Froze up

[PALLETACE]

I have a new Montana 3725 with heated basement. It is located in Old Forge Ny,

I leave the thermostat at 42 degrees when I am not there. The basement feels warm but it seems the water tank has frozen. Not much below freezing weather coming. How do I get to the water tank to place a heater on it, also where is the access to the water pump, I know listen for the noise but now there is no noise due to restricted water flow. I thought these were supposed to good to 0 degrees as long as the heat was on.

[Chip999]

I have a new Montana 3725 with heated basement. It is located in Old Forge Ny,

I leave the thermostat at 42 degrees when I am not there. The basement feels warm but it seems the water tank has frozen. Not much below freezing weather coming. How do I get to the water tank to place a heater on it, also where is the access to the water pump, I know listen for the noise but now there is no noise due to restricted water flow. I thought these were supposed to good to 0 degrees as long as the heat was on.

Totally taking a stab at it, but try looking inside your storage- in my Xlite I can take the wall down to access the underbelly/goodies that are underneath the floor, at least slightly. If you have a small vortex fan heater, that might blow some warm air under to help the process. Your other option would be to get underneath and unscrew the underbelly.

If it were mine, I'd turn up the heat and open every cabinet, maybe block off some of the vents if you're sure that the air will pump into the underbelly. It's going to take warmth and time. Oh, and if you can wait, do it when the temps are as warm as they're going to get outside to have mother nature's help as well (hopefully above freezing).

Are you living in it right now, or just not winterized?

[geo]

Palletace -

Do a search in the Mods for "Tank Heaters". I posted several long posts on the process of installing tank heaters and insulating the underbelly a couple of years ago. There is also a LONG thread in the past concerning the "Polar/Glacier/Arctic Package", or what ever name it goes by now. No, you aren't protected to zero degrees, the package means you got a sticker next to the door, aluminum bubble-wrap on the coroplast, a square of R-7 under part of the tanks, and a 2.5" heat duct snaking around to direct warmed furnace air on the valves. Look at my posts mentioned, I posted many pictures.

Ron

[Festus2]

I have a new Montana 3725 with heated basement. It is located in Old Forge Ny,

I thought these were supposed to good to 0 degrees as long as the heat was on.

As geo correctly pointed out in his post, the sticker is meaningless and; despite what you have been told, you are not protected to zero degrees.

Your tanks, valves and any other plumbing that is located in the underbelly will need a huge upgrade in insulation to withstand prolonged periods of freezing temperatures.

Be sure to check out geo's mods.

[airforceret]

With the furnace set that low, it likely did run often enough to keep the underbelly warm. The advertisement is based on presumptions made with someone actually camping in the unit at those temps which means they are running water, flushing the toilet, etc. You also need to be sure you have your hot water heater on as it's likely exposed to the outside air on the sidewall.

[JRTJH]

PALLETACE,

Welcome to the world of "RV HYPE" all the manufacturers "claim" to produce RV's that are "safe for winter use" but very VERY few actually can (or do) live up to their claims.

One of Keystone's competetors claims a "true winter RV". They build their bottom basement the same as Keystone, but add 12 volt tank heaters to each tank. They claim you can use your RV safely "down to 0*" What they fail to mention is that they don't provide any protection for the tank valves, water lines or water pump. Unfortunately, as soon as the basement gets below 32*, the water (except for inside those heated tanks) starts to turn to slush. It really doesn't matter if your black tank remains liquid if your water pump is frozen. :banghead:

As stated many times in previous threads in this forum, you can only do so much insulation in a 2" thick wall with single pane windows. Adding dual pane windows might help some, but you're still only going to face problems even with them installed.

There's a lot of good advice to help reduce the discomfort in cold weather, but it's nearly impossible to maintain any RV in a mobile condition (so you can travel) and use the plumbing systems below 0* F.

Don't expect any RV manufacturer's claims of "true 4 season camping" to be much more than "sales hype"

[WaltBennett]

Keystone, like almost every other RV manufacturer spins advertising and claims way beyond where they should. On top of that, the fresh water tank on most Monty's is at the rear, far away from the hot air put out by the furnace into the underbelly - and that's just an unterminated duct opening, with it's air going out forward into the basement. I've made up my mind that my next upgrade will be an electric heating pad on at least the fresh tank next spring. The two gray and the black are closer to furnace heat and I think I can slide on them.

[SAABDOCTOR]

the only thing on that camper that will not freeze at 0 is the polar package sticker. the best you can do is fallow GEO's thread! good luck:banghead:

[RV 4 Fun]

We have the Montana 3725 as well....the water pump is located in the basement area....behind the city water intake, grey and black tank pulls. In my unit we had a hard plastic angled piece that protected the water pump. In my unit we replaced the hard plastic piece(small screws hold it in place) with squared off wood similar to what was already in place and put a small piece of thick carpet under the water plump to reduce sound. Attached Behind the plastic angled piece is a very thin piece of insulation to (supposedly) protect the water pump from freezing.
As to your issue with frozen tanks....haven't had that issue yet. We put a small ceramic heater in the basement area. There is a 120 volt plug on the opposite side (door side) near the cable TV plug...we set it to low and let it run to heat the belly.
Good luck on getting your trailer back in working order!!