Cold weather camping

[Watsons]

Hi all, we are looking at -8 Celsius overnight and only +2 during the day next weekend and wondering if the Eagle can withstand this without freezing plumbing? Want to get one last trip in.
Any experiences with this?
Cheers

[bdreinv]

Never camped in that cold a weather, 20 was coldest for us! If your in a park I guess you would not want to leave the fresh water hooked up.And an extra bottle of propane.Where you camping? Let us know how it worked out!

[spoon059]

Originally Posted by Watsons

Hi all, we are looking at -8 Celsius overnight and only +2 during the day next weekend and wondering if the Eagle can withstand this without freezing plumbing? Want to get one last trip in.
Any experiences with this?
Cheers

That's 17 F at night, that's going to cause freezing unless you have an enclosed underbelly and "heated" tanks. If you are enclosed and marked as heated, then you should be okay if you run your furnace (at least over night) and pull water from a tank, rather than a city hose line.


Before kids we cold weather camped all the time. We would bring bottles of water and try not to use the camper toilet. We generally heat with electric space heaters, rather than propane.

[Watsons]

Originally Posted by bdreinv

Never camped in that cold a weather, 20 was coldest for us! If your in a park I guess you would not want to leave the fresh water hooked up.And an extra bottle of propane.Where you camping? Let us know how it worked out!

20 is pretty close to -8C so I will take that as a win.
I am not real concerned because Jayco says these are good down to -17C.
I know the furnace is going to run lots which is what needs to happen to keep underbelly warm.
The only exposed valve is the fresh water drain valve. Just hoping it doesn't split.
Camping in Canmore Alberta.
Cheers

[Watsons]

Originally Posted by spoon059

That's 17 F at night, that's going to cause freezing unless you have an enclosed underbelly and "heated" tanks. If you are enclosed and marked as heated, then you should be okay if you run your furnace (at least over night) and pull water from a tank, rather than a city hose line.


Before kids we cold weather camped all the time. We would bring bottles of water and try not to use the camper toilet. We generally heat with electric space heaters, rather than propane.

All trailers up here come with enclosed underbelly's and most of those have ducted heat in that space as well. Jayco version is 'ClimateShield' which we have. You need to run the furnace to supply heat to underbelly so can't use electric heaters. We don't have the heated tanks option (12 volt heat pads).
Jayco claims -17C protection for 8 hours so I would certainly hope that -8C overnight would be ok but am just looking for peoples experiences with this.

Cheers

[ALJO]

Watsons:
With the underbelly without insulation you are OK as -8 usually sets in after midnight and early morning hours.


On my Jay Feather I installed heather pad on the FW-tanks and suction to the pump. Also heat-tape on the plumbing discharge. Between the tanks I put heat from the furnace. I installed R12 on the chloroplast (black cover) over the whole length of the Trailer. with skirting it can stand the Alberta winters.


Any exterior water supply needs heat tape and insulation. Just use common sense and logic. Pex lines can handle frost better than copper pipe, the weakest link is the connections of plastic connections or brass. etc. etc. I have only the suction line below the floor, rest is all above even the drain valves.


Good luck and enjoy your camping.

[Watsons]

Originally Posted by ALJO

Watsons:
With the underbelly without insulation you are OK as -8 usually sets in after midnight and early morning hours.


On my Jay Feather I installed heather pad on the FW-tanks and suction to the pump. Also heat-tape on the plumbing discharge. Between the tanks I put heat from the furnace. I installed R12 on the chloroplast (black cover) over the whole length of the Trailer. with skirting it can stand the Alberta winters.


Any exterior water supply needs heat tape and insulation. Just use common sense and logic. Pex lines can handle frost better than copper pipe, the weakest link is the connections of plastic connections or brass. etc. etc. I have only the suction line below the floor, rest is all above even the drain valves.


Good luck and enjoy your camping.

Thanks for the insight ALJO.
Sounds like you have extensively modified yours. I am envious..Good job!
We need to do this in order to extend our short camping season.
As comfortable as a set up we have for hunting, I think my days of dealing with outfitters tents are numbered as I look at the 5'r and think how comfy that is.
I'm sure within the next couple years I will insulate the Eagle underbelly better and ensure nothing else is vulnerable.
Cheers..

[2edgesword]

I've camped for a couple of days where it got into the 20's at night. With heat running in the trailer nothing froze but the outside lines did freeze up and the water filter on the line developed a leak.

[gypsmjim]

We have camped nearly year round for 32 years. I can recall days when the high temp was only zero deg. F., and it was snowing all day.

We winterize early October. The tanks are drained and anti=freeze put in the traps. I have a plastic pan that fits in the sink perfectly. We use bottled water and empty the pan outside when its full.

The "outside plumbing" is our winter bathroom. Our stove, Microwave and fridge still work perfectly. With the trailer's furnace, we are actually quite comfy inside.

[Watsons]

Originally Posted by 2edgesword

I've camped for a couple of days where it got into the 20's at night. With heat running in the trailer nothing froze but the outside lines did freeze up and the water filter on the line developed a leak.

So what I am seeing is that people are having good luck in the low 20's so I have faith that we will be fine. Thanks to all who joined in.
Cheers

[rbreding]

What concerns are there for the low point drains? These are typically exposed along with the fresh water drain. On mine they are plastic pex fittings. I would think the low point valves would be more protected inside the envelope and only the drain pipes themselves would be exposed but that might require some rework of the factory install.

[DGW]

Make sure you have a heated fresh water hose.

[Jagiven]

Sounds like you survived! We often camp in the low 20's during the early and late season. We do not have an enclosed underbelly, no heated tanks. So far we have never froze or broke anything.

We fill our FW tank full, as a large thermal mass takes longer to freeze. The first time out in 20 degree weather, I disconnected the hose, and left it out, without draining it. In the morning it was frozen. Now I drain it.

Are piping all runs inside our cabinets and under the J-Sofa, and so forth. At night leave the cabinet doors ajar to allow a bit more heat back to them. The one spot I am always most concerned about is the long run across the back of the TT, where I cannot open anything to gain easy access. So far nothing has froze

In the cool season camping we always have an electric site, and typically only use the electric heater. I may turn on the propane furnace in the morning if the TT is cool.

Good Luck

[Watsons]

Originally Posted by rbreding

What concerns are there for the low point drains? These are typically exposed along with the fresh water drain. On mine they are plastic pex fittings. I would think the low point valves would be more protected inside the envelope and only the drain pipes themselves would be exposed but that might require some rework of the factory install.

Our low point drain valves are up inside and just the pipes are outside the underbelly. The only valve that may freeze is the fresh water drain valve.

[vcbice]

You said you have an Eagle. Our Eagle HT did fine below 20F (lows around 12F, highs around 28F). The enclosed and heated underbelly works very well to keep things moving. The hard part is water supply.

You can get a heated supply hose, if, the CG has a good system in place. Some CG's shut down water in freezing conditions.

I did not have a heated hose so I would fill the water tank whenever I could. After filling I would carefully empty the hose of all water and then store in the heated storage compartment.

A little more work but it did the job.

PS you will go through a lot of propane. Those really cold days one 30lb tank would last about 3 days.

PPS do not use space heaters alone for heat. They will not heat the underbelly or the plumbing in the trailer. You can use them to supplement in specific areas, like bathroom.

[Watsons]

Thanks to all for the input.
Dang...as it turned out we didn't camp because of other situation. I am although perfectly comfortable now to camp into the -10C area due to the positive feedback and Jayco's claim that its good to -17.
I hope others got a bit of info out of this thread as well.
Once again, thanks to all. Cheers

[bobraym]

Our trailer will be used temporarily this winter while an apartment is built. Please let us know how it goes!

[Gizmopilot]

I have a 2018 Eagle 322RLOK - it has the climate shield sticker, but I also have the residential refrigerator option - it has a water line that is exposed under the kitchen slide.

If you have that option I would either add heat tape to that line or use a compressor to blow the water out and turn off the supply to it. For mine they have a valve you can get to by removing the heater intake to the left of the kitchen sink the valve is way back up in there.

[PNWDriver]

Just run the furnace and protect your fresh water line.

[SGT]

If electric heaters are used and the furnace fan is set to on with the thermostat set too low for the furnace to light, will the fan pick up enough heat to keep the tanks and underbelly warm?