trailer - overnight in low temps

[MX813]

Just picked up my trailer to prepare it for 3 weekends of use for my clubs annual desert race in Eastern WA and need your input.

I plan on hauling it fully loaded this coming weekend and leaving it there where the temp at night can drop down to high 20's/low 30's overnight. Days warm up to 40-50 degrees.

Should I leave water in the tanks or drain it before I head home each weekend? I can get water at club members office each weekend but that is a bit of a hassle to arrive, hook-up, fill-up and then drop trailer again.

Thoughts? Drain or will it be fine?

thanks,

mx813

[tb437w]

Our trailer is left in just about the same temps. I always leave the water in the tank. I make sure the water pump is off and then open all the faucets to drain the lines and we have no problems.

[idahogiant]

If it stays in the low 30's you should be ok. But if it gets in the 20's and/or lots of wind, you may have trouble. Your large tanks aren't the issue, its the supply lines. Are your tanks enclosed with insulation? If so you have a better chance. My 06 Salem is open on the bottom of the tanks with the supply lines exposed.

Sounds like fun what you are doing......have a great time on what ever you decide....

[8675309]

if your in it at night with the furnace on then it may be ok, i camped in bend or. in march 2008 with a low temp of 4 degres (yes 4) the only thing that froze was the drain fitting for the grey water. my tt has the smooth bottom insulation.

[idahomx32]

You should be fine but I would leave the heater on with it plugged in. Turn the t stat down and that way if the weather does do anything goofy your covered. Water freezesat 32 so anything below that and you are taking a chance. I see it every year when they bring them in to get winterized and they are frozen. You would not hard freeze but when you go to use it again it would take a while to thaw out.

[baja1d]

1. Take a small air compressor with you.

2. Go to Home Depot and rig an "air compressor fitting to garden hose thread adaptor". ($10.00)

3. Install a shut-off valve on the supply side of your water pump. ($5.00)

4. When you leave the camper blow out your supply lines using your fresh water hook up. Do this by attaching the air compressor to the fresh water hook up and supplying it with 30-40 psi. Open up each faucet, shower, toilet, water valve, etc individually. When the water is replaced by air you are good. Don't forget to open your outside shower if you have one.

5. Pour some RV Antifreeze into your sink traps.

6. For peace of mind, I would drain your water heater. If it freezes and gets a hole in it you are looking at a $500-$1000 repair. You can close both valves to the water heater and then drain it so that you don't waste too much water.

7. Close supply line to water pump and disconnect both sides of the pump. Then run pump briefly to remove the water trapped inside.

8. Steps 1-7 should only take about 15 minutes once the pump valve is installed and fresh water connection is assembled. Your holding tanks will be fine. Realize that a lot of things can happen in just one night. Breakers get tripped, campers get unplugged, batteries die, propane runs out, freak cold snaps, etc. All of which will be expensive mishaps in freezing weather. It would be worth $15.00 & 15 minutes to winterize the camper. I'm in Colorado and I've found that our camper is usually 15-30 degrees colder inside then outside when it's stored.

***Another option if an air compressor is not conducive is to disconnect the inlet side of the water pump, attach a siphon hose to the pump and run RV Antifreeze through the pump and all of your supply lines. You will need to have 3-4 gals of RV Antifreeze on hand to do this. I would still close the valves to the water heater and drain it completely. The RV Antifreeze seems to cause damage to the water heater tank + it will take a hell of a lot of antifreeze to do both your water heater and all of your supply lines. DO NOT USE AUTOMOTIVE ANTIFREEZE- IT'S TOXIC!!! Good luck and have a great trip!!!

[nap__kxf]

its the water in the lines that will freeze, in our gearbox it took temperatures right around 0 F for them to freeze then our water filter casing under the sink shattered and started a mess, we don't leave water in the tanks overs winter anymore especially ont in the lines, what you could do is leave the pump on and turn a faucet on and leave it on a slow leak all night that will keep the water flowing so it won't freeze but if it gets below 0 it'll probably freeze the moving water.

but if it stays in the low 20's like you said it should i wouldn't worry at all.

[MX813]

Good confidence builder here...sounds like I'll be fine as my trailer has the smooth underliner that seals off everything. Trailer will be pretty sheltered from cold winds.

The winterizing tips will be good to know for next winter (although around here, we just got 4 more inches!!!!)