4 Season Camper?

Keith Wire · 02-23-2014, 09:02 AM

Hi all,

Has something changed in the new models? I was just looking at a 2013 3124KD the Car Show site and it says something in the "Comments" I've never seen before.

Quote:

4 SEASON CAMPER!!!
Maintain 70 degrees inside camper in 0 degree weather
Plumbing is located above 4 inch insulated floor "You're warm--so is your plumbing"

When did TM add a 4 inch floor, and is the gray water tank still underneath?

Inquiring minds want to know...

Keith

**Kidkraz** · 02-23-2014, 11:51 AM

I have a 2013 camper and I haven't measured the floor to see how thick it is, but here's a picture of the fridge drain. You can see it is pretty thick insulation.

This off the TM website on common questions.
A: The thermal insulation of a TrailManor is superior to that of a "stick" construction trailer because the foam insulation is not broken up by framing members. The roof, sidewalls and bed bottoms have almost continuous 1" foam insulation (equal to 2" of fiberglass), and the floor has a full 3" foam core (equal to 6" of fiberglass). The trailer is so well insulated that the 16,000 BTU furnace will heat the trailer as much as 70 degrees above the outside temperature. This excellent insulation also makes a TrailManor much easier to cool in the open sun."

I camp in state parks that don't have power, so I would kill my battery pretty quickly to run the heater to maintain a 70 degree temp. I can't speak on camping at 0 degrees; there are others on this forum who may be able to; but I bring a Mr. Heater buddy for those trips when the temp will drop to the low 30-40s.
I don't run either heater thru the night, but crank one up once I get up for the day. I do set up a thermometer which measures the temp inside and out and when the heat is off the camper inside temp will drop to about 3-5 degrees warmer than the outside.

02-23-2014, 04:10 PM

We camped at 14 degrees this past December in Ohio and ran two 1500 watt electric heaters along with the Buddy Heater to keep warm at night. Dont know the thickness of the floor. Currently in Menifee, Ca and have the air on. I think it is 80 degrees out and gets pretty warm in the TM with sun beating down. Tonight it will get into the mid 40's and will keep it warm with one 1500 watt heater. Camper works pretty well for us at both extremes.

02-23-2014, 04:12 PM

Just an After thought: I prefer the Buddy Heater over the furnace since the furnace uses a lot more propane. It also will discharge your battery if your boondocking.

LoveToCamp · 02-23-2014, 05:06 PM

First, I purchased a Mr. Buddy heater a few years ago, but it wouldn't work over 9,000'. Since much of my camping is over 9,000', I took it back. I rely on our furnace exclusively.

That said, I have camped two nights in a row (and two days), using only the TM furnace. We kept it about 60° overnight, and 68° when we were in it occasionally during the day. We were outdoors most of the time during the day. Evenings, though, we kept it warm while shooting the bull.

I have a 100w solar panel, and we never ran low on power. Even in November, when the sun was low, we apparently re-charged completely during the day. My old monitor didn't have lots of features, so I could not tell you the specifics. But, it was down to 9° one night, and in the mid-teens the rest. We stayed warm.

BUT, my gray-water valve froze shut. Since the gray tank is not protected, nor is the drain gate, that would be a problem during prolonged cold weather. I will put salt in my gray tank going-forward, though, as some have suggested that may be a way to keep it from freezing. Could also put some antifreeze in it.

I would not call a TM an "all-season camper", but I don't hesitate to use it with all water working for a few cold nights. It would not be as mindless as summer camping, but it would not be too much effort, either.

**Bill** · 02-23-2014, 05:30 PM

To return to the original question, I believe that the whole section about 4" thick floor and plumbing above the floor is a misprint - probably a cut-and paste error from another ad. Below this short section is the standard TM verbiage, much longer, and it says 3" floor.

Bill

scrubjaysnest · 02-23-2014, 05:52 PM

Our floor is 3 inch, all the plumbing is above the floor except the gray tank and low point drains. The external shower is subject to freezing plus a large screened hole near the inside shower so I would expect all that to freeze also. Maybe the kitchen area plumbing won't freeze because of the refrig but I wouldn't count on that either. Having camped in the teens with other campers with inside plumbing that froze with the heat on I expect the TM won't fair any better.

tentcamper · 02-23-2014, 07:21 PM

To switch back to heating with elec hook up. We have a wave-8 catalytic heater that can be adjusted between 4 and 8k btu's.

We run the heater and set the furnace to to 60. With our pup in 30 degree weather the furnace would come on a few times an hour.

Keith Wire · 02-24-2014, 05:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill

I believe that the whole section about 4" thick floor and plumbing above the floor is a misprint - probably a cut-and paste error from another ad.

Thanks Bill, that is kind of what I thought. I didn't think TM started putting a heated underbelly over the Gray water tank & drain valves.

Keith

**Bill** · 02-24-2014, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scrubjaysnest

Our floor is 3 inch, all the plumbing is above the floor except the gray tank and low point drains.

OK, that is a change for the better. How does the plumbing get from the kitchen to the bathtub? In my 2002 and 2006 TMs, those pipes are routed through a channel gouged into the foam between the upper and lower aluminum skins of the bathroom floor. The pipes are not outside, but they are not above the floor, either. And they do freeze.

Bill