Winter camping

[Lexie]

I apologize for hijacking this thread, I'm new to the forum and can't seem to figure out how to create my own post.

I just bought my first camper and am living in it.

I have a 2015 Heartland Elkridge.

I was told to keep the furnace on and to have the water dripping if it was going to get below freezing. Last night it got down to around 20. I had the furnace set to 55. When I woke up, the faucets weren't dripping anymore. I turned the water all the way on and nothing will come out. The hot water does come out, but I'm fairly certain this is just what was in the hot water tank. The water pump is running like it does when there is no water in the tanks, but the sensor says that my fresh water tank is 2/3 full. Is it possible that the tank ran out because I left the water dripping and the sensor is frozen? Or could my pipes be frozen somewhere? I'm hesitant to add more water to the tank because I don't want it to be too full and the pressure cause any issues.

I've cranked the furnace up in hopes that the added heat will melt anything that might be frozen.

I appreciate any thoughts ya'll may have.

 

[danemayer]

Hi Lexie,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum.

I moved your post to its own thread. If you browse to the appropriate sub-forum, you'll see a button at the left, above the list of threads, to create your own new thread.

The furnace blows some hot (warm?) air into the underbelly, but if set at 55, you're not going to be running the furnace a lot, so it's probably not doing much good. Keeping it around 70 will do more.

You didn't say if you're hooked up to campground water. But you did mention the pump is running. Assuming you are hooked up to campground water and it's not flowing, and you've tried the pump and it's not working either, here are some things to consider.

• The fresh tank drain sticks out the underbelly near the front axle, on the off-door-side. The valve and a portion of the tubing above the valve are exposed to outside air and will freeze. The ice can then wick up into the tee and block the water feed line between fresh tank and water pump. You may need to use a hair dryer to melt this.
• If you're getting hot water, there must be cold water flowing into the water heater. So there's some water flowing through the cold water lines - probably from the campground water.
• The kitchen water lines are usually the first to freeze. Do you have any water to the bathroom sink, shower, or toilet?
• If you turn the furnace up to the low 70s and it warms up today, frozen lines will probably thaw, except for the tee at the fresh tank drain.

Take a look at our Water Systems Winter Usage Guide for more information and tips to keep the water running. It's in this folder.

 

[Lexie]

Hi Lexie,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum.

I moved your post to its own thread. If you browse to the appropriate sub-forum, you'll see a button at the left, above the list of threads, to create your own new thread.

The furnace blows some hot (warm?) air into the underbelly, but if set at 55, you're not going to be running the furnace a lot, so it's probably not doing much good. Keeping it around 70 will do more.

You didn't say if you're hooked up to campground water. But you did mention the pump is running. Assuming you are hooked up to campground water and it's not flowing, and you've tried the pump and it's not working either, here are some things to consider.

• The fresh tank drain sticks out the underbelly near the front axle, on the off-door-side. The valve and a portion of the tubing above the valve are exposed to outside air and will freeze. The ice can then wick up into the tee and block the water feed line between fresh tank and water pump. You may need to use a hair dryer to melt this.
• If you're getting hot water, there must be cold water flowing into the water heater. So there's some water flowing through the cold water lines - probably from the campground water.
• The kitchen water lines are usually the first to freeze. Do you have any water to the bathroom sink, shower, or toilet?
• If you turn the furnace up to the low 70s and it warms up today, frozen lines will probably thaw, except for the tee at the fresh tank drain.

Take a look at our Water Systems Winter Usage Guide for more information and tips to keep the water running. It's in this folder.

I am not at a campground, nor am I hooked up to city water so I rely on the fresh water tank. The hot water is not coming out at all now, I assume because the hot water tank is empty? I turned the pump off because I was worried about it burning up if it kept running with no water being pushed though (is that a possibility?).

I turned the water pump on periodically to check and see if any water is coming through. About 5 minutes ago, it started trickling out a small amount of cold water in the kitchen sink, the bathroom sink, shower and toilet.

Thank you for the Water Systems Guide, I will read though that. I'll also go check the fresh tank drain.

I'm hoping that since I have some water trickling through that things are starting to thaw.

Also, thank you for your help in showing me how to create a thread! =)

 

[danemayer]

I forgot to mention, you may have low point drains, which like the fresh tank drain can freeze and the ice can wick up into the tee, blocking water flow.

If you left the pump running with the faucet allowing a trickle overnight, it's also possible you may have emptied the fresh tank. If a trickle fills a gallon jug in 10 minutes, that would be 6 gallons per hour and perhaps 48 gallons overnight.

 

[Lynn1130]

Several places, that over the years of cold weather camping, I have found will freeze on you. Low points and the ice wicks back up and into the T above the coroplast and freezes the line. Those need to be warmed if you have them to try to melt the ice. The UDC if not insulated from below and from the outside door will allow the water pump to freeze up, if it is like mine and is on that side, behind the UDC. You will need to get heat in there to thaw the pump and lines around it. Lastly the fresh water drain. Which is probably below the UDC and near the pump. If it froze up it connects to the line to the water pump and froze that line also.

If temps come up outside you may luck out and have things thaw out before you get them fixed. If they do insulate those points before the next temp drop. Allowing the water to "drip" will not do much to keep the lines from freezing and it will empty your fresh water tank eventually. If the pump is off, the water trickling is just from the faucet and not from the entire line. In addition, you are not getting hot water because the entire system is stopped up right now.

You did not say how low the temps got and if they are coming back up in the day time but if you are not staying below freezing 24 hrs a day and are getting back into the 40s or above it will probably thaw during the day but you will need to insulate, with towels or blankets and keep heat going into the underbelly to keep it from freezing again.

 

[Lexie]

Several places, that over the years of cold weather camping, I have found will freeze on you. Low points and the ice wicks back up and into the T above the coroplast and freezes the line. Those need to be warmed if you have them to try to melt the ice. The UDC if not insulated from below and from the outside door will allow the water pump to freeze up, if it is like mine and is on that side, behind the UDC. You will need to get heat in there to thaw the pump and lines around it. Lastly the fresh water drain. Which is probably below the UDC and near the pump. If it froze up it connects to the line to the water pump and froze that line also.

If temps come up outside you may luck out and have things thaw out before you get them fixed. If they do insulate those points before the next temp drop. Allowing the water to "drip" will not do much to keep the lines from freezing and it will empty your fresh water tank eventually. If the pump is off, the water trickling is just from the faucet and not from the entire line. In addition, you are not getting hot water because the entire system is stopped up right now.

You did not say how low the temps got and if they are coming back up in the day time but if you are not staying below freezing 24 hrs a day and are getting back into the 40s or above it will probably thaw during the day but you will need to insulate, with towels or blankets and keep heat going into the underbelly to keep it from freezing again.

It got to the low 20s last night. Right now we are at 45 degrees and everything seems thawed. The water is running again fine, both hot and cold, in the bathroom sink, shower, toilet, and kitchen sink. So whatever had frozen has thawed. I did not get to check the points you mentioned before they thawed so I'm not sure what caused it yet. I had left the water pump on all night (I always have it on), I only turned it off when I realized it was continuously running but there was no water coming out. After things had started the thaw the water was trickling with the pump on. I haven't ever turned the faucets on with the pump off since I run off of the fresh water tank. I am going to check the spots that you and danemayer mentioned as well as turn the furnace up to 70 at night.

Thank you!

 

[danemayer]

You'll probably need to either insulate the low point and fresh water drains, or push them up above the coroplast. If it gets cold enough, you'll need to put heat tape on them.

 

[Lexie]

You'll probably need to either insulate the low point and fresh water drains, or push them up above the coroplast. If it gets cold enough, you'll need to put heat tape on them.

Can do! Thank you!

 

[Lynn1130]

I had several freeze ups with temps getting to 10F on some elk hunting trips. I had the low points and drain covered with insulation and could not understand why I was still freezing. Come to find out that I needed to insulate the area below the UDC and the inside of the UDC covering the panel because cold air was coming up from the ground, into the UDC and freezing up my water pump. At around 2 AM someone would get up to go to the bathroom and when they flushed the toilet the pump would come on and run non stop. The line at the pump was frozen. Once I figured that out all freeze ups stopped. Pack the UDC and the area below it under the trailer with insulation.

 

[Lynn1130]

I forgot to mention when I wrote the last that my plan is to get into the plumbing area behind the UDC and so some insulating if I continue to camp in cold temps. I would probably still insulate the outside as I have done but it would be insurance with the inside protected too.