We are looking for a way to ensure the fresh water tank doesn’t freeze during short ski trips – a night or two. We will put RV anti-freeze in the black and grey tanks - so they should be fine.
While we have a big BestGo battery, DC heating strips use a lot of battery power. As an alternative I found this interesting post recirculating hot water in an RV that uses the water heater instead of DC heating strips.
The idea is to use the hot water heater and water pump to recirculate the hot water into the fresh water tank. Note that we don’t need the fresh water to drink or cook – the focus is on being able to take a hot shower after a day or two of skiing.
This is simple in operation: you tap into the hot water line and put it through a [URL="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06WWPZWGZ”]ball valve[/URL]. When the valve is open, hot water pours into the fresh water tank. The ball value is NC and opens using a mechanical temperature switch. Power comes from the 12 V circuit that powers the water pump with an additional rocker switch to disable the recirculation. A diagram is attached below.
To implement this, I would need to put a Y into the fresh water fill pipe. I don’t recognize the kind of flexible pipe that Escape uses for the fresh fill line; anyone have a pointer?
Would it be easy to put in a T or Y junction? Guessing I might need to 3D print a nylon Y connector with openings for the existing line in, hot water in, and capillary tube.
Any other concerns or suggestions on doing this?
While we have a big BestGo battery, DC heating strips use a lot of battery power. As an alternative I found this interesting post recirculating hot water in an RV that uses the water heater instead of DC heating strips.
The idea is to use the hot water heater and water pump to recirculate the hot water into the fresh water tank. Note that we don’t need the fresh water to drink or cook – the focus is on being able to take a hot shower after a day or two of skiing.
This is simple in operation: you tap into the hot water line and put it through a [URL="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06WWPZWGZ”]ball valve[/URL]. When the valve is open, hot water pours into the fresh water tank. The ball value is NC and opens using a mechanical temperature switch. Power comes from the 12 V circuit that powers the water pump with an additional rocker switch to disable the recirculation. A diagram is attached below.
To implement this, I would need to put a Y into the fresh water fill pipe. I don’t recognize the kind of flexible pipe that Escape uses for the fresh fill line; anyone have a pointer?
Would it be easy to put in a T or Y junction? Guessing I might need to 3D print a nylon Y connector with openings for the existing line in, hot water in, and capillary tube.
Any other concerns or suggestions on doing this?