2021 320 S Winter Camping with Antifreeze in Gray Tank & Cassette?

1991sb

If we’re camping in subfreezing weather, could we continue to use the gray tank and the cassette toilet if we put antifreeze in them?   

Thanks!

Sharon

Dalehelman

100% RV antifreeze no water. Blow out fresh water as well.

Verna

The cassette part of the toilet is not inside the heated part of the bathroom. There is a separate cargo door that is opened from the outside to get to the cassette, so it is not in the heated part of the bathroom. Please follow @Dalehelman’s advise from above “ 100% RV antifreeze no water. Blow out fresh water as well.”

jkjenn

I would add that make sure your run antifreeze until you see it coming from the faucets and toilet. Sometimes people forget to run it through the toilet and that line is vulnerable. The bathroom tends to be the coldest part of the T@b and can be down right chilly. I like to leave the door ajar to allow the heat to circulate more freely.

jkjenn

Denny16 said:

OK thanks Verna, fixed my post.  It looked like from the photos the cassette slid into the housing is the side/back of the toilet from the outside cargo door.  But this door looks like it is not insulated, so very cold temps could be an issue.  But the cassette is not under the camper, so the only other place it can be is in the base of the cassette toilet, which is inside the washroom, no?   Anyway, to be safe, flushing with antifreeze instead of water is the safe thing to do.
cheers

Even inside it can be very, very cold in the bathroom and it would not be heated while transporting.

MarkAl

Basis: I know it's not safe / probably illegal to run the heater while transporting the trailer. In the winter in the PNW the low lands are usually above freezing but if I want to go over a pass where it's below freezing and do not want to winterize.
Question: Help me with a "risk assessment" to leave the Alde ON for this portion of the trip, prefer an estimate of probability of occurance in each situation. Note the "freezing" temp is unlikely to be less than the upper 20s.  Likely need to stop and put chains on anyways. Sorry should change my "handle" to "Anal_Mark"

VictoriaP

MarkAl said:

Basis: I know it's not safe / probably illegal to run the heater while transporting the trailer. In the winter in the PNW the low lands are usually above freezing but if I want to go over a pass where it's below freezing and do not want to winterize.
Question: Help me with a "risk assessment" to leave the Alde ON for this portion of the trip, prefer an estimate of probability of occurance in each situation. Note the "freezing" temp is unlikely to be less than the upper 20s.  Likely need to stop and put chains on anyways. Sorry should change my "handle" to "Anal_Mark"

I mean, unless the pass is closed and you’re stuck waiting for hours (in which case, turn on the heat so YOU don’t freeze), none of our passes are going to take so long to cross that you need to run the heat, even in midwinter. Freezing takes time + cold, it’s not instantaneous. 

Traveling with propane turned on is generally considered unsafe. It’s illegal in some places, but not all. I’ve done it in my wild and reckless youth. I do not do it now, I have seen too many RV fires by the side of the road and scavenged among burnt out rigs in too many salvage yards. Not worth it to me, ever again. 

If I needed to travel and suspected freezing conditions along my route, I’d carry a couple gallons of antifreeze (so I could do this more than once as I traveled), plus a small compressor and the correct trailer to city water adapter for it. Winterizing via blowout literally takes 30 minutes tops, and I don’t have to worry about damage to my expensive trailer investment. Dump the tanks, blow out the lines, put antifreeze in the drains and pull your dump valve a couple of times to get antifreeze worked in there, DONE. If you’re on the move and overnighting in non-freezing areas, you won’t need to pull antifreeze through the water lines, just a drain and blowout is enough to avert any damage.

And aside from the risks, it’s somewhat ineffective to rely on the heater to preserve your plumbing. The Alde will not keep your tanks from freezing, it does not extend to that part of the trailer (and again, a full tank isn’t going to freeze if exposed to below freezing temps for just a couple of hours). The heat doesn’t cover your dump pipe/valves. It may not even reach all your interior plumbing unless you extend your Alde system into everywhere the pipes go. 

Unfortunately the Tab is not a four season trailer. It simply isn’t insulated enough or heated enough in the right places to preserve the plumbing without winterizing. But freezing temps for just a couple of hours isn’t likely to be an issue. 

Dalehelman

In the winter when the temperature drops below 40* we always turn on the heat while traveling. Although when the temps are in single digit and below the Alde struggles to get above 40 or 50 degrees while moving at 60 miles an hour. Once stopped things get a little warmer. The only issues we have ever had with the propane being on is traveling through some tunnels. Where you are required to turn it off.