Using trailer in freezing weather

[Wallo]

I was away for a few days with Scamp. It has a toilet/shower. ''While gone, weather turned frigid. I came home to 11 degree temp, snow and ice. This is out of place for St. George. At one point during my trip home, I opened up the hot water tank to drain while I was driving. Because of ice on my street, and snow in the driveway, I had to park out in the street over night. I took pink antifreeze and dumped some down the shower and sink drains and also in the toilet. The black and grey tanks were dumped before leaving the campground. I also put what was left of the gallon in the water tank. I'm hoping that I got everything covered enough to prevent any problems. Does anyone have any experience in this situation? Is there anything further I should do? If something was missed or not caught in time, what problems can I expect and where? I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[cpaharley2008]

You need to get the pink stuff in your water lines and pump for protection.

[kb1flr]

Hi Alice,

Is your fresh water tank empty? If not, both the tank and water pump would be of concern.

Good luck!

Rick

[deryk]

I tend to overdo it for peace of mind. After draining the water tank and lines(I have a 2 valves next to my water heater beside the galley...helps drain out the water going to the sink and shower) I dump 3 gallons of pink stuff in and run the faucet and shower till its coming out nice and pink so I'm not worried about ice forming in my pump or lines.

For the price of the pink antifreeze at walmart I feel safer going a little overboard. Then I dump a gallon into my porta potti since I use my ParkLiner on non snowy weekends as I can during the winter.

[RogerDat]

Running the pink stuff through the pump and all the lines is important. Many campers will have a "low point" drain that if you open all your faucets (to let air in at the far end) will allow draining all of the lines prior to pumping in the pink stuff.

No fun finding a water line buried in the cabinets or pump cracked from freezing in the spring.

[Wallo]

I got home about 8PM at night, 11 degrees, after driving about 10 hours. Had a bottle of the pink stuff in the garage, put it in the sink and shower drain, a little in the toilet, and the rest in the water tank. I'm hoping it will help until I can get the driveway shoveled off and Scamp into the garage to thaw out. I couldn't do anything while on the road except drain the hot water tank. Guess I'll just have to wait until the next warm day above 50 and test all the systems before camping season starts again. Quartzite might be a no-go next year.

[Byron Kinnaman]

I think it's important to look at what can be expected for your part of the world. Right now we're experiencing the coldest weather in about 20 years, lows in the lower teens. Right now my trailer is sitting beside the house, under a steel canopy (car port) with an electric heater keeping the inside temps around 50°F. The fresh water tank is 90% full and trailer is about ready to travel.
The pink stuff (RV water system antifreeze) is made of Propylene Glycol. I suggest you look up Propylene Glycol and read about how toxic it is before putting into your fresh water system.

[Glenn Baglo]

There are hundreds of posts on multiple websites that claim that RV antifreeze is toxic.
You can also find sites that claim that water is toxic, and it is if you drink too much of it. So, I guess if you drank Propylene Glycol straight, it might be toxic.

Can you point out a web site with a scientific study to support your assertion that RV antifreeze is toxic?

If it were, I would think there would be a huge class-action suit filed years ago.

[RogerDat]

There is a good argument to not putting RV anti-freeze in the water tank. Taste. The tank seems more inclined to hold the taste and or smell than the lines and if the tank is empty there is nothing in it to freeze, expand and crack the tank.

Pump, lines and plumbing are much more prone to having "pockets" where water can get trapped and on freezing expand and create a leak. Some work around this by using an air compressor at moderate pressure to blow out the lines.

As to the pink stuff being a poison, ain't killed me yet. But then I do flush it out well before using water system and don't use straight RV anti-freeze as a mixer for rum punch I'm going to drink.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

There are hundreds of posts on multiple websites that claim that RV antifreeze is toxic.
You can also find sites that claim that water is toxic, and it is if you drink too much of it. So, I guess if you drank Propylene Glycol straight, it might be toxic.

Can you point out a web site with a scientific study to support your assertion that RV antifreeze is toxic?

If it were, I would think there would be a huge class-action suit filed years ago.

I'm sorry you have such a big problem with this. My suggestion is and was DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH. Then you decide if it's something you want to use.
RVs have been around a lot longer than Propylene Glycol antifreeze without a huge amount of problems freezing.

[Jim Bennett]

A bunch of years back when I first used RV antifreeze, I looked into how safe it was to use. Pretty much all reports said it was just fine, and most of the negative comments came from the use of propylene glycol in beauty products, and there were some reports on constant use being not good for the skin.

Anyhow, this is kinda what I summerized at the time.

Rv antifreeze, propylene glycol, is not toxic, and small amounts will cause no problems, though larger doses can make some people sick, but who ingests large quantities. If the system is flushed with fresh water, there will be no harm. When I used it, I would also do a bleach flush of the water system to eliminate any off taste.

[Glenn Baglo]

In other words, you don't eat your lipstick.

baglo

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

In other words, you don't eat your lipstick.

baglo

I think that was an episode on that Strange Addiction show if I remember correct.

[MyronL]

I had to put a lot of lipstick on my last trailer (was 27 years old) before selling it. The lipstick worked for me-- result: very un-toxic.

[cpaharley2008]

I'm not sure that is what did it, If I saw you wearing a lot of lipstick, I'd go the other way……..

[padlin00]

Haven't seen it mentioned but for winter use/storage I've been draining everything of water, run a gallon of antifreeze thru the pump and lines, then blow out the lines from the city water connection at low (30-40 psi) pressure. The antifreeze ends up in the traps and grey/black tanks and gets clears all water out of the lines.
I've got clear lines in my Starcraft as opposed to the red and blue I seem to recall in pictures of Escapes builds. After the first 4 or 5 years of leaving the pink in the lines thru the winter I found the lines took on a pink color s I started doing the above. I just go dry come cold weather, using the CG's bathrooms and a 5 gallon jug for consumption.

[Cyndi B.]

WE use to put the pink stuff in our garage toilet. I don't know if that was the constant swimming or the pink stuff that got the two mice.

[Francesca Knowles]

It may be worth noting that RV or "pink" antifreeze's active ingredient is propylene glycol-( link) not the more toxic ethylene glycol used in car antifreeze, which is responsible for many pet poisonings each year.( link)