Hey gang. We are getting ready to hit the road from NC to Texas and was wondering if I should drain my tanks and lines during traveling. Never pulled in sub 32 temps. Need some ideas on possible tank and line damage.
Thanks
Ken
We depart for California next month and expect some freezing temps through Oregon & Northern California. Our coach is currently winterised, so I will keep it that way until reaching at least Redding.
If your coach isn't winterised, I would at least empty the tanks and drain the lines. Some have also ran the furnace while towing through freezing temps.
Ken, I'm currently stopped in Roanoke Rapids NC for a week until we leave on the 4th for Savannah. With the daytime temps in the 30's, as long as the rig was totally warm the night before (furnace on and basement warm) I don't think I'd bother emptying tanks. I towed down here on th 27th from Baltimore and it was 17 when I loaded up. Did not run furnace and temps got to about 31 later in day. No issues when we got here.
I'm not planning on doing anything special next week when we leave here.
Just my opinion,
When we leave here on Tuesday from Sanford, NC it is expected to be 15 degrees.
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we will be travelling south the temp will rise to approx. 34 during the day then we will crank the heat up when we get there so I am thinking it should be alright. will drain the grey and black and maybe the fresh. about 5 hours traveling that day.
we will be travelling south the temp will rise to approx. 34 during the day then we will crank the heat up when we get there so I am thinking it should be alright. will drain the grey and black and maybe the fresh. about 5 hours traveling that day.
That sounds like what we do when heading south from Canada in November.
I start with empty tanks. If it's going to be below freezing overnight on our first stop I put some freash water in the tank and not hook up a water hose, we run the furnace to keep us and the plumbing warm. Next morning I empty the tanks and on the road I monitor the outside temperature closely and if it's around or above freezing we have been OK. I haven't tried running the furnace on the road, but if the temps are consistently below freezing you could pull into a rest area and run the furnace while getting a coffee, that would put some more heat into the basement area to keep it warm.
Ken one thing you could do to help out your water lines is pick up an air adapter and blow out the lines. It screws right onto your city water connection and using an oil-less compressor set the air to 40 pounds and have someone on the inside open the faucets while you charge the lines with the air chuck, blowing the water out of all the lines. If you leave water in your hot water heater just put the valve to winterize in the convenience compartment and you can blow out the hot water lines too. 34 degrees you should be good but having most of the water out of the lines will help from breaking anything if it does freeze especially in the faucets. If you have the air compressor pretty cheap insurance for those marginal days of cold weather travel days that only takes a couple of minutes. The only other thing is be very careful on those bridges your cross for any black ice.
When we left this morning it was 15 degrees . We kept the heat on as long as we could then we left. We drove the interstate and arrived at our location @ 3pm. When we opened up the house it was 45 degrees inside so we were good. The sunshine helped I guess. I did pour some RV anti freeze into the grey tanks so the valves would not freeze and that worked also. So all is good. Thanks for your advice.
Ken,
Are you guys landed in Texas now for the winter?
Yes we are. We will be in Willis, TX at Lake Conroe. Where are you guys?
Yes we are. We will be in Willis, TX at Lake Conroe. Where are you guys?
We are hoping to head that way... may even be in Willis. I will let you know. We are still in Colorado. We've had a rough month. George's mom died a couple days before Christmas (from the flu). Because we had to go back to Indiana, we had some medical testing delayed. George was given a lung cancer diagnosis and we were moving forward with that... when the doctors said "oops, we were wrong". Now looking at heart. I'm not sure how long he will let them poke at him. He told someone yesterday we are leaving Colorado by the end of the month, regardless of what doctor says. 🙁
Yes we are. We will be in Willis, TX at Lake Conroe. Where are you guys?
We are hoping to head that way... may even be in Willis. I will let you know. We are still in Colorado. We've had a rough month. George's mom died a couple days before Christmas (from the flu). Because we had to go back to Indiana, we had some medical testing delayed. George was given a lung cancer diagnosis and we were moving forward with that... when the doctors said "oops, we were wrong". Now looking at heart. I'm not sure how long he will let them poke at him. He told someone yesterday we are leaving Colorado by the end of the month, regardless of what doctor says. 🙁
George! That's tough news. I hope they figure it out pretty soon - those aren't things to take lightly.
