Tuesday 7 April 2015

Keeping Wanda from Freezing

Okay, so I am operating on the assumption that the water pump is not dead. I am assuming (and hoping) that all I need to do is to wait until the weather is warm enough to ensure that all of my water lines will be defrosted.  Then I will turn on the water pump and see if it works (and if successful do the dance of joy). 

Until then I am keeping Wanda’s furnace on 24/7. I turn it down to 5C during the day and when I sleep. I have also taken to putting a hot water bottle on the spot of the floor where I think the water pump is under. My hope is that the heat will transfer through the floor and keep the water in the pump fluid and not frozen up. If that happens then the pump will crack and need to be replaced. 

I also turn my hot water heater on for ten to fifteen minutes each evening. Again this is to keep the hot water tank from freezing and bursting. I am still hoping that the amount of water in the fresh water tank and the constant movement is keeping that from freezing up to burst that tank. 

It is possible that all this is for naught, that I have already damaged that water pump, in which case I will likely just wait till the service appointment in June and get it replaced then. The chance of getting Wanda in earlier is slim to none. If I had access to a shop I might crawl under Wanda and see about replacing that water pump myself and insulating it a bit; alas, I don’t. (I really could use an RV dealer/repair shop sponsor).

The good news is that I was able to close my blackwater drain valve last night so at least I can use my toilet. I am still using the toilet and the sinks, as it is warm enough and I can drain them when needed. I am just resorting to using my blue jug for water for now, and back to my bachelor baths. 

I have an idea percolating of using some sort of gardening water jug with a rain head on it with warm water in it to have showers as I stand in the bath and “water myself” between lathering up. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but with a working grey water tank it is possible. It would clean me better than a bachelor’s bath now. 

Once I get that water pump on and the water flowing I will be fine. Even on the cold nights I will just stay awake to run water every half hour just keep a tap going a crack to keep the water pump kicking on every half an hour or so. 

I will try to turn the pump on by Friday afternoon. That should be warm enough, long enough. Then again, knowing me, I may try by Thursday afternoon, as it should get up to 13C that day.

One of the things I am struggling with is just letting this mistake go. I am still angry with myself for (most likely) damaging my water pump by de-winterizing too soon. I will not know for certain until later this week, so for now I am still hoping against hope that the damage wasn’t done. 

The real thing is that I just want this winter over with and this cold weather done. I am tired of the cold, tired of the frost and just tired of bundling up all the time. I want to not have a need to turn the furnace on at all.  I look forward to having the opposite problem, of instead open the windows to feel that cool breeze blowing through.

I also know that I am making progress and that I am getting ahead on paying these bills down. That is what I need to focus on; that is what I need to make a conscious effort to remember: my victories, rather than my defeats.  

At least the sunrise was looking good this morning. 

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