Cold weather freezing for pipes?

[c7train]

I just bought an 08 Pleasure-Way Excel TS. I do a fair bit of camping in freezing temps, last year we camped in -11. My old van I built and ran all the lines inside the van so we never had freezing issues. How do I mitigate freezing issues with my new van? Has anyone added heated tape of any kind to their rigs? I want to be sure nothing freezes and breaks.

Thanks!
C.

[avanti]

Our GWV Legend has an Espar D5 hydronic heat/hot-water system. I added an extra glycol loop that runs along each of the exposed water and sewer lines, bundled in insulation. In the winter time, I open a valve that diverts the hot glycol (which circulates continuously) into this loop. I also insulated the fresh and gray tanks (which have 12VDC heating pads). Finally, I wrapped a few remaining pipes and valves in 12VDC heat strips. So, I essentially have a 4-season van without the space penalty of inside plumbing and tanks. Advanced RV uses a similar setup.

[DCHitt]

All season use is becoming a design requirement for some. My Sportsmobile is setup with a system I call "Active RV Antifreeze System". It uses the hot water heater for heat and with a thermostat and an electric valve I circulate hot water through the pipes using the existing water pump.

This can be easy or hard to do depending on the layout of your pipes.

[c7train]

I wonder if I can retrofit this kit of which you speak that is on your SMB onto my van, hmmm. i'll look into that. Thanks for the replies!

[DCHitt]

A kit would consist of a thermostat placed in the coldest spot, a pipe T'ed into the plumbing just ahead of the pump and fed thru the electric valve from the end of the hot water line. Depending on how your plumbing is routed this should circulate hot water thru all the pipes.

Here is the electric valve I used.
http://www.adafruit.com/product/997

[Davydd]

I had a Pleasure-way Plateau and my observation was there were a lot of exposed water lines under the van and P-W did nothing to worry about cold weather. There was little to no insulation as well. To me it was strictly a three season B. The traditional solution is to drain your water, not use your plumbing, and use anti-freeze to flush your toilet limited to Number 1.