Freezing temps & house plumbing

[Mac]

So I'm going camping for the holidays and expect the temps to get into the freezing range. My carpet cleaning truck has little giant water heater & very rarely do I have to drain it in the winter to insure my heater coils don't burst and same with my water pump. Do you guys drain the water in the system before you go to sleep, leave the water heater on or what in the freezing temps?

I have no idea yet what type of heater I have, except that it doesn't look easy to get to to find out - tank or heater coil.

Thanks!

[JerryT]

Hi Mac
I don't winter camp but I do camp in freezing temps early and late in the year. Lets talk about inside the coach and outside the coach. Inside the coach i.e. the fresh water I have no concerns as long as I have the water heater lit and a heater running inside. I have opened the doors to the water pump and water heater areas to let heat in just to be safe. I also hang a blanket off the bunk as to close off the cab area. This makes a hugh difference in heating and comfort. The cab area is all steel and glass and very cold. As for the outside of the Clipper i.e. the black and grey tanks along with the drain plumbing, in mild weather 28ish with no wind I have been OK. I think that there is enough heat loss from the coach along with the salinity in the septage to keep from freezing. I worry more about the drain plumbing than the tanks for breakage. In colder temps or wind I would drain the black and gray tanks and don't let any water stand against the drain valve(s). You can add some RV antifreeze to extend your freezing point or just get you thru the night after dumping. I would rather be almost full than almost empty on a coldish night. A well placed tarp and lightbulb would also help in iffy weather in the valve area. My buddy has a plumbing/drain cleaning service and I have road with him on many service calls for frozen lines mostly in trailer homes or on an outside wall. If the wind can get to it, it will suck the heat right out of it. Hope this helps, have fun and share your adventure with us snowbound campers
What are your thoughts on carpet treatment (scotch guard) in a motorhome that has that thin style carpet?

JerryT

[Mac]

Thanks Jerry, that was very informative. I suppose I didn't think the piping all the way through since I realize by your info that tmost of it is on the inside of the house.

As far as scotchguard goes, it's always good but I don't like it anyway my skin goes on carpet or upholstery. It's a bad carcinegen and greatly effects the nervous system. All that being said, it's in our food, cooking untensils, 3rd world clothing (shirts) come soaked in the stuff, so it's all in us anyway. The cheap thin carpet is usually Olefin (polypropylene) which is plastic from recycled bottles. It's hard to stain plastic. Scotchguard doesn't stick to plastic very long. Polyester is it's cousin that normally goes in the home unless it's a berber then it's Olefin. Anything poly is hard to stain & adhesion of scotchguard isn't long. Nylon is good stuff & if it is a good nylon then it is also a stainer so scotchguard is a must. The poly carpet enemy is wear & it wears rapidly in the traffic lanes giving it a dirty look.

Snip a peice and make sure the latex glue is not on it from the backing. Put it in a glass of water. If it sinks almost right away then it's nylon with no more teflon/scotchguard, if it floats and stays floating even after 30 minutes then it is one of the poly carpets (polypropylene/polyester). If after 30 minutes it finally sank then it is a nylon with plenty of teflon/scotchguard on it.

Due to the nature of the RV environment with grit, sand & dirt to scratch the carpet fibers, any of the poly carpets have a short appearance life.

[JerryT]

Thanks for the carpet info Mac. I will try the test. I put my carpet over 1/4 neoprene padding for comfort, insulation and to hide floor defects. I patterned and cut it like Linoleum and it dropped in perfect. I used 2 sided carpet tape to hold it to the padding. I bought the padding with sticky back applied to one side and that holds it to the floor. We sweep it with a broom to get the chunks out and vacuum it when needed. I used my Clipper with a bare plywood floor for 3+ years so now I feel gulity every time I step inside with my shoes on so I guess I am trying to make myself feel less gulity about it and treating it would do that if it really helped or not  That was really great carpet info, I liked your web site also,

           http://www.miracleserv.com/


if I lived out your way I would call you. We seem to have "hit and run" carpet cleaners back our way. thanks again!

JerryT

[Mac]

No more winter camping here! Turned out to be rather costly.

Rain, freeze & high winds not good on awning, they freeze & then tear very easily.

Wrm inside, freezing rain, snow, ice on the outside make lots of condensation to fill up window tracks & blister the heck out of the wood when the tracks over flow. Sleeping with a sham wow all night to periodically remove water from window track sucked.

I'll always have my fresh water tank filled for now on just in case the water hook up station freezes. It's a big suprise in the morning when you find you can't flush and there is no water because everything outside is frozen for a few days. Luckily we had a raging river of water run off next to the camper.

[JerryT]

Hi Mac
Now you've got camping stories to tell My buddies first time out the raccoon's opened his cooler and ate the turkey he was going to deep fry, then later his dog jumped up and turned off the master disconnect  switch and he couldn't figure out why everything all of a sudden went dead. That's when my phone rang -----I like the easy fixes! Oh, it was one of our 80/90/100  days, temps in the 80's with humidity in the 90's and skeeters at 100%---until it started an all day rain, the skeeters backed off but it's raining and it makes everything muddy---He had a great time and loves to tell the story! Oh, he also ran out of water too!

JerryT

[Horst]

When it is really cold outside - and you have two or more bodies in a heated Clipper - you have to run some sort of fan or dehumidifier- or you will get insane condensation, etc.
I use a 12 volt "Fantastic" fan in those situations - works great. I also have two smaller 12 volt fans (the "personal" ones you used to see in all older motorhomes cab area) - that I can clip in various different areas of the Clipper (I extended their power cords)
In a situation that you were in - I'd probably run two Fantastic fans - sort of aimed at the worst problem areas, and one personal fan in the sleeping loft.
It's not perfect - but it almost eliminates the condensation.