Am I overthinking it?

[JandC]

We don't have to stay too long in the cold temps, but for the next 3 or 4 weeks, prior to leaving, we will have some nights down in the upper teens.

Today I crawled under the Montana and sealed a few small gaps in the matting in an attempt to keep as much cold air out as possible. I also have extra heat in the basement and this time of year I start adding some RV pink to the black tank between flushes.

My neighbor has a pretty new 39' SOB fiver. Last December his black tank froze up on him and he had to take down his underbelly. Today I asked him if he was going to put it back on and he said no. He said it was just cheap thin material and didn't help anyway.

He will be pulling out just after me. I reminded him of the 10 day forecast. He said it was no big deal having night temps in the teens with the underbelly exposed.

Am I overthinking this? I realize the underbelly matting is a thin cheap material but I also assume it keeps most of the air out, especially if it is sealed up good.

[dieselguy]

Some people do stuff just half a__ed as in remove but not replace. Although I firmly believe the corrugated panel on our underbellies has zero insulating quality itself I'd think it does keep the underbelly furnace heat from spilling directly on the ground. Maybe he has heat strips on his tanks and solely relies on a wing and a prayer thought process.

[BB_TX]

Yeah, it may be just thin material, but it helps hold whatever heat there may be in that confined space. His would definitely freeze before one with the material in place would.

[rohrmann]

We were in Missouri last year until about 10 days into December, and experienced temps as low as 9 over night, with many 12 to 14 degree temps. We kept the heat on, running at 68 degrees, and during that string of cold we were using a tank of propane every other day. Through all that, we never had anything freeze. We have a Pirit hose that worked great also. So, if you have to be there, keep the heat going and don't worry. And, not to start another discussion, we also towed with the heat on when in sub-freezing temps, and never had a freeze problem.

[JandC]

I hear you rohrmann, we stayed into late December up here last year in our 2008 Montana. Had the heated water hose and extra heat in the basement but my black tank gate valve still froze. Once I started using some RV antifreeze in the black tank I was okay.

The day we pulled out it was still below freezing. I set the furnace on 60 and away we went. Put enough miles on the first day to get out of the freeze. I probably stopped every 50 miles at first to check on the furnace but everything was fine.

[HOOK]

Don't forget that your belly has Astro Foil and is rated at R21 insulation value. Most SOBs are nowhere close . If your heat is on, warm air is blown into your belly also. We never winterized ours and even last year when we had some single digit temps , with our heat on and set at 50. I also have a 100 watt bulb inside the white plastic wall behind the convenience center.

[dieselguy]

Hook: I know you have Keystone products sales blood running thru and thru, but the astro-foil is heavy on sales pitch and weak on application that really matters. As breezy as any of our belly pans are and as uninsulated and cold as 10" - 12" of steel frame directly above it ... I really don't think its application adds much value other than "gee whiz" look at what Keystone provides in theory. There is no astro foil on top of my belly pan in the drop down part of the frame under my holding tanks on my 2011 anyways.

[oldelmer1]

Dieselguy, when I pulled my black tank out of my 2010 3150RL, I had a big sheet of,what i call reflectix, that was laying on top of the Coroplast underbelly. This sheet was so big, that it curled up the sides of the metal frame.

You don't have that laying on top of your underbelly material?

[dieselguy]

I have the 1/4" thick silver miracle insulation on top of the corrugated plastic under the back 2/3's of my fiver ... just not directly under my black and main grey tanks.

[bigskyjimmy]

4 years of fulltiming in cold weather 10-30 degrees and I never had the valve gates freeze or the tanks freeze SOOOOO that stuff must be doing something ,I use heat tape on the hose and at night leave the furnace on about 55 every night and Good to Go to me leaving the foil and the Black underbelly cover off would defeat the whole purpose of tying to keep heat in the underbelly that makes no sense to me to leave that off

[JandC]

I just don't understand why he thinks leaving his cover off the bottom will not be a problem. The forecast predicts tonight's temps will hit 25 and not get much better all week. The high and low next Sunday is suppose to be 31/20 degrees with chance of snow.

I wish there was something else I could say to him because I have no doubt he will probably freeze up. Maybe he has stuffed bats of insulation up inside the frame or something.

[oldelmer1]

quote:Originally posted by dieselguy

I have the 1/4" thick silver miracle insulation on top of the corrugated plastic under the back 2/3's of my fiver ... just not directly under my black and main grey tanks.

I have not pulled down the back 2/3's of my fiver, only the front part where the black and gray tanks are.

[DonandBonnie]

We have spent a few nights with temps in the mid teens and have not had any comfort or freezing issues within the Big Sky. Our insulation is what comes standard from Keystone. We have done nothing to modify it.

[racquetballfreq]

Could someone explain to me why we worry about holding tanks freezing? Isn't keeping them empty on a regular basis a good solution? I don't have any experience living in my 5th wheel in the extreme cold but I do know that the day will come so please educate me.

[JandC]

quote:Originally posted by racquetballfreq

Could someone explain to me why we worry about holding tanks freezing? Isn't keeping them empty on a regular basis a good solution? I don't have any experience living in my 5th wheel in the extreme cold but I do know that the day will come so please educate me.

I keep my gray tanks open/empty until the day before I am going to dump my black. I never leave my black tank open.

[Eagleback]

Use a probe thermometer or a meat thermometer and pierce through a few different areas of the underbelly wrap and you will be surprised at how much heat or in the heat how much cooler it is in the airspace under the camper and then you can decide for yourself. I did it and found in the Michigan cold my under belly was almost as warm as the coach and I did it again this summer in Florida and it was only 10 or 15 degrees warmer under there being 95 outside and 80 under the wrap. so the belly wrap is a definite plus. but of course your coach your decision.

[JandC]

quote:Originally posted by Eagleback

Use a probe thermometer or a meat thermometer and pierce through a few different areas of the underbelly wrap and you will be surprised at how much heat or in the heat how much cooler it is in the airspace under the camper and then you can decide for yourself. I did it and found in the Michigan cold my under belly was almost as warm as the coach and I did it again this summer in Florida and it was only 10 or 15 degrees warmer under there being 95 outside and 80 under the wrap. so the belly wrap is a definite plus. but of course your coach your decision.

That is good information to know. I would not have thought of sticking a probe thermometer or a meat thermometer through there to check the temp in the underbelly.

It was 17 degrees this morning but I left the furnace on 66 last night so I am confident now that my underbelly can handle these temperatures.

[steelpony5555]

It's not so much the layer of cheap reflective material but the layer of air that insulates... Just like double pane glass, it's not the 2 layers of glass, it's the air trapped in between them that insulates. Glass is a terrible insulator and actually conducts heat or cold. Nobody wants single pane windows. That's also why fiberglass insulation should not be compressed but should be fluffed up, it needs the air to insulate. So taking down the underbelly means the air just blows thru and his floors are gonna be cold along with no heat trapped in that void to keep the tanks from freezing..

[gkidsdlite]

I have read all your posts and it brings to mind what a homeless person living in the cold climates does to stay warm! I know what your thinking, where did that come from! LOL They get cardboard boxes and get inside them when its cold to just have a barrier from cold while keeping their body heat inside! The insulation value is almost nonexistent but the movement of air is also! Before you ask no! LOL

[PackerFan]

How is it now Joe? We are in Oklahoma City and received 3 inches of snow Sunday and temps in the upper teens. Will be heading towards Nashville tomorrow. Should take us 3 or 4 days to get there with a few stops for sightseeing along the way.