Cross country, unwinterized, this January

[drjp]

Hi all, I need your advice. Looks like we have to move from Northern California to the New York area this January or February. Normally I’d tug our 17B winterized, but we would like to use the relative quarantined safety of the rig during a raging pandemic while underway. (Gonna quarantine in NY anyway after we arrive as per law).

We have flexibility on departure time so would start the dash only when there’s no big blizzard predicted. [emoji1696][emoji1696]

I would put foam in both the Maxxair fan inside the screen and under the hatch covering the external shower and use a heated external water hose when hooked up. We’d only use campsites with hookups during this run. 17’s got foam underneath but no electric tank pads, also frameless Windows. My tug is a 2018 Honda Ridgeline.

Bunch of questions, especially for the forum Arctic foxes[emoji6]!

-Would you also put a small DC heater inside the rig while driving (sink the batteries?) or would the heat from the night before be retained adequately?
-Would running the gas heater while stopped for lunch be enough?
-A couple of 100 Watt lightbulbs? (the latter would require I leave on the inverter) I’ve heard here that the tug’s alternator hardly keeps up with battery charging (2 lead acid) during the day. Would that deplete things too much?
-Would you keep the cabinet under the sink cracked open (fixed in place, probably with a bungy cord)?

Your advice is appreciated, gentle friends!
Thanks,
Jonathan

[Vermilye]

Unless you are going to take a southern route, you are going to run into cold enough weather that I'd be concerned about water in the trailer plumbing. If you are going to use campgrounds with full hookups, I'd use the campground facilities (with the appropriate precautions). I never had problems with 20°F nights as long as the days got above 50°F, but you will probably encounter worst in January & February, at least in the middle to northern routes.

If you are going to stick to the trailer water systems, you can run the furnace while traveling. My 17, even though it had the optional insulation & dual pane windows cooled very quickly - I wouldn't trust it to stay above freezing in cold weather without the furnace running. I'd be sure to completely dump the trailer tanks before leaving each morning since fluids fill the drain pipes before filling the tanks.

Any electrical heating method that provides enough BTUs to keep the trailer warm will probably defeat the tow vehicle's ability to keep the trailer battery charged. The pair of 100 watt light bulbs, for example, would draw close to 20 amps. While some tow vehicles can produce that, most won't. Since about 97% of the output of an incandescent light bulb is heat, a portable heater at 100% isn't going to be much better.

As to the cabinets, I'd keep as many as possible open as long as you are running the furnace.

Welcome in advance to NY!

[padlin]

I'd take I-10 to Mobile AL, then head up 65 to 59 to 81. We use a Chattanooga campground as the demark for winterizing or vice versa. If the weather is warm you can use I-40 instead of I-10.

[cpaharley2008]

Campgrounds with heated water lines are very few, I'd winterize the trailer and use bottle liquid when sleeping inside with the heat on.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by Vermilye

If you are going to use campgrounds with full hookups, I'd use the campground facilities (with the appropriate precautions).

Except we've done that only to arrive at a campground and find the facilities closed because they froze up.

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Campgrounds with heated water lines are very few, I'd winterize the trailer and use bottle liquid when sleeping inside with the heat on.

I agree, it's not a big deal to travel dry and the reward is that you can get somewhere where you want to be without worry about freezing something up along the way.

Ron

[Bobbie54]

Just thinking out loud- could you use the black tank, flush with water from a bottle, use bottled water inside, and then after dumping add antifreeze to the black tank each time? So you can still avoid restrooms except to shower if absolutely necessary, and not freeze any fresh water lines. (Harder to freeze the black tank.)

[drjp]

Many thanks for all the excellent advice! I suspected the electric heater would be a non starter.

I’ve never driven with the furnace on but always with the refrigerator. As both are gas-powered do any of you see one being inherently riskier than the other in motion, or pretty much the same?

I thought of the heated hose as one KAO allows hooking up to their lines during colder weather if the hose is heated. However, I think you are right that many “hookup” sites will be closed or won’t allow water connection as they’ve drained their systems. I could just fill the white water, run the heater while driving and pray! [emoji15] Probably will be visiting our friendly BLM and boondocking, at least on the western portion. If the gas heater during the day is too dangerous then we gotta go dry. Too risky with the pipes.

The problem with using camp showers is too many are closed (I’ve found) due to Covid. Sadly, this is a rising epidemic.

No problem using a water bottle for toilet and cooking. Done that; just the shower question.

That southern route sounds good; prolly a couple days longer? 80 could be just a white-out! (You hardened polar bears are laughing I know. I lived in Germany for 10 years and my wife is German, but California sure softens you up!)

Thanks again for your tips!

Jonathan

[padlin]

When we travel in the winter the furnace is on till we get far enough south to not have to worry about all the can goods and what not freezing. It also helps the fridge, if it's too cold in the fridge the cooling won't go on and the freezer can go up in temp. It's nice when the trailer isn't stone cold when yo pull over for the night.

[drjp]

Originally Posted by padlin

When we travel in the winter the furnace is on till we get far enough south to not have to worry about all the can goods and what not freezing. It also helps the fridge, if it's too cold in the fridge the cooling won't go on and the freezer can go up in temp. It's nice when the trailer isn't stone cold when yo pull over for the night.

Ok, we’ll probably give it a try!
Thanks

[HABBERDABBER]

I can not fathom an inherent problem with running the furnace while moving, but running in the air stream at highway speed would sure cool things quickly at low temps, everywhere. Maybe it would work well to keep things from freezing, but that can depend on the pure luck of the local weather.



Definitely take a southern route. And in the south, ice storms are sadly more popular than blizzards enjoyed up north.


Me...I'd run dry, except may be for the black tank. Some RV anti-freeze dumped in there may allow drainage in cold temps. Depends on how cold.


Your voyage with your rig is do-able, just take your time, eh?

[ksitte]

If we're thinking outside the box, you could install a Lippert Floe system and essentially re-winterize each morning, just before you hit the road. From the video, it only takes a few minutes.

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B085H2FG...v_ov_lig_dp_it

If you can't use campground facilities, you could always use truck stop facilities for showering, although each place may charge you a fee.

I've done the "bring your own water jug" thing to flush the toilet and added the antifreeze after. I worked, although it was only a couple of days in Montana.

[cityofdestiny]

Originally Posted by Bobbie54

Just thinking out loud- could you use the black tank, flush with water from a bottle, use bottled water inside, and then after dumping add antifreeze to the black tank each time? So you can still avoid restrooms except to shower if absolutely necessary, and not freeze any fresh water lines. (Harder to freeze the black tank.)

What about just poutting RV antifreeze in the fresh tank and using that to flush?

[cpaharley2008]

Do not put antifreeze in fresh tank, it will take a lot of rinsing to eliminate the taste. Flush with antifreeze just by pouring it into the toilet, no fresh tank needed.......

[drjp]

Definitely the southern route!

And now I’m leaning more to run dry; preserve the rig and the wallet, although a Lippert looks like it’s going into my new 5.0. I’ve been using a portable 12V air pump and a fitting on the white tank filler to winterize, but that’s too much to do on the road each morning.

Much obliged to all for advice!
Jonathan

[HABBERDABBER]

Floë 809128



It looks like a small air compressor with a pressure tank can do the exact same thing and be used for other needs. Push button decadence, with this. But.....it's not my $$$.

[sherminator]

If you need a shower, you can get one of these:

https://rinsekit.com/collections/rin...rays-5-minutes

Warm up some water on the stove, pour it in, pump it up, and shower. Dump some antifreeze down the drain. I've used the Rinse Kit, and it works really well.

[drjp]

Originally Posted by HABBERDABBER

Floë 809128



It looks like a small air compressor with a pressure tank can do the exact same thing and be used for other needs. Push button decadence, with this. But.....it's not my $$$.

Yep, that’s what I use normally. I guess I could do it every morning when packing up. I have a long DC extension cord so I can power it from the truck’s 12V plug. (I plan to have ETI install a12V outlet on driver’s side of 5.0 on order for future.

[drjp]

Originally Posted by sherminator

If you need a shower, you can get one of these:

https://rinsekit.com/collections/rin...rays-5-minutes

Warm up some water on the stove, pour it in, pump it up, and shower. Dump some antifreeze down the drain. I've used the Rinse Kit, and it works really well.

Now, this is an interesting solution! I couldn’t tell from description how I could fill it with hot water in the rig as don’t know if its “sink adapter” would fit on the bathroom faucet fitting. Do you know if it does?

Or one could just fill outside at the driver’s side “shower.” (The shower is one option we’re really liking even though it does create a water system weak point as far as cold weather freezing).

Still, another device to buy and haul in the rig or tug.
Thanks
Jonathan

[Ops]

Originally Posted by padlin

I'd take I-10 to Mobile AL, then head up 65 to 59 to 81. We use a Chattanooga campground as the demark for winterizing or vice versa. If the weather is warm you can use I-40 instead of I-10.

Having done the "Bike Week" run in mid-March from New Brunswick Canada to Daytona a couple of times, the weather can be a real problem. But when we did the drive, it took 24 hours with two drivers.

Checking the Chattanooga to NYC routes suggested, you should be able to do the run, with two drivers in approximately 12 hours. So a suggested work-around would be use your rig as suggested by padlin into Tennessee, winterize your trailer sufficiently to get you to NYC, check the weather and make your final run with no stops. I'm sure many members of the forum have driven 12 hours alone in a day in their (our) younger years...so with two drivers it should be easy...with the furnace on.

And if you can arrange inside storage for your rig once you get there, that too may mitigate any issues and concerns.

Just an unrelated side note...I never realized until this morning that the forum uses GMT or ZULU Military Time

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Ops

Just an unrelated side note...I never realized until this morning that the forum uses GMT or ZULU Military Time

The forum software, like typical reasonable web services, displays time in your preferred time zone (which you can specify in Date & Time Options in the edit panel)... but if you don't pick one, you might see GMT. When you travel, the forum doesn't know that and will continue to display in your selected time zone.