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12-08-2016, 02:29 PM
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#1
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 44
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Freeze tonight!
I plan to leave North Texas soon but it looks like I won't quite be out on time to miss a freeze or two. :P So, I guess I'm going to have come up with a way to keep my skoolie's pipes from freezing before tonight!
The piping I have is mostly in the back, but there is one section that runs from the back to the front for a sink. I'm actually parked in a relative's driveway and staying in the house, and will be leaving in the bus for warmer parts in a week or so. Here are some ideas I'm considering for sort of temporarily winterizing the bus today:
-Pipe Heat Cable ( https://www.lowes.com/pd/EasyHeat-30...-Cable/1065647 )
-Styrofoam panels as makeshift skirting
-Pipe Insulation
Anyone have some better ideas that I haven't thought of? It's going to get down to 26F tonight, so any advice anyone has would be greatly appreciated!
EDIT: Since I'm staying in the house, I thought about trying to drain all the water out of the pipes, but not fully winterizing. Dunno. Also, I guess I need to insulate my gray, black and fresh water tanks so they don't freeze, too! :P
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12-08-2016, 02:31 PM
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#2
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 8,462
Year: 1946
Coachwork: Chevrolet/Wayne
Chassis: 1- 1/2 ton
Engine: Cummins 4BT
Rated Cap: 15
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Roger the prep. I'm in Houston and they just issued a "freeze warning" here! Stay warm folks.
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12-08-2016, 02:50 PM
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#3
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 543
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Up here in Canada to "winterize" an RV the water is removed from traps and tanks and replaced with RV antifreeze not the green stuff. But this is a long term storage solution. Good luck
Gordon
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12-08-2016, 03:08 PM
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#4
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Colorado
Posts: 2,362
Year: 1993
Coachwork: bluebird
Engine: 5.9 Cummins, Allison AT1545
Rated Cap: 2
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drain the pipes and blow em out. if you're going away..... its only getting colder. protect your p traps with rv antifreeze
no water = no problems
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12-08-2016, 03:15 PM
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#5
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 44
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Quote:
Originally Posted by turf
drain the pipes and blow em out. if you're going away..... its only getting colder. protect your p traps with rv antifreeze
no water = no problems
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I like that idea, thanks. Maybe I'll just get rid of all the water in the pipes/tanks and put RV antifreeze in the drain traps. That would also be cheaper than the ideas in the OP! Maybe this for a plan:
1. Drain the fresh water tank
2. Dump the tanks
3. Blow out the water supply lines
4. Put RV antifreeze in the drain traps
What about the propane hot water heater? Hmm, it's metal, so maybe it's okay.
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12-08-2016, 03:24 PM
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#6
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Spring Valley AZ
Posts: 1,343
Year: 2000
Coachwork: Bluebird
Engine: 5.9 Cummins
Rated Cap: 2 elderly children, 1 cat
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2 winters back I left some water in the pump and it froze, ruining the pump. Got a new one and with quick connectors it's out of the bus and in my laundry room cupboard in the house.
__________________
Don, Mary and Spooky the cat.
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12-08-2016, 03:27 PM
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#7
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 543
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Hot water heater should be blown out too.
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12-08-2016, 04:05 PM
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#8
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Kansas
Posts: 492
Year: 2000
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: Your mom +1
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Its been freezing here for the last week or so... It's a balmy 21 degrees right now. I went the heated hose route, but I'm living full time in my bus so theres always a fire in the wood stove to keep the interior warmer than freezing...
I took a 10 foot length of hose and wrapped it in aluminum foil, I then wrapped that with a 12 foot length of "Heat Tape". The whole thing is covered in 1" rubber pipe insulation, and duct tape. I've covered both the spigot and my water inlet on the bus with those foam faucet winterization cap thingies.
So far its working great. It was 11 degrees last night and my hose didn't freeze. Supposed to be 4 tonight so we shall see if the heat tape can keep up...
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12-08-2016, 05:02 PM
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#9
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 44
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tootalltechie
Hot water heater should be blown out too.
Sent from my SM-G530W using Tapatalk
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I appreciate everyone's replies!
I can't seem to get the hot water heater blown completely out. There seems to be a little left in the bottom of it and there is no drain plug on it. Kind of scared about that.
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12-08-2016, 05:05 PM
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#10
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 543
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Flush the hot water heater with RV antifreeze if you can not get all the water out.
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Remember to flush the hole water system after the thaw / spring. RV antifreeze is biodegradable but may harm you and animals.
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12-08-2016, 09:51 PM
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#11
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Music City USA
Posts: 737
Year: 2005
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freightliner
Engine: Detroit MBE906
Rated Cap: 72
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If it's a multi-gallon water heater and there's only a couple of inches of water in the bottom don't even worry about it...... even if it freezes solid it's got the whole rest of the water heater to expand into. Just make sure the inlet and outlet lines are clear.
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12-08-2016, 10:08 PM
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#12
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New Member
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 3
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What part of NTX!! My husband and I are working on our conversion... thinking we ran out of time. We got most of the walls up.... thank goodness we hadn't started any piping yet. Good luck! Stay warm!!
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12-09-2016, 07:38 AM
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#13
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Oklahoma aka "God's blind spot"
Posts: 2,446
Year: 1989
Coachwork: 1853FC International/Navistar
Chassis: 35' Retired Air Force Ambulance
Engine: DT466, MT643
Rated Cap: 6 souls and a driver
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I'm north of North Texas
__________________
I once complained I had no shoes....
Until I met a man with no feet
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12-09-2016, 11:13 AM
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#14
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Brazoria County, Texas
Posts: 819
Year: 1997
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 32 Passenger
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tootalltechie
Hot water heater should be blown out too.
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Why would you want to heat hot water?
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12-09-2016, 11:33 AM
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#15
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Skoolie
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 136
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Bluebird?
Chassis: 26ft Bluebird TC2000
Engine: Cumming 5.9 12v, AT545
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Got down to 12F up here in Stillwater Okla last night O_O
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12-09-2016, 03:36 PM
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#16
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 543
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Phatman
Why would you want to heat hot water?
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To keep the water hot of course lol
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12-09-2016, 04:36 PM
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#17
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Kent, WA (Seattle)
Posts: 414
Year: 1987
Engine: 6.9L Diesel
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A few months ago in a "how to water" thread, Ol Trunt made a suggestion about having a solenoid pipe switch which could be used to loop the water back to the water tank - that way if you were running hot water you could flush whatever cold water that was in the pipe back into your water tank.
I feel like this could be a good application for such a water pump to keep things circulating. But I guess it would guzzle electricity.
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12-09-2016, 04:57 PM
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#18
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Eustis FLORIDA
Posts: 23,764
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freighliner FS65
Engine: Cat 3126
Rated Cap: 15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by milkmania
I'm north of North Texas
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Man it was 40 and rainy out this morning. Brutal day for lawn work. Only had about 30 homes to do!
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12-09-2016, 07:56 PM
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#19
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 543
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I wish it was above 32°F. Currently -2°F. Hope we all get warm soon.
Gordon
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12-09-2016, 10:21 PM
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#20
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Bus Nut
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Richmond Virginia
Posts: 932
Year: 1984
Engine: 366 Big block Chevy! :) w/ Stick shift
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Wow nothing returns me to gratitude faster than learning this high 20s weather isn't too shabby compared to others. I spent the past 5 hours next to the wood stove as cozy as a bug in a rug. Could he worse. Also grateful to live in Virginia where i can walk around a few blocks and find enough wood for a full week.
Stay warm friends
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