Feeling pretty good

[danemayer]

One of the problems with camping in extreme cold weather is that everything really has to work, and it's much harder to get repairs done in extreme cold. It also can be difficult and expensive to get mobile service. Snow and ice may prevent taking the rig to a service location.

I'm feeling pretty good at the moment. Everything on our 4 1/2 year old Landmark is working. The furnace control board had to be replaced a few days ago, but that wasn't too bad and we had effective workarounds while it was down.

My neighbor isn't doing so well. He's got a brand new Tiffin Phaeton Motorcoach. It's beautiful inside and out. Two furnaces, a fireplace, and heated flooring. Unfortunately, over the past week he's had the water pump filter bowl break, his reel-based city water hose leaked, the hot water output line has frozen twice (requiring him to run the diesel engine for a few hours to thaw it), and now he has water leaking out of overhead lights onto his computer and desk. Oh, his auto-retract entry steps had to be disabled because they weren't working either. That's probably not the entire list.

His propane tank is down to 40% and it's time to refill. He stopped an Amerigas truck in the park and the driver said he wouldn't be able to fill the tank from his truck. He may have to drive the rig to the fill station.

I guess I'd say I'm pretty happy with our Heartland.

 

[JohnD]

The bigger they are . . . the harder they fall!

 

[etcmss]

not having done the cold weather trip----what's it like to pack up-hitchup and pullout? the cold temps would make hands more difficult and sensitive....glad all remains well.
Gary

 

[danemayer]

not having done the cold weather trip----what's it like to pack up-hitchup and pullout? the cold temps would make hands more difficult and sensitive....glad all remains well.
Gary

Getting ready to leave isn't significantly more difficult in the cold, but you do want to have warm clothing and gloves.

There are a few more things to put away. For example, I have masonite strips under the landing jacks so they don't freeze to the concrete. Also have to remove the slide topper PVC supports and put them away. Roof needs to be cleaned so chunks of ice and snow don't blow off into traffic. The mini-skirt has to be taken down and put away. Most of those things get done the afternoon before departure.

 

[TXTiger]

My rig has wheels. My solution for cold weather is to leave the area while it's still warm lol lol lol

 

[Rangelady]

DH says as the temps start dropping we are going further south. If long pants are required for comfort we are too far north!

 

[alethaj]

Not having been camping in freezing weather we will find ourselves in below freezing weather tomorrow and the next few days....we have wrapped the water hose but not sure what
we should do about the tanks??...Should we pull the plugs and keep everything drained or will they be ok????...anything else we need to be on the lookout for??

 

[danemayer]

Not having been camping in freezing weather we will find ourselves in below freezing weather tomorrow and the next few days....we have wrapped the water hose but not sure what
we should do about the tanks??...Should we pull the plugs and keep everything drained or will they be ok????...anything else we need to be on the lookout for??

Hi Aletha,

If it's just a few degrees below freezing, you don't have much to worry about. Just make sure you run the furnace so the underbelly gets heat. If it's below 25, and you don't have tank heaters, you might want to drain all the tanks. Also disconnect your water hose and drain it so it doesn't freeze. Keep a jug of water to flush the commode and wash hands, then reconnect in the morning.

If you can get a 60 W droplight, hang it in the UDC to keep the water inlets from freezing.

Since you have a residential refrigerator, you MUST evacuate the water from the ice maker/water feed line and shut off the feed line. The outside portion of the feed line WILL freeze at slightly below 32 (F) and be damaged. Instructions are in the Residential Refrigerator Guide.

There's a more complete rundown of how to prep the water systems for cold weather use in our Water Systems Winter Usage Guide.