aspen trail rving in the winter

[squirrel4207]

has anyone tried rving in their aspen trail in the winter months yet? how did it do? what mods do you recommend? what problems did you have and how to avoid them?

[Rupert]

Wife and I spent a week in our 2013 aspen trail 1900RB this past February. It got down in the teens every night. We were in a full hook up site and the water spigot had crackd prior to our arrival due to the cold, this was quickly replaced by the campground.

We have a drinking water hose I insulated and put a length of heat tape on. No problems there... We kept our sewer valves open so the valves would not crack. The only issue we had was the low water drains stick out the bottom of the rig and froze apparently all the into the main water line. Did not do any damage, just was annoying. Everything seemed to thaw out during the day. I had planned on getting a big trash can and cutting it up to fit around the sewer outlet and the lower water drain and place a shop light in there, but did not find in necessary since we thawed out during the day.

Next thing I would like to do is put heat pads on the tanks and you can fill up the freshwater tank instead of dealing with a frozen water hose.

The storage area up front is not insulated at all and the "night stands" allowed cold air to get in. I have fixed this with a few layers of insulation. I used foam squares designed for flooring, cut to fit on the floor, ceiling and walls of the storage area, I then filled the voids on the ceiling of the storage space, between the studs and the insulation, with expanding foam.

We were warm and toasty other than right next to the bed, the furnace for our little 19 footer is way over sized.

Hope this helps.

Joel

[squirrel4207]

Hey thanks Joel . Supposedly this new model had a "heated underbelly" so I don't have to worry about any of the interior tanks or lines freezing just the exterior . I was also told to get an electric heater if I have full hook ups to save fuel . However I did find that the hot water tank isn't really big at all and is offteb barley enough for a shower in these summer months . Any suggestions ? Can I get a bigger one installed ?

[squirrel4207]

Oh and yes I did notice the cubby holes offer no insulation that's gonna suck a bit. Thank you for the solution . But how did you get to the voids in the studs to fill them with great stuff ?

[Rupert]

We have the heated underbelly as well. As long as you are running the furnace your tanks should be ok. I called dutchman when we bought this and they did not recommend camping below freezing, I'm sure I was told that for liability reasons.

The water line I am talking about, sticks down through the underbelly so you can drain the water out of your lines. There should be two of them, just in front of the sewer connection.

Haven't had any issues with our water heater, it is the standard 6 gallon one, I know it gets the water hot enough to really burn your skin, so you don't have to use as much. I wonder if something may be wrong with yours. From what I can tell if you did want more hot water there is probably enough room for a 10 gallon unit to go in its place., but I am not sure if that's possible.

As for the great stuff, I tacked up the foam flooring first, then peeled the edges back and emptied two cans into the voids that were left. The foam flooring material was bought at BJ's, it was with the mattress. I have seen it at Home Depot and lowes for quite a bit more money.

Hope you enjoy your new rig! This is our first, we have been tent campers for years.

[kevinmiles]

Regarding the mention of the low-point drains freezing up into the water lines, I have developed the habit of opening them slightly to allow a low volume release of water when I am expecting a freeze. This keeps the low-point drains themselves from freezing and also maintains a slight movement of water through much of the plumbing system (especially the outside hose and water supply) throughout the period of the freeze overnight. Seems to work very well - only problem is a bit of exterior icing around and under those low-point drains.

[Rupert]

Originally Posted by kevinmiles

Regarding the mention of the low-point drains freezing up into the water lines, I have developed the habit of opening them slightly to allow a low volume release of water when I am expecting a freeze. This keeps the low-point drains themselves from freezing and also maintains a slight movement of water through much of the plumbing system (especially the outside hose and water supply) throughout the period of the freeze overnight. Seems to work very well - only problem is a bit of exterior icing around and under those low-point drains.

Hey this is good info, I will try that this winter. I wish I would have known this when we went out last winter. Thanks for the idea. Was planning on building a small portable encloser but will just try this first.

Joel