so impressed with new gateway!!!

[1_oldgoat]

Forgot to mention, where i was trying to see under coroplast was back behind the axles fwd, where the low point drain is located its got so much spray foam around it i couldn't get coroplast to drop down and see anything, tried a little under axles but that was usless as well so had to drop a few screws from behind the rear axle and try to look above axles, didn't work well enough for me to see much of anything, thats why i say i think i will have to drop quite a bit of it to see anything.
Also snowing and 13 degrees today, just what i need!! Should reach 20, And my luck!! It sounded like my pump was trying to start up and i did get a little water out of the kitchen sink spigot last night as well so thought i might be thawing out a bit but that was with propane heater going, now with ceramic heater nothing and no where near as much heat under either, i am just worried about coroplast melting or warping with the propane heater going because it was getting pretty warm or hot to touch directly above the heater.
If i get ambitious and can move i'll try and drop more of the belly and see whats up, but need to seal my box up a bit more so i actualy heat thebox up rather than outside air overwhelming the heater. Bought some metal duct tape to see if it would stick as the cloth tape froze before i could get it to stick to foam board, kind of usless in these temps.
Wish me.luck!!

 

[TravelTiger]

Here are a few pics of my underbelly removed, along with some of the work we did, adding pads and insulating pipes, etc. sorry they are not the best pics.

View looking at kitchen sink pipes with low point drains (which we removed). Fresh tank (foreground) and grey 2 tank.

Under the fresh tank looking back toward the valves

Fresh tank connections

Repositioned low point drain, and improved heat vent, plus added heat tape on fresh line

Removed and shortened kitchen sink lines, (new sharkbite elbows) and heat tape added. These lines go directly under grey 2.

Added tank heat pad.

Please note we then wrapped all these fresh pipes in pipe insulation... we don't have tank pads on grey 1, 2, or black, since all of the valves and most pipes should be getting sufficient underbelly heat. I did wrap the black dump pipes and around the valves with foam tape, and made sure the fresh supply was not sagging or directly touching metal.

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[1_oldgoat]

Erika, thanks for the pictures, we have a little different configuration i believe, my double low point drains are more fwd and under bathroom, the single is just fwd of the front axle, and fresh tank looks like close to same place, thats where my frouble is, from fresh tank pickup line to pump, i think this summer is a better time to try and drop all the coroplast and wrap lines with heat tape and insulation, i just got caught un prepared for this cold snap and temps never got above zero with wind chill for close to a week, of course we didn't plan on being here this long either, anyway its still below 32 for a couple more days so not fun to be out working in this at all. Still frozen up so trying to figure out a way to run more heat under the fresh tank without melting coroplast, i am thinking a fan with propane heater might circulate enough air to keep from melting or warping belly, thats the plan for today at least. Running hoses works for water for half hr then hoses ice up where brass connections are so kind of useless for now, once we get back into 30's we will be ok.
Thanks again for the pictures, i appreciate it.
Marcus

 

[TravelTiger]

Erika, thanks for the pictures, we have a little different configuration i believe, my double low point drains are more fwd and under bathroom, the single is just fwd of the front axle, and fresh tank looks like close to same place, thats where my frouble is, from fresh tank pickup line to pump, i think this summer is a better time to try and drop all the coroplast and wrap lines with heat tape and insulation, i just got caught un prepared for this cold snap and temps never got above zero with wind chill for close to a week, of course we didn't plan on being here this long either, anyway its still below 32 for a couple more days so not fun to be out working in this at all. Still frozen up so trying to figure out a way to run more heat under the fresh tank without melting coroplast, i am thinking a fan with propane heater might circulate enough air to keep from melting or warping belly, thats the plan for today at least. Running hoses works for water for half hr then hoses ice up where brass connections are so kind of useless for now, once we get back into 30's we will be ok.
Thanks again for the pictures, i appreciate it.
Marcus

Yes, I understand you have a Gateway, I've got an ElkRidge. But hopefully this will help you recognize things when you start looking. Any low point drain that protrudes from the underbelly is a weak point for freezing, and there is a low point drain between the tank and the pump. You could cut an access flap in the coroplast near/around the low point drain and see if you can warm it manually with a hair-dryer first, if it truly is the source of the freezing, then wrap the pipe in insulation and stuff it into the belly & reseal with gorilla tape.

 

[1_oldgoat]

Erika, thanks for the help, i do appreciate it very much. I have my double low point drains inside an enclosed foam board box with the rest of the drain pipes nice and toasty warm, the enclosure is pretty small, 18x60 inchs, because of a grey and black tank valve leaking i froze up the drain pipes solid but caught it luckily before any damage occured when i checked my portable tank to see if it was time to haul to the dump station, that is thawed now and flowing as it should when tanks are opened for emptying. I didn't notice the valves were not sealing our first outing as we were hooked up to sewer so a hose was attached our entire first trip and i flushed the black before we left. When i set up here, i noticed some blue water dripping out of the sewer cap from deodorizer packets and when i opened the cap was suprised with a rush of nasty water very quickly got out of the way, that was a not so nice suprise! I wasn't to concerned and just hooked up my sewer hose to the portable tank and had been making runs to the dump station which is only a few blocks away.
We have the Gateway to comfort and residental packages and acording to what little i know are supposed to have heater pads on all tanks, but i talked to a local rv dealership tech and was told all tanks except the fresh had heating pads, i am not sure i believe that as we have been in cold temps without any trouble, just nothing like what we just went through, wind chill was minus 28 for most of one day and night and it never got above zero for the majority of the past week.
I understand how ice can wick up the low point drains and into the.lines easily enough and i do believe that is what has happened to us, i now have another foam board box under the axles from the rear to a foot and a half fwd of the front axle so the back low point drain is also inside and in a heated area, i have a propane portable heater going along with a ceramic heater blowing under the axles now and temps are in the mid 20's so alot warmer than it has been for sure and getting warmer by the day so hopeing my feed line thaws quickly. As long as our fresh tank has a heating pad i am sure we will be fine. I may have to replace our pump which is easy enough, just waiting for it to show up at the dealership so i can go pick it up.
Thank you again for the pictures and i will definatly be dropping the coroplast when weather permits and do a bit of reworking the feed line and drains as you have done. Did you hard wire your heat tape into the heater pad system or leave a plug on wires so you can use it when needed only??
I hope you didn't take my last post as being rude or not appreciated, if so i do appologise as rude behavior in a person is one of my biggest pet peves and i try my best to behave acordingly.
Marcus

 

[TravelTiger]

Sounds like you have a solution, hopefully when you can get the underbelly down you can find the area giving you the problem! I agree the fresh tank heated would help.

In our case we had some empty fuse spots in the panel, but no empty breakers. So we went with DC pads from Ultraheat. They are wired to the fuse panel, then up to switches we added in the cabinet. The fresh tank is one switch, the kitchen pipes (4 pipe heating pads, spaced along that longest pipe run) are on another switch, and the fresh water pipe (2 pipe pads) are on another switch. The fresh tank has a thermostat that is supposed to turn on at 40* and off at 60*. The pipe pads do not have this, so we are mindful of the outside temp and will turn them off if the underbelly gets warm enough. We put a couple of wireless thermometer sensors in the underbelly to keep tabs on the temp in there.




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[1_oldgoat]

Erika, i lost another reply while trying to add a picture, i am electronicaly chalenged and my post is in never never to appear again electronic space.
The wireless sensors are an excellent idea and one i will definatly be doing when i get the belly dropped and other changes made. Thanks so much for the help.
Well after several days and dollars spent i have water flowing again, my service panel shows a full water tank to so i am assuming there is a heater pad on the tank otherwise it would be a block of ice after the cold temps we went through but it dosn't warm the tank water a whole bunch because the cold water is just that, ice cold but i am not complaining. I set another propane heater outside of the foam box behind the rear axle closer to where the overflow is from the tank but don't know if that was just coincidence and the enclosed area thawed the low point drain up to the pick up line, either way, what a stress relief and huge weight lifted from my shoulders and mind, the pump is working fine but since i ordered one having a spare can't hurt.
Temps are supposed to get back to normal however several inchs or feet are in the weather predictions as well so stuck for a bit longer, if its not one thing its another!!
I have gotten so much help from everyone i appreciate it very much, thank you all. I am going to keep my foam boxs up until we roll just to be safe. I think now things are flowing we should be fine as the warmer it gets the better i feel about staying in this amazing rv.
Still happy and stuck in spokane
Marcus shelli and pretty boy floyd

 

[GrumpyOneandTwo]

Erika, i lost another reply while trying to add a picture, i am electronicaly chalenged and my post is in never never to appear again electronic space.
The wireless sensors are an excellent idea and one i will definatly be doing when i get the belly dropped and other changes made. Thanks so much for the help.
Well after several days and dollars spent i have water flowing again, my service panel shows a full water tank to so i am assuming there is a heater pad on the tank otherwise it would be a block of ice after the cold temps we went through but it dosn't warm the tank water a whole bunch because the cold water is just that, ice cold but i am not complaining. I set another propane heater outside of the foam box behind the rear axle closer to where the overflow is from the tank but don't know if that was just coincidence and the enclosed area thawed the low point drain up to the pick up line, either way, what a stress relief and huge weight lifted from my shoulders and mind, the pump is working fine but since i ordered one having a spare can't hurt.
Temps are supposed to get back to normal however several inchs or feet are in the weather predictions as well so stuck for a bit longer, if its not one thing its another!!
I have gotten so much help from everyone i appreciate it very much, thank you all. I am going to keep my foam boxs up until we roll just to be safe. I think now things are flowing we should be fine as the warmer it gets the better i feel about staying in this amazing rv.
Still happy and stuck in spokane
Marcus shelli and pretty boy floyd

Hey Marcus,
Those are good to hear. Just think of the story you can tell your Grandkids!!!!!
You sure are a shining example of "anger control"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for sharing your adventure with us.

Here's hoping you can travel safely to your home,
Mike

 

[1_oldgoat]

Hey Mike, thanks buddy, you may want an opinion from my wife on that anger control issue!! I'm sure neighbors could hear me cussing two or three blocks away!! I cut an area in the coroplast back behind the rear axle so i could stick my head inside and try to see exactly where the fresh water tank is located, i got a good look and then feeling along the coroplast found the tank bottom but no heat from a pad so i don't know if its under some sort of insulation or not but i plan on dropping the whole belly on this when we get home and weather permits becausei do not want to go through this again. Erika had an excellent idea with temp sensors placed in the belly of thier rv and i plan on doing the same thing along with heat tapeing the low point drains, they are a bit of a challenge to get to with pipeing for gas line and foam insulationaround the coroplast in this cold weather so the boxs and heater idea from Dan was the best way to go for now.
I have learned quite a bit from this experience, not alot of fun learning either but now i know what to do to prevent this from happening again so worth the stress and headaches. Still amazed and happy with this Gateway, i think had we been in our old rv i would have burnt it to the ground trying to thaw it out or just to keep warm for that matter. Now if it would just quit snowing long enough for us to hit the rod for 10 hours we could get home and the rv into the dealership for warrenty work and ready for springtime. I am done with cold weather camping for now!! Well almost anyway, have to make it home first i guess before i can make that statement.
If i could figure out how to put a picture in one of these posts i would show you all what a mess i have around this beautiful rv!!
Time to shower!! It was 16 degrees this morning and i still have water so life is good.
Marcus Shelli and pretty boy Floyd

 

[kakampers]

Marcus...to insert picture...first, open "reply to thread". You will see a tool bar on top. run mouse over to third front right icon...it will say "insert image". Once open, click on "from computer" and then "choose file". This will bring up a drop down tree on the left, and you can choose your picture from any location on your computer, i.e., desktop, picture file, etc.

The picture must be on your computer to do it this way...if it is offsite, i.e., on Photobucket, etc.,...then you need to click on "from URL"...

 

[boatto5er]

Many of us have had trouble uploading pictures using Internet Explorer. I always use Firefox when I am uploading pictures.

 

[1_oldgoat]

Nothing sweeter than the sound of the water pump running in the morning!! Trying to upload pictures from my phone on here isn't working. I'll transfer to computor when we get home. Watching it snow again today, supposed to turn to rain wednesday so plan on rolling part of the way home then and staying with the warm weather instead of running ahead of it. Hopeing the Blue mountains are clear but need to get over them so keeping fingers crossed.
Got a call from sister and dads wife is in the hospital so need to get home asap, when it rains it pours.
I'll keep trying to figure out how to post a picture with my phone, i can get files to come up but when i choose a pic it won't load or i loose my post. Like i say, electronicaly chalenged.
Marcus Shelli and pretty boy floyd

 

[1_oldgoat]

Lets see if this works, i can get from inserting and choosing a jpeg to try and load but when i pic a photo it brings me right back to attach dropdown menu. Anyway i have something on the post here saying its attached so will see if they load or not. Still snowing and close to 6 inchs again with more to come so stuck for a few more days, i have 150 feet of hose strung out through the house to keep thawed but am.going to need to fill my fresh tank again, so much more convienient being in a park but it is what it is so just dealing with it day by day. I am waiting to show how many boxes and totes i can fit in storage area. I believe we can get them all loaded with room to spare so just another plus to add to the list of amazing things this rv has, storage galore. Something i do not believe i have mentioned before so thought i mi might take a few pictures of the stack of boxs and totes that i will be loading up. Should be impressive to see if i can get them all inside.
Still stuck in Spokane, cozy and warm
Marcus Shelli and pretty boy floyd

 

[TravelTiger]

Two pics attached! Boy, photoshop out the mailbox and you have a calendar shot!


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[priorguy]

135 posts in a single thread. Does the 1_oldgoat get the record for a non fire arm thread? The pictures look good. The snow looks familiar but I'm in the stick house nice and toasty.


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[1_oldgoat]

Dan, i can talk guns and reloading all day long!! Erika, i coulsn't figure out how to post a picture let alone photoshop one! Is a dingo what i think it is, acronym for new gateway owner??

 

[GrumpyOneandTwo]

Hi Marcus,

I saw your photo's of your Gateway. Dang, you sure have been through it!!!!!!!!! Hopefully things are looking up for you heading home this week. Lord knows you need a break!!!!!!
Keep us updated as you head home. Also after you find and fix your problems. Why the gate valves were leaking and what was the propane tank valves/crossover problem.

Take care & I hope you have a safe, uneventful journey home!!!!!!!!

Mike

By the way Shirley asked me where your dog slept? I told her, a 180 lb dog sleeps wherever it wants to!!

 

[1_oldgoat]

Mike, its stopped snowing so headed up on the roof to shovel snow off of slides before it partialy melts and turns to ice. Rain in the forecast here and home tomorrow through friday so i think thats our window of oppertunity will be to get across the Blues. Floyd took over the chaise lounge and most of the bed at night, he has a tough life!!.
I just sent our dealership a list of repairs we need made and once home they want it into the shop asap, i'll let you know how they do and whatthey find out when they inspect everything for sure. They have been amazing to deal with compared to the last dealership we bought from. Anyway back to work. I'll keep you posted along the way home.

 

[GrumpyOneandTwo]

LOL Marcus.....I love the picture!!!! Your sofa looks like ours, covered with doggie blankets!!!!!

Mike

 

[1_oldgoat]

Mike, its a shame to have to cover the furniture up its beautiful stuff but as you well know with pets thier nails and they way they scrattch a bed iinto a comfy spot can do a bit of damage so unfortunatly the couch is covered. Floyd took his spot the day i brought the rv home and came inside, jumped onto the chaise and took the sofa over as his, luckily we have the recliners and dinette chairs or i would be on the floor!! At one point we were traveling with 4 dogs, a pomeranian, cocker spanier, bassett hound, and mastiff, but have lost 3 in the past 5 years so its only Floyd now, he will be 7 next month so getting up in age for his breed, not sure if we will get any more pets after he is gone for a while its to hard on me when we loose one. He has been a great companion but is a little agressive with strangers since he was never really socialized much as a pup so we are very careful around people with him, he is to big for the wife to hang on to if he was to try and go after someone and dosn't listen to her either like he does me. Anyway show your wife that photo and see if she wants a couple to take on the road with you!!!
Marcus Shelli and pretty boy Floyd