We have been rving in fifth wheels for over 12 years. Before that we had two pickup campers and like many rvers we tented for years before any of those. We aren't newbies. It seems that lately many of the Youtubers and people on forums have just bought their first rv and are heading out to start full time living in their new camper. With no experience. We enjoy watching and reading about their experiences and also chuckle at the newbie mistakes that they make. Then they pass along the solutions as if they were the first to experience them. The good thing about them passing along these experiences is many of us have been rving long enough to forget to pass along some of these little things that we take for granted. They can help other newcomers with those reminders.
This weekend turned out to be a good learning experience and we should have known better. We had a 4 day weekend for Easter and decided to go to the lake to do some fishing. The temperature was 23 degrees when we started to do our normal de-winterizing procedure and filling the fresh water tank with filtered water from the campground at the lake. We like our water filtered through our Camco 20 micron water filter. What should have been a clue of things to come is how we found the filter frozen and wouldn't allow any water through it. I always drain as much water out of it as I can when I am finished using it, but it was frozen solid. We had bought a new filter for this season but hadn't started using it yet, so it was time to get it out, and worry about thawing out the old one later. It hasn't been used that much, so I was going to use it for a while longer.
When we had enough water in the tank to start the pump so we could start flushing the water lines we couldn't get any water. Since the water filter was frozen, I wondered if our waterline had frozen and cracked and was now sucking air. Looking underneath the camper, there was no water dripping. That's a good sign. We decided to finish filling the tank, and I hauled some in a bucket to make sure I hadn't frozen the pump or pre-pump filter. It is simply a wire mesh filter to keep the bigger chunks out of the pump. Ok, the winterizing valve worked and so did the pump so everything was ok there. Now I wasn't worried, we can get water out of the tank drain valve and use the winterizing hose to get water to the toilet which was my biggest concern.
We proceeded to go find a camp site at a dry camping area in a small bay on the lake. Once we were leveled and had the slides out we got the furnace going to warm things up. I thought that we would have water in an hour or two. After two hours, and the outside temperature rising to 31 degrees F, I tried the pump again, and still nothing. Now I was worried again. What could have gone wrong? I cut the intake hose at the winterizing valve and tried to blow in it so see if I could here air bubbles. Nope, it was blocked solid. Darn. Now I have to worry that I had wrecked the crimp on hose clamp. I searched through all of my tool totes thinking I had a small assortment of hose clamps and I didn't find anything. I thought I would go to town in the morning and get a new clamp.
Now it was on to plan B. I took a bucket under the camper to get some water from the tank drain valve and just use a bucket for the toilet. After getting the bucket in position and me getting ready to get wet from the 1 1/2" valve, I gave it a tug, nope, so I tug a little harder and still nothing. This valve works very easy, so, it was frozen also. Crap. On to plan C. We take our new minnow bucket which is a five gallon pail, and another 5 gallon bucket back to the campground which was totally empty when we filled the camper with water. There were now two other people camping in this weather besides just us. The difference is the campground has electric hookups, so they have power. I hope their weekend was going smoother than ours was now going.
With the buckets filled and in the shower beside the toilet, we will be good for the night. We will be warm, and we have water for the toilet so things are getting better. In the morning I tried the pump again thinking that the furnace would put enough warm air into the tank area to thaw the line from the tank. Still nothing. I look things over again and I can feel the fill hose that goes directly into the tank. I figure I can drill a hole in the tank fill hose and stuff a smaller hose inside it to get to my 75 gallons of water. I make a small list of things I need and head to town. I find the length of new hose, a couple of clamps and a splice connector so I can connect the new hose to my winterizing hose and now I can get to our water.
When I get back to the camper after a stop for fresh donuts I get ready to get to work. It shouldn't take very long and we can finally get our water heater filled also. Maybe I should try the pump again so I will try it one more time. Wouldn't you know it, yep, we get water. I just needed to be more patient. Now I can fill the water heater and life returned to normal.
What went wrong? Well the last time we winterized we drained the tank but didn't run the pump to pull all the water through the intake line. I didn't worry about it because we were going to be back in the camper in a couple of weeks when we winterized last time we were out. This was also the first time we have de-winterized and set up in below freezing weather. This is a lesson that I won't forget in the future.
