Dealing with cold weather

[Jimbo0247]

Extreme cold weather forecast for this week in N. Alabama. Any advice on keeping everything operating? I do live in the unit fulltime; this is my first experience with this type of weather.

2021 Montana 3781RL
2017 GMC 3500 dually

Thanks Jimbo

[mlh]

First what is cold weather in Alabama? That is going to be different than in North Dakota or Florida or here in western Virginia.
Lynwood

[Jimbo0247]

The forecast calls for temps below freezing for 80 straight hours. Highs in upper teens to low 20's, lows possible single digits to lower teens and wind gusts up to 20 to 30 mph.
Jimbo

[AZ Traveler]

Jimbo,

Run your furnace to keep the underbelly warm. Turn your tank heaters on. Fill your fresh water tank then disconnect and drain the hose and use your internal water pump. If you have a heated hose you may skip that step. If needed run your fireplace or add portable gas or electric heaters. Wear a sweater if needed. Your rig will handle those temps well.

[rohrmann]

Make sure you have full propane tanks, you need the fresh water tank full and when the cold gets there, turn off water to the rig and disconnect the water hose. Do not have water draining from your waste tanks as the drain hoses will just freeze solid. Some years ago, we experienced temps in the teens and below for weeks, and had nothing freeze but used a 7 gallon tank of propane every two days keeping the furnace going. You will be fine if you do these steps.

[Jimbo0247]

Thanks for the information, makes me feel better about the situation.
Merry Christmas everyone. Jimbo

[Jimbo0247]

Well, I did everything that was suggested. I use a heated hose, ran the furnace and used the tank heaters. I believe the 30-mph wind gust and single digit temps were the worst, the water did freeze. After a couple of days everything returned to normal although the temps were still below freezing. I left the camper Sunday morning about 9:30 am with the temps in the 20's, warming to the mid 30's. Late that afternoon a severe water leak occurred, as it turned out the water pump was pouring water. I did not use the freshwater tank or pump, but it was pouring water. Now I'm out to find a pump to replaced it. Flojet model 35026144.

[AZ Traveler]

Originally Posted by Jimbo0247

Well, I did everything that was suggested. I use a heated hose, ran the furnace and used the tank heaters. I believe the 30-mph wind gust and single digit temps were the worst, the water did freeze. After a couple of days everything returned to normal although the temps were still below freezing. I left the camper Sunday morning about 9:30 am with the temps in the 20's, warming to the mid 30's. Late that afternoon a severe water leak occurred, as it turned out the water pump was pouring water. I did not use the freshwater tank or pump, but it was pouring water. Now I'm out to find a pump to replaced it. Flojet model 35026144.

May not have happened if you were running water out of your fresh tank vice keeping the hose hooked up.

[DutchmenSport]

We all learn things the hard way it seems. But the important thing is, we learn from "it". You are gaining valuable knowledge and experience that you'll benefit from for a long, long time.

Suggestion for finding a replacement water pump, if time is essential.... find the closest RV dealership and check out their parts store. Almost every RV shop / parts department will have water pumps. You may even find one you like better than the one you are anticipating.

If you have "time" and are at an appropriate location, there is always Amazon. If I were in your shoes though, I'd find an RV dealership first and start there. Again, any dealership should have water pumps on hand.

Good luck!

[Daryles]

Water pumps can also be found at a local farm supply store. They are used for transfer pumps, sprayer pumps etc.
You want something rated for 12vdc, maybe 7 amps or so. 55psi and 3 to 5 gallons per minute.