Frozen pipes!

[Damon]

Not sure if this is the correct place to post this. I'm brand new to rv'ing and and own a 2010 heartland 35dsrl. I was under the impression that all my pipes and tanks were heated with my furnace therefore eliminating the possibility of freezing water line. However, the water lines to my kitchen sink (both hot and cold) are frozen and the lines from my hot water heater (near my kitchen area) back to my bathroom are frozen! I have ran my furnace all day and still not water in kitchen or hot water in bathroom! Am I doing something wrong or do I need to be doing something different? Any help would be so appreciated!

 

[jimtoo]

Hi Damon,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and family. Sorry that you are having a problem, but hopefully the Heartland family can help.

The furnace does or is supposed to supply some heat to the enclosed belly area of the trailer. Did you buy this new or used? The discharge to the belly area could be blocked or changed by the first owner if it is a used unit or insulation removed or any number of things. Do you have water in the fresh tank and do you hear the pump run.. I do assume you have the hose disconnected because it is to cold to have the hose hooked up and park water running. If you can hear the pump run and are sure you have water in the tank, you might remove the panel behind the docking center,,, maybe 6-8 screws or so.. then put a good light 75watt or maybe even small electric heater that will blow some heat to the area behind the docking center and see if that will thaw things out.

Let us know what you find.

Jim M

 

[donr827]

Are you using the water from the pedestal or from your trailers fresh water tank? If you are using water from the pedestal the problem might be the supply hose to the trailer is the problem. Several years ago the cg where we were camping had a cold front move though but the low temp was suppose to be several degrees above freezing but actually got several degrees below freezing. The next morning I got up to make coffee and no water from the faucets. Went outside and the water valve at the pedestal was frozen. Heated some water at the stove and poured over the water valve and was able to remove the hose and the water in the hose was frozen. Switched hoses and all was well
Don

 

[TravelTiger]

If your unit has low-point drain and a fresh-water tank drain that stick out of the underbelly, these could be the source of your problem. Water in the pipes hanging down will freeze, and ice can back up into the pipe in the belly causing blockage. Running a hair dryer aimed at these low-point drains can help thaw them out. Wrap them with insulation, or skirting around the rig might help.

Also regarding the hot water to the bath... In my case, the water lines to the bath don't even go into the belly. They are behind the wall in the storage compartment. This area does not get heat from the furnace, so we rigged a 100 watt bulb with reflector shade up to add warmth behind the wall. Just make sure there is no chance it could touch anything flammable.



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[JanAndBill]

As Jim pointed out you could be losing heat to the underbelly or not even getting any heat. The duct that supplies the heat is a flexible hose a couple of inches in dia. that is easy to kink. Thanksgiving week we were in lows down to 14 at night, and a couple of days when the temps never got above freezing, and never froze up in the coach. We kept a reflector/light burning in the basement for supplemental heat, and only hooked up water during the day. When it's really cold you can freeze up pretty quick. One evening I hooked up the water to the pedestal, 20 mins later we didn't have water, the brass regulator attached at the faucet had frozen.

 

[danemayer]

You might find our owner written http://manuals.heartlandowners.org/?man=User Guides helpful.


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