How cold can it be and you still travel and camp

[Bedouins]

We have a 2009 2719 we just acquire and tested. We live in Colorado where it can be seriously cold in winter. I do not mind traveling with empty tanks then filling when in camp, where the heater should maintain a correct temperature inside, including for the tanks. But how cold can it be outside, and still have a reasonable temperature inside without the risk of damaging pipes and tanks.

[mecicon]

Originally Posted by Bedouins

We have a 2009 2719 we just acquire and tested. We live in Colorado where it can be seriously cold in winter. I do not mind traveling with empty tanks then filling when in camp, where the heater should maintain a correct temperature inside, including for the tanks. But how cold can it be outside, and still have a reasonable temperature inside without the risk of damaging pipes and tanks.

Congrats on your new to you acquisition.

I've been in our TM in as cold as 0° F temperatures. In this one particular instance the prevailing wind came from the street side exposing all pipes freezing the grey, black and the interior lines from the fresh water tank to the faucets. We opened the under sink doors placed a ceramic heater in the area under the dinette bench (where the freshwater tank is located) and thawed the supply lines.

The black/grey valve was still frozen so we could not use the water. In hindsight, we should have opened the valve and allowed water to drip. I also had to seal the refrigerator vent to keep the howling wind from blowing in.

In spite of the above it's better than a pop up.

[commodor47]

As Mark said in his reply - it is possible to survive comfortably during a cold spell provided you take the necessary precautions. We knew exceptionally cold weather was on the way during our 2011 winter stay in Bisbee, AZ. To prepare I filled the fresh water tank, opened the gray water valve, disconnected the city water connection, left the cabinet doors open under the kitchen and bathroom sinks, and ran a 120vac extension cord to the power post to power a portable heater. Turns out it not only reached a record temperature that night (Feb 3, 2011), it also never got above freezing for the next two days. When it did finally thaw there were water breaks everywhere in Bisbee. It was quite the site. You could see water geysers erupting all across the city. The park we stayed at was not immune to ruptured pipes. It took nearly a week to completely to restore water to the city. Turns out that was a hundred year freeze that extended into TX. Plumbing parts were very hard to get.

We were comfortable the entire time - being self contained. There are ways to make the TM more air tight. One in particular is the entry piano hinge. A strip of clear tape over the hinge makes a great air infiltration block. Draft door blockers also help to seal other entry air infiltration points.

Due to the precautions we took no internal pipes were damaged. The tub drain did freeze but gradually thawed as the sun warmed that side of the trailer, even though it never got above freezing.

In answer to your question - it is possible to be comfortable inside when the weather outside dips close to zero. It is just not the way we prefer to camp.

Dick

[jleinbaugh]

We camped last fall when it went from 70 during the day to 27 at night. We remained very comfortable inside. We took some of the same precautions that have already been mentioned and we had no issues at all.