Cold temps in Texas-- avoid freezing

coachrb · 02-11-2021, 09:14 AM

This is my first trip south during winter.
Southern Texas has three days where the forecast is for temps below 32 degrees.
I figured I left all of that behind me, but no.

Do you have any advice on this.....I must avoid the water lines getting frozen.
Other than driving South as far as possible, Corpus Christi for instance, what other tips for keeping the rig from freezing.

Thanks, Randy

al1florida · 02-11-2021, 05:08 PM

Which RV year & model do you have?

Where in Texas are you?

What temps are showing in your forecast?

Many Winnebagos will be OK with some precautions in temps down to about 15-20 degrees for several hours.

I'm in San Antonio we are expecting below freezing from about 12:01am Monday to about noon on Tuesday. The worst is Monday starting about 4pm to Tuesday about 10am. It is getting down to about 15 or lower at 5-6am Tuesday.

Morich · 02-11-2021, 05:34 PM

Good points are asked above as there are so many differences in RV but then it also depends on your situation as well as equipment. It seems really out of place in an area that is so prone to running out of water but one of the common practices for apartments in the Central Texas area is to require tenants to drip the faucets during cold weather.

So if you are set in a park with sewer, drip the faucets to keep both the intake and the tanks from freezing.
I like to just take the hose inside when freezing and use the fresh water tank supply for the short time I plan to stay where it's freezing!!
Corpus is a long way from as far South as you can go but if you snuggle up to the Gulf, it keeps the temp up.
When I have drains hanging out the bottom and exposed a half gallon of pink antifreeze in each tank makes me feel safer and the pipes in the walls get a lot of heat from the inside if I'm living in it!
A light bulb in the wet bay can do a lot of heating.

coachrb · 02-12-2021, 09:25 PM

Thanks a lot for some really good advice, Richard.
I'll do my best to keep the water flowing....heading to the Gulf is very much a possibility.
Randy

Cooperhawk · 02-12-2021, 09:51 PM

What is your unit? Many units have heated basements and you only need to unhook the hose to keep it from freezing. We've spent many nights in below freezing temps with no problems at all.

2cyber71 · 02-14-2021, 04:42 PM

Turn on you heat and disconnect your water hose.
I’ve camped in Canada many years when we got down to 18f.
Just run the heat.
If you have propane tank, make sure it’s full.
The furnace goes thru the propane fast.
My recommendation is keep the heat set at the lowest you can handle if you are in it.
If you are not in the RV, I keep mine at 55f when I’m not winterized.
Never had frozen lines.

igloo · 02-17-2021, 04:47 PM

We have seceded from electricity.

HoosierWolf · 02-17-2021, 05:04 PM

Just passing along some info. We are in South Padre and have not had electricity since last Sunday. Most of the island is up and running now but our campground Isla Blanca, still does not have power and the propane truck ran out of propane before getting to us today.

It is supposed to be warmer starting next Saturday but if you can reschedule, you may want to consider it.

Dave V. · 02-17-2021, 05:13 PM

Do you have a trailer? If so go to Walmart or an RV parts dept. You can get a water hose electrical heater cord for your water line . It wraps around your water hose. We were in Lubbock last year with freezing temps and it worked. Canada gets cold but but so does Minny,North Dakota or any northern state.
Good luck . Stay safe❗️

golden13 · 02-17-2021, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coachrb

This is my first trip south during winter.
Southern Texas has three days where the forecast is for temps below 32 degrees.
I figured I left all of that behind me, but no.

Do you have any advice on this.....I must avoid the water lines getting frozen.
Other than driving South as far as possible, Corpus Christi for instance, what other tips for keeping the rig from freezing.

Thanks, Randy

I'm wintering in Port Isabel, which is well south of Corpus Christi. My pipes froze during the night, as did the entire city's water supply. Then the entire state had a blackout. I was without power for almost 4 days. Eventually, we could get water from the hose, so I filled my fresh tank and used the pump to run my RO water filter. Then I ran out of LP gas!
This was DEFINITELY our boondocking shakedown cruise. We found a few flaws in our plan that won't function without 120v AC power. This will be remedied ASAP. I just pray this was a fluke, rather than a new weather pattern!

HoosierWolf · 02-17-2021, 06:09 PM

FYI we finally have power. Don’t know if it will last but fingers crossed.

Bobn1957 · 02-17-2021, 07:53 PM

I would avoid Texas for at least a year, frozen pipes mean broken pipes. They will be digging up the roads for a while.

igloo · 02-17-2021, 10:22 PM

In 1983 we had a freeze that killed the citrus crop. It never came back anywhere it's peak.
Texas Ruby Reds ........... grapefruit

SANDPSYCHO · 02-18-2021, 09:44 AM

Just to pass on our experience. We are in Dickinson, TX. It got down into the teens here Sunday night. I had put the hose away for city water and unhooked the dump hose to seal up the wet bay. We have a 05 Vectra 36RD. Sunday night we lost water and the pump would not run. My guess is the pump froze up, I read that the impeller is quick to freeze. Once the temps went back to 34 for a short time on Wednesday morning, the pump started running again and everything seems fine now. I did turn off the pump once I realized it was frozen. I didn't want it locked up and trying to run. The park never lost power but had it, we would have been totally fine with our on-board generator and inverter.

We went shopping on Saturday so we had 3 cases of water and plenty of food. Keep plenty of water on hand.

A full bottle of water in the bowl of our Domestic 320 toilet was all we needed to keep using it for #2. We had to go without showers for 2 day (more of a problem for my wife than me lol) and we have burned though a lot of propane but that was the worst of it.

Our steps and the ground below where iced over and extremely slippery. Our door also froze shut but I was able to push it open. I don't know if my wife would have been able to.

I think some source of of heat in the wet bay would have kept the pump working. I'm also adding an Extend-a-Stay (not a simple plug and play addition on a Vectra) once the parts show up.

A heated water hose would be nice but most areas including ours are out of water from dripping and broken lines. So having a full tank of water and a running pump seem like the best investment.

Hopefully this will be the last historic event I have to get through.