02-11-2021, 11:02 AM
Gurus,
My coach and I tend to stay south in the winter months but have found ourselves at the mother-ship in February and wanted to share with you a few thoughts that I have had about cold weather operations. Those gurus in the north country will find this kinda “well duh”...but I wanted to share to help the next warm blooded person.
It is currently 19f and forecasts say it is going down to single digit temps tonight with a strong wind chill.
Feel free to chime in and offer your own cold weather tips....
1). Diesel fuel does not like to be cold. In fact in temperatures below 32f the fuel will start to turn cloudy and at 17f and below it can actually start gelling. Obviously this is not going to work very well. You can add anti-gelling agents to the fuel which lower the gelling temperature to near zero degrees.
If you buy quality fuel (think big name truck stops)...it will come with the anti gelling additives. The truck stops start adding the additives in the fall and stop adding them in the spring.
In my case, I fueled up on the way up to Oklahoma at a Loves truck stop. I tested some of the fuel from my fuel filter and it stays clear and liquid down to 0 degrees (using my kitchen freezer) See picture. The dark spots are rusty water that the filter separated from the fuel.
2). Drain water from fuel system. Most of our coaches have a Davco fuel filter. The device also removes water from the fuel. If the water freezes in the fuel filter...game over. On the bottom of the fuel filter mechanism is a petcock. If you put a bucket under the petcock and open it, fuel will drain from the filter mechanism....part of the fuel will be water. When I purposely froze the fuel in my freezer...the brown stuff turned solid while the fuel stayed clear. Before you go into really cold weather...drain your fuel filter.
If your filter freezes or you end up with a waxy build up in your filter you will need to change your filter. Be sure to have spare filters and a small supply of clean diesel fuel or ATF fluid so you can refill the bowl when you change the filter.
3). While driving....turn on your diesel Aquahot burner. In really cold weather, the engine will not be able to generate enough heat to overcome the amount you need to heat the coach. Turning on the diesel burner while driving will make your coach warm and toasty while driving.
4). I love my coach. I especially love the fact that there are lots of ways to heat the coach. Heated floors, Aquahot heat, electric heaters, basement heaters to keep water bay warm... It’s really a marvel. However....there is one thing that I wish I had.... A way to keep my air compressor (front passenger basement) bay from freezing. On my coach the 120V compressor feeds the front two slide seals. If the compressor stops working (or freezes) the slide seals will eventually deflate. Not good in cold weather.
My solution was to sew up a blanket of sunbrella material with a layer of foam to cover the vents in that bay. I installed snaps so it is easy to put on and take off. In cold weather I run an extension cord to a small space heater that I put in the bay. Right now the outside temps are 18f with wind...but it is a balmy 82f degrees inside the bay. #winning.
Thank you for reading. I hope that everyone stays safe and warm. Again...feel free to chime in with your cold weather tips and tricks.
Cheers,
Bill
My coach and I tend to stay south in the winter months but have found ourselves at the mother-ship in February and wanted to share with you a few thoughts that I have had about cold weather operations. Those gurus in the north country will find this kinda “well duh”...but I wanted to share to help the next warm blooded person.
It is currently 19f and forecasts say it is going down to single digit temps tonight with a strong wind chill.
Feel free to chime in and offer your own cold weather tips....
1). Diesel fuel does not like to be cold. In fact in temperatures below 32f the fuel will start to turn cloudy and at 17f and below it can actually start gelling. Obviously this is not going to work very well. You can add anti-gelling agents to the fuel which lower the gelling temperature to near zero degrees.
If you buy quality fuel (think big name truck stops)...it will come with the anti gelling additives. The truck stops start adding the additives in the fall and stop adding them in the spring.
In my case, I fueled up on the way up to Oklahoma at a Loves truck stop. I tested some of the fuel from my fuel filter and it stays clear and liquid down to 0 degrees (using my kitchen freezer) See picture. The dark spots are rusty water that the filter separated from the fuel.
2). Drain water from fuel system. Most of our coaches have a Davco fuel filter. The device also removes water from the fuel. If the water freezes in the fuel filter...game over. On the bottom of the fuel filter mechanism is a petcock. If you put a bucket under the petcock and open it, fuel will drain from the filter mechanism....part of the fuel will be water. When I purposely froze the fuel in my freezer...the brown stuff turned solid while the fuel stayed clear. Before you go into really cold weather...drain your fuel filter.
If your filter freezes or you end up with a waxy build up in your filter you will need to change your filter. Be sure to have spare filters and a small supply of clean diesel fuel or ATF fluid so you can refill the bowl when you change the filter.
3). While driving....turn on your diesel Aquahot burner. In really cold weather, the engine will not be able to generate enough heat to overcome the amount you need to heat the coach. Turning on the diesel burner while driving will make your coach warm and toasty while driving.
4). I love my coach. I especially love the fact that there are lots of ways to heat the coach. Heated floors, Aquahot heat, electric heaters, basement heaters to keep water bay warm... It’s really a marvel. However....there is one thing that I wish I had.... A way to keep my air compressor (front passenger basement) bay from freezing. On my coach the 120V compressor feeds the front two slide seals. If the compressor stops working (or freezes) the slide seals will eventually deflate. Not good in cold weather.
My solution was to sew up a blanket of sunbrella material with a layer of foam to cover the vents in that bay. I installed snaps so it is easy to put on and take off. In cold weather I run an extension cord to a small space heater that I put in the bay. Right now the outside temps are 18f with wind...but it is a balmy 82f degrees inside the bay. #winning.
Thank you for reading. I hope that everyone stays safe and warm. Again...feel free to chime in with your cold weather tips and tricks.
Cheers,
Bill
Bill Johnson
Birmingham, Alabama