first time in cold weather

[timeshare]

Hi everyone. We have a 2009 3055 Bighorn with the winter package. We are heading south soon (Alberta to Arizona) and as this is our first winter trip we are anxious to learn how well the unit will perform in cold weather.
Someone told us the unit can handle up to -15C. Is this true? Give us your advice on weathering the trip so to speak. Thanks.

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

I think that translates to about 5 degrees F. I would plan on taking every precaution possible to prevent waterlines both in the basement/underbelly and outside supply lines from freezing. Your furnace needs to run to supply any heat to the underbelly. Keep a few cabinet doors open to get warm air to the plumbing. You might have trouble finding places with water on until you get farther south so if your using your fresh water tank run you furnace as often as you can. Keep an eye on the propane. A 30# bottle should last 2 to 3 days. Drive as fast as you safely can.

 

[jmgratz]

Alot depends on how many hours the temps are below freezing (32F or 0C). I the temps only get below freezing for 4-6 hours you should not have any problem as long as it warms up above 40F most of the day. You will still need to take preventative measures such as using your furnace and not just space heaters as the furnace is what heats the underbelly. I live where the night temps will get below freezing from about 11pm to 7am (8hours) and I do not totally winterize. I just keep the furnace set on about 45F degrees and everything works out fine. The other night it got down to 21F but warmed up to 50F during the day and I did not have any problems. Just watch the weather closely. And by the way keep your drain valves closed and only open them when you dump. If you don't your sewer line could freeze and your valves stick in the open position. I hope that isn't too much information.

 

[vangoes]

As an added caution, I always drain my water heater in the morning before hitting the road if the temps are going to remain below freezing all day while I am traveling. It only takes a few minutes and water heaters are not cheap to replace................ask my friend!

 

[creeper]

We recently got back from our first winter camping trip. In a short time I became an expert at what will freeze and how to unfreeze it.

Our temps got down to the -5 F and with windchills to -12 to -15..

Before leaving I opened up the bottom and put pipe insulation around the fresh water line and a supplemental heat rod in the underbelly area.

Even with the furnace running(temps sometime around 50 degrees), line wrap and supplemental heat our fresh water line from the tank froze. I even had the low point pipe wrapped. I put a heater on it and unfroze it. I suspect since the line lies on the bottom and the low point goes out into the elements is the reason it froze at that point. The tank itself never froze, but I drained it and used the campgrounds water via heat tape.

I also learned that if you're going to camp you better open your gray water tanks upon arrival. If you don't they will freeze in the closed position or at least the #1 tank will, then when it fills you will have to thaw it out to drain it. Again I was opening up the bottom and sticking a heater in there. Once I got it open they stayed open for 2 weeks.

Upon leaving we realized we should have closed the #1 gray tank after some hot showers at it was stuck in the open position and temps were about 10 degrees. Not a big deal and once we go on the road and into warmer areas it closed easily.

The other problem area is the Connection bay. The bypass valve on the bottom tends to freeze up. Again a few minutes with the space heater open it up. I had a light 40w bulb in the bay burning 24/7 and it didn't prevent it from freeze.

When I travel and I know it's going to be freezing all day, I turn on the water heat and leave it on until we hit the road. It will stay hot most of the day. I drove from 10 degrees to 30 degrees on a 11 hour drive and the water was still warm.

I do keep the furnace on while driving at around 50 degrees.