Mistakes were made...

[BryanA]

So it’s 11 degree days here. And -11 is predicated for lows this week.

We had a cold snap over XMas (temps were in the 40s) that surprised me and we left our Sewer hose connected, with the gray valves open.

Now because DW left the sink dripping that hose filled up... solid ice...

Does anyone have a suggestion as to how to thaw this thing enough to disconnect it and put a new one on? Or salvage it?

[frankyb01]

a hair dryer or heat gun usually does the trick. avoid anything with an open flame, such as a propane torch at all cost

[flybouy]

If the hose is "frozen solid" where you can not disconnect it at the tank discharge end you have a larger issue than just the hose. Can't imagine a dripping faucet would ice up the waste hose solid. That would be a lot of water. I would try a heat tape around the end closest to the tank first. Let it run all day then give it a go. I've used a strap wrench on stubborn fittings before with success.

[XTeacher]

If you get desperate, you could saw the sewer hose off, then melt the ice with a heat source. I hope your pipes aren't ruined.

[notanlines]

Bryan, cut the hose very close to the connection with a saw. Any old saw will do. Throw the large part you cut off somewhere it will thaw out. Most quality sewer hoses can be repaired by simply looking at the end and seeing how it comes apart. Usually they screw together with another smaller part "jamming" the hose tight. Now your problem is at least considerably smaller than it was.

[ctbruce]

As much as I love to camp, I'm starting to question the sanity of winter camping. Seems like a lot of "issues" crop up and rear their ugly heads. Somebody convince me this is a good idea north of the southern coast.



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[JRTJH]

As much as I love to camp, I'm starting to question the sanity of winter camping. Seems like a lot of "issues" crop up and rear their ugly heads. Somebody convince me this is a good idea north of the southern coast.
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Not me !!!! Mine is in the pole barn, winterized and it won't see daylight until spring (unless we decide to head south for a month or so later in the winter). In that case, we'll drag it at least to Nashville before we even sleep in it and won't de-winterize it until we're well south of any "freezing weather"..... I spent quite a few deer and elk seasons in the Rockies when we lived in Denver. We had an early Jayco with no insulation under the floor and copper water lines. We never made it through a hunting season without a split copper pipe or without having to put cardboard on the floor to cover the ice so we could get out of bed to get dressed. It wasn't much different from tent camping except we had "hard walls that didn't leak when the snow melted"....

I'm adventurous, to a point, but frozen pipes in an RV isn't my ideal of "adventure" but closer to "intentionally inflicting pain".... I'll stay home where the fireplace is comfortable and I can flush the toilet, knowing I won't be trying to dump the holding tanks so they won't freeze on Sunday afternoon when I'm parking the trailer for the week...... Maybe someone else can convince you it's fun, but it won't be me !!!!!

[sourdough]

As much as I love to camp, I'm starting to question the sanity of winter camping. Seems like a lot of "issues" crop up and rear their ugly heads. Somebody convince me this is a good idea north of the southern coast.



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It won't be me either!!

I used to love being out in winter weather. Frozen water lines, valves and propane tanks seemed more adventurous than anything. The imposition and inconvenience just seemed normal.

No more! All of it IS an imposition and inconvenience that I don't want. Stay warm. Watch the fire. No need to go lay in freezing water and/or mud. Leave the trailer "tucked away" or somewhere here on the southern coast. Now THAT'S how you "camp" in winter.....;)

[Hodgy]

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Not even considering it here in the Great White North. On Dec 26 it was -34 F here in the morning and I think it is going down to -30 F here tonight.

I will stay here throwing wood into the stove.

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[Hodgy]

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It is so cold here today that the Calgary Zoo would not let the penguins outside of their enclosure !

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[XTeacher]

As much as I love to camp, I'm starting to question the sanity of winter camping. Seems like a lot of "issues" crop up and rear their ugly heads. Somebody convince me this is a good idea north of the southern coast.



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I live in Georgia, and it's supposed to dip down into the 20s and even the teens here at night next week, with the highs in the low 30s. Even North Florida can freeze in winter. I remember it going down to 8 degrees in Tallahassee, FL one December a long time ago. I'd only camp in south FL this time of year.

[JRTJH]

I remember huddling around the oven in January in Key West. There was no heat in the house and the only warmth was from Mom lighting the oven, leaving the door open and we'd all huddle around it in the kitchen while we got dressed for school. Those jalousie windows leaked BIG TIME, so there was no way to keep the house warm. Of course by the time we got dressed, ate breakfast and started walking to school, we were taking our jackets off and usually leaving them on a bush in the front yard.

[Dave W]

Back to the OP - a heat gun at the fitting MAY loosen things enough that you can remove the hose without damage. Once that hose is off you can then start working on the drain line on the camper, starting at the outlet and working back to the tank. Be real careful with a heat gun as some put out way lots of Btu's. A hair dryer will not put out enough heat or volume @ speed if it's really cold. When done. inspect for drain line damage clear back to and including the tanks and valves, especially if they ended up full. Fresh water can expand as much as 9% when it turns to ice and breaks things.

Now, winter camping - nahh, I'm not a masochist especially after a stint in the US Army years back. We had a battalion commander that loved to have his troops 'experience' the real conditions of -20 winter exercises (he stayed in his nice warm quarters, venturing out only occasionally)

[Hodgy]

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JRTJH, that story of January in Key West almost made me cold !


http://www.keystonerv.org/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif

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[Don_T]

We are in the middle of our first real winter camping. We had the same problem. We have an outside shower (hot water) so I hooked a garden hose to the shower hose.

I first used it to de-ice the hose connections at both ends then removed the sewer hose. I was lucky in that I had a spare sewer hose to use so I didn’t do anything further with the hose. It would be a matter of moving the hose to a warn place to thaw it out for re-use.

Once the flex hose was disconnected, I used the hot water from the garden hose to thaw the ice in the pipe from the tanks by putting a nozzle on the hose so that I could spray the hot water. I slowly melted the ice in the pipe by working the hose into it as the ice melted. I don’t think it took more than an hour to get most of the line cleared. This fixed the pipe all the way to the gray water tank. I could not make the turn into the pipe for the black water tank so I bought some RV antifreeze and a gate valve I put on the open end of the sewer line and hooked up my spare sewer hose. I then closed the added gate valve and dumped 3 gallons into the black tank and 3 gallons into the gray tank with both tank dump valves open so the antifreeze could get to both sides of the ice plug on the outlet of the black water tank. I sprayed hot water on the surface of the pipe. This may have taken 30 minutes to thaw the line enough to get it moving. After that it was just a matter of flushing the lines a couple of times and all is well now.

I did try to spray hot water on the surface of the sewer pipe to thaw it but that didn’t work. It seemed to thaw the ice inside the pipe touching the pipe surface. This left a small air gap inside the pipe between the surface of the pipe and the ice but not enough to drain the black tank, but too much gap for the warm pipe to melt the ice. When I added the antifreeze it made a difference as it flowed into the air gap and did it’s own thing to start the melt the ice. It also helped to transfer the heat from the hot water on the outside of the pipe to the ice to aid in the thaw.

From now on in cold weather I am keeping all the tanks closed and dump them when they are full, as I always do the black tank anyway.

[ken56]

I am here in east TN and just came home from spending the month of Dec. in the Ft. Myers area. Its been 8 degrees here at night and I was not able to empty my black tank or winterize the rig at all until I got home and had use of my compressor. I left the furnace on in the trailer to keep from getting a frozen chunk of sewage and have been going through a 30# tank in 2 days. Next week is supposed to warm up so I will take it to the local RV dump station and finish winterizing. The challenges of cold weather camping are not for me. If it won't stay above freezing I won't be camping.

[Tinner12002]

I look at camping as a fun thing to do with family and friends. I'm thinking camping in cold weather for me wouldn't be any fun at all as I want to be somewhere warm where I can enjoy things. If I wanted to be cold I guess I could just stay in IN and deal with it but I'm over being cold in the winter so being south or southwest is going to be my fun in the sun! That's what I think about camping in the cold...brrrrrrr!!

[Wdwilliams]

We are new to this adventure. Full-time. We will pick up a new Hideout 258 LHS tomorrow. We are camping at Paul B Johnson outside Hattiesburg Mississippi. Woke up around 0430 to frozen pipes. The 90 and filter were frozen only 18 degrees. Thought I was safe leaving the water dripping, no.
Anyway I have been told to add RV antifreeze to the blackwater and grey water tanks if necessary.
The freeze was in our retro 177Se

[Mark&Deb]

Sometimes you have no choice. We are staying all winter in ours due to work. We are in NH and had that long spell of 0-15 days and 0-negative 15 at night. Had a water line freeze up twice because of a tripping breaker but other than that we have held our own. Should have bought stock in the propane company!

[Mark&Deb]

As much as I love to camp, I'm starting to question the sanity of winter camping. Seems like a lot of "issues" crop up and rear their ugly heads. Somebody convince me this is a good idea north of the southern coast.



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Sometimes you have no choice. We are staying all winter in ours due to work. We are in NH and had that long spell of 0-15 days and 0-negative 15 at night. Had a water line freeze up twice because of a tripping breaker and the sewer hose froze slightly from a gray tank that wasn't closed tight enough but other than that we have held our own. Should have bought stock in the propane company!

[dcg9381]

I'm in mine too. It's 14 degrees this AM - I haven't seen temperatures like this in 10 years.
Propane heat is great - that furnace produces enough heat to keep the RV warm well into the teens, but it does go through a ton of propane.

I supplement with 2 1500 watt space heaters (I have 50A service). Surprisingly, these two heaters keep it in the 60s with the outside temp in the 20s, even with the door to the "garage" open. If it's in the 30s or 40s, I don't use the propane at all..

Power is easier to get (for me) than propane.