose pressed up against the front picture window looking out at the huge pile of snow under which our TV is buried and was muttering..never again..never again..never again.

[drifus]

O come on Winter RV'ing is fun, this is our first year. We're across the city from Steve R (Kansas City) and doing just fine here. Now that I have seen the cold temp (10's) I may skirt the RV to see if there is a difference, I am waiting for the ground to dry a little more first. Now we are expecting rain tonight.

[richfaa]

Keep us advised of the collective cold weather hardships that you folks are induring as a reminder to us of why the camper has wheels on it????? Our camper goes where the warm wind blows...

[Lstierw]

We do appreciate all of these informative posts on cold weather rving. It's helping us to not re-invent the wheel....Les

[dsprik]

Can you imagine not having access to all of the ideas and experiences this forum provides, and finding this stuff out on your own??? Makes me shiver without even being cold just thinking about it! Saying that this forum is invaluable is REALLY an understatement!!!

[Bob & Lee]

I was talking to some long time trailer owners and they told me they dont use skirting to open the belly and add more fiberglass insulation, checked at home depot and if I put 10" in the belly it would be a R-30 W/what is there now, and put insulation on all the water pipes and replace the low point drain w/freezless faucets and then insure it is sealed up tight, they only have heat tape on the main line from the park. There are two low point drains but is each one really two w/hot and cold? Has anyone tried this way of keeping warm.

[sreigle]

Update - The black tank was not frozen. Nor was it full as the indicator lights said. It turns out we had the dreaded pyramid of TP from putting a full roll of paper down the toilet into an empty tank with very little liquid (long story but legit). That pyramid caused the toilet downpipe to hold water rather than letting it drain into the tank. So the tank itself was pretty much still empty other than the paper.

We did have frozen dump pipes, the ones hanging below the belly. But that was my fault for leaving the gray valve open. The water froze at around 8 degrees F in the sewer hose and as water backed up into the downpipe it froze also. We're fully thawed now and fully functional. I have tissue digester working on that pyramid and will dump ice in that tank before we leave here Jan 2nd if I think there's still a partial pyramid in there. We got down to 10 the other night with no problems with freezing. But, then, I didn't make the dumb mistakes this time around. All valves are closed. Sewer hose is empty. Belly is fully buttoned up rather than being open on one corner.