2021 redhawk xd 26 frozen plumbing.

[IBK]

Hey there, I’m new here and seriously loving this forum, its helped me greatly as new owner of a 2021 redhawk xd 26.

I need some advice regarding snow camping. We snowboard a lot in mammoth mountain and if the temps get down around 10 degrees my water freezes, BUMMER. I have already removed the hot water control fuse, and the hot water works great in very cold weather. But my system freezes up at night if it gets very cold and we don’t use the water overnight. I’ve already insulated the water lines with grey foam tubes , 48 feet of it total. I thought this would work but no luck. What is my best option? Thanks so much in advance.

[pconroy]

Your best option - and one I do when temps get that low - is to winterize before you go to bed. Yeah, it's a pain, but that's what I do. I've got it down to about 10 minutes and 1.5 gallons. So, when the temps drop below mid-teens for us, I do it.

And I sleep well.

That said - I continue my quest to really make the coach as much of a four season coach as I can. Three summers ago, I too put pipe wrap around every inch of exposed pipe I could reach. Unfortunately, even if I got 99% of it wrapped, that 1% caused us to freeze up.


This summer, after summoning up the courage to tackle this, I decided to try pulling off all of the foam, and stringing as much "heat tape" as I could along the same lines. I used "anti ice dam heat cable" from Lowes. 30' of it.


It was a terrible, time consuming, painful task. Again, I think I have 80% of the pipe covered -- heat cable inline, next to the pipes. Zip ties and then the foam pipe wrap went back on.


http://donotfreezesoftware.blogspot....-weve-got.html
http://donotfreezesoftware.blogspot....o-keeping.html
http://donotfreezesoftware.blogspot....art-three.html


I haven't tested it yet. But short of carrying a lot of foam insulation to skirt the coach, and putting a heat source under there, it's about all I could think of.

[16WhiteColly]

I just unhook the incoming hose, and drain the lines for overnight, but do not have temperatures below 20F. We do not use water at night anyway.

[IBK]

Thank you so much for your reply. Lots of good info. Yes, same here, it was a pint to wrap the lines and quite a few areas I couldn’t insulate. I gotta look into winterizing, I have no idea what that process is, but ill figure it out. I’m learning the forum, I was trying to figure out how to post pics.

[IBK]

Where we camp the water lines on the camp sites are shut down for winter. MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN RV PARK. So you fill up and refill as needed . Even my gray and black waste was frozen last weekend , so I couldn’t dump.

[pconroy]

Originally Posted by IBK

I have no idea what that process is, but ill figure it out. I’m learning the forum, I was trying to figure out how to post pics.

This is by far, the safest approach. And one I'll do until I convince myself that my heat-tape works.


As part of the winterization process, they'll tell you to put RV Antifreeze into the drains, so the p-Traps won't freeze. I skip this part, if I'm camping. The p-Traps in mine are all inside, so keeping the coach warm prevents the freezing. My coach is also pretty long, the line runs are long. That's why it takes me about a gallon and a half. Still, that's about $6 - cheap insurance.


The first few times you winterize, it takes a while. Because you're not sure "if you're doing this right." Then you get better at it, and figure out what steps to delete, what new steps to add. You'll eventually get it down to 5-10-15 minutes too.

[pconroy]

Originally Posted by IBK

Where we camp the water lines on the camp sites are shut down for winter. MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN RV PARK. So you fill up and refill as needed . Even my gray and black waste was frozen last weekend , so I couldn’t dump.

There are heaters that purport to keep the black, grey (and fresh) tanks from freezing, but they don't work very well for us at low temps. Again, mid-teens and up, we can usually survive.

They also make (for extra $$$) heating pads that will wrap your dump valves. I don't have those.

Instead, we do a couple of things: pour a good amount of RV antifreeze down the toilet and minimize the water we put into the black and grey tank. If we snow camp, it's usually for one day, two at the most.

Also - here in Colorado, the odds of the next morning being bright, intense sun are high. Even if the outside temps are low, the sun is so intense we usually warm up and thaw.

[pconroy]

Onnnnnnnnnnnnne more thing, I'll toss out. We have a special needs son who insists on showers. One at night before bed and one in the morning. While a pain, at least we have a son who insists on being clean.

The day we froze up, I put Plan B into action. We have a 8 gallon tote of fresh water. I bought a 1500 watt immersion heater (the ones that'll keep livestock water troughs warm) and a battery operated hand-held shower. I think the shower was under $30 and the heater under $15.

Fired up the generator, warmed the 8 gallons to 110*F. [ Took about 30 mins. ] Put him into the shower stall, and handed him the wand over the top.

Voila - happy kid. Got a warm shower.

[IBK]

Originally Posted by pconroy

Onnnnnnnnnnnnne more thing, I'll toss out. We have a special needs son who insists on showers. One at night before bed and one in the morning. While a pain, at least we have a son who insists on being clean.

The day we froze up, I put Plan B into action. We have a 8 gallon tote of fresh water. I bought a 1500 watt immersion heater (the ones that'll keep livestock water troughs warm) and a battery operated hand-held shower. I think the shower was under $30 and the heater under $15.

Fired up the generator, warmed the 8 gallons to 110*F. [ Took about 30 mins. ] Put him into the shower stall, and handed him the wand over the top.

Voila - happy kid. Got a warm shower.

You rock!!!! Thank you so much for all this great info!!!! Cleanliness is godliness!!!

[GHen]

We used to camp all the time at ski resorts, down to -22f, but those were older motor homes also.

It regularly froze up at night and was not a big deal in our situation, you just need to find a way to thaw it out easily. It’s not worth the cost to keep the heat way up all night long.

I did two things, I used heat tape in on the critical lines, like the one to the tank. Inside that insulation you installed would be great, but those areas might not be your problem. In the morning we would start a generator and they would thaw out in less than hour. I also had an old hair dryer and stuck that in the cabinets where it froze regularly.

My biggest problem area was where the water lines ran along corner of the floor and the wall. They were in a small long box, I just ran a wire down through the box and then pulled the heat tape through the box next to the water line. I could thaw those in 20 minutes or less.

[IBK]

Originally Posted by GHen

We used to camp all the time at ski resorts, down to -22f, but those were older motor homes also.

It regularly froze up at night and was not a big deal in our situation, you just need to find a way to thaw it out easily. It’s not worth the cost to keep the heat way up all night long.

I did two things, I used heat tape in on the critical lines, like the one to the tank. Inside that insulation you installed would be great, but those areas might not be your problem. In the morning we would start a generator and they would thaw out in less than hour. I also had an old hair dryer and stuck that in the cabinets where it froze regularly.

My biggest problem area was where the water lines ran along corner of the floor and the wall. They were in a small long box, I just ran a wire down through the box and then pulled the heat tape through the box next to the water line. I could thaw those in 20 minutes or less.

Thanks for all this great info.

[GHen]

The other problem area is the valves/drains for the tanks. I would run heat tape around them also. The tanks will freeze but they take longer. Pouring rv antifreeze down each drain before bed will keep the traps from freezing and help keep the tanks slushy. Might need a couple gallons for a weekend.

I was normally up on the mountain for only 3-4 nights a week so I would just bring it home frozen and dump the tanks mid week after it thawed out.

Take a couple 5 gallon jugs of water with you for those times when you can’t thaw it out. As long as the drains are clear you can still use the sinks and toilet.

We would stay at resorts all over the west, many have electric hook ups. Some are free. I would also research if there were free showers available. The ski patrol building or ski school building might have facilities you can use. Big resorts may have a rec center like a public indoor pool, or workout area. A few bucks gives you a shower.

[JohnK]

If you winterize don't you have to sanitize or is that only if you are going to drink the water?

Regards,

John

[GHen]

If you add rv anti freeze to the water system, I’m pretty sure it just needs to be rinsed out. It’s designed for the drinking water system, nontoxic.
I don’t use it in the water system, just the drains.

I use an air compressor that I bring with me to blow the lines out and call it good.