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Old 12-29-2002, 03:25 AM   #6
Bill
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: The mountains of Scottsdale, AZ, and the beaches of Maine
Posts: 10,088
Default Re: Cold weather camping in the TM

T.C.'s first post, about gravity-draining the water heater through the tub, brings up an interesting question. I hope some cold-weather camper out there has an answer.

In order gravity-drain through a faucet, the faucet has to be lower than the water heater, of course. Assuming that the outdoor valves are frozen, the tub has the only faucets that qualify. You can't gravity-drain the water heater through the tub's hot water faucet because the hot water line comes out of the top of the water heater. But you ought to be able to drain it through the tub's cold water faucet - with the demand pump off, the water heater will drain backward into the cold water line. (Note: it can't drain backward through the pump because of the pump's check valve.)

So now the question. The tub's plumbing is in the area under the tub, so it is nominally indoors. But this area is the only indoor area that is exposed to outside air. If you remove the converter and peek into this area, you will see a gigantic (well, 4-inch) screened-over hole in the floor that goes outside. This hole is actually the outlet for the bathroom vent fan, and it undoubtedly provides cooling for the converter as well, so it wouldn't be wise to close it off. And on a windy day, there is quite a breeze coming up through that hole.

So - in very cold weather, does the plumbing under the tub freeze? Who can shed light on this important issue?

Bill
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