Winter water question

[mohop]

Hello everyone! I have a 1986 Dolphin and my wife and I will be spending the winter in it near Terre Haute Indiana. My question is if I have access to city water that is setup not to freeze should I drain my fresh tank or leave it full? I guess I'm thinking about how to get the anti freeze in there without it getting into the rest of the system.

[waiter]

The fresh water tank is located inside the toyhouse, so as long as you have heat, it shouldn't freeze, but it wouldn't hurt to drain it and dump a gallon of antifreeze in it.

Not sure how your fresh water supply is freeze proof, I assume you have some kind of heated hose that will screw onto the connection, and perhaps everything up to and including the connection has heat and insulation.

You have one area that you may need to look at and add some insulation, there may be a small door outside near your water heater that if you open, you can see the plumbing for your shower. inside warm air cannot get into this area, pack a handfull of insulation in this area then close the door. Might also do the same thing where your electric cord comes in.

The next problem will be your black and gray tank, they are outside and not heated. You may be able to get away with leaving the gray tank open so it drains all the time, but this won't work for the black. If you leave it open it will not empty those solid thingys that can be found in the black tank.

Maybe one of those pipe heater strips wrapped around the black plumbing, valve and bottom of the tank???

John Mc

88 Dolphin 4 Auto

[WME]

They make electric tank heaters. They will protect down to around -5. Some spray foam on the tanks sides will take you lower.

http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/rv-toilets-tanks/rv-holding-tank-heater.htm

[5Toyota]

WME is correct as the newer units built for FOUR seasons use. have heated tanks even some slide in units

[Odyssey4x4]

I don't have the option to hook to city water. Here is what I would recommend if you want completely care-free utilities inside your Toy home this winter.

1) Forget the freshwater tank. Go buy a 4-5 gallon water jug w/ a spout and keep it in your sink. Use this for water for dishes/drinking/cooking. No frozen/cracked water pump, freshwater pipes, or freshwater tank!

2) Disconnect the plumbing under your sink, put a 5 gallon bucket under the sink, and when you wash dishes your waste water will fall directly into the 5 gallon bucket, which in turn you simply dump whenever you want, no frozen/cracked pipes or greywater tank!

3) Remove your toilet in your bathroom (super easy to do, takes less than 5 minutes... usually 2 nuts holding each side of the toilet down to the floor). Then go buy one of these portable flush toilets

http://www.sportsmanswarehouse.com/sportsmans/Camco-5.3-Gallon-Portable-Toilet/productDetail/Personal-Hygiene/prod999901362588/cat110201

and put it right where your old toilet was. I've got one and it works AWESOME! I just put a tiny bit of antifreeze in the portable toilet's flushing system to prevent a freezeup. Whenever it gets full, simply walk it out your door and dump it. Only costs $80 and you won't have to worry at all about frozen piss-icles or poop-sicles in your blackwater tank (like I did, despite pouring 6 gallons of anti-freeze, 15 blocks of salt, and having heat tape & a heat pad on my tank for defrosting it).

4) Get a membership at a local gym and take showers/fill your water there.

There you have it. You won't have any problems at all this way and still have use of your utilities. I attempted to use half of my utilities in Alaska this winter, but it just didn't work out (I'm living completely off-grid, so can't keep a heat pad going the whole time or keep my Toy home heated 24/7).

Timmy

www.timmystoyota.blogspot.com

[Derek up North]

This one wouldn't.

http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|406|1066337|324054&id=48881

[bajadulce]

That's a nice toilet.

Your winter living is sounding more like my normal camping routine, no-frills, ultra water conseravtion philosophy.

In the process of building a little splash tub that can recycle the water (up to a point). Sounds gross I know.

[Odyssey4x4]

Yeah, those Dickerson Newport diesel burning stainless steel stoves are about 1/2 the price of the Kimberly stove that I have in my Toy home, but there are 2 major problems...

1) It only puts out up to 8,000 BTUs... the Kimberly stove puts out up to 40,000 BTUs. 8,000 BTUs is simply not enough heat for most winter living circumstances, especially in a poorly insulated Toy home. I know this because the Kimberly is just sufficient enough to keep me comfortably warm at a medium throttle with a half-load of wood (which is about 20,000 BTU's).

2) The Dickerson stove only burns diesel fuel, which means you are reliant on the system. The Kimberly can burn wood, coal, compressed sawdust logs, charcoal, wood pellets, and fresh/saltwater driftwood.

Anyhow, just thought I would point that out in case anyone was considering a Dickerson. There are about 3 other fairly decent little wood stoves out there (Marine Stoves "Sardine" and "Cod" and the Vermont Castings "mini-elm 12" stove". Although these stoves have a max BTU output of about 28,000 BTU's and can't burn all the fuels the Kimberly can.

Timmy

www.timmystoyota.blogspot.com

[Derek up North]

Dickinson also offers a 'solid fuel' and propane version.

http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|406|1066337|324054&id=48881

I'm NOT saying that 3k - 8k Btuh is a match for your 40k Btuh, but it would be an option for someone who might otherwise try a Wave 3 or Wave 6.

[mohop]

Thanks all for your advice. I am looking into that water tank heater as that sounds like a winner.

[Derek up North]

i have that dickenson stove on my list to install.

Wood or propane? Too bad they don't offer a dual fuel!

[Derek up North]

You need a tiny gas powered chainsaw.

[5Toyota]

would have to agree with DEREK as i have cut up tons of pallets when i heated with wood used a 14 inch chain saw many pallets are OAK. had to weigh them at work before loading some would go 80 pounds empty. got to watch the nails though.

[Derek up North]

I'm not sure how this would handle pallets, but lets face it, with an 18' Sunrader and a teeny wood stove you're not going to be cutting and loading cords at a time!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RYOBI-CS1800-18V-CORDLESS-CHAINSAW-2-BATTERIES-CHARGER-NICE-/281023982217?pt=US_Chainsaws&hash=item416e55aa89

[Derek up North]

I wonder ('out loud') how long (days) you could heat a Toyota MH with (for example) 1 pallet? Are is there a more practical unit of measure (rather than a cord) for MH firewood? The 'milk crate'? The 'laundry basket'? <)