[VAC] Winter camping

["Terry Tyler" <tylerbears@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Welcome back Jim Dunmyer,

In a recent posting, you asked:

>Question for the experienced Winter Campers:
>Do you do anything to prevent freezing of your drain valves? We held our
>breath when leaving Asheville until getting to Myrtle Beach, scared to
>death that the drain plumbing would be cracked and broken. Were we
>lucky, or does this stuff normally stand being frozen? Maybe ours wasn't
>frozen solid because the water in the gray tank was warm and the black
>tank was nowhere near full, but 10 degrees is COLD. Our valves live
>behind a cover on the side of the trailer, but there's no heat there.
>I'm considering heat tape before the next Winter trip. Comments?
>

Jim, while you were off list, two sentences from a posting by Dan Weeks prompted this reply from me:

Dan wrote:
>Seems like what we need are trailers with one side with lots of glass which
>we park to face south in the winter. My argosy's heat load on a sunny
>day--even near 0 temps--is virtually nill from about noon till when the sun
>goes down, at which point it climbs like a rocket. 

My reply:
1 - This month, we're in Deming, NM (362 days of sunshine annually) with our '77 31' Airstream
(thermopane windows). The front of the Airstream faces east and the side with the entry door faces
north. The south side is the one with lots of glass. There's no need to turn our heater on between
an hour after sunrise and an hour after sunset. 

Daytime temperatures are usually in the 60-70s (it is 79 degrees today - 12/31/00). The 4 large
windows and 2 smaller vista view windows on the south side provide six access points for warm
sunlight to stream in and immediately flood our Airstream with heat every morning. That side and the
end of the Airstream are where major plumbing components are located or routed. 

Overnight temperatures have been in the teens and 20s. After sunset, the thermopanes help keep the
warmth from escaping. A small electric heater helps sustain the heat overnight. This is far
different from what we experienced last winter when we were in the panhandle of Florida with our '86
32' Airstream (no thermopane windows). The night and day time temperatures were warmer than here in
Deming, but we turned on our electric heaters at dusk and seldom turned them off before 10 o'clock
the next morning. 

This December, we have been more comfortable than last December, yet we use our heaters less and the
weather has been colder at night. Thermopane windows are making more of a difference than we
expected. Lesson learned!!   

2 - Before leaving the northeast last September, I installed an indoor outdoor thermometer. Instead
of routing the outdoor sensor to the outer part of the Airstream, I routed it deep among the water
pipes that are well beyond my reach. My objective was to know the temperature around the pipes when
outside temperatures were below freezing and the inside temperature was comfortable. If the electric
heaters did their job consistently, I hoped the furnace thermostat could be set to come on only when
the air temperature around our least accessible water pipes and fresh water tank was in the mid 30s.

I knew we'd be leaving our Airstream in Deming, NM for a week while visiting our son in Colorado
and would be asking someone to look after our trailer and cats. For a week, I wanted the furnace to
run only when the water pipes needed heat and to get power only from the batteries (in case there
was a 120 volt power outage). I already knew the solar panels would recharge the batteries every day
even if the 12 volt propane furnace ran all night. And, I hoped two 40 pound aluminum propane tanks
would be sufficient for the worst case of cold weather.  

As it turned out, the gal (owner of a motorhome) who looked after our Airstream and two cats loved
the thermometer. She was always able to determine that the water pipes were warm even when the
outside temperatures were in the teens. She never worried about our pipes freezing. She was a house
sitter with confidence.

When we returned, she related how other people in the park had frozen pipes during the week we were
gone, but ** HER ** antique Airstream was built to protect its water pipes. Unexpectedly, our
Airstream gave her bragging rights with other RVers in the Recreation Hall while we were away.
<grin>

3 - Granted, these two ideas are small potatoes in the overall scheme of things, but both have been
instrumental this winter to our enjoyment of this 23 year old mechanically mint Airstream. 

Terry
'77 31' Excella 500 
'86 32' Excella
mailto:tylerbears@airstream.net

Jim, although this does not answer your question directly, it may have prompt your well developed
creative juices to come up with a solution. Here are two other examples from past experiences:

1 - Back 40 years ago, I took a 2X4 that could be slipped through the back compartment door along
the wall where water pipes were located - and installed light bulb fixtures at one foot intervals,
wired them together, plugged it into an outlet through a temperature activated thermostat (like oil
companies used to sell to Snowbirds as an emergency light to signal neighbors of dangerously low
temperatures in the house), inserted 25 watt bulbs and plugged it into a wall outlet under the sink.
That worked well and for all purposes, was maintenance free.  

2 - In our '77 31' Airstream, the furnace ducting has sections of 3" grey expandable hose coming off
the ducting and snaking into the area of our fresh water tank. Whenever the furnace is running, that
area always gets a small amount of heat. For the black and grey tanks, I can see the grey hose, but
not where it snakes down into the area of those tanks. Because I learned long ago not to assume
anything, I searched for and found the factory had installed a screen (12" x 12") behind the toilet
and adjacent to the hot air duct for blown hot air to flow into the area where our gate valves are
located. 

This seemed like sufficient protection until one sunny afternoon when I saw a ray of sunlight on the
screen, yet the back compartment door was closed. Would you believe, the door gasket looked good and
felt good, but the fit wasn't lined up with the opening. Because I don't like doing a job halfway
and it was too damn cold to do it then, I chose a "work around" and installed a 12" long by 3" wide
heater grate under the bathtub (looks factory installed) and placed a small electric heater with an
outlet approximately the same size as the grate - against the grate opening. Voila` - the entire
area where plumbing and gate valves are located has more than sufficient heat to prevent freeze ups.
Total time spent on the fix was 15 minutes and my fingers were warm during the entire process. This
summer, I'll address the compartment door problem. 

Jim, when you come up with a plan, we look forward to hearing about it. Each of us has a slightly
different take on solving some of the issues with our vintage RVs. Not only do I thrive on seeing
how others figure out solutions, but I get a kick out of adapting them to my situation.