Freezing Temps

[Branderson]

You ain't kidding.

Part of my learning disability is I only take it out when going camping and then I usually drink 3, 4, 89 beers and forget anything I did learn.

The other part is I keep the bus at a storage lot.  Unfortunately, my yard is too steep to park it anywhere near my house.  I think i miss out on a lot of tinkering and learning b/c of that. 


At least those are the excuses i'm going to use

[chessie4905]

They make D9 dozers to take care of that issue.

[bigred]

They make a 25 ft insulated hose with a heat cable installed from the factory.All though a bit bulky to haul around it works like a charm.I have also used A Pelonis cube heater .Just set it in the bay where your water hook ups are and set it to the lowest setting and let 'er rip.
 

[RJ]

If it's going to be freezing outside, I fill the fresh water tank, then put the hose away and run off the tank.

We have a 750/1500 watt cube heater in the water bay, adjusted to its lowest setting. It's plugged into it's own dedicated circuit with a 15 amp breaker. An 11 gallon Seaward heat exchanger electric hot water heater also shares this bay.

Engine has a typical DD electric block heater, also on a dedicated circuit that's shared with the on-board air compressor, but the plugs have to be switched manually.

Have a 1500w toe kick heater, again on its own circuit, in the bedroom pointing down the hallway. It's setup in such a way that by removing four screws it can be pulled out for maintenance/cleaning, an annual fall chore that takes 20-30 minutes max.  We will often prop the bathroom door open slightly in order to keep the toilet seat from being an ice cube!

Up front we have a dedicated switch for a heater that works, but it's not hooked up to anything, as a previous owner removed the unit. So for the time being, we're just using another cube heater on a circuit shared with a small LED desk lamp.

So far this combination has kept us comfortable on 20^o nights with no freezing issues - either hooked to 50 amps, or running the 8kW genset. (No propane)

FWIW & HTH...

[sledhead]

might be a good time to insulate the bays

it would be the best way to hold the heat in

dave

[lvmci]

Hi All, at pet stores, there is a heater that is for dog houses enclosed in a water proof pads or flat plastic case, it radiates heat, but not hot. lvmci...

[Branderson]

Hi All, at pet stores, there is a heater that is for dog houses enclosed in a water proof pads or flat plastic case, it radiates heat, but not hot. lvmci...

That's pretty cool, I could easily just put that in the bay where my water hook ups are and tanks. 

[Dave5Cs]

So have used Waterbed heaters also in the bays

[lostagain]

A couple of winters ago, driving back home in February through Montana, it was 20 below and we froze a water line that was close to a bay door. I have since applied spray foam insulation on the inside of all the doors. If I remember correctly, it took 6 rattle cans of Right Stuff (maybe?) it is pink. Anyway, easy to do, and good insurance. Someone building a conversion from scratch would be well advised to do that everywhere reachable below the belt line. Driving through winter conditions doesn't come by choice.

JC

[Oonrahnjay]

I don't think I will have any issues with the tanks and yes they are in the bays.  I actually didn't even think there was a chance of that freezing but it makes sense if I'm in freezing weather for a long time.  I was more thinking about the water hook up to the bus.  I like the idea of having a wrap for the hose. 

I think I'm more worried about other lines breaking from the frozen water but b/c it was only that one morning I only had to deal with the hose. 

I think to be safe, I shouldn't hook it up if I know it's going to freeze. I'd hate to break the filter system and lines going to all the places it goes.

Jeeze, I'm such a newb, that I don't even know where my water gets heated at.  It must be electric b/c I don't use propane at all.  So much to learn.... 

    You'll learn, we all do.  The trick is to not have too much go wrong until you do.  "Winterization" is a big issue.  Basically, if your bus is going to be stored (at least anywhere but a heated garage and who of us has that??) in conditions below freezing, you have to either get *all* the water out of the system (all means, in tanks, in pumps, water heaters, hoses or pipes, faucets, etc.).  A good way to do that is to have a way to put low-pressure air to your system fill and open all valves such as faucets, shower handles, drain fittings, etc. until every bit of water is flushed out of your system; another way that works is to be sure that you have sufficient anti-freeze worked through your system so that it doesn't freeze.  (One drawback of the antifreeze method is that you have to have enough to dilute the contents of tanks and water heaters and similar components, and a lot of people dislike the smell/taste of the water when you're using the system after the end of the winter -- it seems to take a long time to flush it out.)  But either system works and both have to be done 100% right in detail.

     It's pretty much imperative for all of us who will be in conditions below freezing to look at our systems and identify places where parts of the system are in unenclosed and/or uninsulated areas and take care of those spots, too.  It's all about details -- if you miss a single spot, you're likely to have a leak that you'll have to fix before you can use the system in the spring.

     There are a number of posts in the archives that give info so have a look.  They'll give you better info than my input.

     Good luck,  BH

[windtrader]

Who needs a stinking heated dog hut?