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Trailer Weekend, Part II
Saturday seemed to hum along too well to be believed. And it was.
Around 9 PM Saturday night, as the temperature plunged well below freezing, we curled up on the couch, nibbled on snacks and watched TV for a while. We toyed with heading down to the rec hall to socialize but the howling winds persuaded us cocooning in the trailer would be just fine.
Then I noticed it was getting a little chilly inside. I cranked up the thermostat. The furnace started, but it was blowing only cold air. Oops. The propane tanks were filled last fall but the furnace is a fuel pig; it was running rather continuously in the last couple of visits to the trailer last October and again this weekend, as well as the regular usage by the water heater. Still, the burners of the gas stove lit easily enough, although the pressure wavered some.
On a whim, we braved the cold to swap out one clearly empty 40lb tank with the 20lb tank from the gas barbecue. The stove seemed to improve but the furnace was not happy. Removing the front panels --thank god the furnace is accessible from *inside* the trailer-- we could see the electric ignition begin sparking and a flame start but the flame sputtered out in two seconds or so. And it was getting cold inside the trailer rather quickly.
Despairing of anything else we could do, we bundled up and headed down to the rec hall to ask the campground manager if he had an electric heater in inventory we could borrow to keep from freezing to death. Sure enough, he directed us to Cabin #1 where a small cube of a heater was available. Returning to the trailer, we plugged it in and were rewarded with heat. Just then, the thermostat kicked in and the furnace started as though nothing was ever wrong! WTF?!
When we went to bed, we left both the furnace and the electric heater on low, just in case either should fail. We also discovered the TV antenna was frozen in the extended position; hopefully, daylight would warm it sufficiently so we could lower it to its resting position, and the wind overnight wouldn't rip it off and send it into the next county.
When Sunday morning came, we were pleasantly surprised to find the furnace chugging along happily and us not dying of hypothermia.
Hopping out of bed, I prepared to brush my teeth and discovered our next disaster: the water line had frozen. Figures.
We showered and cleaned up down at the rec hall then returned to assess the water issue. The trailer was warm enough inside that none of the internal plumbing was at risk of freezing so the problem would have been in the campground line to our lot or in the exposed portion of the hose which connects to the trailer (most of which is underground but an 18" length at the lot tap and 4 foot length at the trailer were exposed).
Using a spare bucket and the microwave oven to melt some ice, I was able to confirm the tap end of the hose was clear. Fetching another bucket of warm water from the rec hall, we managed to thaw the trailer end of the hose as well: by noon, we had running water once again! Yay!
In the next couple of hours, we stowed the excess gear, bundled up our clothes and perishable food, cleaned the trailer and pulled in the slide-outs. As a precaution against further freezes, we shut off the water entirely and drained the water heater; ideally, we would have liked to have run anti-freeze through the system but we didn't think to bring any: who knew it would be this cold?
Despite the weather trauma, I'm glad we went and we did have a relaxing time, despite the best efforts of Mother Nature.
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Snow in the valley Roseland Resort, WV, 2007-04-07 |
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Roseland Rec Hall Roseland Resort, WV, 2007-04-07 |
Around 9 PM Saturday night, as the temperature plunged well below freezing, we curled up on the couch, nibbled on snacks and watched TV for a while. We toyed with heading down to the rec hall to socialize but the howling winds persuaded us cocooning in the trailer would be just fine.
Then I noticed it was getting a little chilly inside. I cranked up the thermostat. The furnace started, but it was blowing only cold air. Oops. The propane tanks were filled last fall but the furnace is a fuel pig; it was running rather continuously in the last couple of visits to the trailer last October and again this weekend, as well as the regular usage by the water heater. Still, the burners of the gas stove lit easily enough, although the pressure wavered some.
On a whim, we braved the cold to swap out one clearly empty 40lb tank with the 20lb tank from the gas barbecue. The stove seemed to improve but the furnace was not happy. Removing the front panels --thank god the furnace is accessible from *inside* the trailer-- we could see the electric ignition begin sparking and a flame start but the flame sputtered out in two seconds or so. And it was getting cold inside the trailer rather quickly.
Despairing of anything else we could do, we bundled up and headed down to the rec hall to ask the campground manager if he had an electric heater in inventory we could borrow to keep from freezing to death. Sure enough, he directed us to Cabin #1 where a small cube of a heater was available. Returning to the trailer, we plugged it in and were rewarded with heat. Just then, the thermostat kicked in and the furnace started as though nothing was ever wrong! WTF?!
When we went to bed, we left both the furnace and the electric heater on low, just in case either should fail. We also discovered the TV antenna was frozen in the extended position; hopefully, daylight would warm it sufficiently so we could lower it to its resting position, and the wind overnight wouldn't rip it off and send it into the next county.
When Sunday morning came, we were pleasantly surprised to find the furnace chugging along happily and us not dying of hypothermia.
Hopping out of bed, I prepared to brush my teeth and discovered our next disaster: the water line had frozen. Figures.
We showered and cleaned up down at the rec hall then returned to assess the water issue. The trailer was warm enough inside that none of the internal plumbing was at risk of freezing so the problem would have been in the campground line to our lot or in the exposed portion of the hose which connects to the trailer (most of which is underground but an 18" length at the lot tap and 4 foot length at the trailer were exposed).
Using a spare bucket and the microwave oven to melt some ice, I was able to confirm the tap end of the hose was clear. Fetching another bucket of warm water from the rec hall, we managed to thaw the trailer end of the hose as well: by noon, we had running water once again! Yay!
In the next couple of hours, we stowed the excess gear, bundled up our clothes and perishable food, cleaned the trailer and pulled in the slide-outs. As a precaution against further freezes, we shut off the water entirely and drained the water heater; ideally, we would have liked to have run anti-freeze through the system but we didn't think to bring any: who knew it would be this cold?
Despite the weather trauma, I'm glad we went and we did have a relaxing time, despite the best efforts of Mother Nature.