Forum

Hello again. I'm starting to get bummed about our last trip of the year. Overnight lows are projected to be 29-34 & I wonder if this is too cold to try it. Not worried about us, but don't want to have any leaks in the trailer. If I unhook the water at sundown, would that work? The tanks will have enough water to keep from freezing at those temps & I think the lines should be fine since the inside will be heated. Any thoughts?

Our first trip out with our 14RB was through N.M. going up to UT. The first night in N.M. we got there late and all I did was plug in the power and went to bed. We had water in the in the tank and the lines. Just like Cat, nothing froze. We also were toasty in the morning. The water lines are mostly inside of the TT. and if you leave the door open under the sink, I think that might help. ( you can see the water lines there ). We also drove through the snow and wind up in the mountains. The Trailer did outstanding. No problems at all. The trailer handles and road smooth. Oh, by the way, I did flip the axles and I am gad I did. I as going to do a few more things but that is another forum.

Happy Camping

P.S. Don't be afraid of the cold.

2010 Honda Ridgeline AWD & 2011 14 RB

Post edited 1:34 pm – November 24, 2010 by bratgirl53

So glad to hear the positive responses to camping in the cold.  We were planning a trip this weekend and the weather is supposed to drop to about 23 during the night.  I was getting very nervous.  We had planned to unhook the city water line at dusk and keep the furnace around 60.  We are bringing an extra propane tank and an electric heater along - just in case.  I planned to open the cabinets to allow the heat in as well.  I planned on running the water heater on low just to keep that water from freezing but I was concerned with the gray and black tanks.  Are they in jeporady of freezing?  Should they be empty?  Half full?  I was hoping they would be fine as long as we didn't try to "dump" them while it was still freezing.  The day time temps are supposed to be around 50.  I read somewhere that some people were dumping them and then putting antifreeze down them and using anti freeze to flush the toilet.  Is that a little too much effort for a few hours of sub freezing temps?  I am encouraged by everyone's positive cold weather camping stories and hope to continue camping on and off throughout the winter since Texas usually has pretty mild weather compared to other parts of the country.

kayaknut said:

I am so happy with the cold weather performance of this camper that I'm REALLY glad that we didn't opt for a factory installed furnace.  I'd much rather have the extra storage space and propane savings.

Happy Camping!

Julie

We didn't have an option on the furnace, it came already installed.  As I don't ever see us using it, I wish we could have gotten the extra storage as well.

We will use a ceramic heater this weekend as needed.  The problem is going to be that DBF gets cold so much easier than me, I will probably sleeping with nothing more than a sheet while he's burrowed under all kinds of covers.

Post edited 3:16 am – January 14, 2012 by kayaknut

Just made it back from our first cold weather camping trip.  This was actually only our second trip out in our TT so we are still quite new to all of this.  Thanks to everyone's advice, we had no cold weather problems.  We ended up using a ceramic heater all weekend and it kept us toasty warm.  We were the only campers in the whole park who unhooked from the city water when the temps dropped.  But I would rather be safe than sorry.  We did have problems this morning with a propane alarm.  I wasn't cooking or using the heater at all.  I was only washing dishes using the hot water so I am not sure what caused the alarm to go off.  We opened the windows, got out of the trailer, turned off the gas and went back in about 10 mintues later when the green light signaled all was clear.  We ended up packing up and leaving once I finished drying the dishes, so I am not sure if there is going to be a problem with propane in the future.  Again, we are really new to all of this so not sure what caused that problem.  Overall it was a great trip and the cold weather wasn't an issue at all.  Thanks again everyone.

Post edited 2:06 am – November 29, 2010 by mbanda

sandersmr said:

I sleep on the bunk and did discover cold air coming up throught the plywood base – the external storage compartment and through the window – that aluminum gets cold – but the heater was enough to counter those cold incursions.

Just got back. We unhooked the water at night & ran our ceramic heater. My 7yo son stripped down to his underwear at night & said it was so hot that he did not need covers on his bed. This was to be our last trip of the season, but now the wife is looking forward to more.

I also noticed the cold air & had some condensation around the edges of the bed. Wonder if some weatherstrip would help?

Broke in our 19BH on her maiden first voyage to Texas from Michigan over the Thanksgiving break (over 3,200 miles). It was freezing when we left Mi. I had winterized the TT before so I flushed out the antifreeze out of the system the morning of the journey and filled the tank half way with water for the trip down. We stayed at a rest stop in Southern Illinois, it was below freezing, when we (five of us) hopped into the TT, the heat was off and it was cold. I turned up the heat and everyone crashed. Woke up hot and saw the temp was 88 in the TT!!! On our return trip we left Corpus Christi TX, drove straight to Detroit, 27 hours. When we left Texas it was 75, on our return it was below freezing in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. On arrival, drained the water and winterized the TT in about three minutes. We'll be heading to Florida for another vacation so I'll plan on doing the same. Flush out the antifreeze, fill up the water half way and drive down. I'll post more info on the winterizing set up.