Help a Frozen Floridian

floridaman

Florida temps are supposed to get down to 24-25 F this weekend until Monday. I’ve always happily ignored the winterization discussions, but do I need to do the whole process for two days of temps in the mid 20’s? 

MuttonChops

IMHO, no you don't need to winterize.

HOWEVER:
Do recommend you consider:
 -- 1 --  Turning off and disconnecting city water if connected
 -- 2 --   Opening the low point drains; HW & CW + Alde Yellow.
 -- 3 --   Leave the sink faucet open

#2 will remove most water from trailer while #3 insures there is venting just encase any remaining water freezes . . . venting will allow ice to expand down the pipe.   Also, the piping used in TAB's can withstand a little ice expansion pressure.

For extra peace of mind after doing the above . . . could run a space heater in trailer or even the Alde.

floridaman

Thank you for the help! Good plan

pthomas745

How long will it be below 32 degrees?  The longer the temp is below 32, the bigger the problem might be.

And.....I think there have been discussions like this every single year for many of the southern states!  I realize this year is a bit of an outlier for Florida, though.  

"Blowing out" the trailer water lines after draining is very simple to do. Even here in Southern Calfornia I know how to do it, because...stuff happens when I'm camping, even out to may or June in the deserts or the local mountains.

MuttonChops

floridaman said:

Thank you for the help! Good plan

Forgot to note:
- - Tanks: fresh. gray, black
- -    in general due to their volume they freeze slower and
- -    unless they are near full have lots of expansion space

For future 'events' you might get some RV Anti-Freeze so you can pour a quart or so in the black/gray to delay their freezing even more.

While just draining the fresh tank is easier than adding anti-freeze = = = because it is a pain to flush out 

Of Course all of my remarks here and in earlier replies are for Short Duration Events otherwise a real/true winterize would be needed.

dsfdogs

@floridaman can you plug into shore power? If so, turn on the Alde. (If you only have 15-20 amp service at home, just turn on 1kw vs 2kw). You can set it to the lowest setting. The great thing with the 400 are the heating elements under the bed (for the nautilus and water pump), kitchen, & bathroom so the plumbing stays warm. I have also stuffed bubble wrap into the outside Nautilus compartment.

floridaman

pthomas745 said:

How long will it be below 32 degrees?  The longer the temp is below 32, the bigger the problem might be.

And.....I think there have been discussions like this every single year for many of the southern states!  I realize this year is a bit of an outlier for Florida, though.  

"Blowing out" the trailer water lines after draining is very simple to do. Even here in Southern Calfornia I know how to do it, because...stuff happens when I'm camping, even out to may or June in the deserts or the local mountains.

Weather people are showing at most 12 hours below 32. 

I’m going to look into renting an air compressor and seeing if I can blow out the lines. 

Could I use a shop vac in “push mode” and blow the lines out that way? Or is that a way to get debris in your lines?

If I don’t have shore power I wonder if I can use the alde via the propane tank and just run the tank dry and replace it in the morning.  

floridaman

Oh I see I can use the adapter to 15 amp. Will that alone be sufficient? 

dsfdogs

Yes, you can use the "dogbone" adapter to a regular outlet. Just set the Alde to 1kw. You can also use the propane option for the Alde, as long as your trailer isn't covered. 

I use my Ryobi tire inflator to blow out my lines. I attach a 4' garden hose to it for extra capacity. I turn on the inflator until it reaches 50 lbs of pressure, then run inside to open a faucet. It would greatly help to have a second person because it's a lot of work, running back and forth over and over. 

pthomas745

@floridaman I've wondered about the "shop vac" method myself. (Vacuuming out the lines, instead of blowing them out).   But, this may not be any time to experiment.  

You do not need a "giant" compressor.  Owners have used everything from bicycle pumps, to battery type tire inflators (Ryobi seems to have a following for some of their devices).  I have a "small" compressor from Viair that does the job. Other owners, of course, with bigger tool knowledge do use the larger tank style compressors.

Here is a quick discussion on both of these types.

https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/14591/which-tire-inflator-compressor

We can show you how to do all this.

But: yes, the Alde on propane can help keep the trailer warm.

tphaggerty

I agree with Alde at 1kw electric or propane. I've successfully kept water lines warm down the mid-teens overnight at higher elevations (warm during the day and bloody cold at night). Use a dogbone to 15a circuit all the time.

floridaman

Thanks everyone. First night it looks like the alde on 15 amp shore power did the trick. I also blew out the lines best I could with an ac-powered bike pump. 

andytabrv

After following the draining advice above (remember those yellow valves as were mentioned) if you want a little more assurance without much effort, pour a little RV Antifreeze down your black and grey tanks.  This will ensure some antifreeze is up against the drain valves to dilute any remnant water since they sit outside the camper.  Be sure to hold open the toilet flush valve for a good 20 seconds as you're draining your pipes.  And I tend open all the faucets and shower nozzle to let air flow back into them to allow the water to drain out and leave them open as mentioned above to relieve any pressure from what water may remain as if freezes.  The toilet supply valves are notorious for cracking if water remains in them (luckily, they are cheap and replaceable).  Pour some antifreeze in the toilet bowl to keep the seal moist and pour a little down the shower drain (which I think has a P-trap) and sinks.  I forget if the bathroom sink has a P-trap or has the one-way valve like the kitchen sink, so I just pour a little down both sinks for good measure.

Lastly, I'll unscrew and shake out the thimble-full of water in the water pump strainer.  I do that even when I blow out the pipes as I usually don't have the Nautilus set to siphon but to sanitize so it doesn't blow water out of the strainer.

You can pick up a jug of RV antifreeze for $4 at Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart, or any RV store.  All that I described above will use not even half of a jug.

floridaman

Thanks @andytabrv and everyone else who helped out. I ended up just blowing out the lines and didn’t get around to the anti-freeze. We used the camper this weekend and I think everything looked okay but not exactly sure how freeze damage manifests.