44 replies to this topic

[Wallowa]

Thanks Jon...interesting observations...ice is a incredible machine at exfoliating rock or splitting other ice, ice ridges...I guess if over burden of ice is stronger than container, what gets distorted is the weakest substance....candidly, I thought of ice trays that do not get bulged when cubes freeze in them...as I recall maximum ice expansion occurs at 32* F; when it first freezes...in a hot water heater the ice should freeze from the metal surface of the heater outward and expansion should be away from heater wall..water has a high latent heat while the metal of the heater doesn't.

 

Guess proof of the pudding is that many, myself included, who have never used anti-freeze but only drained FWC water system including heater and main water tank, have not suffered internal damage to the heater...in my case to -11 degrees F this winter while I was skiing..honestly just hitting 32*F is the critical point for expansion and beyond that a moot point..but hey, I could be wrong!

 

Will try research what FWC sez about not just draining system if you have a hot water heater..

 

Phil

Edited by Wallowa, 02 October 2021 - 12:20 AM.

[wicked1]

I also simply drain it.  I camp all four seasons.  I have a hot water heater.  I open all valves and drain the system before I head home.  And leave all the drains open, faucet open (but pump turned off) while I'm driving, to shake out any water.  The one line I can't imagine would get cleared is one going to the toilet, but it has never failed. 
It gets below zero F here. 

I've gotten nervous a few nights while camping when it has gotten very cold.. I have insulated inside my cabinets.  I leave the cabinet doors open so the furnace heats inside them.  And when it got VERY cold, I turned on the hot water heater. 

Otherwise, I don't ever use the hot water heater and wish I had the storage space instead.. Toilet, too.  I peed in it once while on the road when I couldn't find an open bathroom.  But otherwise never used it.

[Jon R]

I certainly don’t doubt the experience all of you have discussed, and based on that I plan like you to just drain mine and blow out the lines.

[dennis 221]

so to all that use r.v. anti freeze how much do you put in system???

[Wandering Sagebrush]

so to all that use r.v. anti freeze how much do you put in system???

When I use it, I make certain it runs through the pump, all lines, and out the faucets, toilets and showers.  I also pour some into the waste tanks

[Vic Harder]

so to all that use r.v. anti freeze how much do you put in system???

Very little.  1 gal is enough to treat the system.  I've done it twice now (it get's to -35*C here) and regret it in the spring when I have to flush and flush and flush to get the icky taste out of the system.  Just blowing the water out this year.

[Kbarry]

I agree with Vic. I have used the RV antifreeze once and it took a very long time to get rid of the taste. I blow out the system in the fall and leave it empty all winter.

[UmkaAndHawk]

Toilets: "I peed in it once while on the road when I couldn't find an open bathroom.  But otherwise never used it."

 

We use a couple of plastic bottles. If it's good enough for truckers, it's good enough for us. 

 

​(And we're backpackers, so digging a hole continues to work for bigger business, indeed, it's much easier with the fancy heavy trowel we get to use now, than it ever is with the lightweight plastic thing we bring backpacking!)

[Vic Harder]

+1 for bottles.  We use a wide mouth 1.5L water bottle (clearly marked) so it has become a His and Hers bottle.  ;-)

[dennis 221]

does that little plastic water filter in water line just unscrew to empty it???