Travel in cold weather

[satboyz]

Next week March 10 driving fron Ontario out to Halifax, NS. What can I do to prevent water from freezing? I have a 2006 Pace Arrow and it says the basement is heated. Do I always leave the heater running? Any suggestions would be great. This is my first time taking out the coach this soon.

[pianodan]

I've done a lot of cold weather driving in my coach. If your basement stays above the freezing point, the waste tanks (and fresh water if it's there as well) should be fine. To make sure, start up your furnace (s) this week, buy an inexpensive remote thermometer, put one in the basement and the monitor in the coach. See what the temp is in the basement, it should keep it warm enough for the fluids to stay fluid (mine does). I would also pour a gallon of RV antifreeze in the toilet and down the drains, open the drain valves up to the dump valve to keep that line from freezing.

The other thing I do for cold weather operation is to cut out aluminum faced styrofoam insulation to put in all of my vents, it effectively blocks the entry of cold air. If you don't have double pane windows, go to your local hardware store and buy the window insulation kits (shrink plastic) and use them on all your coach windows, it does the job real well. The only windows I didn't do this to was my front windows where the mirrors are and my windshield.

The kitchen sink area is a spot that freezes quickly as well. If you're going to keep the lines there from freezing, I suggest getting some heat tape to put on those lines, your convertor can power them with no problem. I used a couple of 15w de-humidifier bars that I had around for a grand piano humidity control system (I'm a piano tech).

We made a trip to Utah over Christmas and were able to use all our systems this way. On the return we encountered below 0 deg F weather with massive wind chills the closer we got to MN so we had to run the generator to power a 1500w heater to help keep us warm in the cab area. Our coach is really pretty well insulated but the windows radiated a lot of cold air that overpowerd the dash heat as well as the front furnace because it wasn't ducted far enough forward to help (something I'm correcting this year).

Hope this helps.

Dan

[pkendzor]

Ron,

We use our coach for weeks at a time, on ski trips, in below freezing weather. Dan's suggestion on installing a remote display thermometer is a must for peace of mind. I picked mine up at Wal Mart for about $5 We have two separate pass thru basement

Compartments that contain our plumbing, and installed a remote thermometer in both.

The floor duct from our propane furnace runs thru the basement compartments and the heat is radiated off of these ducts in the plumbing compartments. Keeping the thermostat on 70 F in the coach maintains a temp in our basement around 40 degrees with an outside temp down around 0 F. When it was windy I would hang a drop light with a 100 watt bulb in both compartments and run it off shore power, generator, or inverter. I suggest you consider doing the same. With the remote thermometers and two drop lights on hand you can always plug the lights in as needed.

The thermometers I used are battery operated, with a Velcro attachment and about 6 foot of wire on the sensor. I placed them on the wall inside of the closet, drilled a small hole thru the floor and into both basement cabinets and stuck the sensors to the sidewall. It took about 15 minutes to install both, and well worth it !

This winter I installed three permanent 110 volt light fixtures and thermostat in each of the plumbing bays on their own circuit.. With this setup I can maintain a more even heat and with two 100 watt and one 60 watt bulbs in Each compartment I don’t have to worry about one bulb burning out. I keep the thermostats set at 50 F and they cycle on and off as needed. I can post the pictures if you are interested.

Paul

[pianodan]

Hey Paul, I like your idea with the lights. I could run those off of my convertor and with a couple of thermostats that would work fine. Did you get the basement style fixtures with the protective cage around them? You're using the hardwire thermostats like you'd wire an electric heater to, aren't you?

Sounds like a good idea, anyway.

Dan

[pkendzor]

Dan,

I used round plastic junction boxes with plastic keyless fixtures like the ones used in stick house basements. I spread them out and placed them behind the plumbing where nothing will bump them.

After fighting the first three to screw them down, I wised up and placed a 2" wide strip of industrial velcro on the remaining fixtures and wired them up outside of the coach reached in and stuck them in place.. The first two beat me up using the phillips screws supplied with the fixtures and bending my body into shapes it hasent seen in years. On the rest of them I picked up hex head screws and put them in with a nutdriver..... Much Easier.!!

I do have two bulbs that may get bumped and I plan to pick up two of the wire guards that clamp right on the fixture. I used 14/2 romex and 2 line voltage thermostats and a 15 Amp breaker. Total draw came to 4.6 amps at 120 volts.

As an added bonus............ When I dump my tanks at night, I just turn up the thermostat and can light up the Flying J parking lot !

Paul

[pianodan]

I've got a plan for mine, it may even work better than the velcro idea. The remote handle came off of my grey water tank valve last time I dumped (it was really cold, the valves were working, but that one still pulled apart), so now I have to fix it. There's no way I can contort my self enough to reach it, so I'm making an access plate for that compartment. It's the last one before the rear axle, so I can sit up on the ground underneath, cut open the compartment, and when I close it up it can be with the access panel that will double as a light box. Got the plans all drawn in my head, when the ice and snow are gone from my driveway, it'll be time to implement them. I'll only need two 50w bulbs and one thermostat to make it work. Good idea though!

[pkendzor]

Dan,

I got one up on you ..... Our coach just fits in the shop with the rear air bags dumped so all I have to contend with is the cold concrete floor. Just plowed the 15" of snow in front of the door yesterday and will set out skiing this weekend and then down to Albuquerque for the convention.

I cut a 4" hole in the bottom of our sewage compartment and picked up a plastic flange with a 4" threaded plug to make it easier to hook up our sewer solution dump kit. That setup may work out for your access hole. Picked up at local RV center for about $6

Do you carry a baby grand with you? I'm a sax player and will probably throw it in the coach when we leave.

Paul

[pianodan]

Paul,

I've got one of those 4" screw in access holes (marine compartment style) in the bottom of the same compartment, but it's so I can run the cord for my rear AC out and plug it into 20 amp when we're on shore power. My coach is 30 amp, and when it's on shore power only the front AC will run otherwise. The screww in access just might be the way to go though, I might have thought about it after a bit.

I won't be making it to the Albuquerque rally unfortunately, my wife has the real job, and not that much vacation time (we'll be at the MidWest rally), we have to save time for a ship's reunion in July, camping with my bro-in-law in August, and time to go to Utah to spoil grandkids at Thanksgiving or Christmas. Take a look at my photos, you'll see some interesting things we've done with our coach.

Oh, I do sometimes carry an early (92) Yamaha 77 note weighted key keyboard when required, along with my fiddles, flute, string bass, electric bass, and mandolin.

Stop by and visit with the Maestros when you're at Albuquerque, I'm sure Dave and Wilma Ricketts will be there, and he plays some really mean sax.

[NWJeeper]

This winter I used rope lights strung throughout my plumbing bay and attached to a digital temerature controller. If it sensed temps below 38 degrees it would turn the lights on and heat up the bay. Nice thing with the rope lights is that they are waterproof and can be strung along or wrapped around the water tubing quite easily.