Frozen Pipes

[Sf49erfan]

Looking for some input. I have a 2006 Monaco Executive.  We were driving cross-country form Houston to Spokane, WA.  We have an Aqua-hot and Aqua hot basement heater ( I thought).  I turned on the basement heater.  We had no issues with the pipes until we got to Baker City, OR where we had to stop due to road conditions.  I am not sure how low the temps got overnight. We had water when we went to bed at approx 11, but then didn't have any in the morning.  I am assuming something froze.  I thought we were OK since we had the basement heater and we were in the coach, temps about 66.  

What are my options?  We are now in Spokane.  The temps won't be above freezing for another few days.  I am assuming I will have to wait until if warms up to see if anything is burst?  How do I keep this from happening again?

Also, do you suggest a heated hose from the water source to the coach?  It doesn't seem like wrapping the hose would be enough.

Tracey

[manholt]

Tracey.  Welcome!

The few times that I'm in an area that might have a hard freeze, I put a clamp shop light in my water and sewage bay. I also have heated bays that run off Aqua Hot.  I use a foam tube, split down length and place around water hose.  I also carry 10-1 gal. jugs of water in coach to use for whatever.

How did you store your fresh water hose, since it was frozen?  Try a hair blower on your outside pipes, I doubt your pipes are frozen inside coach, just turn a faucet on first.

Carl

[nitehawk]

When it gets below freezing we open any & all cabinet doors where water supply and drain lines are located in the coach. Because our compartments are not heated I put a thermastat controlled electric heater in the compartment. 

[obedb]

Fill the fresh water tank and then unhook the hose. Drain it as you coil it. One less thing to worry about. Did your basement heater fail? Should be able to tell by feel or using a non contact infrared thermometer. Hope you have one. They should be in everyone's toolbox. Baker City OR was probably very cold this time of the year. Leaving cabinet doors at least partially open is a good idea if those areas might have pipes nearby. We have been exposed to temps in the teens in two motorhomes and one travel trailer. No freeze ups. We had heated compartments on both motorhomes fed by the rear furnace , but like Carl, I always put a shop light in the wet bay as a back up. Really cold/ a small electric heater in there would be better. Newer ones shut off if tipped over. Be careful how you place it. 

I have had a water pipe freeze in our house when I was off guard. Stop it soon, and the pipe won't usually break. 

[jleamont]

Tracey, do you have hot water? I am assuming that when you got to your destination you turned on the electric portion of the Aqua Hot (if plugged into shore power). What did you use for heat throughout the night and was the Aqua Hot turned on Electric/Diesel or both on and the "System Heat" switch on?

Does your coach heat the interior via the aqua hot heat exchangers while driving?

I was told by Aqua Hot when we bought our coach its almost impossible to freeze the coach with the system, as long as its turned on and functioning.

[wildebill308]

2 hours ago, sf49erfan said:

Looking for some input. I have a 2006 Monaco Executive.  We were driving cross-country form Houston to Spokane, WA.  We have an Aqua-hot and Aqua hot basement heater ( I thought).  I turned on the basement heater.  We had no issues with the pipes until we got to Baker City, OR where we had to stop due to road conditions.  I am not sure how low the temps got overnight. We had water when we went to bed at approx 11, but then didn't have any in the morning.  I am assuming something froze.  I thought we were OK since we had the basement heater and we were in the coach, temps about 66.  

What are my options?  We are now in Spokane.  The temps won't be above freezing for another few days.  I am assuming I will have to wait until if warms up to see if anything is burst?  How do I keep this from happening again?

Also, do you suggest a heated hose from the water source to the coach?  It doesn't seem like wrapping the hose would be enough.

Tracey

Welcome and sorry to hear about your problems. Were you hooked up to shore water when it froze? Have you tried using the water pump? Long time ago I spent some time in real cold weather in a older coach. Do you have a small ceramic/electric heater you can put in the bay with the water pump? When you get it thawed out I would fill the onboard tank and as obedb  said drain and store the water hose or buy the heated one if you are going to be in the cold for an extended period. The next problem is when you have to dump. I would place the extra heat in with the drain valves to make shure they aren't frozen. Definitely don't leave your sewer hose connected and the gray water valve open. You could end up with a big tube of ice.  Yes this is from first hand experience.

Bill

[hermanmullins]

sf49erfan,

I have found from experience that a water hose connected to a faucet, even with the water turned off will freeze the faucet and farther in line. 

If in very cold climate it is always a good thing to have a full tank of potable water, empty holding tanks and everything but the power cord drained and stored. If you have or can get a couple of drop lights with 60 to 75 watt incandescent bulbs. I would put one in the bay with the water pump and one in the dump bay. Drop lights have a hanger on them and can be hung so as to not come in contact with anything. Our Aqua Hot worked last week in Beaumont, Texas where the temperature was in the teens a couple of nights. We stayed as comfy and cozy as two old bugs could get. 

Herman

PS: A Cowboy Fan 

[BillAdams]

Assuming the basement heat is heating can be dangerous.  There are many questions above that need to be answered but I would suggest that you get one of the Weather Stations with a remote temperature sensor.  When we Wintered in Detroit we installed one and it kept me up-to-date with what was going on.  Sometimes over night I just did not stay as warm as we would like without also running some heat inside the coach which we did not need or want.  I added a couple of 100W light bulbs in the basement on those very cold nights and that kept everything warm.  Without the temp sensor down there I really had no way of knowing what was going on.

[manholt]

Herman.  We had the same weather and temps on Island.  Be glad you where not on I-20 or 30!  Gladewater got down to 6 with a 25/35 North wind.   First time that I opened my bays in coach and placed 3 oil circulating heaters in garage to keep coach from freezing !  That's not my house garage.

BillA.  Your right about lots of un answered questions!  Something here that is being left out by OP!

Carl

[obedb]

When I wrote my response, I mentioned that Baker City can be cold this  time of the year. I checked the current temp at 11:00 AM  today in Baker City. It was 5 degrees. Places like that need extra measures to avoid freeze ups.

[BillAdams]

You should have seen what we were dealing with in Detroit!  No matter, the principal is the same.

[Sf49erfan]

On 1/13/2017 at 1:12 PM, jleamont said:

Tracey, do you have hot water? I am assuming that when you got to your destination you turned on the electric portion of the Aqua Hot (if plugged into shore power). What did you use for heat throughout the night and was the Aqua Hot turned on Electric/Diesel or both on and the "System Heat" switch on?

Does your coach heat the interior via the aqua hot heat exchangers while driving?

I was told by Aqua Hot when we bought our coach its almost impossible to freeze the coach with the system, as long as its turned on and functioning.

We  had water until we had to stop in Baker City, OR because of road conditions. We had water when we went to bed, but dry camped.  The aqua hot was on-diesel. The basement heater was on.  The temps were very low, below 20.  When we got up, we didn't have water.  The coach was very warm and toasty.  We turned the water pump on and can hear it turn on, but still no water.  We don't have a warm water bay area.  We were assuming something froze in that area, but have put some light bulbs in there and still no luck.  The temps are supposed to be in the mid 30's to 40's the next few days, so hopefully we can get it thawed out.

I am not sure about the heat exchangers.  The owner's manual says you can put the thermostat on furnace and can keep the coach warm while going down the road.  I am not sure about that, maybe have to run the generator?

Tracey

[Sf49erfan]

On 1/13/2017 at 9:41 AM, manholt said:

Tracey.  Welcome!

The few times that I'm in an area that might have a hard freeze, I put a clamp shop light in my water and sewage bay. I also have heated bays that run off Aqua Hot.  I use a foam tube, split down length and place around water hose.  I also carry 10-1 gal. jugs of water in coach to use for whatever.

How did you store your fresh water hose, since it was frozen?  Try a hair blower on your outside pipes, I doubt your pipes are frozen inside coach, just turn a faucet on first.

Carl

We have done the shop light with 75 watt bulb and that area still has ice in it and we have gone through 2 light bulbs.  We will have to do something different.  My husband got the hose back in the coach, not sure how he did it.  We did wrap the hose, but it still froze.  It is supposed to warm up in the next couple of days, so hopefully we can get it fixed and prevent it happening again.  Still learning, painfully....

[Sf49erfan]

On 1/13/2017 at 0:04 PM, WILDEBILL308 said:

Welcome and sorry to hear about your problems. Were you hooked up to shore water when it froze? Have you tried using the water pump? Long time ago I spent some time in real cold weather in a older coach. Do you have a small ceramic/electric heater you can put in the bay with the water pump? When you get it thawed out I would fill the onboard tank and as obedb  said drain and store the water hose or buy the heated one if you are going to be in the cold for an extended period. The next problem is when you have to dump. I would place the extra heat in with the drain valves to make shure they aren't frozen. Definitely don't leave your sewer hose connected and the gray water valve open. You could end up with a big tube of ice.  Yes this is from first hand experience.

Bill

Bill,

We were dry camping when we froze.  We were fine when we went to bed, frozen when we got up.  The coach was nice and warm, the aqua-hot was on and the basement heater was on.  The water bay area is not heated.  We assume that is where the problem is.  We have turned on the water pump, can hear it turn on but nothing happens with the faucets.

We have a shop light with 75 watt bulb in the wet bay from other recommendations.  We have gone through two bulbs so far and still no improvement.  I think a little heater might be next.

Tracey

[Sf49erfan]

On 1/13/2017 at 2:31 PM, manholt said:

Herman.  We had the same weather and temps on Island.  Be glad you where not on I-20 or 30!  Gladewater got down to 6 with a 25/35 North wind.   First time that I opened my bays in coach and placed 3 oil circulating heaters in garage to keep coach from freezing !  That's not my house garage.

BillA.  Your right about lots of un answered questions!  Something here that is being left out by OP!

Carl

I am not sure what you think I am leaving out.  We are new to RV'ing and have tried to learn ahead of times. This is why I am asking on the forum, as my owners manual is not very clear on things.  Our water tank was approx 3/4 full.  I know the basement heater is working, we have checked. No, we don't have a thermometer down there, but will be getting one.

Tracey

 

[hermanmullins]

Tracey,

Sorry if it seems that we can't get the whole picture. Let me ask you a few questions. You said you were dry camping, had water pressure when you went to bed but had none when you got up. Then you said your husband got the hose back in. I am a bit confused here, Dry camping means you are not connected to any outside water, electric nor sewer. 

In our 2002 Monaco Dynasty there is a bay door (without a handle just clips on the under side). Inside you can see the water tank, made of white plastic and both holding tanks. When looking at the white water tank, on the lower right hand side there is an outlet with Blue Pec tubing coming from the tank through the bulk head. This blue line goes straight into the water pump. At this point the outlet side of the pump should proceed to the double set of filters and then into the system. Now if you can hear the pump running then the Water tank isn't frozen because if it were so would the pump be frozen and you could not hear it run. 

Now we are at the filters. Do you know when was the last time the filters were changed?  If the filters are clear and the pump is running everything Should be good to go.

Lets go back to the hose. Did you husband fill the tanks just before going to bed? If so he had to move the valve to the fill position. Did he by some chance leave the valve in the fill position? If so then you would not have any water pressure, however you might hear a bit of girdling come from the faucet.

One other question. You said you had a 3/4 full water tank. Was this by looking at the information panel or visual by opening the bay door and looking at the tank? If you were looking at the information panel then your sensors may be way off and your tank is just empty. 

I hope I have given you some insight of your water system and it may help solve your dilemma.

Herman

[jleamont]

Herman, you beat me by 14 minutes and saved me some typing.

Tracey, in your coach near the inverter panel area or anyplace there are switches for the slides (ours are up front 1st cabinet behind the passenger seat) do you see a switch labeled "SYSTEM HEAT". I am pretty sure it was an option but if you do have it see if its turned on (there should be a red light next to the switch), and if you open the bay Herman mentioned above with the tanks, look for a manual thermostat (nothing more than a small dial and a brass tube coming out of the side of the knob). That controls tank heaters and (if equipped) any heater tucked away in the wet bay, just because you do not see it doesn't mean its not there.

Herman, what filters are you referring to? The one at the pump in the photo below?

[hermanmullins]

Joe.

Monaco has two full house filters just past the pump outlet.  The city water also comes in just before filters.

Herman 

[jleamont]

Herman, what is the blue tank above?

I like that setup with the filters, mine had one under the kitchen sink (everpure)on the cold line, I removed it and connected the hoses together. We do not drink the water or cook with the water that comes in. I carry a portable filter and place it outside on the water line into the coach, having them built in would be nice. I have this one on a stand I sit outside.

https://www.amazon.com/Hydro-Life-52141-HL-200-External/dp/B002UC8SIW

I may look into plumbing one into the system, but locating the common line that serves city and tank could be a task, maybe two, one for each line?

[wolfe10]

Blue tank above is an ACCUMULATOR.

[jleamont]

Thanks Brett!

I have considered installing one, but lived so long without not sure if it would be a waste of time and money. That's a lot larger than the ones I looked at.

[wildebill308]

Tracy, a small ceramic heater will work if you are hooked up to shore power or running the generator. It will produce more heat than a single light bulb. When the temperature gets realey cold open the doors under the sinks to let warm air circulate.

Herman, Is the manifold on the left for the aquahot? That should provide some heat to that area.

Bill

[jleamont]

Bill, if his is like ours that manifold supplies the coach with water to each faucet. what you cant see is the other side is Blue Pex for the cold side. You might be able to see it better in my photo, especially since my top cold and hot are disconnected (they went to the washer/dryer).

 

I agree with a ceramic heater or two back there, maybe one in the bay with there the tanks are and one in the actual wet bay. they are the same bay but there is a wall blocking off the valve area. Herman mentioned how to open the door not equipped with a handle, you can route the wires up over the wall to your right into the bay photo'd above, and maybe to the next bay to plug it in via the Aqua hot access doors.

[wildebill308]

16 minutes ago, jleamont said:

Bill, if his is like ours that manifold supplies the coach with water to each faucet. what you cant see is the other side is Blue Pex for the cold side. You might be able to see it better in my photo, especially since my top cold and hot are disconnected (they went to the washer/dryer).

 

I agree with a ceramic heater or two back there, maybe one in the bay with there the tanks are and one in the actual wet bay. they are the same bay but there is a wall blocking off the valve area. Herman mentioned how to open the door not equipped with a handle, you can route the wires up over the wall to your right into the bay photo'd above, and maybe to the next bay to plug it in via the Aqua hot access doors.

So is that the back of the aqua hot straight back? I would think that would give off enough heat to prevent freezing.

Bill

[jleamont]

They are very well insulated, in the photos (mine and Herman's) the access panels for service are removed, normally you would see just a box with the logo on it.