Traveling between campgrounds when it’s freezing

[RustyMD]

I’m picking up my trailer and camping at Oliver on December 1st. Was planning a shakedown cruise to Nashville for 5 nights starting on December 2nd. It will be freezing in the 20’s every night. Hopefully at the campgrounds running the furnace all will be OK. When I move my trailer from one campground to another and there is a risk of freezing during the trip, what should I do?

[Mike and Carol]

Will the temperatures be below freezing during the day?  If not, you can move about without worry.  If they are below freezing while traveling you can run your furnace while traveling.  If you are camping at campgrounds with electricity, a small space heater is a good investment that will save you propane.  We’ve camped with night time temperatures in the twenty’s many times without issues.  Mike

[RustyMD]

Thanks.

[topgun2]

Why do you suspect that the temps will be in the 20's every night during the first week of December?

HERE are the historical temps for Hohenwald for December and HERE is that same data for Nashville.

Yes, temps can get to the 20's at night (as they are right now) but that is not the norm.

Good luck with your delivery - have fun!

Bill

[RustyMD]

Bill-

Thanks for the information. You are correct; I’m just looking at now and preparing for a bit of what if?

[topgun2]

15 minutes ago, RustyMD said:

I’m just looking at now and preparing for a bit of what if?

I FULLY understand.

When we took delivery of ours a storm moved in the day before we were to travel over the mountains from the Asheville, NC area to Hohenwald.  Three to four inches of rain were forecast for the lower elevations but rain, sleet, snow, ice were forecast for the mountains.  On the drive, the temps hovered from 34 degrees to 30 and back a few times.  While this didn't make for a "fun" drive to Hohenwald the roads remained just wet primarily because the ground had not (yet) become cold enough to allow freezing to occur.  Of course this still made every bridge an adventure.

The next day the sun came out and temps were in the low 50's.  However, the campground being used at the time was a sea of mud and my nice new shiny Oliver got christened in a hurry😭.  You will have no such issues in the nice (relatively ) new Oliver campground.

Bill

 

[Chukarhunter]

Don't forget about the Truma water heater if you will have one.  Running the furnace while traveling will not protect the Truma in sub-freezing temperatures.  Make sure the Truma is set to Eco when traveling in below freezing temps (propane) or alternatively, activate the electric antifreeze heating element in the Truma (preferred) if you ordered the option.  Make sure OTT has actually installed the antifreeze kit when you pick up the trailer and make sure they explain how to insert the exhaust plug and set the control to electric antifreeze when you travel in sub-freezing weather.  (And don't forget to remove the Truma exhaust plug before switching the Truma back to propane when you arrive at your destination.)

[RustyMD]

We ordered the Truma water heater and the antifreeze kit. We’ll be sure it’s installed and we know how to use it.

Thanks

[MnM]

As someone picking up an Ollie in Early FEB, I appreciate both the question from RustyMD and the answers from the Pros!   Also have the anti-freeze kit on my build and certainly expect it may be needed for our FEB delivery. 

Thanks again to both the OP and the answers!

[Rivernerd]

On 11/13/2022 at 6:46 PM, RustyMD said:

Hopefully at the campgrounds running the furnace all will be OK.

We took delivery of our 2022 Elite II last Thursday.  Low temps dropped into the mid-20s over the weekend, while we were at David Crockett State Park.  We have the Truma AC/Furnace/Aquago package.  

Concerned about freezing, we placed digital thermometers in the bottom of the service access portals under the front dinette seat and the street side rear compartment near the external faucet.  We set the Truma Varioheat furnace at 68 F.  When the outside low dropped to 26 F, those thermometers read in the mid- 40's.  

This suggests that the vulnerable areas on the bottom and outside of the trailer are staying warmer, with the furnace on, than has been previously reported.  I believe it is because Oliver now includes a return air vent in the aft wall of the bathroom, with the Truma Varioheat installation, which improves air flow back to the furnace.  See page 2 of this thread:

 

 

The Truma furnace package also includes smaller, but more robust, and better sealed, supply air ductwork.  So far, we are quite pleased with the quality and performance of the Truma Varioheat furnace installation, and with our ability to use the trailer in below-freezing temps.  But, we must drive home to Idaho over the next week.   That process may require us to camp overnight with low temps in the teens.  We plan to continue to monitor temps.  If the sensitive areas of the bottom of the trailer get below 32 F with the Varioheat set at 68 F, I will update on this thread.

 

 

[Rivernerd]

7 hours ago, RustyMD said:

We’ll be sure it’s installed and we know how to use it.

We also ordered the Truma antifreeze kit.  It was installed by our delivery person from the Service Department.  But, be sure to check before leaving Hohenwald that the "ANTIFR" option appears on the CP Plus wall remote control (along with the ECO and COMFORT options) indicating that the antifreeze kit is communicating with, and can be controlled by, the CP Plus.  As the CP Plus wall controls are new to Oliver as of last week, our installer neglected to do a RESET on the CP Plus after installing the antifreeze kit, so it did not work.  But, during our return trip to the Oliver facility today, that issue was promptly corrected.

Mistakes happen, but we are impressed with the prompt and effective response from the Oliver Service Department.  They really do care.

[topgun2]

10 hours ago, Rivernerd said:

Mistakes happen, but we are impressed with the prompt and effective response from the Oliver Service Department.  They really do care.

Here on the Forum, there are many reports similar to yours.  It is an unfortunate fact of life (at least my life) that there are precious few companies that treat their customers in the fashion that Oliver does.  I think that this is one of the main reasons that it is so hard for people to believe the glowing reports that we often hear about the Ollie and the company that produces it.  We are simply labeled as "Fan Boys" or dismissed because we are so proud of spending our money we are unwilling to or unable to see the faults.

It is natural to be a bit of a skeptic prior to experiencing such a refreshing change to the norm.  Congratulations for giving yourself the chance to be "impressed".

Bill 

Edited November 15, 2022 by topgun2
spelling

[BigTexas]

Also, when you arrive at your campground, after traveling in very cold conditions, give the trailer time to thaw out before using any of the plumbing; especially the toilet.

We were caught by a quick moving cold front which resulted in traveling in temps in the teens. When we arrived at camp, I made the mistake of using the toilet before the trailer had properly warmed up.  The flush valve was frozen and the give point was the plastic pedal when I stepped on it to flush.  By the way, Dometic does not sell the pedal as an individual part.  Instead I had to purchase one of their cheaper all plastic models to cannibalize the foot pedal.  An expensive lesson.

"Run your furnace while traveling" - brilliant!  Best piece of advice.  I would have never thought of that.  (insert sound of hand slapping forehead)

[RustyMD]

I don’t remember being offered the Truma Varioheat option on the build list. I did get the Truma AC and water heater and antifreeze kit. I ordered my trailer around May. Just interested in the Varioheat option question. Is it included or was it something I missed?

[Rivernerd]

The Varioheat furnace is included when you order the Truma package.  We were surprised, and pleased, when we received an updated Deposit Receipt from OTT a couple of months ago which listed the Varioheat furnace as part of the Truma upgrade package.

As I advised OTT Sales and Operations manager Rodney Lomax yesterday, it would be to Oliver's advantage to better market the fact that the Varioheat furnace is included with the Truma upgrade package.  After using the trailer for 5 days now, we believe it adds at least as much value as the AC and the water heater, making the upcharge much more worthwhile.  

[Rivernerd]

Another observation:  I just toured the 2023 Oliver Elite II demo trailers while waiting for service at the OTT Sales and Service facility.  One of the Elite II demos has the full Truma upgrade package including AC, water heater and Varioheat furnace.  The other has the standard Dometic AC and the standard Suburban water heater, but the Truma Varioheat furnace.  This suggests that the Varioheat furnace is now the "standard" on all 2023 Elite II trailers, even without the Truma AC/water heater upgrade.  If so, our experience so far supports this product decision by Oliver.

[Tom and Doreen]

This is just one reason why we chose to order an Oliver Elite ll over other brands, as the technology improves they are pretty quick to improve their product; they really do keep an eye on changes in the industry.   

[Steve Morris]

5 hours ago, Rivernerd said:

The other has the standard Dometic AC and the standard Suburban water heater, but the Truma Varioheat furnace.  This suggests that the Varioheat furnace is now the "standard" on all 2023 Elite II trailers, even without the Truma AC/water heater upgrade

Correct. Per the new 2023 EII Manual:

Quote

 

HEATING AND COOLING PACKAGES

There are two component packages for heating and cooling your travel trailer. Both packages use the Truma VarioHeat furnace.

1. STANDARD PACKAGE: Truma VarioHeat Furnace, Dometic A/C & Suburban Water Heater

2. OPTIONAL UPGRADE PACKAGE: Truma VarioHeat Furnace, Truma Aventa Eco A/C, and Truma Water Heater