Frozen water this morning

grantsoo · 04-28-2012, 05:35 AM

I am at the KOA in Cookstown, halfway between Barrie and Toronto. I woke up this morning to no water. The forecast had said minus 1 C (30.2F) so I wasn't too worried. But in talking to a neighbour he said it went down to minus 5 C (23F).
So I disconnected the hose which obviously was full of ice and saw ice in the tap too. I took the hair dryer out and began working from the valve backwards. I got about 6 inches back and it began to spit and soon poured full water.
When I took the hose off the trailer end, water the little filter/washer was iced, but water poured out from behind it.
I shouldn't have to worry about any damage to trailer plumbing should I?
The tap and the hose look like they took it ok.

Thanks
Grant

bertscampers · 04-28-2012, 05:37 AM

I live in the area and was going to dewinterize this weekend maybe I will wait. Hope things are okay.

Cheers

Lurker! · 04-28-2012, 06:11 AM

Wow, hope it turns out okay.

I live in the GTA and was going to de-winterize today for a trip next weekend. Still not sure if I should...

grantsoo · 04-28-2012, 06:39 AM

I lost water again and called the front office to see if they had shut something off. When she heard I had already thawed my pipes but the water stopped again she sent the maintenance guy out so I went outside and had water right away. He showed up in a minute to say they had burst pipes in the pumphouse and had to shut the water off for a bit to do repairs and he just turned it back on.
I don't see any leaks in the trailer end. As I said before, I was happy to see there was water behind the ice in the washer/filter, so I'm assuming everything is ok.

Grant

David472 · 04-28-2012, 06:51 AM

We are camping here at KOA Niagara Falls. Our outside temperature gauge said it went down to -1c last night here. The campground water system is active, but I have not de-winterized from last fall. I never de-winterize until mid May. It was tempting this year because of the nice weather we've been having, but I still won't until mid-May.

grantsoo · 04-28-2012, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lurker!

Wow, hope it turns out okay.

Thanks
I went checking for leaks on the trailer plumbing and discovered the city water hookup comes right through the closet in the bedroom. I was able to check it out good, no leaks or damage.

Grant

rwilley · 04-28-2012, 11:52 AM

All you need to do to check for leaks is turn your water pump on and if it keeps running or run periodically than most likely you have a leak.

Ranger431 · 04-28-2012, 01:17 PM

I wouldn't think you'd have an issue from such a relatively short period. We camp almost year-round here in TN, and if it looks like it'll approach freezing over night I will unhook the hose on both ends and drain it out, but that's about it. I think the heat in your camper should have kept most of the water from freezing too badly.

Hope things work out.

mcmahonm · 04-28-2012, 02:46 PM

Since all appears good, How is the KOA, we will be there weekend of May 11th, after we pickup our Starcraft Autumn ridge from RVwarehouse.

hope you have a good weekend

Flytyer · 04-28-2012, 03:08 PM

Back in my youth I lived in a trailer and became king of heat tape. It was cold in those days up in the hills of WVA. Heat tape has a built in theromstat and plugs in to 110V. All you need to do is wrap the hose with it and the above ground water feed the wrap some insulation arround it. If you have power it will never freeze.

When my in ground pipe froze I simply ran a garden hose to my neighbors trailer and used their unforozen feed till spring. :hihi: Had to use a lot of heat tape as it was 40 feet to next water feed but it never froze even when it was burried under 3 or 4 feet of snow.

David472 · 04-28-2012, 05:34 PM

Another cold night coming tonight, with below freezing temps for five or six hours. For those in southern Ontario, are you ready?

**Crabman** · 04-28-2012, 05:37 PM

What happened to all that hot weather in March? (I guess we are paying for it now) Its cold here too, in the 30`s the last few nights. Highs in the 50`s today.

David472 · 04-28-2012, 05:58 PM

Lee,
I expect the temperatures here will be warmer again in a week or two. It's not unusual for us here to have a cold snap of several days below freezing overnights this time of year. We are still expecting a nicer camping season than last year.

**Crabman** · 04-28-2012, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David472

Lee,
I expect the temperatures here will be warmer again in a week or two. It's not unusual for us here to have a cold snap of several days below freezing overnights this time of year. We are still expecting a nicer camping season than last year.

Yeah, its supposed to be 80 here by Wednesday. When it starts to get hot, I suspect it will not play around.

grantsoo · 04-29-2012, 04:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcmahonm

Since all appears good, How is the KOA, we will be there weekend of May 11th, after we pickup our Starcraft Autumn ridge from RVwarehouse.

hope you have a good weekend

This is a very well run campground. It seems to be fairly new as there is not much shade, but that is ok for us. The sites we've stayed at are all flat. Depending on how far your slideout extends you may need to park over to the right of the drivethrough sites to avoid the power pedestal. The campground is located close to the RV centre as you said, the outlet mall and the 400 Market (open only on Saturday and Sunday). We stay here every year on our way from the North to Indian Line in Brampton.
One other thing I discovered this year, the spot originally assigned was not long enough to hold my suburban and 26 foot trailer so I had to move to a longer spot. I would definitely recommend it!

Incidentally, last night I dumped the tanks and disconnected the water before bedtime, just to be sure since it was calling for minus 3.

Grant

casinomark · 04-29-2012, 05:41 AM

Still waiting to de-winterize here in Eastern Ontario.

David472 · 04-29-2012, 06:49 AM

I see Environment Canada's data shows Vaughn (just south of Cookstown) went down to -3c last night. Here in Niagara Falls our gauge shows we went down to -1c again. The sun is now shining very bright though, so it will be a nice early spring day. Hope your water situation in Cookstown is better this morning!

grantsoo · 04-29-2012, 06:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David472

I see Environment Canada's data shows Vaughn (just south of Cookstown) went down to -3c last night. Here in Niagara Falls our gauge shows we went down to -1c again. The sun is now shining very bright though, so it will be a nice early spring day. Hope your water situation in Cookstown is better this morning!

Since I leave this morning I took no chances and dumped the tanks last night. My biggest surprise on this thermal package is that the tanks are insulated and heated when the furnace is on, but both dump valves and piping are exposed.
I took the water hose off last night and put it on again this morning. The tap had a bit of ice in it, it spit for about 30 seconds and then let go.
Everything OK!!
Thanks
Grant

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