How to Thaw and Drain Waste Tanks

Well, the Winter Rving adventure continues in Our RV life.  Yesterday morning, it was 12 degrees.  And, our rinse & waste tanks were full.  So...time to dump.  But, wait!  We couldn't because the valves were frozen.  We have been using rock salt in the tanks to keep the liquids in the tanks from freezing.  But, in temperatures this low, that may not keep it completely thawed.  So, Chad came up with the idea to build a little foam board enclosure around the tanks that we can heat to thaw the valves / tanks as needed.  

How did we do this?

Items needed:

foam board insulation 

Measuring tape  

Knife / razor blade for cutting the foam

Duct tape 







First, you need to take measurements for the sizes you need to cut the foam.  We only wanted to enclose the area around the holding tanks.  
So, we cut two long pieces...... 

and two short pieces for the sides.  And, a few smaller pieces at the end to fill in the gaps.

The board is flexible enough to conform to the shape of the tire.

Tip - when cutting the foam it's easier to cut down the lines already in the foam board.

Chad cutting the foam board

The foam board configuration

Cut out the area for the sewer hose door.

We plugged our small electric heater into this outlet...

....which is located close by in the refrigerator vent compartment.

We placed the heater in the compartment.

The last step was to secure the corners and any loose sections with duct tape.

We left the heater running in the enclosed space for 5-6 hours.  The valves opened easily and the tanks drained with no problems.  Success!