12v heated tanks

[cpaharley2008]

They pull too much to operate off battery, thus you will need to be hooked up. Although thermostatically operated, on at 30 and off at 40, you need to be charging via electric to keep the batteries from draining. Besides you should have electric if camping below freezing anyway, as a safety measure, for a lot of reasons. I opened my closet doors and ran the electric and propane furnace and had no issues, other than the dump valves freezing, which will happen with or without the heat pads. Foam spray underneath is also needed.

[rotorbudd]

Ed,
I was checking them every once in a while by turning them on and off while watching the voltage/amp monitor and I never saw them running. They are thermostatically controlled so it's just chance to see what current thay draw.
I think I saw a page about them in the paperwork I got. I'll go see if I can find it.
Richard

[rotorbudd]

Just found the page about them
It says they draw 10 amps at 12vdc. It also mentions they have a 120vac circuit, but I only see 2 20 amp fuses in the dc system labeled heat pads.
They come on at aprox. 34F. Nothing on what the shut off temp. is.
They claim one pad will keep a 15 gal tank from freezing at 0 deg with a half in. of insulation.
If anyone needs more info I can scan the page and post. Just let me know.

[EdColorado]

Originally Posted by rotorbudd

Just found the page about them
It says they draw 10 amps at 12vdc. It also mentions they have a 120vac circuit, but I only see 2 20 amp fuses in the dc system labeled heat pads.
They come on at aprox. 34F. Nothing on what the shut off temp. is.
They claim one pad will keep a 15 gal tank from freezing at 0 deg with a half in. of insulation.
If anyone needs more info I can scan the page and post. Just let me know.

Thank you, very much.
I’ll read the info when I get our new 21.


Ed

[steve dunham]

To me the heat pads are a non solution to a problem
The only thing they accomplish is possibly keeping the tanks from freezing in somewhat warm temperatures /weather , unfortunately when the drain pipe freezes solid it doesn’t matter.
They draw too much power to run off the trailers batteries so no boon-docking.

For the expense of the heat pads one could but a trailer load of RV antifreeze and do the same thing only better .
We took the easy route and just don’t use our onboard water system when it’s cold
Simple and effective

** We do have the 12 VDC heat pads , for what good reason I don’t know . **

[sclifrickson]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

... unfortunately when the drain pipe freezes solid it doesn’t matter.
[Heat pads] draw too much power to run off the trailers batteries so no boon-docking.

Agree that these are limitations to definitely be mindful of.

Originally Posted by steve dunham

We took the easy route and just don’t use our onboard water system when it’s cold
Simple and effective

Not an option for us as we rely on our water system to live in the trailer when traveling. Jugs of water are insufficient for us, thus we find ways to make the system operate reliably, bearing in mind that it is not “fire and forget” in cold weather. So far so good. YMMV.

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by sclifrickson

Agree that these are limitations to definitely be mindful of.



Not an option for us as we rely on our water system to live in the trailer when traveling. Jugs of water are insufficient for us, thus we find ways to make the system operate reliably, bearing in mind that it is not “fire and forget” in cold weather. So far so good. YMMV.

I admit that I am too lazy to go through all that effort so I can have running water in our trailer during the winter . We used the jug method for years even in the summer and it worked for us , not necessarily convenient but it worked

We recently had -16 below zero with 30 below wind chills so at some point the argument with Mother Nature is mute. No matter how hard you try something freezes and breaks .



Good Luck
Steve D

[sclifrickson]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

I admit that I am too lazy to go through all that effort so I can have running water in our trailer during the winter . We used the jug method for years even in the summer and it worked for us , not necessarily convenient but it worked



We recently had -16 below zero with 30 below wind chills so at some point the argument with Mother Nature is mute. No matter how hard you try something freezes and breaks .







Good Luck

Steve D

Yikes, we haven’t taken ours to those temps. You’re right about Mother Nature. She has resources beyond our ability to mitigate.

All the best,
Scott