Short term freezing weather - is winterizing needed

BillH46

Next week, I will be camping in my 2021 Tab400 Boondock in a full hookup RV park. Current weather reports say I will experience overnight temps in the mid 20's and daytime temps in the 45-50's. I will be living onboard and running the Alde heating as well as the Dometic, keeping the cabin temperature around 70 degrees. My camper is not winterized. I do have about 1/2 tank of fresh water and 1/3 tanks of black and grey.

Do I need to do anything beyond keeping the cabin temp in the 65-70's?

Arkansas_Gary

I’ve been ok in these conditions.  If the wind is blowing that could change things 

pthomas745

The answer is always....yes.  Or, yes, maybe.  This is a constant question during the shoulder seasons of Tab World.  Question comes up all the time, so you are not alone.  The other things that always happen in the spring is...."why is my trailer leaking from _____?" We hesitate to blame lack of or ineffective winterizing, but you might always wonder if one tiny bit of water in an unfortunate place caused an issue.

The things you need to know are: when will the temperature go below freezing, how far below freezing will it go, and how long will it remain below freezing?  If the temps drop to "mid 20's" before midnight, and do not rise above 32 degrees until an hour or so after sunrise.....that could be an issue.  Your gray tank valve is not protected by the Alde.  On your Nautilus, your outside low point valves are not, either.  (They are probably not trapping much water at the top of the drain, though!)

And, the forecast you are using is for "next week".  I know there is an "unseasonably cold storm" hitting the west coast starting in a couple of days out here.  Next week is a long time in weather forecasting.

If you are in a full hookup spot, however, your worries about the gray tank valves, etc, are much less, since it will be quite easy to simply drain the gray/black tanks.

But, if you were not in a full hookup site, and, the weather turned pretty cold between now and next week, your only real solution is to try to winterize the trailer, or, at least be prepared to.  The blowout method is fairly easy, uses some simple tools, and can really help reduce your worry about this sort of situation.

BillH46

I am in a full hook-up site and plan to dump the gray & blank tanks. I will watch the day by day weather forecast to determine how long and how low the temp might get and take additional actions as needed.

Thanks for the insights.

Binghi

Fill your fresh water tank, put the Nautilus in Dry Camping mode, and disconnect your hose from the city water connection overnight. Once it warms up in the daytime you can reconnect to city water if you want. Also, stuff the Nautilus compartment with towels or rags for insulation and shut the compartment hatch overnight.

BillH46

Binghi, Thanks for the additional insights. I have Monday to make additional preparations before the freezing temps arrive for about 3 - 4 days (mid 20's overnight - mid 30s during the days). Then we're in the mid 30's overnight and mid 50's during the days.

Binghi

No problem. We went through a cold spell in our 2021 400 BD a couple of years ago where it got down to the low 20s for several nights in a row and made it OK using Alde heat and dry camping mode for the water. Make sure you have plenty of propane to run the Alda furnace.

Mickerly

Just to be clear, all the pressurized lines are inside the trailer. If you are camping in the trailer, disconnecting from external water and take care of the three tanks. The lines should be fine. If you trailer is in storage, empty all the water lines and all three tanks.

elbolillo

@BillH46 We have experienced freezing temperatures in both our '21 Tab 320 and our '23 Tab 400. In the case of our 320, overnight temperatures dropped to about 15 degrees. We ran the ALDE to keep everything toasty. (The Fresh water and grey tanks were empty.) We booked it out of Dodge in the morning and got into more favorable temperatures. We didn't have any problems.

We had our 400 out in temps in the low 20s. We kept the Alde running and didn't run into any issues.

Binghi

elbolillo said:

We booked it out of Dodge in the morning and got into more favorable temperatures.

Oh yeah, been there done that - we headed straight south to Louisiana!