RV water hookup for cold temperature

[stumpfield]

I was at my property over the weekend and everything was frozen solid. I need some sugguestions on how to setup a reliable water system for hooking up to my 5th wheel. I know Eddie Walker is building an RV park. So, I'm sure he has a solution for this.

 

[Bird]

Tom, I think more information would be required to make any recommendations about your water hookup. Is someone going to be living in that trailer? Do you need to leave the water on when you're not there? Does the water heater stay on? Or do you have a water heater bypass? Was the water heater drained? Those water heaters are notorious for freezing and bursting. Does the furnace stay on all the time; i.e., is the interior of the trailer heated all the time? Where is your water tank and how well is it insulated?

The most common thing for people living in RVs is to apply the gray foam rubber cylinders to their water hose, then wrap it with duct tape, but you still would need to leave the water dripping a bit during very cold spells. I used to sometimes fill our water tank, then put the hose away until we need to refill it; just ran off the tank.

 

[EddieWalker]

I was at my property over the weekend and everything was frozen solid. I need some sugguestions on how to setup a reliable water system for hooking up to my 5th wheel. I know Eddie Walker is building an RV park. So, I'm sure he has a solution for this.

I've attached a picture of what I thought was a very clean, nice looking setup from an RV Park that I visited. It's sleeting and raining outside, but if you can wait for it to clear up, I also have a few that are done at my place.

I run a one inch water line to where I want the spicket. Then I reduce it to a 3/4 valve. From the vavle, I run 3/4 pipe to where I want and 90 it up to my desired height. I put a 3/4 to 1/2 inch threaded male fitting on the end.

Next I slide foam insulation over the pipe from the threaded end to the 90 in the ground. I tape the end at the top and a few places along the length to keep it together.

Then I slide a piece of 1 1/2 inch Grey PVC Conduit over the insulation. This also goes down into the ground to the 90 and ends flush with the bottom of the threads of the male fitting on top.

I use half inch female brass boiler spickets. They thread onto the pvc male fitting and have the water hose connection on the side with the valve handle on the top.

then I put a piece of Preasure treated wood along the back of the Grey PVC Conduit. You could hammer it into the ground a little, but I don't I attach two 1 1/2 inch pipe clamps around the Grey PVC Conduit to the Preasure Treated wood. The wood ends a few inches below the top of the conduit so I can turn the water on and off easily.

I've made it through 17 degeee tempatures without it freezing and for the last three days we've had a high tempature of 34 degrees without any problems. If you get allot colder, you might need more insulationa and a bigger cover pipe to protect and cover your insulation like in this picture.

Again, just ask and I'll get a picture for you in a day or two of what mine look like.

Eddie

 

[stumpfield]

What I need to setup is for more a extreme usage scenarios. The trailer is for part time use. Sometimes it could be months in between uses. It's not heated. I would run out of propane if I leave the heater on....Everything is turned-off and I drained all water tanks. So far, no brusted pipes or anything yet. My water is in a temporary above ground storage tank. Not insulated. Water inside the tank didn't freeze. However, everything around it was frozen. There's water in the tank but I can't get it out. Last weekend, I had to break a layer of ice on the surface and scoop water out with a bucket. I spent hours trying to figure out how to get a few gallons of water out of the tank. No water hookup to the trailer. That means no hot shower. Not fun after driving 300 miles to enjoy my rural property.

I'm in the process of planning my water system. It will be 2x2500gal storage tanks located about 100' above the homesite/trailer. The well is about 30' away. I've installed a solar pump. I want to be able to continue pumping water even during the extremely cold season. As you may already knew, I have a very low yield well. Less than 2gal/min. So, I need keep pumping when the sun is up.

I will burry 1" PVC pipe from the well to the tanks. 2" PVC pipe from the tank to the homesite/trailer location. I'm trying to learn what's the proper water piping system for cold weather. Also, what's the best method to keep the exposed pipes from freezing? Thanks for your help.

 

[stumpfield]

Again, just ask and I'll get a picture for you in a day or two of what mine look like.

Eddie

Thanks Eddie. I love to see the picture and get a better understanding of your setup. Last weekend, it was below 10 degree at night and in the 20's during the day even though the weather forecast says high in 40's. I am suppose to be in a very mild climate zone. I guess it's different for RV hookup than a typical home. The freezing effect is more severe because it's not being used frequent enough. Whatever I plan to installed, it must be a passive system. I don't have anything to generate heat or have a source of constant power.

Tom

 

[drssg]

Would a frost free water hydrant do the trick? You couldn't leave the water line hooked up to the RV, but the hydrant is inexpensive and simple to hook up.

Tractor Supply

 

[wushaw]

I live in my fifthwheel so I went with an underground pressure regulator with a levervalve inside a meter box. I have some 1.5" electrical conduit in an "S" shap coming from the box up to the side of the slab then the hose is covered with the insulation noodle and one of them foam covers over the connection to the trailer.
So far I have not had it freeze up and I do no drip the faucets.

Stumpfield, your application is a little different from mine, I would drain the trailer to be safe.

 

[CurlyDave]

I was at my property over the weekend and everything was frozen solid. I need some sugguestions on how to setup a reliable water system for hooking up to my 5th wheel.

I have my RV set up as a temporary living spot at my property. The distance from the well to the RV is 75' and I use the RV type hose to supply water.

The only way I have been able to successfully keep water going in freezing temperatures is to fill the internal holding tank about 3/4 of the way and then drain the external hose & work from the tank.

If the hose is empty, I can refill the internal tank before it freezes, and then blow it out.

 

[BB_TX]

Use heat tape as noted here.
AUTOS & BOATS : Trailers : In Camp Can-Do and Owner's Advice : DIY Network

Also, this is a very good site for RV info.
Motorhome Magazine Open Roads Forum: New Topics

 

[EddieWalker]

Here are a couple of pictures of what one of mine look like. This one is on the backside of my sign at my entrance, so it's a little on the low side. I'll be putting sprinklers on the line in the future, and this will just be there for cleaning or maybe washing off the sign.

I'd forgotten about how low it is when I posted ealier, and that it's spicket is actually angled up. This just seemed better for it's future needs.

There is a green circle in the ground that is the access to the valve.

Eddie

 

[Bird]

Eddie, as an RVer, I sure hated to see that kind of faucet for a couple of reasons: (1) I always put my pressure regulator at the faucet, so it not only protected the interior plumbing of the RV, but also my water hose, and adding anything between the faucet and hose means it sticks up that much further and the hose has a sharp bend to go down, and (2) if they're just a little bit low, I've seen too many male dogs use them for the toilet. The faucet should be installed so the water comes out running straight down, which means a different kind of faucet, or at the very least, an elbow just before that faucet.

 

[EddieWalker]

Sorry Bird, I wasn't very clear. The one in the picture is not for RV use. It's for a flower garden that will be around my sign. It's a totaly differenty type of spicket than what I'll use for the park.

I was hoping the picture would show how I insulate my water lines. 3/4 inch schedule 40 PVC. Then there is pipe insulation around that and the 1 1/2 inch grey conduit slides over the insulation.

It's a cheap, simple way to do it that I've seen in other parks and should work well on a home application. How much cold it can handle is a mystery. It's worked well at my place down to 17 degrees over night, and three days of freezing temps in the 20's to low 30's.

Sorry for the confusion.

Eddie

 

[Bird]

I misunderstood, Eddie. It looks good as far as the insulating and for what you're going to use it for. Of course for any spigot, I do prefer one that shoots the water straight down. To me that's just easier to hook up to and less bend in the hose.

 

[stumpfield]

Here are a couple of pictures of what one of mine look like. This one is on the backside of my sign at my entrance, so it's a little on the low side. I'll be putting sprinklers on the line in the future, and this will just be there for cleaning or maybe washing off the sign.

I'd forgotten about how low it is when I posted ealier, and that it's spicket is actually angled up. This just seemed better for it's future needs.

There is a green circle in the ground that is the access to the valve.

Eddie

Thanks for posting the pictures. Do you have to shut the water off at the underground valve after each use?

 

[EddieWalker]

I leave the water on at the valve all year. The reason for the valve is that these thing get busted. Vandalism or just bad tractoring. hahahaha

There's actually three valves on that line because of a few other lines I may add in the future, but that's another story.

Eddie

 

[Jagmandave]

If there's electricity there, the easiest way to keep water flowing to the spigot is to use heat tape. If no electricity, you'll have to really insulate the pipes and use a frost free spigot assy........

 

[Obed]

stumpfield,
I've been a full-time RVer for the past 10 years. We have had temperatures as low as 7 degrees F and still had water. I took some pictures of our water hose set up and have attached them.

We got heat tape from the plumbing section at Lowes. You plug it into an electrical outlet and it uses a thermostat to keep the water hose warm. We wire-tied the heat tape along the length of the hose, water pipe, water spigot, and camper hose coupling. It's very important that you be meticulous about getting all the exposed sections of the water line in contact with the heat tape. It only takes an inch of missed space to freeze the entire line. We then wrapped styrofoam pipe insulation around the hose and heat tape and used duct tape to seal the insulation. Done right, this setup will keep you water hose unfrozen for about any temps you should see in your area.

When the temps get down to the mid-20's, we open our lower kitchen cabinet doors and bathroom vanity doors so the inside water pipes get heat from the inside of the camper. Note: Our inside water pipes are located inside these cabinets. When the temperature gets into the teens we drip water in our two sinks. We have 2 problem spots inside the camper where the pipes want to freeze in extreme cold weather. One spot is where the water pipe first enters the camper from outside. This spot is accessible through a lower kitchen cabinet door. We've fixed this by placing an electric space heater by the open cabinet door during really cold nights. The other problem spot is where the water pipe that supplies the shower runs through the unheated basement area. We have an access panel to the basement area in our bathroom. We leave this panel off during cold weather to get a little heat to the shower pipes. This works in all but the coldest weather. Occassionally the shower pipes will freeze but not frequently enough for us to do anything about it. At one time I put a small space heater in the basement. Actually, a 100 WAT light bulb on an extension cord near the shower pipes in the basement enough to keep them unfrozen in our case.
Obed

 

[Obed]

stumpfield,
Once it didn't get above 40F for several days and we couldn't drain the black tank. I bungee corded a 100W drop light to the drain pipe valve where the pipe exits the black tank. This keep the black tank warm enough that we could dump it.
Obed

 

[Obed]

stumpfield,
Since you aren't local to the camper, you will need to turn off your water at the water spigot when you are not there. You might need to winterize the camper everytime you leave it. That sounds like a pain though. Drain your camper at the low point drain. Also drain your water heater. You can get a air fitting to connect to the camper's water hose coupling and use an air compresser to blow the water from the pipes before you leave. To fully winterize it you would need to put antifreeze in the sink drains so the traps don't freeze. This all depends how cold it gets.

If you don't want to do all this, you can purchase a big propane tank and run your furnace while you're gone. Or you could purchase a couple oil filled electric space heaters to heat the place when you aren't there. Make sure you have enough amps to run the heaters without throwing breakers. We added an extra 20A breaker in the breaker box and an outdoor 20A receptacle to our RV electric pole. We ran a heavy-duty electric extension cord into the camper just so we could run a third space heater during really cold weather. Thick Red Extension Cord for Extra Space Heater. Don't use a normal extension cord for a space heater because it will get hot, melt, and maybe cause a fire.

If you really wanted to get fancy, there are devices that you can use to remotely control thermostats, water heaters, and water valves either using a phone or using the internet. Search Google for "Home Automation".

Good luck,
Obed

 

[tommu56]

tom

I am in the same "boat".

We just got well drilled this year at my cabin.

I plan to put all plumbing below frost line to cistern and have the solar pump set up to keep that full and pump out of that to cabin.
i am going to use old style presure tank in cabin and have supply line that go's from cistern to cabin drain back when pump shuts off.

We have some plumbing in it now (gravity tank on 2nd floor) every thing is pitched to 2 low point drains.
When ever we are closing up in we drain every thing down, and put rv antifreeze in toilet and sink drains.

This has worked fine for 25 years that we have been carting water up there.

The only 2 times we had a problem if we had an early unxpected frost it pushed the same soldered elbow (3/4 copper) off pipe.


tommu56