Help..we are Floridians caught in a freeze in our 2015 GH 29ME

Decrows2 · 12-18-2016, 04:42 PM

Went to bed in Arkansas, temp 59 woke up to 20 degrees. Now we are in a 3 day deep freeze, We did not expect. We know that is assinine but we did not winterize. Well we woke up with the following: frozen hose and spiggot. That we solved with a hair dryer and placing hose in a warm shower. Now leaving water in a steady drip and covered hose with insulation and bought a faucet cover. We have no heat nor gas. It will come on when we light burner but goes off. No hot water from our tankless water, no gas to furnace. We are running two small heaters which is more than ample but we cant cook. Should we winterize, take to a dealer. Can we fix this ourselves? We filled propane two days ago. Says 3/4 full. Any Suggestions?[emoji45]

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BuddyRay · 12-18-2016, 05:06 PM

Turn the propane tanks off. Wait a few minutes. Turn the valve on SLOWLY, cracking it open just a tad at first. I know this sounds weird but tanks have a safety valve to stop the gas from gushing out if you open a valve without anything attached to the tank. It's possible the cold has decreased the pressure in the tank and confused the safety valve.

Buddy Ray - Atlanta
---------------
Jayco Eagle HT 26.5RLS
Ford F150 Lariat, 3.5L V6 Ecoboost
Max Tow Pkg, 36gal tank
Reese Sidewinder and Reese Titan 16k hitch

**Mustang65** · 12-18-2016, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Decrows2

Went to bed in Arkansas, temp 59 woke up to 20 degrees. Now we are in a 3 day deep freeze, We did not expect. We know that is assinine but we did not winterize. Well we woke up with the following: frozen hose and spiggot. That we solved with a hair dryer and placing hose in a warm shower. Now leaving water in a steady drip and covered hose with insulation and bought a faucet cover. We have no heat nor gas. It will come on when we light burner but goes off. No hot water from our tankless water, no gas to furnace. We are running two small heaters which is more than ample but we cant cook. Should we winterize, take to a dealer. Can we fix this ourselves? We filled propane two days ago. Says 3/4 full. Any Suggestions?[emoji45]

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Not a good day!! Run your hot water heater on electric, and let the hot water slowly run through the faucets? Flush your toilet every now and then. Were you able to run your kitchen stove before the freeze? If not did you clear the air out of the lines using the stove top burners? Either way try again... If it does not stay lit, do you have an exterior LP connection for a grill? Did you try flipping the LP valve to one or the other tank? If so, I hate to recommend this in the cold, but hook it up and see if you can keep your grill running. If not, I would think that maybe your LP gas regulator went bad or some moisture got into it and froze the valve.

Also, like BuddyRay said.

Don

Robbbyr · 12-18-2016, 05:17 PM

Your stove will not stay lit?

Is the propane tank's valve wide open?

Have you tried shutting off the propane tank valve, bleeding any remaining pressure using stove burner, then SLOWLY turning on your tank valve again?

I have heard of the rare instance where the propane regulator (right near the propane tank valve) can freeze closed. It usually has a plastic cover over it that can be easily removed. Try thawing that for 5 minutes or so with the hairdryer and try things again.

Good luck.

Decrows2 · 12-18-2016, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mustang65

Not a good day!! Run your hot water heater on electric, and let the hot water slowly run through the faucets? Flush your toilet every now and then. Were you able to run your kitchen stove before the freeze? If not did you clear the air out of the lines using the stove top burners? Either way try again... If it does not stay lit, do you have an exterior LP connection for a grill? Did you try flipping the LP valve to one or the other tank? If so, I hate to recommend this in the cold, but hook it up and see if you can keep your grill running. If not, I would think that maybe your LP gas regulator went bad or some moisture got into it and froze the valve.

Also, like BuddyRay said.

Don

Our rig is a motorhome. The gas isnt going to our tankless heater also. We have no gas heat either. Our electric furnace is a heat pump so wont work under 40 degrees and since the gas is not getting to there it doesnt switch to supplement. We will probably have to go to Camping World in A.M.

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**Crabman** · 12-18-2016, 05:40 PM

If above suggestions to close then reopen the valves do not work it could be a defective propane regulator.

JEFF1963 · 12-18-2016, 05:43 PM

Drive south into warmer weather; pick up a Coleman stove for just such contingencies, and do everything other Repliers suggest.

Kenelz · 12-18-2016, 07:11 PM

I have been caught many times like you when I spent winters on I-10 snowbirding. I wasn't winterized, I was living in it, but freezing happens in unexpected places. I never had any damage, might be lucky, don't know.

You have a propane problem, the cold should have no effect on you having propane for heat or cooking. If you tried what the above posters have said by shutting it off, and cracking it open and shut to pressurize, and that doesn't work, then drive to a propane supplier. Not a carryout or big box, but a place that fills residential tanks. They are usually very helpful, and will get you back up and running.

I had a similar problem, it was a hole in the hose from the tank to the fitting on the trailer, probably porcupine chewed it. I would open and close it, but no propane at the stove. My local propane supplier made up a new hose, less than $20. I had the same problem a couple years later, I checked the hose myself, and saw a chewed hole again. I took the section to them and got a replacement.

That is probably not your problem, but I think it might something to try.

Decrows2 · 12-18-2016, 07:56 PM

Thank you all!!!! We did what you said. We now have propane throughout. We are so glad we have knowledgeable people and great help on tnis forum!

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**Crabman** · 12-18-2016, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Decrows2

Thank you all!!!! We did what you said. We now have propane throughout. We are so glad we have knowledgeable people and great help on tnis forum!

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I can tell you that you are by no means the first ones to have this happen. Those valves have caused many to think they had a major propane issue. The trick seems to be to open the valves very slowly.

SecretCoveDave · 12-18-2016, 10:19 PM

Cool to see the community works again.

bigmeaux12 · 12-20-2016, 04:23 PM

No for certain fix. But the regulatory can air lock. Try to break the line on the out going side and bleed it just alittle then retighten and check for leaks.
Hope it helps.

TV- 2015 CHEVY 2500 DURAMAX
TT- 2015 JAYCO EAGLE 314BHDS

Bassdogs · 12-20-2016, 07:20 PM

Vow to never again get caught by surprise. Most CG's and fellow campers will raise the warning if a sudden freeze is predicted. A small compressor will winterize a unit in just a few minutes with no pink stuff necessary. Have on more than one occasions winterized in an interstate rest area or Walmart parking lot. Drove thru Montgomery Ala a few years ago and temp was 85 degrees, drove north of Birmingham same day and stopped for the night in a Wmart and by 10pm temp had fallen to 35 and still dropping. Got out the 12V compressor hooked it to the city water input and blew out all the water lines. First step is to open low point drains before blowing the lines. Next am it was 20 and that was it for the rest of the drive north. Stay tuned in to other campers and ask at gas stations etc when weather changes are in the wind.

JudyB · 12-26-2016, 12:59 AM

Another quick question about the propane....
We are in 26 degree weather at night and propane is reading at 1/4 full. We are hooked into electric, but the furnace is using the propane, right? Jayhawk 26 XD. We have turned the furnace down to 65 and have a small ceramic heater and electric mattress pad for us and electric pad for dogs. I am assuming we will make it through the night until we can run our rig over to the Flying J for a fill up.
How long should we expect the propane to last for cold weather hearing? Is the heat the only thing using the propane? I admit our first day I left the water heater on LP, forgetting we had electric to heat the water.

**Crabman** · 12-26-2016, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JudyB

Another quick question about the propane....
We are in 26 degree weather at night and propane is reading at 1/4 full. We are hooked into electric, but the furnace is using the propane, right? Jayhawk 26 XD. We have turned the furnace down to 65 and have a small ceramic heater and electric mattress pad for us and electric pad for dogs. I am assuming we will make it through the night until we can run our rig over to the Flying J for a fill up.
How long should we expect the propane to last for cold weather hearing? Is the heat the only thing using the propane? I admit our first day I left the water heater on LP, forgetting we had electric to heat the water.

If you are down that low on propane in those temps I would get my propane tanks filled ASAP. The furnace uses the lions share, your cooking stove will use a little also.

oldmanAZ · 12-26-2016, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JudyB

Another quick question about the propane....
We are in 26 degree weather at night and propane is reading at 1/4 full. ...snip

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crabman

If you are down that low on propane in those temps I would get my propane tanks filled ASAP. The furnace uses the lions share, your cooking stove will use a little also.

What Crabman said.

If your gauge is on the pressure side to show how much propane, be aware that those are not accurate. The only way to know the propane in a tank is by weighing the tank.

JudyB · 12-26-2016, 02:43 PM

We made it thru the night OK...no frozen lines etc, frosty nose is all...but being Christmas...couldn't locate anything open. Kept temp at 65 on furnace and ran a very small ceramic heater. We did fill up this morning....took 5.6 but don't know if that was lbs......filled to 3/4 and was just below 1/4 at start. Supposed to be 28 tonight so rest assured the MH will be warmer!!
Thanks for the heads up on the inaccurate gauge....bless this forum!
So glad we picked up foam cushions for the bedroom and bathroom vents..it does help. We have very minimal heat coming out of the bathroom vent and will have dealer look at next week. Should expect more from that vent.

**Crabman** · 12-26-2016, 03:39 PM

''.took 5.6 but don't know if that was lbs......filled to 3/4 and was just below 1/4 at start.''

Must be gallons. A 20lb tank will hold 4-4.5 gallons and a 30lb tank will hold 6-7 when filled no more then the recommended 80-85%..

''So glad we picked up foam cushions for the bedroom and bathroom vents..it does help. We have very minimal heat coming out of the bathroom vent and will have dealer look at next week. Should expect more from that vent.''

Should really keep at least one vent somewhat cracked to help with condensation.

Bassdogs · 12-27-2016, 09:39 AM

Do you only have one propane tank? If you have a #2 I would have switched over to the "full" tank for the night to prevent a cold nite change over and restart. If not you are kind of in a pickle since tank monitoring gauges are all pretty suspect. I would always carry a back up tank if I only had one on the TT when I was winter camping. If no room on the tongue, put it in the back of the truck.

Camping in the hard of winter should be considered "extreme" RV'ing requiring extra preparations and care to avoid problems. When traveling in below freezing temps, I always winterize the plumbing and work out of 2 1/2 gallon bottled water containers and a couple gallons of home tap water for flushing the toilet. Its safer that way and you can still enjoy your RV without concerns about the plumbing.

Robbbyr · 12-27-2016, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bassdogs

Do you only have one propane tank?

Most motorhomes only have a permanently mounted ASME onboard tank. Makes it somewhat less convenient when one is set up long-term and using a lot of propane.

There is an option however. I installed what was called an "Extend-A-Flow/Extend-A-Stay" tee assembly on my motorhome. The assembly came with hoses allowing me to connect an external propane tank and a different hose allowing me to connect up a portable appliance (BBQ grill, lantern, fire pit, etc.). So I can feed propane out from my onboard tank when I want to, or feed propane in from an external source with the onboard tank shut off. It was very easy to install. With the propane tank valve shut off and bled down (used stove burners) you remove the regulator from the tank and install the tee assembly, then replace the original regulator into the outlet of the new tee assembly. Leak test the fittings with soapy water to make sure it is not leaking.

So when I am set up somewhere for more than a few days in furnace-using weather I have two 20lb BBQ tanks I carry to feed my system. One in use, one can be filled or exchanged while out and about. Use the onboard tank to travel, use the BBQ tanks while set up. I hung the BBQ tank from a hanging spring scale hooked to my onboard tank bracket so I could see how much propane was left. I marked the full and empty weights on the scale with paint so I could see at a glance when it was time to exchange tanks. I also constructed a plywood cradle to hold the two BBQ tanks in an external compartment so they don't roll around during driving and get damaged. In summer the cradle stays home so I can use the compartment for other summer things!

Here is a link to a Camco version on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Camco-59113-P...B2GW2NNPK&th=1

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