Cold in Colorado - do I have a frozen grey tank?

[sooney50]

Hi, I'm new to the forums and a new winter RV'r. We have a 2014 Keystone Alpine with the 10 below insulation package. It appears to be enclosed on the underside. We woke up this A.M. to 10 degrees above zero and a frozen water line- it was an expensive one, but apparently the thermostat failed so the hose never heated. That was at 3 A.M. The RV park just replaced it at around noon, but in the meantime, I had left the faucets trickling while I waited for them to arrive with the new line. The kitchen sink stopped draining just before they got here. Hours later, there is still standing water in both sides of the sink. I drained the grey tanks( or at least, pulled the lever), but they are still reading totally full on the systems monitor, and still have standing water in the sinks. Is it possible that my tanks could have frozen in that 9 hours time period with the 37 Therma Shield Pkg at 10 degrees above zero? It's supposed to be sufficient for 10 BELOW!?!
Anyone know how to thaw them, if they really are frozen? It's going to be 5 below tonight. We also had skirting installed today - someone told me to go to tractor supply and get the type of heater/light they use to keep chickens warm and stick it under the camper....

[Festus2]

Hi, I'm new to the forums and a new winter RV'r. We have a 2014 Keystone Alpine with the 10 below insulation package. It appears to be enclosed on the underside. Is it possible that my tanks could have frozen in that 9 hours time period with the 37 Therma Shield Pkg at 10 degrees above zero? It's supposed to be sufficient for 10 BELOW!?!
....

Keystone, along with other RV manufacturers, have used this type of confusing and misleading (IMO) advertising to lead buyers into believing that their units are able to withstand long periods of sub-zero temperatures.

We have seen Polar Packages, Arctic Packages, 4 Season Packages and other "packages" and all of them should come with a word of caution. First of all, so-called heated underbelly will not be heated unless your furnace is running. Secondly, it is supposed to be properly and adequately insulated. If you were to remove the black coroplast underbelly, you might be surprised to find that the insulation is either lacking, applied haphazardly, or both.

Unless you take additional steps, such as skirting, to protect your RV from freeze up, you could be in for a rude awakening. I would look into installing electrical tank heaters/blankets to keep your tanks from freezing. I believe they are available in both 12V DC and 110V AC but I would opt for the 110 myself.

There is a sticky on the forum, developed by geo, one of our members about modifications and upgrades to the underbelly for folks like yourself who full-time in colder climates during the winter. Check it out in the Modifications and Upgrades section of the forum. It's at the top of the list ---- look for "Tank Heaters ..Underbelly..Insulation".

[geo]

Sooney50 -

Yes, I would guess that at least your galley gray tank is ice. The Forum has had many, many of these discussions. See the following post:

http://www.keystonerv.org/forums/showthread.php?t=19807

At the beginning of that post, there are links to the discussions on the Arctic / Polar / Glacier / whatever package of Keystone. If you search, you will find other discussions of how to modify a Keystone to be more cold resistant. In particular, a member "hankaye" can give you great insights on skirting and surviving the cold. My Alpine modifications were done to allow us to travel in cold weather, not winter in one spot.

Look at the above link, and do a search on the Forum. You will find a lot of information. The search function only goes back 500 posts, so you may want to go to the Mods section and just scan through the various pages.

There is a lot of information on the Forum, just take some time to find it.

Ron

[geo]

Oh, also . . . Are you sure you are pulling the valve for the galley gray tank? Keystone seems to seldom label the valves correctly, so you might be pulling the bath gray tank or the black tank valve instead.

Ron

[CHIEF MK]

That stinks Bro! I've been in below freezing on and off now for several weeks. No problems yet. Knock on wood. I always check the weather and if I think there is the slightest chance of a freeze, I disconnect the water hose, and insure that the propane tanks are full, to keep that underbelly warm and toasty.

[sooney50]

I will go read up on them all. I really appreciate your responses.
Believe me, I'd rather be "travelling" on a winter adventure than just parked here. This is the problem with marrying a younger man! He's here working, and I'm here twiddling my thumbs (retired)! LOL
Do the skirts really help? We had one installed today that we have been waiting for since mid-August. Unfortunately, it arrived after the cold spell started......I'm hoping sticking a chicken heater underneath will thaw out the tanks - I'm assuming they WILL thaw out....won't they?
Thanks again everyone! Enjoy your travels!

[Pmedic4]

.... First of all, so-called heated underbelly will not be heated unless your furnace is running. ...


Like everyone else, we use an electric heater, to save on propane when out, except when the temps drop into the thirties (or less, but we head for home then). Electricity, is generally included in the price of an overnight stay at most/some RV parks and campgrounds, while propane is on your dime.

For some reason, our electric heater does a great job of keeping the furnace from running, while not really heating the whole trailer. Have to assume there is too much heat loss/cold leakage from windows, slides, or just thin walls to keep everything warm. We thought we could even out the heat distribution, by leaving the furnace fan on all the time, but doesn't even help, and I'm sure it doesn't reach underbelly and tanks. And there isn't any insulation in there to speak of!

Stay warm.:o

[CHIEF MK]

Last night was hopefully are last night of freezing weather I hope. Last night was 32° f in Las Cruces, Nm. Were planning, and have reserved a spot in Yuma,Az for a month.

The little space heater works good for i
us. It keeps the the lving rm, and the galley warm. The temp sensor for our entire 5er is in the bedroom, so I set the heat to 57 °F, and thats enough to keep us and the underbelly, and pipping above freezing. Its worked out great for us.