RV toilet freezing


  #1  
Old 12-04-05, 09:01 PM
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RV toilet freezing

Ok all you DIY people,here is a good one.
I will be using my RV all winter here in the north east. The toilet inside the camper holdes its wast and fluid till dumping.I will only be using it for liquid not solid wast.The tank will sit in a nonheated camper at times. You probabily see where I'm going with this.What chemicals or mixture of chemicals will prevent it from freezing? I have looked at most rv toilet chemical products and none state they are good below freezing.I was going to try my own mix of 30% ethanol 70% water and small bottle of a deodrizer or 4oz of bleach . Maybe someone out there has a beter mix, if not I will experment by using my freezer in my house.
Have a nice Day
Phil
 
  #2  
Old 12-05-05, 07:23 PM
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Better safe than sorry. I would use RV anti-freeze. You may be able to dilute it a bit, if you feel it would still prevent freezing. Good luck.
 
  #3  
Old 12-06-05, 02:02 PM
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If the unit will be plugged in, and you can insulate the area around the holding tanks, you might look into some of the 12v tank heating pads. They may be able to do the job you are needing done. Leaving the unit unheated and expecting to use it periodicly for the winter however is risking trouble. Its too easy to forget to remove something that will freeze, break its container, and make a mess when it thaws.
Will you have fresh water in the plumbing system? This will freeze easily. Rv antifreeze is cheap and can be dumped at dumping stations. Unlike other chemicals which could get you into serious trouble for trying to dump them and could cause noxious fumes in the unit.
do you have a winterizing hook up that will use the water pump to draw rv antifreeze into the system? Will you be expecting to drink the water from the fresh system? or will you only use it for flushing the toilet? what about bathing? If you dilute rv antifreeze you reduce its effectiveness. Simply put if you only intend to use the water system for flushing #1 you can dump a few gallons of rv antifreeze into the fresh tank and go with that so long as you do a good job of flushing it out and sanitizing it before you want to use potable water. If you intend to drink, bathe, cook, or otherwise use fresh water then your only real option is to make sure the tanks are well insulated and heated anytime there is water in them and either drain the fresh system, or fill it with rv antifreeze when the coach will be left unheated. ( Don't forget to add some Rv antifreeze to the drains to prevent the "P" traps from freezing.)Trying to "cut corners" will most likely end up causing you serious trouble and maybe getting you into it as well. This of course all depends on just how you inted to use the unit.
 
 

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