Freezing Up - Lessons Learned

[jrgwdenner]

Welcome to the forum, mforsmann. If you stop overnite in really cold weather, some of the water might freeze. Others who travel from Canada or the northern states can tell you better, but I believe that they often wait until they're in warmer weather to fill the tanks and remove the winterizing stuff, not in that order, by the way.

Sometimes it's not safe to travel with water in your tank even in warm weather. Ours fell out when we were in the Yukon!

Dave, when we visited the Dog Sled training center in Denali none of the caretakers or rangers were anything but women. They take supplies into the park for the winter residents/scientists so they probably have a lot of trouble with frozen everything!

[CountryGuy]

Freezing weather, we are too lazy to put water in the holding tank to run. Lotso'work to do that when the hoses are frozen! BLAH. We run two days towards the south, till we get somewhere where it will be about 35 or more every night. Usually about Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas, etc. Then if the weather is favorable we put in water. Just easier for us to NOT have water and have to worry about freezing, etc. We have a plan that works for us, a little water to flush with, precooked foods, paper plates, lots of baby wipes, and run like the wind to get someplace warm! Last 2 years temps when we left Tipton, 3 above and 4 below. Too cold to fuss with water, load up Montana and get out of Dodge(err Tipton).

[dsprik]

quote:Originally posted by CountryGuy

We run two days towards the south, till we get somewhere where it will be about 35 or more every night. Usually about Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas, etc.

Maybe have to make it to Venezuela, Panama, etc THIS year with the cold weather.


I hope you can keep us updated on your run, Carol.

[sreigle]

quote:Originally posted by MIMF2

Vicki, is cranky really the word?

By the way. When you folks get to Keystone (the new) Customer Service building, you ain't going to believe it! They are moving in this week. I and a couple of other "Lippertites" had the opportunity to see it a week or so ago. I think you will be even more convinced that Keystone is trying even harder to improve their customer service, if that is possible!

Dale, what kind of RV hookups do they have if we should arrive the night before? Better than just a 20-amp electrical cord they had in the old place? Can't complain about free parking but just wondering. Thanks.

[sreigle]

Well, I THOUGHT I had the black tank freed up. In reality, the pyramid of paper was still there and a couple of days of using it caused the pyramid to top out where it blocked the downpipe from the toilet. So that pipe held water while the rest of the tank had no water. No amount of flushing would break it loose. A neighbor offered his high pressure water nozzle with on/off switch so I stuck it down the toilet, wrapped beach towels around it in case it decided to erupt on me and worked that nozzle off and on for several minutes. Finally we broke it loose and we've been fully functional for several days now. However, the pyramid is still there so we are putting only liquids in the tank. for anything else there's the showerhouse. Meanwhile, I got some tissue digester, filled the tank half full, and have let that set since Friday. Tomorrow I'll dump it and see that cleans it out. If not, I'll get more tissue digester and Jan 2nd when we head south we'll add two bags of ice to help break it up.

Before the water nozzle, though, we filled half full of water, broke camp, towed this thing 185 miles on state and US highways and a little bit of Missouri interstates. No change. Disappointing.

At least we're functional now and I'm hopeful the tissue digester will do its thing. It says it works best in warm weather (2 to 3 days. It has been mostly below freezing, outside temperature, but the furnace duct blows on that tank so hopefully five days will do the trick. I hope.

[sreigle]

quote:Originally posted by dsprik

OK. What I got out of that was: Don't have a colonoscopy if you are living in your Montana during an extended cold snap. What... wasn't that what everyone learned from Steve and Vicki's experience??? Am I the only one that picked up on that? Seemed obvious to me...

Thanks, Steve! I don't care what everyone else thinks... I'm writing this one down. VERY important lesson...

Dave, let me alter your comment, if I may. Vicki had a colonoscopy last year and we didn't have this problem. So, if you're going to do the prep for a colonoscopy while in a Montana, make sure the black tank is at least half full when you start! Ours had been dumped just hours before.

[sreigle]

quote:Originally posted by Dancyn

Goodness, Steve......but Vicki sounds a tad bitter. I find that hard to believe! Okay, you said you would never shovel snow again, and I said I would never buy another set of studded tires. How quickly we have to eat those words!

We couldn't figure out why the kitchen sink and hot water line froze, until I read here on the forum about the drain lines freezing. Made perfect sense. Checked them, and both were frozen solid. We have heat lamps set up and will wrap them with insulation when they are thawed out. Thanks to the forum for once again showing me the simple solution!

Dan, insulation isn't enough, or wasn't for us. I had to heat tape them and then wrap that with insulation and duct tape. Those lines have not frozen since and that includes down to minus 3F.

[sreigle]

quote:Originally posted by Hemlockusa

HI STEVE SO SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT ALL YOUR TROUBLE, IN YOUR DISCRIPTION YOU DID GET SICK A FEW DAYS, I DON'T WANT TO START ANYTHING BUT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE IF YOUR DW VICKI WOULD HAVE GOT HER HAIR DRYER AND A EXTENTION CORD OUT AND CRAWLED UNDER THE MONTANA AND HIT THE PIPES ;WITH THE HAIR DRYER. THAT WAY WHEN YOU FELT BETTER YOU COULD HAVE JUST LAID BACK AND WATCHED TV....OK I'AM OUT OF HERE!!!!!! LATER JOHN H (aka hemlockusa)

Thanks for the thought but the low point drains didn't freeze this year! We have them heat taped. It was other problems and entirely my fault. Not the Montana's.

[sreigle]

quote:Originally posted by Wordsmith

Steve and Vicki, You really do need to head south again! Thanks for sharing your adventures and your honesty. We all can learn from your mistakes, especially if Marsha and I ever find ourselves in the north Georgia mountains or North Carolina in the winter and get caught by a cold snap.

This prompts a question from a debate Marsha and I had last month when we were out on our last trip of the year. At what temperature should we disconnect the city water supply? It dipped just below freezing the first night, and Marsha wanted me to disconnect, which I did, but I was curious about some other experiences. I have not camped in the winter since I was a boy and, well, I wasn't awfully concerned about such then.

If it's going to be 27 or below for four hours or more. In other times when not this winterized we let a faucet drip overnight. Do that only if it's going to be above freezing the next day so if your sewer hose freezes up it will thaw before it backs up and overlows your tank. Keep the valve open if you do this. Also, on ours we have to start it at a small stream. In a few minutes it will slow to a drip. I only did the cold water side. It worked and also keeps the hose and park's lines from freezing. If you're talking mid-teens and below, then this may or may not work as the water slowly draining will freeze and fill your hose and dump pipe with ice. For what you'd get in Georgia I'd just let it drip or disconnect the hose at night.

[sreigle]

quote:Originally posted by adelmoll

Steve always has given us good advice. Sometimes it's a real pain to be the Wizard. Sorry you guys had to go through so much so you could give us first hand solutions. Tell me Steve, Did your tests come out O.K?

Yes, they found and removed three polyps. All tested benign. Thanks for the concern.

[sreigle]

quote:Originally posted by drifus

Wordsmith on my site under Winter Camping I have the directions of making a winter hose.

http://www.foreverdigital.net

If you choose not anything close to freezing should be disconnected. Me I would rather have the hose, there is something about going out in 10 degree weather to have water that says you should have made a hose.

With the heat taped hose we've never frozen that hose down to minus 5 (lowest we've had this Montana in). However, if the park's above ground pipes are not heat taped then you need to tape that or disconnect. Also the head of the pipe, anywhere water flows. Even an inch left bare can freeze. Also, heat tape is not enough by itself. Tape, then wrap with insulation, then tape it all down tight. Some heat tapes can be wrapped around the pipe, others must be parallel. Both work. I like the kind that wrap as it more easily adapts to different lengths of pipe. My hose has the parallel kind.

I also filled a 5 gallon bucket with insulation and put that over the bib on the park's water pipe, where it connects to the hose.

[sreigle]

quote:Originally posted by jrgwdenner

Wordsmith, I think a good principle is 'if in doubt, disconnect'. The night that we had ice in the hose and almost froze up our water lines, it was barely freezing. If you consider that the hose has a round surface that is almost entirely exposed to the elements, it's favorable for freezing.

Had that several times before heat taping. It's like a big popsicle.

[dsprik]

quote:Originally posted by sreigle

Dave, let me alter your comment, if I may. Vicki had a colonoscopy last year and we didn't have this problem. So, if you're going to do the prep for a colonoscopy while in a Montana, make sure the black tank is at least half full when you start! Ours had been dumped just hours before.

I did this 3 yrs ago - I'm 53 - but not in a Montana. Cheryl's turn is coming (She's x0 on Jan 6th - x substituted to protect the innocent - me. Think was enough to throw people off?). This will be an extreme struggle that I'm not looking forward to. She won't even take liquid cold medicine. Something everyone needs to do, though. I heard they now have a pill for this, though. This could make my life... er, I mean Cheryl's life a lot easier.

If we (I) can get this done before the end of May, we won't have to worry about any related Montana techniques.

*On Edit~ However, I will remember your recommendation... just in case.

[sreigle]

Dave, I don't know of a pill but the prep kit now comes as a prescription. You no longer have to buy everything separately. There are four pills you take all at once. Then, when the prescribed result is attained you start drinking this liquid you mixed the day before, 8 ounces every 10 minutes, until all 64 ounces are gone. The literature suggested it does not taste as bad if you chill it first. That's correct. When I did this a few years ago the liquid had a horrible taste. This time, chilled, it was just bad tasting but not horrible. I put it in the fridge 24 hours in advance to get it good and cold.

[dsprik]

I just had the liquid. I don't think they gave me any pills. I am usually pretty good at doing something like that, but I really struggled throught the last couple glasses. I had both a Colonoscopy AND a Endoscopy (hiatal hernia) at the same time. My only request was that they please not usse the same tool. Their response was NOT the answer I was looking for. "We are giving you an amnesiac drug, so you won't remember anything." Great!

I still would like to see a video tape of their procedure to make sure. Wait... no I don't.

[jrgwdenner]

Have you noticed how the threads on this forum tend to wander? I'm guilty of contributing to this phenomenum. But going from freezing up in the Monty to the latest treatment for a colonoscopy is a BIG step, don't ya think??? Good friends can talk about everything!

[richfaa]

quote:Originally posted by dsprik

I just had the liquid. I don't think they gave me any pills. I am usually pretty good at doing something like that, but I really struggled throught the last couple glasses. I had both a Colonoscopy AND a Endoscopy (hiatal hernia) at the same time. My only request was that they please not usse the same tool. Their response was NOT the answer I was looking for. "We are giving you an amnesiac drug, so you won't remember anything." Great!

I still would like to see a video tape of their procedure to make sure. Wait... no I don't.

Dave.. Exactly the same procedure two years ago and I do not want to talk about it... Change of subject please???

[dsprik]

OK. Sorry, guys! I agree with Judy and Rich - that was really getting bad. No more "Colonoscopy while staying in a Montana during freezing weather" posts from me.

[jpkelpe]

Just a commment from a nurse that worked in an endoscopy place. There are several different types of preps, doctors choice, but it you add crystal light to the solution that sometimes makes it easier for people to drink--you used to be able to get a non flavored solution and crystal light was a good flavoring--if it is already flavored a compatible crystal light flavor may make it easier to drink--and Yes it needs to be COLD. no more digression of this topic from me but didn't know where else to make my comment.

[jrgwdenner]

I think that's a valuable comment about the crystal light. Anything to make the prep easier.