Discovery 40X in cold weather?

[ChinMusic]

We are new to the RV world and just picked up a Class A diesel (2008 Discovery 40X).

I’m told that heat vents into the tank area but don’t see a way to monitor it.

If we are living in the rig, with heater running, how low do temps have to go to get us in trouble? Any tips as well

Dave

 

[Laura & Charles]

Assuming you have propane furnaces, only one of them actually heats the tank area, usually the rear one (that also heats the bedroom). The only way to monitor, would be to install a remote thermometer yourself. I was told that as long as I kept the bedroom reasonably comfy, the tanks would be ok. If you have a hydronic heat system (AquaHot, Oasis), that should heat your tank area, too. What you don’t want to do is heat with the rooftop AC/heat pump units. They won’t throw any heat to your tanks.

You’ll need to heat your wet bay, too. Hydronic systems have a little radiator in the wet bay, but anything else you’ll want to put a little space heater in there. Also, the fresh water hose from the hydrant to where it enters the coach will need heat tape. Or, what I’ve done when we didn’t head south soon enough, was fill the fresh tank and use the pump.. keeping the fresh hose drained and topping off the fresh tank when temps got warm enough.

We usually keep the gray valve open (just close it the day before we’re going to dump the black tank.. flushing out the sewer hose with gray water), but if in freezing conditions, I would recommend keeping the gray tank closed unless dumping. And keep the sewer hose drained. Most places we’ve stayed, it’s hard-to-impossible to have a nice, consistent slope coach to sewer. If in freezing conditions, I ‘walk’ the hose to empty if after dumping.

If your heat is propane, you’ll probably want to get an external tank and schedule delivery service. You’re going to go through a LOT of propane. It won’t be cheap regardless your fuel, but if you’re not paying for electricity, you might want to heat your bedroom with propane (diesel if hydronic) and get a space heater or two for up front.

I’ve answered as if you’re going to be relatively stationary. If you’re going to be mobile, getting to more southern latitudes is the much simpler solution.

 

[Laura & Charles]

Other thoughts:
Your diesel likely has a block heater. Your engine will appreciate you using it overnight before starting it.

Your batteries should be ok as long as they’re charged/charging.
Get a voltmeter on the chassis batteries and confirm your converter is charging those as well as the house batteries. (Both coaches we’ve had did, but I’ve read here that’s not always the case.) If not, and you’re going to be parked a while, you probably should get a maintainer charger on the chassis batteries.

I imagine the diesel fuel sold in AK, at least in winter, is #1. We bounce north and south enough, and may stay a month or more, that it’s easily possible that I fill up in FL with #2 driving north in February into weather I should have #1. I always have a few bottles of additive and use them if any doubt.

Full time RV living in AK is going to be a challenge.. again, pointing it south is a much simpler, and comfortable, idea.. if it’s at all an option for you.

 

[ChinMusic]

Other thoughts:
Your diesel likely has a block heater. Your engine will appreciate you using it overnight before starting it.

Your batteries should be ok as long as they’re charged/charging.
Get a voltmeter on the chassis batteries and confirm your converter is charging those as well as the house batteries. (Both coaches we’ve had did, but I’ve read here that’s not always the case.) If not, and you’re going to be parked a while, you probably should get a maintainer charger on the chassis batteries.

I imagine the diesel fuel sold in AK, at least in winter, is #1. We bounce north and south enough, and may stay a month or more, that it’s easily possible that I fill up in FL with #2 driving north in February into weather I should have #1. I always have a few bottles of additive and use them if any doubt.

Full time RV living in AK is going to be a challenge.. again, pointing it south is a much simpler, and comfortable, idea.. if it’s at all an option for you.

We are snowbirding from Alaska. We picked up a rig in Peoria, IL and will be headed east to NJ before finally heading south and warm weather.

 

[Laura & Charles]

Ahhh… Good for you! Everything I said is true, but most only applies to hard freezes. If the overnight low is only dropping to upper 20s for a couple of hours, everything should be fine.. though I’d still be aware of the fresh water hose.. I’ve had ours freeze at 30°.. hanging in open air makes it more susceptible than things enclosed. (It didn’t burst.. just froze enough to block the water flow.)

 

[Larry N.]

If we are living in the rig, with heater running, how low do temps have to go to get us in trouble? Any tips as well

You might mention whether you have Aqua Hot in your coach, but the info given above is excellent, in either case. With the hydronic system, I'd expect you to be good down to zero F, at least, since the registers in the basement and water bay will try to keep the temps there at 45º F. And, if you're plugged in to shore power and it's not too cold, you can often get by with the electric heat elements, even though the "primary" heat source is diesel.

Another comment: I'd be careful of snow/ice on the slide toppers before retracting or extending the slides, since that can make the rollers lock up. I once made the mistake of extending a slide with icy snow on the topper and I not only couldn't get the slide all the way out, it actually locked one end tighter than the other so the two ends were out of sync.

 

[Kirk]

I’m told that heat vents into the tank area but don’t see a way to monitor it.

Your information is correct. In most motorhomes if there are 2 furnaces, one supplies heat into the waste tank area and the other into the other wet bay where plumbing is located. The design is intended to be such that as long as you maintain the RV interior at a comfortable temperature with the furnaces the wet areas will stay well above freezing. It is a very common practice to get a thermometer that has multiple wireless sensors and then to keep a sensor in each of the wet bays. We had that setup in the class A that we were fulltime in for 12 years. It had a wet bay that also contained the waste tanks with a small duct from the front furnace and the rear wet bay had fresh water plumbing and also contained the water heater and the 120V/12V converter. We never wintered where temperatures reached extreme lows but we did spend time where it stayed below freezing for as long as 36 hours and not once did we see the temperature in either wet bay go below 45 degrees F.

 

[ChinMusic]

Your information is correct. In most motorhomes if there are 2 furnaces, one supplies heat into the waste tank area and the other into the other wet bay where plumbing is located. The design is intended to be such that as long as you maintain the RV interior at a comfortable temperature with the furnaces the wet areas will stay well above freezing. It is a very common practice to get a thermometer that has multiple wireless sensors and then to keep a sensor in each of the wet bays. We had that setup in the class A that we were fulltime in for 12 years. It had a wet bay that also contained the waste tanks with a small duct from the front furnace and the rear wet bay had fresh water plumbing and also contained the water heater and the 120V/12V converter. We never wintered where temperatures reached extreme lows but we did spend time where it stayed below freezing for as long as 36 hours and not once did we see the temperature in either wet bay go below 45 degrees F.

Thanks. Just ordered those sensors. Wife chose the cream color.

 

[ChinMusic]

I have placed remote temperature sensors in the wet areas. I had placed a space heater in there while it was parked and I was visiting family (NJ). The wet compartment held a temperature of about 90. lol. I have since gotten a smaller one with better temperature control.

I made a couple stands for 100W+ bulbs for when in motion and to potentially replace the small space heater. Pic above. Two 100W bulbs only draw 1.6A.



Still learning.