# Water Pipe Issues



## TeamCyBo (Oct 22, 2011)

Ok, this maybe cover several issues so bare with me. We are camping at Red Top Mountain SP. Last night it got down to 18 degrees. I took all the precautions that I knew to do. I opened all of the cabinets and doors so heat could flow. I let all of the faucets drip (we had plenty of room in gray tank). We ran electric heat as well as propane which kept good heat throughout the TT. Here is what we found when we awoke this morning. We had no water at all. I went outside to check the hose and found the outside to be frozen, understandably. When I removed it from the TT it did dribble water a little out of the connection which made me think that we were fine inside. I removed the hose and brought it inside and put it in the tub to thaw which it did in short time. I took it back out and connected it back up and turned the water back on. We now have hot water but no cold.

I put our electric heater under our sofa to get some heat to the pipes. After a short time the cold started to flow again.

Here is where it got wierd. I had all cold side faucets on waiting for the water to return. Cy had to go to the bathroom and while in there I turn on the hot side at the kitchen sink and she yelled out that the cold water was coming out in the bathroom. So I shut mine off and went to see and the cold water in there stopped. What gives? We tried this again and same thing happened. So we tried leaving the the cold on in both areas. She turned on the hot in the bathroom and sure enough the cold came out in the kitchen. She turned the hot off and the cold stopped. As I said we eventually had cold again. I'm stumped.

Ok, so my questions are: 1) Why the wierd water flow and is there some type of diverter valve I should be aware of? 2) There is supposed to be heat piped under the floor to prevent freezing so did we actually freeze in there? 3) Should I have done something different or add to my preparation?
4) In addition to the water pipe situation inside, both gray and black valves won't budge this morning. Is there something we should have put in the tanks to prevent his situation?

We are still learning what to do and know that there is someone on this forum, as always, with great information or has been in his situation. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Bo


----------



## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Sounds like no fun at all.

The only thing that I can think of that would allow the water to come out of the cold water side is the water pipe between them is not frozen and with both ends of the cold open the flow restriction at the faucet outlet actually forces water back down the cold pipe. If you ran it long enough you would get hot water out of the cold valve at the other end.


----------



## sunnybrook29 (Oct 7, 2009)

Eighteen degrees , WOW . I am glad that I live in Florida ! It only got down to 22 degrees here !
I once had my water freeze while in Ashville N. C. We drove back to Florida , it did not thaw out for two days .


----------



## duggy (Mar 17, 2010)

There isn't really any heat "pumped" into the underbelly. The heating of the underbelly is accomplished by the heat that radiates off the ductwork in the floor.

The black and gray valves are right at the bottom surface of the underbelly, so they would freeze quite easily.

Arctic insulation aside, these trailers aren't really designed for below freezing temperatures.


----------



## TeamCyBo (Oct 22, 2011)

duggy said:


> There isn't really any heat "pumped" into the underbelly. The heating of the underbelly is accomplished by the heat that radiates off the ductwork in the floor.
> 
> The black and gray valves are right at the bottom surface of the underbelly, so they would freeze quite easily.
> 
> Arctic insulation aside, these trailers aren't really designed for below freezing temperatures.


So let me ask you duggy, would there be a mod to pipe some of the heat into the belly? There has to be some way of heating that area, not that I would always need it or maybe some type of temporary way to do so. Hmmmmmmm, there's gotta' be a way.

Bo


----------



## egregg57 (Feb 13, 2006)

Sorry to here if your trouble.

My standard practice is to disconnect the water lines, open the faucets to drain down the water and use the fresh water tank over night during subfreezing temps.

A ceramic heater will assist with heating. You may need to get heat into the underbelly. Not sure how you can do that without dropping part of the bottom or gaining access from the top some how.

Biggest help is going to be keeping water out of the pipes during the night unless you can keep them warm.


----------



## Insomniak (Jul 7, 2006)

If your furnace ducting is anything like mine, then there should be plenty of pinholes and little rips in the tinfoil material, letting gobs of warm air into the underbelly. Gilligan isn't very careful when he installs the ducting, and it isn't the durable sheet metal stuff that was used until a couple of years ago. The real problem isn't getting heat into the underbelly though, it's keeping it there. That freezing outside air is only separated from the underbelly by a 1/8" thick corrugated sheet of plastic. Now, if you were to figure out a way to add some real insulating value to that plastic.....


----------



## duggy (Mar 17, 2010)

As Insomniak said, the hardest part is keeping the heat in the underbelly. If you weren't planning on moving, you could somehow skirt the trailer, but that isn't practical for short term stays.

As for an easy way to get more heat into the underbelly, if your trailer is like mine, you could unscrew a floor register, then drop the 4 x 10 boot down so the heat stays under the floor. Just be careful not to disconnect it from the ducting; it could be tough to reconnect it without opening up the underside. I'm not sure if that would actually accomplish much though, because I don't know if the cross members in the frame would prevent the heat from traveling beyond the area where the duct is, unless they have big holes to allow pipes and ducting, etc. to travel the length of the trailer.
The best option would be to point your truck in a southerly direction, and don't stop until the pipes melt!


----------

