Cold weather camping

[pnoetzel]

We are new to consistent 20 degree temps overnight. Daytime highs are 50-60 degrees.
My question is , do we leave the tank heaters on all the time? Are they controlled by their own thermostats?
Are all tanks heated?
We are running off the fresh tank now, the camp hydrant froze, and leaks.
My heated hose and softener, and filters are protected.
We are in Cottonwood Az till April.
Thanks

 

[jjbbrewer]

The tank heaters don't have thermostats. Think of them like a single temp electric blanket.
There's no reason to turn them off if you're connected to shore power.
All they do is suck some 12V power.
On my rig, all of the tanks have heaters - fresh, grey, black 1 & black 2 - all controlled by the single switch.

Nice place to be camping for the winter! We're probably headed back to Tucson & Lake Pleasant next winter.

 

[triplethreat]

We are new to consistent 20 degree temps overnight. Daytime highs are 50-60 degrees.
My question is , do we leave the tank heaters on all the time? Are they controlled by their own thermostats?
Are all tanks heated?
We are running off the fresh tank now, the camp hydrant froze, and leaks.
My heated hose and softener, and filters are protected.
We are in Cottonwood Az till April.
Thanks

There seems to be some confusion about the tank heaters, and maybe there is some differences from model to model....I don't know that for sure. In my Momentum 394M, the One control tablet (or you can use the phone app) has the ability to "turn on/turn off" the tank heaters. It is recommended to keep them turned off unless it is going to be below 45 degrees. If the heaters ARE turned on, they each have individual built in thermostats for each pad, in other words the pads for the fresh tank is separate from the Black tank, which is also separate from the gray tanks. So what that means is that IF the one control tank heater SWITCH is ON.....there may or may not be power going to the actual heater pad, depending on whether or not the temperature is cold enough to cause that individual thermostat to close, and thus provide power to that particular tank. In a perfect world, the individual thermostats would all be exactly the same. In the manufacturing world, there may be a few degrees difference between them. If I'm not mistaken, the individual built in thermostats should "engage" at ~45° F.

 

[pnoetzel]

There seems to be some confusion about the tank heaters, and maybe there is some differences from model to model....I don't know that for sure. In my Momentum 394M, the One control tablet (or you can use the phone app) has the ability to "turn on/turn off" the tank heaters. It is recommended to keep them turned off unless it is going to be below 45 degrees. If the heaters ARE turned on, they each have individual built in thermostats for each pad, in other words the pads for the fresh tank is separate from the Black tank, which is also separate from the gray tanks. So what that means is that IF the one control tank heater SWITCH is ON.....there may or may not be power going to the actual heater pad, depending on whether or not the temperature is cold enough to cause that individual thermostat to close, and thus provide power to that particular tank. In a perfect world, the individual thermostats would all be exactly the same. In the manufacturing world, there may be a few degrees difference between them. If I'm not mistaken, the individual built in thermostats should "engage" at ~45° F.

Good information. Thank you all for responding.
I have a new issue this morning to check out.
I have water in the bath, but no water at the kitchen sink!
Haven’t a clue what would cause that. Don’t event hear pump trying to build pressure , basement and water area are heated to 45 degrees.

 

[lineman1234]

If the drain isnt in, and water in the bath, odds are your grey tank is full. They will fill the lowes point one.

 

[pnoetzel]

My water somehow froze in the basement area , no water at kitchen sink, rear bunkhouse bath, or outside kitchen sink.
Main furnace kicks on twice every hour to keep at 64 in camper.
It has been ok for three weeks and now frozen overnight. It is 18- 20 degrees every night, and daytime 50 -60 degrees.
I guess I will try a small heater in basement area behind wall?
Anyone else have this happen?
Thanks

 

[Riverbug]

Getting to sub 20F certainly pushes the limits of what these travel trailers can handle without extra measures to avoid freezing. We routinely camp in 20ish temps and fairly regularly end up in the mid-teens. I had issues with freezing lines at the low point drains before I modified it (I did a post on that topic a while back). I would focus on that area first. If you can get some additional heat in that area so you can test whether that is the weak point or not, that would really help. I also modified the heat ducting that runs into the belly as it wasn't doing much the way it was set up from the factory.

Of course, I'm assuming your only heat source is the furnace and you are not running any electric heat inside? If you are, don't. You want the heat going into the belly as much as possible with those temps. Also, look for any areas that may need additional sealing underneath. Not sure about your unit, but ours does not have insulation in the belly so I added Reflectix on top of the Coraplast when I did lots of work under there. Not sure how much difference that makes, but certainly can't make it worse.

Before I modified the low point drains, I would find that once the outside temps got back into the mid-20's the water would flow again. Good luck!

 

[pnoetzel]

Getting to sub 20F certainly pushes the limits of what these travel trailers can handle without extra measures to avoid freezing. We routinely camp in 20ish temps and fairly regularly end up in the mid-teens. I had issues with freezing lines at the low point drains before I modified it (I did a post on that topic a while back). I would focus on that area first. If you can get some additional heat in that area so you can test whether that is the weak point or not, that would really help. I also modified the heat ducting that runs into the belly as it wasn't doing much the way it was set up from the factory.

Of course, I'm assuming your only heat source is the furnace and you are not running any electric heat inside? If you are, don't. You want the heat going into the belly as much as possible with those temps. Also, look for any areas that may need additional sealing underneath. Not sure about your unit, but ours does not have insulation in the belly so I added Reflectix on top of the Coraplast when I did lots of work under there. Not sure how much difference that makes, but certainly can't make it worse.

Before I modified the low point drains, I would find that once the outside temps got back into the mid-20's the water would flow again. Good luck!

Up until now I was pleased with the performance of my unit
I installed a bilge heater in basement pointed at on demand water heater on at 40 off at 45 degrees in basement
I will insulate the low points drains

 

[Riverbug]

Up until now I was pleased with the performance of my unit
I installed a bilge heater in basement pointed at on demand water heater on at 40 off at 45 degrees in basement
I will insulate the low points drains

Curious...did you install that bilge heater after it froze or did you already have that going and it still froze? I've also thought about getting one and installing it but haven't yet.

 

[pnoetzel]

Curious...did you install that bilge heater after it froze or did you already have that going and it still froze? I've also thought about getting one and installing it but haven't yet.

I installed the bilge heater to protect the on demand WH as soon as I purchase in 2021 . It always has protected the WH keeping it at 45 deg. ( I monitor temperature)
Figured that would guard against the sib 39 degree operation.
We use 1gal of propane a day keeping the trailer at 65 at night.
I will modify and insulate the low drains and see what happens.
Weather should warm up in fe to the 30’s at night in February
Cheers