Winterizing for Full-Timers

[Oz]

With the onset of the cold season, it's different for Full-time RVers when it comes to winterizing.  In particular, they still use the water systems which seasonal RVers normally purge and add anti-freeze to.  In addition, cold under the rig and other systems need special attention to stay in good operating condition, such as the black and gray water tanks and other systems.

What preparations, items, modifications and precautions do our full-time winter RVers do to ensure their rigs are usable, protected and safe through the winter months?

[RV Mech Tech]

One of the things that I look at when using  RV's in the winter is what  the people in the permanent RV parks do - here in Ontario there are many that have early trailers  (60's, 70's etc)  that have done several things to winterize their RV - this includes mobile RV's and park models - first is to fully insulate the bottom from winds and cold - this includes using insulating material from actual insulation to hay bails and especially skirting the bottom of the RV to block winds and moisture- in addition to this using the spray foam insulation around the holding tank pipes ( the 3 inch pipes from the tanks to the dump valves) helps a lot - I have seen several trailers from the colder regions here with three to four inches of this spray foam around the pipes - in addition to this the trailers in the park have the snow plows put snow around the perimeter of the trailer as snow itself will act as an insulator if packed in - some kind of heating is also necessary under the RV - as we all know cold will penetrate even the best insulation - the use of temporary carpets - especially thick ones and any insulating material owners can add)  will help keep out the cold - the RV manufactures have been listening to consumers about making RV's usable in the winter and several prototypes are in the works with the major manufactures - because of the condition of the last several years of the economy these manufactures have not had a chance to develope these concepts but that is changing - the first step for them is to bring  updated RV's to the market and as things get better they will be introducing  RV's that can be used all year - any of these modifications can be retrofitted to older RV's with positive results - hopefully members here on CWVRV can contribute modifications that they have done that will help others that are faced with this kind of situation.   

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

Here are a couple of existing articles on the subject:

http://www.marxrv.com/skp/survive.htm

http://www.rvliving.net/winter.htm

Dave

[wizardbill]

Dave, that first article is great!  Thanks.

[angrybreadbox73]

anybody got a good source for heat resistant insulation for like genny bay and angine housing  i??

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

From menu at the top
Select Member Area and Resource List.  In TOC section at top of page select Insulation.
You will find about 10 web links to various types of insulation sources.  Some are for high heat areas.

Dave

[angrybreadbox73]

almost forgot dupree products tooo duh me D:oH! ill order sum from them soon but anyway a question about skirting around the bottom areas of the rv iv not skirted mine yet but would like to know want other members have had good sucess and what it is you use?? ive hear straw bales blue, pink, white styrofoam but im also looking for what is cheap tnx yalll

[Clyde9]

Here's a custom made skirt.  However, it doesn't fall in the gategory of cheap...

[smg id=1519]

[angrybreadbox73]

true mark may not be cheap but the more i was thinking about something similar especially for the open radiator area woud let all the underbelly warmth out if left open like is been said a picture is worth a thousand words and more inspiration

[angrybreadbox73]

blackwater tank or valve frozen shut??? well mine did on me!!!!    the valve that is with no heat pad or tape on the sewer lines and tank with tat said i just got done skirting the toaster and yes it was warmer under than it was outside just not warm enough to open dump valve here is what i did to get it open. First i put as much boiling water in the tank i could muster. 2 got out my fan forced 1500 watt heater and placed it close to the valve. 3 started the generator!!!!! let me explain my genn vents the air it uses for cooling thru a hole below it and out the bottom and since the toaster was now skirted it heated up the underbelly really quick now caution has to be used if you try using the genny for temporary underbelly heat keep an eye on everything and make sure your co detector is working. anyhow i have a indoor outdoor thermometer that is in the underbelly and within 5 minutes it got up to 45 degrees under the toaster so i got to the dump valve and it opened right up

[ClydesdaleKevin]

In general we snow-bird it, so we aren't anywhere cold enough to worry about anything freezing, but the original owner of the Nautilus lived in Colorado, and the second owner, the guy we bought it from, lived in it fulltime in Massachusetts, so it does have some neat features we simply don't use, but could if we needed too.  All the holding tanks, fresh, grey, and black have electric heating pads, and all the water lines in the outer compartments that would be exposed to freezing are wrapped in electric heat tape...and there appears to be an extra length of that heat ribbon neatly coiled near the valves, to be wrapped around them in freezing weather.  To which I say...why?  Its an RV!  If its that cold, drive south!!!  That's the point, isn't it?  Fulltiming?  Not to be locked down into one location and travelling?  I know some folks have no choice, or want to spend the holidays with relatives before heading south.  Not us!  If its freezing cold, we're outta there!

Kev