Pipes/water froze. Now what...?

[thirdktm]

Melbourne 24M: Pipes froze overnight. Which means no water for the sinks or toilet. Later in the day, the frozen water thawed, and faucets and toilet operated normally.
Now what? How do I determine if any pipes broke?
Also, how do I determine if the water pump itself is OK. I am told the pump holds a little water even after I have blown out the lines with an air compressor.
We were plugged in to shore power and had turned on the water tank heaters, so I figure there is no problem there...
Thanks.............

[RVermont]

If you are all thawed out,

I would first open all the areas that i can inspect the water lines, pump and heater to be sure that I dont see any water leaking, if that is good, I would hook the unit up for dry camping, test all the faucets and hot water to be sure nothing is still frozen. Once you are sure everything works shut off all the fixtures and listen to see if the pump cycles. if the pump shuts off and doesn't cycle you can be reasonably assured that the lines and fitting are not broken, if it cycles then it is time to inspect all the lines to see where the leak it. This will take care of everything except the supply lines to the wet bay. Depending on your unit the pex fittings, water heater and pump are the items most effected by freezing. Pex itself is very tolerant of freezing and is unlikely to fail.

Some people also suggest using compressed air at less than 40 psi, you can tap it in and see if the compressor cycles on/off, this doesn't work if you have air leaks in the compressor or supply line to your unit. ideally this works best with a valve and pressure gauge.

Best wishes for no damages.

[wabirch]

If not connected to camp water supply, the pump isn't working more often and you don't see any leaks, you dodged a bullet.

[vcbice]

It sounds like you were on campground water. If so did the hose freeze or the pipes inside the trailer?

If it is just the hose then I would not worry about inside.

If you were not connect to campground water and had the pipes freeze then you do need to check everywhere you can. If your water pump is working well you can use it. Turn it on and see how long it takes to recycle. If it is more frequent than normal it indicates you may have a leak somewhere.

To check for small leaks I put tissue paper at likely spots. It will 'disintegrate' if it gets wet, telling you the vicinity of a leak.

[travelingjw]

X2 on vcbice except I use talcum powder instead. It shows exactly where the drip falls.

[Tom51]

Hope everything is OK. We've had our hose freeze a couple of times, but nothing ever beyond that. If your overnight temperature just dipped below freezing and you were using the RV at the time (furnace hot water heater, and such), you're probably good. Now if it got real cold...

Great tips on looking for leaks, thanks JOF!

[33 RLDS]

Pex is more forgiving than copper. Even the cheap grade RVs use.

[vcbice]

The PEX is forgiving....but the plastic fittings are not.