Jayco Jayflight In Winter

[FishAr]

Did a search, still have questions. I may get a chance to go back on the refinery outage at wood river IL again this fall. I'm retired but they sometimes need more help than the union has available. I did it last fall. It went on into winter with some days down to 20 degrees.

I've got a 2015 jayco jayflight 23rb, exposed underbelly, exposed tanks. Going to live in it while I'm there.

I shopped for a long time for this trailer. Almost bought a starcraft with the arctic package, but the dealer told me it still wouldn't hold up to camping in winter without the water freezing. so I bought the one for less money.

In the 1980's we'd all just heat tape our water hose, insulate it, and keep the heat on and water dripping and no real problems, but I don't want to bust the water lines or tanks in this new unit.

I see posts here that say don't use a hose and use the onboard tank instead. It seems to make more sense to me to empty the onboard tank and heat tape a hose. What am I missing?

I see you can't leave the black tank open or it will clog. So is it ok to keep some water in it, add antifreeze, then dump it every few days and then put some more water in it and go again?

It makes sense to me to leave the gray tank valve open and let it drain all the time. Is this correct?

[clubhouse]

We camped to 25* in our JayFlight which also doesn't have the thermal package nor enclosed underbelly.

We had full hookups, used external water, left grey tank open and let water drip all night to prevent freezing. It worked fine for us.

The only pseudo-issue we had was cold air coming up from the storage area around the bed while sleeping. I stuffed to some towels and turned up the heat to make it more bearable.

If I was going to set up for several weeks, I would likely skirt the trailer with something just to add some protection and prevent wind from blowing under the trailer and making the cold worse.

[FishAr]

Been reading the owner's manual.

Jayco obviously has a Dept. of Owner's Manual Vagueness.

[djtho1]

Back in '07 we wintered over while building a home in a Jayflight 27BH with an open underbelly. What we did to prepare was to skirt the camper and then put one of those cheap clamp on worklights with a regular incandescent bulb under each tank. I also used pipe insulation on the line going into the camper from the fresh water tank. We ran on the internal pump and tank with no problems with this setup. We did not have sewer on site so we got pumped out every two weeks by a pumper truck. Between dumping times we kept that area covered as well to keep the valve easy to use. For your setup, I would say it depends a little. If you are going to stay hooked up to sewer I might use heater tape on that hose and valve to keep them pliable. I definitely would not leave the black valve open all the time. You will end up with a solid lump of "stuff" in your black tank over time.

[Jagiven]

You say 20 degrees. Is that the night’s lows and will the days be above freezing?

I have been out many times with the night time lows around 20 degrees, with daytime highs above freezing, and never have had any issues, with an open underbelly. But I used the on board water tank, and no hoses. No issues dumping. In those temperatures, I do keep my cabinet doors open as my plumbing runs through the inside the camper. This allow the heat to get into the back areas so the FW lines from freezing.

If you are going to be parked for an extended time a few light bulbs under the trailer will provide a bit of heat to keep things warm. Adding some simple skirting will also help keep that heat in to, especially if you think you will not get above freezing for a few days.

[FishAr]

Originally Posted by Jagiven

You say 20 degrees. Is that the night’s lows and will the days be above freezing?

I have been out many times with the night time lows around 20 degrees, with daytime highs above freezing, and never have had any issues, with an open underbelly. But I used the on board water tank, and no hoses. No issues dumping. In those temperatures, I do keep my cabinet doors open as my plumbing runs through the inside the camper. This allow the heat to get into the back areas so the FW lines from freezing.

If you are going to be parked for an extended time a few light bulbs under the trailer will provide a bit of heat to keep things warm. Adding some simple skirting will also help keep that heat in to, especially if you think you will not get above freezing for a few days.

I remember a few days last year that when I walked on the job it was low 20's at 6am.
Warmed up during the day.

So that was the night time low.