We're living in our RV in the Wisconsin winter while our new house is being built. I've been congratulating myself for keeping the plumbing from freezing. It seems I started celebrating a tad too early.
Here's the part I was celebrating: The outside temp is 17 degrees F right now, but inside we're reading 77/78. See the pic of my remote/local sensing thermometers.
The 17 degree sensor is outside. The 55 degree sensor is located behind the Nautilus control panel where all the plumbing lines are distributed from city water and the pump to the rest of the RV. I placed two incandescent lights in that compartment, and they keep the area between 50-55 degrees with just space heaters running in the RV living area. We haven't used the propane furnace to speak of this whole winter. (At night I direct one of the space heaters to the opening that provides ventilation between the RV cabin and the plumbing area. That's been enough to keep it just fine down below.)
To keep outdoor hoses from freezing and to eliminate messing with heat tape on a 200' garden hose, I store the hoses in a heated area, then bring them out to fill the fresh water tank every 3-5 days and use the pump and fresh water tank for sinks, shower, and toilet. If it's above freezing during the day, I'll keep the garden hose attached and use it as "City Water".
I thought I had all the problems licked until last week when I was filling the fresh water tank. Oh, man, it was slow to fill. I mean, it took an hour or so. Finally got the tank filled, switched to "Dry Camping" and the pump, and all was good, so I put it out of my mind.
Until this weekend. Same slow fill. Well it was unusually warm, so I switch to "City Water". But there was almost no water pressure. Now I knew there was something wrong that I *had* to figure out and fix.
Well, I think it dawned on me tonight. THE WATER FILTER IS LOCATED ON THE CONTROL SIDE OF THE NAUTILUS PANEL. THE WATER FILTER IS NOT HEATED.
So I started searching and I found a thread started by SolitudeAtLast. In that thread, OffToHavasu made this comment: "Now everything goes through the filter and then on to everything else".
That would explain why filling the fresh water tank was slow AND pressure was low when using "City Water" -- I'm suspecting that my water filter canister/filter was partially frozen.
So here's my first attempt at a fix:
Any constructive criticism out there?
-Steve
Here's the part I was celebrating: The outside temp is 17 degrees F right now, but inside we're reading 77/78. See the pic of my remote/local sensing thermometers.
The 17 degree sensor is outside. The 55 degree sensor is located behind the Nautilus control panel where all the plumbing lines are distributed from city water and the pump to the rest of the RV. I placed two incandescent lights in that compartment, and they keep the area between 50-55 degrees with just space heaters running in the RV living area. We haven't used the propane furnace to speak of this whole winter. (At night I direct one of the space heaters to the opening that provides ventilation between the RV cabin and the plumbing area. That's been enough to keep it just fine down below.)
To keep outdoor hoses from freezing and to eliminate messing with heat tape on a 200' garden hose, I store the hoses in a heated area, then bring them out to fill the fresh water tank every 3-5 days and use the pump and fresh water tank for sinks, shower, and toilet. If it's above freezing during the day, I'll keep the garden hose attached and use it as "City Water".
I thought I had all the problems licked until last week when I was filling the fresh water tank. Oh, man, it was slow to fill. I mean, it took an hour or so. Finally got the tank filled, switched to "Dry Camping" and the pump, and all was good, so I put it out of my mind.
Until this weekend. Same slow fill. Well it was unusually warm, so I switch to "City Water". But there was almost no water pressure. Now I knew there was something wrong that I *had* to figure out and fix.
Well, I think it dawned on me tonight. THE WATER FILTER IS LOCATED ON THE CONTROL SIDE OF THE NAUTILUS PANEL. THE WATER FILTER IS NOT HEATED.
So I started searching and I found a thread started by SolitudeAtLast. In that thread, OffToHavasu made this comment: "Now everything goes through the filter and then on to everything else".
That would explain why filling the fresh water tank was slow AND pressure was low when using "City Water" -- I'm suspecting that my water filter canister/filter was partially frozen.
So here's my first attempt at a fix:
Any constructive criticism out there?
-Steve
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