| |
Subject |
Author |
Date Posted |
Forum
|
 |
RE: Camping in winter
Be careful of waste tanks, and plumbing to valves (especially gray pipe which is usually VERY long). Sure makes a mess if they freeze. Google Ultraheat for a solution.
|
Chuck&Gail
|
06/29/10 04:00pm |
Beginning RVing
|
|
RE: First post with question about colder weather 5th wheels.
I added electric tank heaters to my exposed waste system and it has been fine down to 15. The furnace could easily keep the interior at 75 although I do suppliment with 1000w electric radiator style heater. This is an entry level trailer not really rated for cold weather. www.ultraheat.com
I am just saying that considering the budget it might be OK to get a good value trailer and retro fit as needed for the cold.
|
smkettner
|
05/09/10 11:51am |
Fifth-Wheels
|
|
RE: Tank Heaters
From Ultra Heat it says -11°F (-24°C): But you would need to size them correctly I suppose. My fully exposed tanks did fine down to 15F.
Q) My holding tanks are insulated and forced-air heated inside an enclosed underbelly beneath my floor. Do I still need to use Ultra Heat Holding Tank Heaters?
A) Yes, UltraHeat® Holding Tank Heaters will still be necessary to give your holding tanks protection from freezing in below freezing temperatures. Enclosing, insulating and heating the underbelly of an RV will only provide protection from freezing down to about +15°F to +20 °F (-9°C to -6°C) without wind chill. In laboratory testing, UltraHeat® Tank Heaters protected holding tanks from freezing down to -11°F (-24°C) on holding tanks exposed (open to the weather) below the floor of the RV. Once Ultra Heat Holding Tank Heaters are installed on an RV with insulated, enclosed and forced-air heated underbelly, you can expect protection from freezing to be significantly below -11°F (-24°C). Results will vary depending on the type of underbelly enclosure, amount of insulation, etc.
|
smkettner
|
04/21/10 04:49pm |
Toy Haulers
|
|
RE: Tank Heaters
www.ultraheat.com
click on the owners manual video
|
smkettner
|
04/21/10 01:36pm |
Toy Haulers
|
|
RE: Tank Heaters
I used UltraHeat 120v for the waste water tanks. 120v/12v for fresh water tank. And 120v heat tape wrapped with insulation for the exposed drain pipes. I assume I will dump the waste tanks before I roll. Although I could power the 120v stuff with the inverter as we go. Worked fine visiting the snow last January. Although the long waste drain pipe froze as I had not wrapped it with insulation in time for the trip. No damage and it is now ready for next year.
You can get inexpensive tank heaters on ebay if you look.
|
smkettner
|
04/20/10 02:43pm |
Toy Haulers
|
|
RE: Winter Camping
Add tank heaters to prevent them from freezing. Bring slippers for the cold floor.
www.ultraheat.com I added 120v heaters to the waste tanks, 120v/12v heater to the fresh water, 120v heat tape and insulation to the waste drain pipes. There were some low cost tank heaters on ebay, search around.
|
smkettner
|
04/13/10 10:36am |
Travel Trailers
|
|
RE: Artic winter package for Coachmen Freelander
I would like to know how to attatch the heating pads to the tanks. Thanks again for the help! 10 CAN
You just peel and stick the foam heat pad on the bottom of the tank. Ultraheat says to clean with rubbing alcohol before application and the temps must be over 50 degrees for proper adhesion.
Connect with a power strip and you are good to go.
|
smkettner
|
02/21/10 11:36am |
Class C Motorhomes
|
|
RE: Holding tank heaters
I used http://www.ultraheat.com/shop/index.html on my trailer. You can save some money looking on ebay.
|
smkettner
|
02/18/10 09:44am |
Class C Motorhomes
|
|
RE: My MH is not winter ready, what would it take to do it?
www.ultraheat.com
|
smkettner
|
01/31/10 07:57pm |
Class A Motorhomes
|
|
RE: Keeping water lines from freezing
If running the furnace while running down the road does not do it I suggest www.ultraheat.com
|
smkettner
|
01/31/10 03:23pm |
Tech Issues
|
|
RE: Heated Holding Tanks???
Google Ultraheat. Hardest part is finding place for on/off switch IMO, real easy to install as long as you can actually touch the tank bottoms.
Don't forget the valve piping likely needs pads as well, also simple to do.
Some folks like 120 VAC only pads, I do not. I like 12 volt pads cause I can use them when traveling. If I have 120 VAC, then the converter will provide 12 VDC, so I see no advantage to AC only pads. Your choice.
|
Chuck&Gail
|
01/27/10 01:52pm |
Travel Trailers
|
|
RE: keeping waste water tanks from freezing above 10 deg
As above, Ultraheat has the answer. Ours run off 12 volts, so we can use tanks while driving also. Can't see the point of the 120 VAC only pads. If it is cold out, we still might be out driving. Frozen tanks, or valves, would not be fun I think.
We never added insulation. No problems at 15 degrees, not sure we've tried it colder than that.
|
Chuck&Gail
|
01/25/10 08:35pm |
Travel Trailers
|
|
RE: keeping waste water tanks from freezing above 10 deg
I added tank heaters from www.ultraheat.com and added the small 12v elbow heaters to protect my low point drains.
I used 120v heat tape to protect the waste drain pipes. These also need to be wrapped with insulation.
My trailer with fully exposed everything did fine down to 15 deg. My one long waste pipe froze (no damage) as I did not wrap with insulation.
UltraHeat says the tank heaters are good to about 9F below on exposed tanks.
Low cost pads can be purchased on ebay for about $20
|
smkettner
|
01/25/10 06:59pm |
Travel Trailers
|
|
RE: Inexpensive tank heaters on Ebay?
My TT does not have an enclosed underbelly. My black/grey tanks are underneath the TT. How secure are these stick on units? I've considered getting 2 of them to cover the black/grey tanks, but fear my investment might be flapping in the wind as I coast down the highway.
My new heaters just made 700 miles on my fully exposed tanks. The instructions do say to apply at 50F or above.
Which brand heaters did you use? Other than surviving the trip successfully, how did they perform?
I used the "expensive" Ultraheat brand. I was able to drain the black and grey no problem at the end of four days of 15 to 40 degree temps. I used the fresh water tank to supply water with no trouble.
The drain pipe to the galley froze solid. It is a long ~15' from the tank to drain. I had put in some antifreeze before we left and I had wrapped it with heat tape. But without insulation the pipe still froze. At least no damage. And it was thawed by the time drove home out of the cold.
I installed 12v/120v on the FW, 120v only on the grey, black and galley tanks. I was more concerned about the FW freezing in transit while the others could be defrosted as needed when we could plug in.
|
smkettner
|
01/18/10 08:53pm |
Travel Trailers
|
|
RE: freezing weather/fresh wter tank full-exposed drain valve?
UltraHeat 12" 12v pipe heater
Or for shorter you can use an UltraHeat elbow heater You can trim the adheasive down a bit to 7" or 8". I used this on my low point drains that hang down.
|
smkettner
|
01/07/10 07:58pm |
Fifth-Wheels
|
|
RE: freezing weather/fresh wter tank full-exposed drain valve?
My vote is to contact Ultraheat for a complete solution. If you can't get heat pad in time, drain it.
|
Chuck&Gail
|
01/07/10 04:51pm |
Fifth-Wheels
|
|
RE: Frozen gates
As above, ultraheat has the best answer IMO. Sure works for us.
|
Chuck&Gail
|
01/05/10 06:31pm |
Fifth-Wheels
|
|
RE: Frozen gates
For prevention http://www.ultraheat.com/shop/index.html
Or some heat tape on the pipe and wrap with insulation.
Salt or antifreeze in the tank may also work.
Good luck with the hairdryer it may take some time. And if the tank is frozen it will not do much good.
|
smkettner
|
01/05/10 05:13pm |
Fifth-Wheels
|
|
RE: Freezing sewer valves
http://www.ultraheat.com/shop/index.html
Or some heat tape on the pipe and wrap with insulation.
Salt or antifreeze in the tank may also work.
|
smkettner
|
01/05/10 09:08am |
Class C Motorhomes
|
|
RE: 110 volt heat source for TC basements?
Hello CaptEddie, I'm following your thread, I wonder if you're following mine? (need help to avoid freezing) I gather that you're trying to prevent freezing while in storage. As far as trying to add AC heating capability to the installed camper heater, I recently had mine apart, and I don't think there is any easy way to do this. Maybe the manufacturers will step up and begin to produce dual-mode (AC/DC) heaters? I hope so, sure would solve a a lot of problems and improve safety as well, what with all of the home-brewed solutions we seem to come up with.
KKELLER14K, I like the flexibility the Ultraheat 3600 tank heating pad
provides, and I may yet go to that setup., This company http://www.fivestarmanufacturing.com/Kat_s makes some of the car heaters pianotuna mentioned, and they also make tank heating pads. I have ordered two of their model 22600 heating pads to try, They are 80W 120VAC, 11"x18", and should work well for my situation. You may also want to look at the products made by http://www.powerblanket.com to see what they have to offer.
This morning I awoke to single digit temps, and my water lines to the bath were frozen. The only line working, barely, was the cold water to the kitchen sink. After two hours of turning the heat up and directing airflow into the sidewing, I now have everything back except hot water to the kitchen sink. I have the 12V tank enclosure/living area recirc fan running, blowing across the new oil-filled heater, and tank compartment temps are up to 53 degrees. Main living area temps are holding at 70, with the curtain drawn to isolate the cabover bed. Outside it is still 8 degrees, and I am just waiting to get that last water line flowing again before I head off to work for a week. CaptEddie, you might want to consider this option: Install a 12V computer fan to recirc the main living area air through the tank enclosure, and just heat the main living area with one heater. The 12V fan is a small load, easily compensated for by the converter/charger, this way there is no danger of damaging (melting) anything in the tank area. The computer fans are rated for continuous running, sometimes for as much as 100,000 hours. I ran 12V power to mine from the generator starting circuit, and installed a simple on/off switch I got from an auto parts store. I have been looking for a safe solution to prevent freezing that I can leave on while I am away, and will restart itself in the event of a power outage, and I think I might have it figured out now.
|
MrLuddite
|
01/03/10 08:11am |
Truck Campers
|
