Hmmm Alaskan road trippin?

 

Well..... it's clean. But it's not really mine in that I drive it ever day, LOL. It's in my Wife's domain. She has the Expy and Escape, the other three are mine. Those three are much cleaner. But.... I'm not always lugging three kids around with me.

BTW, I have always loathed Windows 10. But this little buggar scoots right around. I think it likes the 6GB of Ram. Think I will be treating it to some more though.

 

Dammit, if you put that in an envelope and sent it to me I wouldn't complain lol. All of those red metallic colors down here are all faded and beat. That one is seriously clean.

 

I'd do that, but I'm sure the cost of shipping and insurance would negate any advantage. LOL

Surprisingly, no matter the brand, the clear coat vehicles, up here, even with our direct summer sun, seem to hold their luster quite a bit better than the old paints that sheered off the bodies. GM and Ford are really bad pre-1990 something. Vinyl stripes don't last any time with our summer sun. I have to change my Mustang again this spring.

Yeah that Expy is clean looking. There was a super nice 02 SCrew the other day. 171k, KR, and it sold for 3400. It was the slate blue with beige bottom and KR wheels, with one damaged. It sold on the 4th day.

 

3.13 for gas? Is that your current rate, AK?

Guess I won't complain about 2.39 out here in the sticks, LOL. There is a spot in SLC that it is 2.14 right now. Drill may have hit that hole before... Sapp Bros truck stop?

 

Anchorage is currently 304 a gal, where as Peters Creek is 282. Makes no sense. The fuel is delivered that 25 extra miles and its 22 cents a gallon cheaper. LOL

 

AK , did some work on the RV and a little investigation. I value your opinion, so here it goes, -

First thing, -shoveled the roof as all vents were plugged. Haven't been up there and noticed that per investigation. Surprised I couldn't find information on this researching online or in the supplied literature from the manufacturer. They talk about snow and ice pertaining to weight and foreseeable leakage during storage...that's about it. Nothing as far as function. I haven't really been specific in that research, may be the reason. Didn't think to search for venting in cold weather, -snow accumulation up top.
What makes this an issue is that the roof vents are not stacks like you would find on residential housing. No riser really, they are about 2" with a cap and were covered/blocked off as I had 8" of snow with a 1" layer of ice. As said, I shoveled the roof first, before draining the tanks. The tanks still drained slowly, but they drained. Just had to wait for it as I use a pump/grinder (macerator) to evacuate. I have to monitor the process as the pump cannot run dry. It will burn up quickly if allowed to. The pump is incredibly fast, so it was a on/off scenario that went long. The Black Tank was a mother to clean out well. I have a back flush line for the black tank that seems to work but doesn't clean everything out lol. So I ran a hose inside the trailer to rinse away all the Egyptians whom constructing a pyramid in the black tank below....disgusting I know.

Underbelly, - This trailer is sealed up well. The underbelly is sealed and spray foamed, surprisingly well, every crack/void is foamed. This was done at the factory. Didn't have to do a thing here. The slide outs (two opposing) were even sealed tight. Kudos to Grand Design!

Heated Pump house and storage compartment area under the bedroom. This area needed some attention as it will not remain above freezing in the compartment itself. The pump house within the compartment might since it is boxed in with access panel. Regardless and as a precautionary I dismantled the box-in which was no more than a paneling box and thickened face (1/2" plywood). I'll get into the rebuild in a bit, once I give you a better idea what I'm dealing with. This encloser houses the fresh water gravity feed and city water feed plumbing lines. There's also the trailers electronics within, -shore power lines along with battery connects. The heat duct that supply's the area is no more than 2" access hole for hoses and electrical combined which resides inside the box in. Now, the box in wasn't totally sealed with a 1" gap around the top. The gap is there to provide heat into the rest of the storage area. With this in mind and given my particular situation, ie, - fresh water tank froze, (it's also right there in very close proximity) and IF that translated to line freeze in the future, -the potential of a very serious problem in the near future exists. If the correct line or component freezes, it could translate into a somewhat catastrophic domino reaction of ugliness. In other words, BIG MESS, time consuming and expensive to right again.

Okay, now that you have an idea and being your the first poor soul I'm sharing this dilemma with, this is what I chose to do. First, Christmas day the temps are going dive down to just 7*. It hasn't been that cold yet. I've already experienced a partially frozen tank. This tank is located very close to the pump station, perhaps 6" away at closest point. I believe this tank also was very low on fresh water when it froze. I realize you suggest suggest the silicon heat pads which I was under the impression that I had these already, -until you raised the question and checked for me. I'm not installing those at this time. Too much work and bad weather, -just not a good idea to start that kind of project currently lol.

Two choices, one, -winterize it and hang it up all together for the season or supply more heat to the area. I really want to continue this experiment. Well, until it becomes unrealistic anyway. As said, I dismantled the pump house inside the storage area. I've rebuilt the house isolating it from the storage area. This storage are was heated through a one inch gap at the very top of pump house box in. I do not need to heat the storage area. The heat is supplied through a port inside the pump station box. Not a separately ducted, the intake is just residual heat from the enclosed underbelly. The compartment itself is poorly insulated, and a large waste. The pump station box was reconstructed with 1" polystyrene and two layers of foil insulation. A 3/4" gap was incorporated between foil applications to boost R value significantly. At least an R-9 value now vs just the paneled box with gap at the top. So the pump house encloser in no longer a means to invite cold air into or a large loose of residual heat from below. Hoping that's enough for now. It will stay warmer in there now...hope it's enough!

Being that your that you are in Alaska and have experience with Fleetwood (Thor) trailers, you may have some more tips to help me along. It will take one good freeze to do this project in. I have to figure this out before starting on my house build. The house will take all of my time no doubt so this step was necessary as a precursor of sorts. What sucks is that I'm not always there and don't want to have to be. Things have changed and have residence with a GF at the moment, but that could change as well...as we all know lol. Not sure I'm going to need this, but it would be convenient to have onsite housing during construction. The new house will be in the country. The worry of construction materials going missing (stolen) is always a possibility. So there's many positives of being on site...might even get a big dog during construction lol.

Anyway, thanks as always for the help.

Btw, currently hunting down sensors to monitor the heat in said section. Looking for something with many sensors tied to one base...that sort of thing.

 

Damn. I just wrote a small book and the mouse went back one place and I lost it all.

What I was saying before getting blasted was...on the caps for the vents. They should be the mushroom capped type. They work well, but will collect snow close if no heat from water running sort of often. You need to keep those clear in the winter. Especially around the intake vents for the heater. Keep the snow away on the sides.

For what you were describing, I'm fairly sure I know what you did. We also always added fiberglass insulation between the tanks. They like it better when air doesn't go around them and cool them so quickly. Think of it like with a woman. More heat when you are closer together. Same principle. Also on the lines from outside (city), if they don't have foam insulation, get some at HD or Lowes and put it around it. Heat tapes work well also.

 

Yea, I should be taking pics, it would be easier to describe with a visual. I'm surprised I haven't stumbled upon keeping the vent clear. When I was shoveling the roof, none were clear. Only noticed them after hitting with the shovel. I probably should go back up there and inspect them closer..didn't do that. Shoveled it off then swept the roof. But yea, they weren't venting at the time, totally covered and your correct, trailer doesn't get much use.

I have water stored in the storage compartment. I have monitored temp in there. It's been as low as 22* at the coldest this far. The water stored hasn't froze yet surprisingly. It hasn't been that cold long enough I expect. We'll see what happens and I'll pay more attention to the woman thing you mentioned...your referring to heat all over and unspecific correct ?
Jk, I know what you meant.

Yea, I've done that a few times in the past, write out something that went long, then it disappears. No fault of your own, -a victim for sure. What sucks is, you just got pimped! Destroys the mood which prevents you from doing it all over again.

Thanks AK.

 

Soooo.... just wondering what kind of music you fellers are in to? I am an old school metal head (grew up in the 80's - hehehe), that is really really into progressive metal. Just looking for some new stuff to listen to, as always.