First U.S. Spec Kimberley T3 Kruiser Ready to Roam

[Catastrofe]

I have camped many many nights below freezing. I gallop it was 9 degrees and water did freeze to no ill effects.

I put antifreeze once and will never do again. It is a foamy pain in the ass.

When below temps all day I run tank heaters all day.

Do you have the ceramic filter on your Karavan? My understanding is that since it's external on Kruisers, it can freeze and basically explode due to expansion.

 

[bomar]

No external filters other than a check valve on sink.

love your setup

if you ever end up around Hot Springs AR look us up.

Welcome to come stay.

 

[Catastrofe]

No external filters other than a check valve on sink.

love your setup

if you ever end up around Hot Springs AR look us up.

Welcome to come stay.

Thanks. Will certainly take you up on the offer. We once stayed at the Arlington Hotel...Hot Springs is a great little town.

 

[donthompson]

T

Congratulations. These are such beautiful trailers. They have so much - all that solar, all those batteries, composting toilet, filtered water and gorgeous design....They are the pinnacle of trailer making. I hope you enjoy it a lot and keep us posted how it goes.

Would love to hear about the Oliver as well and why the Conqueror wasn't a good fit.

I loved my Oliver Elite II. True 4 season camper. Why did I sell it after 4 years? First, the bed situation. I had the twin bed version with residential style mattresses. Very small beds. The king bed version is worse. Most people I knew who had this model left the bed made up all the time which made the Interior of the trailer very cramped. Third, the wet bath. I wanted a real shower that kept the water from the rest of the bathroom. Fourth, it’s not an off-road camper. The Conqueror 490 was a great off-road camper but it required way too much effort to raise the roof and deploy the bed. Also, no bathroom and only an outside shower.

 

[donthompson]

They're more like 3.5 season...the fresh water tanks have heaters, but on the drinking water tank in particular, the external ceramic filter can freeze.

I agree. David Bates was concerned about that filter and advised me to winterize the drinking water tank.

 

[donthompson]

This is a great thread and looking forward to your adventures. Can you explain more on how you temporarily winterized the water system? I am not sure How I would add anti-freeze in my Karavan without it coming from the tank and then how long do you run it before you think its OK?

Buy a hand antifreeze pump. Here’s the process per David Bates: https://www.evernote.com/shard/s46/...90ced238db59/c364fa589efd7014fab491f146b4e25e

 

[donthompson]

And to reverse winterization: https://www.evernote.com/shard/s46/...1db53c2fc1bd/37455d41eb56f37270ae74fcf38b6883

 

[donthompson]

Bomar, I survived with the general tank about 3/4 full with lows around 22. Tank heaters on. Elwell system set to diesel and water heater mode only, not heat. Kept it running while traveling until the temperature rose above 32 degrees. David Bates recommended this setting on the Elwell system. I think my only risk would have been the water filter on the drinking water tank. Didn’t risk it, so I winterized.

 

[Romer]

Thanks Don. Adding anti-freeze to the tank I know how to do, sounded like you were doing something else so I just misunderstood.

I have only camped a few nights below freezing. My external lines are insulated and I had the tank heaters on. I generally don't camp between mid November and late March, but I have made exceptions based on where we are going, like Moab.

 

[FordGuy1]

They're more like 3.5 season...the fresh water tanks have heaters, but on the drinking water tank in particular, the external ceramic filter can freeze.

I keep thinking about this. I think it would be super simple to tie into the tank circuit and have a tiny heated strip on the filter. I am going to use my S3 in pretty cold weather and really want zero issues.

 

[Catastrofe]

I keep thinking about this. I think it would be super simple to tie into the tank circuit and have a tiny heated strip on the filter. I am going to use my S3 in pretty cold weather and really want zero issues.

Agreed. Or possibly just surround the filter with a styrofoam "box". Maybe even something like this:
I don't need another thing to worry about!

 

[FordGuy1]

Agreed. Or possibly just surround the filter with a styrofoam "box". Maybe even something like this:
I don't need another thing to worry about!

Exactly. They sell little 2-3 watt heater pads that would just wrap around the filter, and I am sure the main tank heater could be used for the circuit.

 

[donthompson]

On my T3, the water filter isn’t exposed. It’s encased in insulation. Is this true for the S3 and Karavan? Not sure how you would use this type of heater unless you sliced into the insulation to expose the filter so you could wrap it with the flexible heater. Is that what you’re thinking?

 

[Catastrofe]

On my T3, the water filter isn’t exposed. It’s encased in insulation. Is this true for the S3 and Karavan? Not sure how you would use this type of heater unless you sliced into the insulation to expose the filter so you could wrap it with the flexible heater. Is that what you’re thinking?

The filter is mounted to the exterior underside of the trailer, so even though it's wrapped in foam insulation it's still exposed to the exterior ambient temperature. That's why prolonged exposure to sub-freezing temps "could" be a problem...

Even leaving the foam in place and wrapping it with a heater seems potentially better than leaving it as-is.

 

[FordGuy1]

The filter is mounted to the exterior underside of the trailer, so even though it's wrapped in foam insulation it's still exposed to the exterior ambient temperature. That's why prolonged exposure to sub-freezing temps "could" be a problem...

Even leaving the foam in place and wrapping it with a heater seems potentially better than leaving it as-is.

The location would make it super simple to tie in a heater wrap that is just a few watts.