my cold weather experience

[bradw]

So I have a 2016 Jayco 27 DSRL with the cold weather package. I went on a hunting trip here in Iowa a week ago. The first night forecast was a low in the teens, so I did not put water in my fresh tank. On the following day the temperature got into the mid 30's so I put water into the fresh tank. That night it went down into the low 20's, which is no problem since I felt totally comfortable with heat running into the underbelly from the furnace. Here's where I question the underbelly package..........it is fine that water is heated via the furnace which prohibits the tanks from freezing........but what about low point drains that stick approximately 6 inches below the underbelly?
Well mine froze. So then I was unable to drain my tanks due to frozen valves on low point drains.
So in my opinion, having exposed low point drains renders the whole cold weather package somewhat worthless. I was able to heat the drain valves with a heat gun just to empty my fresh tank as well as my hot water heater and water lines, but what a day.

[Midnightmoon]

This is a concern I have with mine. We do a fair amount of cold weather camping and have experienced lows in that range without issue. However, I am also concerned about those low point drains.

I don't have a picture of it, but a friend of mine made a small insulated box for his trailer that he slips over the ends of those drains when he sets up camp out if an old igloo cooler. It has a 100w light bulb in it that heats the cooler and keeps those valves from freezing. Neat little cheap device and he claims that it solved his problems.

I may consider something similar in the future if I would encounter the same issues you are facing.

[Studiovette]

What about opening the low point ever so slightly so it's dripping over night? Might prevent the freezing .

[norty1]

That's a valid concern and a problem. My rig has the actual valves inside the storage compartment where is is less likely to freeze if the furnace is running.

My fresh water drain is exposed just as yours is. Only solution I can suggest is to wrap them somehow. We don't boondock much so if I know I'm leaving on a freezing morning, I dump my tanks the night before and let all the fresh water out except for enough to flush a few times on the way home.

You could drain the lines the last night if that would keep you from having to heat the valves. The hot water in the tank would prevent that from freezing if you were not on a long trip home.

I can't imagine living in a frozen wasteland all winter, being from the south, we get spoiled.

[Screwby]

The only issue I see is that you couldn’t drain your tanks immediately. Those one or two little tubes getting water frozen in them didn’t affect the operation of your water system. Water only does damage when it freezes and then expands thus breaking what it’s inside if it has no room to expand. Your small amount of frozen water in those tubes had plenty of room to try to expand as it ultimately leads back to a “warm” tank full of water. As long as your belly is heated that tiny amount of ice has no chance of overcoming your entire water system and will just thaw out as soon as the weather warms up or you thaw it manually. No different then putting half a bottle of water out and it freezes, put out that same bottle ,but full, outside and it will bust open as the ice expands.

[gladecreekwy]

Where we camp routinely gets into the low twenties at night from late August through the end of the season. Our last trip three weeks ago it was 8 deg when we woke up. Never needed to drain the tank. That much water would take a long time to freeze. As far as the low point drains. Mine are frozen all the time in the morning. Unless I need to drain the tank for some reason it doesn’t really matter. By the time the sun hits the trailer everything is back to normal. I don’t mess with the valves until I know they are thawed out.
My underbelly is insulated but not heated.