Cold Weather Questions

[RJHewitt]

Hello my CR/Rushmore Family,

We are currently staying at the beautiful Hershey Park Camping and RV Resort in Hummelstown, PA. The temps are dropping here however and we won't be finished here for another couple of weeks. It will be in the high 20s here at night warming to the mid to high 40s during the day. I would appreciate any/all thoughts and recommendations on what we should do. We have winter camped before in our other rvs using warming lights underneath to keep the valves warm, heat tracer tape on the hose fromwinterizedwater sources to the unit, and using just the toilet and jugs of water to rinse etc....
This is the first cold weather we have had to deal with in our new Rushmore. We will have access to water for the next six days, but then the water will be turned off. Can we use our fresh water tank in these temps? We have never done that. Can the insulating values of this rv handle those temps?
Thanks! Robyn

[Lloyd]

I think at those temps you won't have anything to worry about. We have been out many times in those temps and colder without any trouble.
Yes, you can use the fresh water tank for your last few days. You might want to flush it out or if it needs to be sanitized, do it while you have a water hookup.

[Ramn4ver]

Just my 2¢ worth. Maybe find a different park. Myself...I would not use the fresh water tank. One never knows how cold the temps might drop. Wouldn't want to replace broken water lines. Are you going to run a extra heat source in the basement? Maybe a remote temperature gauge in the basement to keep a eye on the temp down there if you do choose the use the fresh water tank.

Good luck
Gary

[socoguy]

I agree with Old Farmer you will be fine for a couple of weeks. The temps are just beginning to get cold and are not sustained at this point. Daytime temps are warm enough. I do not believe things would freeze yet. I would not go much deeper into November than a couple of weeks in Pa. A work light in the basement provides quite a lot of ambient heat.

[Tim D]

Originally Posted by socoguy

Â*A work light in the basement provides quite a lot of ambient heat.

When you say basement I assume you mean "underneath the TT". If so, how are most enclosing this space?

[anaro]

Originally Posted by Tim D

When you say basement I assume you mean "underneath the TT". If so, how are most enclosing this space?

By basement he means the large outside storage area in the front of the 5er. this is commonly called the basement.

[Flyone]

I agree with others as long as you keep the furnace on you should have no problem. it will dump a little heat in the underbelly and keep things fine. I once had one freeze up, I mean the water in the toilet was froze, I turned on the heat and two days later everything was thawed out. As long as the furnace is on should beno problem.

Flyone

[wardvoia]

Endured a harsh April in South Dakota this spring. The month of April was unforgiving for winter conditions. We endured single digit lows at night.....and 11 inch snow storm.....followed by 4 1/2 inchs of pure ice.....followed by another 8 inchs of snow of snow. Daytime temps ranged from 28 to 36 degrees.....not warm by any means. We supplemented the heat with an Edenpure style heater inside and kept the thermostate set at 68 overnight to protect the water lines in basement.....fresh water holding tank was never a problem.....the cool drink of water sure was nice though. I am confident that our Patriot is built comparable to the Rushmore and can safely say that you will not devolope any problems.

[RJHewitt]

We really appreciate the feedback everyone! We have another two weeks here yet. They haven't shut the water off yet, but with the temps dropping, it will be very soon! We have put a ceramic heater in the basement of our other unit (Heartland Bighorn owned for 7 years and traded in on our Lincolnthis pastMay)with success, not sure of the placement of the Lincoln's tanks. We will try that. Unsure if we have a electricaloutlet in there, I'll have to look! I am amazed there is no exterior outlet anywhere on this unit, our Bighorn had a couple, including the one in the dedicated docking area and one up by the awning for the lights. Stay warm CR family!
Thanks again~ Robyn

[RJHewitt]

Happy New Year to our CR family! Well I am happy to report that our unit held up very well in the cold temps of PA. We used the fresh water tank successfully with no problems. We were able to go home to WI for Christmas(Winterizing our 5er was a breeze!!) We once again loaded and left WI in the artic blast of below zero temps and are now in the LA south. How nice to be in warmer weather starting today as all the US has been in a deep freeze! It's promising to be a balmy 53 here today! So far, we are very happy with how our Lincoln bounces down the highways and byways of our great country!

[Lloyd]

Happy New Year to you also.
It's nice to hear everything panned out for you.

[Gcross1468]

Originally Posted by RJHewitt

Happy New Year to our CR family! Well I am happy to report that our unit held up very well in the cold temps of PA. We used the fresh water tank successfully with no problems. We were able to go home to WI for Christmas(Winterizing our 5er was a breeze!!) We once again loaded and left WI in the artic blast of below zero temps and are now in the LA south. How nice to be in warmer weather starting today as all the US has been in a deep freeze! It's promising to be a balmy 53 here today! So far, we are very happy with how our Lincoln bounces down the highways and byways of our great country!

Where in LA South? My wife and I are leaving VT on Jan. 23rd to be in Dothan on the 25th.

[RJHewitt]

Gcross, We're just north of Baton Rouge. My parents live in AL. Been thruogh Dothan many times!

[Gcross1468]

LOL...I thought when you said "LA South" you meant Lower Alabama! : ) It's a standing joke in Alabama, LA (Los Angeles) and LA South (Lower Alabama).

[Jamestn]

I am glad to hear everything went well during you winter camping in the lincoln. It is good to hear positive feedback. I still am happing with our rushmore lincoln. I actually have just installed glass mosiac tile on the backsplash behind the sink. I plan to grout very soon. I hope it holds up during our traveling.

[RJHewitt]

Hey there! Our tile is still holding up very well bouncing down the road. I was able to post pics under the thread of Upgrades and Modifications. Please upload some of your finished project. Everyone that enters our Lincoln complements us on our tile right away. We're so glad we installed ours, we're very happy with it.

[Jamestn]

I just looked at your pictures of your modifications. Your tile work looks great. I did my backsplash behind the sink just like you except I didn't run the trim up the sides. I didn't think about that. It looks great. I also like what you did beside stove and in bathroom. I better not show my wife, she will put me back to work. I do have a question on the glass tile. What preliminary work did you do on the wall prior to putting the mortar on. I think I should have sanded the wall but didn't think about it until I was about done. Also, the grout I am using has polymer in it. Hopefully this will be stronger and more flexible to keep from cracking. I will post pics real soon. Hopefully, our next trip in our unit will be april to the rodrun in pigeon forge tn then plan to go to myrtle beach in june or july.

[RJHewitt]

James, I used a bonding adhesive sheet called Bondera. It went on directly over the wall board and I didn't have to do anything to it before applying. It stays flexible and I grouted with clear silicone to make it even more flexible over time. The colors of the glass and slate tiles I chose will stay beautiful even if the silicone changes color later. It really made the glass tiles pop too. We are very happy with the look and how it's dealing with the bounce of the road so far. Plus, we were just in the deep freeze up in WI and it held up nicely!

[Jamestn]

When you say silicone, are your referring silicone that comes in a tube? Silicone used for bathroom or kitchen sealing?

[RJHewitt]

James~ Yes, regular silicone caulking in the tube. It is a painstaking process because instead of applying the grout over all the tiles and using the rubber trowel to push it in between the tiles, you have to work a small section at a time to squeeze it between the tiles and wipe off the excess silicone as you go. I wanted a clean look, just the clear grout between the tiles, letting the beauty of the tiles show. I just used wet paper towels to wipe of the excess silicone. With the glass tiles some of the edges can be very sharp. I cut myself pretty good. Be careful as you smooth the caulk into the grooves. Hope this helps!