Hello everyone!

[lisntodd]

Well we have been researching fulltiming for over 2 years now and the time is NOW. We just purchased a Big Country 3690SL and have our walkthrough on Thursday.

Our situation and our decision is a little unique. I am Active Duty Military and we got tired of wasting money on rent. We researched and decided to fulltime. So I will not need to workamp/etc, but we will have to stay in our current location (or at least the general area) for 3 more years before I transfer to another base. (hopefully in Florida)

I think our biggest obstacle is going to be the winter, as we are stationed in Omaha, NE. The winters can get below freezing often. The underbelly is heated, enclosed and insulated to include the holding tanks. From what I have read, this alone will not be enough to keep the tanks from freezing. We plan to use electric heaters to keep the inside warm & cozy (we pay a flat rate for electric), but I *think* we need to keep the furnace running to keep heat going into the underbelly. Do we need to get a skirt for the unit, maybe heat tape? From what I've ready, I use heat tape on any exposed pipes from the RV hookup to the unit?

As I've been camping before, neither of us have ever been in a fifth wheel. So it will be a learning curve for us, so we hope you guys are patient with us!

Thanks for all of the information we've learned so far!

Todd

 

[danemayer]

Hi Todd,

I looked at Weatherspark.com to see what the typical and historic low temps are in Omaha. Routinely single digits. Min down to -20F.

You'll definitely need to run the furnace to get hot air into the underbelly. You'll also need tank heating pads. If you ordered with the Yeti Option (aka Canadian Arctic Package), your Big Country will have them as well as a heated fresh water line. If not, you can get the dealer to add them.

If temps go down to -15F, you'll likely have frozen gate valves and won't be able to dump the tanks unless you take down parts of the coroplast and run a hair dryer on the valves to defrost them.

You would do well to get a skirt. Or you can do a semi-skirt inexpensively. I did this for a couple of weeks in January. I built an enclosure under the rig using 3/4" foam board from Lowes. I prefer what Home Depot carries, but no HD in the area. Cut the 4x8 sheets to build a wall along the off-door-side. Mine protected about 4 feet of the drop frame area in front of the sewer outlet, and 2 feet behind. Side-to-side I went about 4 feet. Used duct tape to hold it all together and to the coroplast. Then cut an access door near the sewer outlet and put a ceramic disc heater inside, sitting on a support keeping it about an inch off the ground. I used a Pelonis heater with tip-over shutoff and a smart thermostat set to minimum. In that small enclosure, at the lowest setting, it generated enough heat to keep the thermometer above the coroplast at 60 degrees even when outside temps were way below zero.

Next winter I'll increase the length so it goes back just past the axles and may also extend the enclosure to cover the sewer hose.

I already have tank heaters, gate valve heaters, and heat tape on all the water lines. But I built this enclosure because at -20 to -30F, I was having a series of problems with the sewer lines.

You've probably seen other tips about keeping a 60W drop light in the UDC and a 100W floodlamp over the water pump area behind the basement wall. I have also found it very useful to have two 20Amp dedicated outlets on their own circuit breakers. One is in the plumbing area and the other is hear the circuit breaker box in the kitchen. It's really annoying to plug heat lamps into the existing outlets and find out in the morning that the GFCI breaker tripped overnight.

There's a certain degree of flexibility required for camping in extreme cold weather. Things can get interesting and when they do, it's important to keep calm and roll with it.

 

[lisntodd]

Thanks for the tips.

I'll contact my dealer tomorrow and ask about the heat pads on the tanks. We are going to get a skirt from rvskirting.com but afraid it's going to take 2-3 weeks to get.

We are getting 25 degree weather next week, so I'm going to try and survive until we get the skirt.

So a 60W drop light in the UDC will keep the gate valves from freezing?

 

[danemayer]

So a 60W drop light in the UDC will keep the gate valves from freezing?

Nope. The drop light in the UDC will keep the UDC water connections from freezing.

The gate valve handles aren't what freezes. It's the valve assemblies in the underbelly. The liquid inside the tank sits on one side of the valve assembly and there's always a little moisture around the valve blade. When it gets cold enough in the underbelly, they will freeze.

 

[Speedy]

You will still have to insulate the skirting you have ordered from RVSkirting.com because it is only cloth with little R value. Before we left Minnesota we were looking at building a complete hardsided set of skirts that would include water and sewer lines. This what the RV park required/recommended just like the mobile home in the park. Along with the skirting add a 100 gallon (not lb) propane tank. A local propane dealer will be able to deliver it and sell you the connection hose.

We were using 30 lbs in less than a week in temps 10F or so.

 

[JohnDar]

I'm guessing that you're stationed at Offutt AFB. Can't help you much with your winterization, but thanks for your service.

 

[TXBobcat]

When you get your trailer you will find a wall inside the basement that when one part is removed you can see back into the trailer. We stay in the Dallas area from Nov thru February and the temp can get down to the mid 20's or more. I take a couple of the Reflector Clamp Light, from Walmart. Put a 150w bulb in each and it will keep the basement and pretty well the underbelly warm enough that I haven't had it freeze. I also put a small heater inside also but further back into the area behind the UDC and set it to 40*.

I have a heat tape to keep the water hose from freezing and cover it in the black pipe insulation securing it wth duct tape. I wrap the end of one of the heat tapes around the shore water faucet. I then take a 5gal bucket and cut an area out of the side so that a flap is open to set around the hose. Then I take 2 Walmart plastic bags and spray in a can or two (as needed) of foam insulation. One I wrap around the faucet along the ground and the other over the top of the faucet and place the bucket over it all with a brick on top of the bucket so it won't blow off. The foam in the bags will harden and form around the faucet. I can use them and the bucket every year.

You can also get a heated hose rather than the heat tape around a water hose. A bit more expensive but each to their own.

This is what I do..
BC

 

[VKTalley]

Welcome to the Heartland family and the 3690SL family! We love our BC and it has worked great for us. Hopefully all the great answers from others on the cold weather protection helps you. Thank you for your service!

 

[MCTalley]

Just to add that right now, while your lows are only in the +20's, you should be fine with running the gas heat at night. Check to see if your local camping supply store (if you have one nearby) has heated water hoses. We've got a 50 foot one from Camping World that we use when it gets down to freezing or below. It plugs into the 20 amp circuit on the pedestal and is thermostatically controlled. Lacking that, you could just put water in your fresh water tank and run off the pump when it is below freezing. We've done that a few times before we got the heated hose.

All the other winterization tips are great. Glad to hear you are getting some good feedback and tips (this place is great for that).