Getting ready for coldest weather in our Solitude 310GK

[440scout]

Insulated drain valve.

 

[Nuffsaid]

View attachment 49184
Closer view shows some discoloration to the tank but its been almost 3 year and no leaks.

Pictures are worth a thousand words, now I know why I am frozen up, bottom of tank freezes easy, I mistakenly let the water tank get low and I can guarantee there is an inch of ice coating the bottom of the tank and the water line can’t help but be frozen. I’m going to add a heat trace to the water line and maybe another heat pad next to the inlet

 

[440scout]

Pictures are worth a thousand words, now I know why I am frozen up, bottom of tank freezes easy, I mistakenly let the water tank get low and I can guarantee there is an inch of ice coating the bottom of the tank and the water line can’t help but be frozen. I’m going to add a heat trace to the water line and maybe another heat pad next to the inlet

I also pulled the coroplast down between the drain valve and the drive side of the fresh water tank and put 3 feet of foam pipe insulation over that same pex pipe that had froze. And I saw a 2" diameter heat supply duct that ended at the front of the tank but I was able to pull (it stretches) it about a foot closer to the tank drain area. I still need to clamp an amp meter around the positive feed wires to test all those tank heaters and verfiy that they actually work. Tomorrow is good day for that so I will post back with the amperage draw of each tank heater.

 

[Nuffsaid]

Thanks for the photos! I will examine the corroplast when I get home! For now my water finally thawed out, I think having the grey tanks closed and then having warm water in them from showers and the diesel heater running into the belly finally paid off. It isn't supposed to be as cold tonight, maybe only 10 degrees, much better than -9. I don't think I have much water in the fresh water tank, but I am not dragging a hose out to fill it up in the dark/cold! It can wait until tomorrow. Hopefully the diesel heater has enough fuel to run until morning too, I am enjoying being warm right now.

 

[Nuffsaid]

Victory was short lived, I should have filled the water tank last night when I had flow! This morning, back to being frozen up, can't get water into tank. I have an electric heater running right now below the fresh water drain. After half an hour I got the drain valve open. Then I took a 1/4 inch drill bit and drilled into the ice, at least 3 inches thick! Tank heater can't be working. It wasn't super cold last night, about 15 degrees. I will keep electric heater under the tank for a while and see what happens. Then I need to thaw the drain pipe because right now there is a 75% ice blockage from a valve that must be dripping.

 

[Second Chance]

Victory was short lived, I should have filled the water tank last night when I had flow! This morning, back to being frozen up, can't get water into tank. I have an electric heater running right now below the fresh water drain. After half an hour I got the drain valve open. Then I took a 1/4 inch drill bit and drilled into the ice, at least 3 inches thick! Tank heater can't be working. It wasn't super cold last night, about 15 degrees. I will keep electric heater under the tank for a while and see what happens. Then I need to thaw the drain pipe because right now there is a 75% ice blockage from a valve that must be dripping.

First of all, I'm SO sorry you're experiencing this!!! I didn't go back through such a long thread and I don't remember - is your rig skirted? If not, even a truckload of hay bales could go a long way in protecting the underside of your RV from those cold winds.

Rob

PS/edit: it was my wife's idea to ask this question.

 

[440scout]

So did my wife! I guess ladies like skirts!

 

[Nuffsaid]

No skirts for this old kid, LOL, that is why I spray foamed the frame rails and that works well, but when GD didn't do a good job of insulating the bottom of the fresh water tank, all bets are off. I am going to order a couple more heat pads for the bottom of the fresh water tank and make sure there is some insulation below the tank too. Then I will insulate the tank drain. I got the tank thawed out with a electric heater perched on a cardboard box, first the gate valve freed up and I opened it to find a sheet of ice above it. Then I drilled a 1/4 inch hole in the ice as deep as I could reach, 2-3 inches and let the heater continue to run. After about an hour I was able to fill the water tank and it is full. It has warmed up a bit too, so I can leave the hose hooked up at least until tonight. We head for home in Wyoming tomorrow, so we won't be having any warm temps for a while, but I might need to go ice fishing in a week or two so, I need things working.

 

[440scout]

Ok, here are the amperage readings from the holding tank heaters: black tank 6 amps, gray tank 6 amps, fresh water tank 5 amps.
These readings were taken a few minutes ago while outside temp is 47. The solar was disconnected, not on shore power or generator and one LED light was on in the front storage where the batteries are located. The usual vampire draws were there at the start about 2 amps so I compensated for that when determining the tank heater amperage draws.
What I don't understand is that this camper has 2 gray tanks so shouldn't it have a tank heater for each one? If so then probably one of them isn't working or wasn't wired in. Fortunately this camper is winterized. So when some warmer weather hits, I will be pulling down the coroplast to check it out.

 

[Hoopy Frood]

Have you physically checked to see if it has 2 gray tanks? Ours shows 2 gray tanks on the panel, but we only have one.

 

[Second Chance]

Have you physically checked to see if it has 2 gray tanks? Ours shows 2 gray tanks on the panel, but we only have one.

The 310GKs have two gray tanks.

Rob

 

[Hoopy Frood]

Ah, cool, good to know.

 

[Nuffsaid]

Well, I filled the fresh water tank yesterday and hoped for the best and water is froze up yet again this morning. It is only 13 degrees and there has been plenty of heat in the belly. We leave for home today, so not a big deal especially since it will be above freezing this afternoon. I ordered two new 12x18 heating pads for the fresh water tank and I will install them when I get them. The factory heating pad has obviously quit, I used to have no trouble down to -10.

 

[LanerC]

Well, I filled the fresh water tank yesterday and hoped for the best and water is froze up yet again this morning. It is only 13 degrees and there has been plenty of heat in the belly. We leave for home today, so not a big deal especially since it will be above freezing this afternoon. I ordered two new 12x18 heating pads for the fresh water tank and I will install them when I get them. The factory heating pad has obviously quit, I used to have no trouble down to -10.

Glad you got it figured out. Dang! just when you think its safe to come out. Have a good trip back!

 

[440scout]

I found one of the gray tank heaters is not working. There are 2 gray tanks on the 310gk but during the amperage check yesterday, the meter only showed enough amps for one tank heater. So hopefully tomorrow when its a little warmer 53, I will drop the coroplast and check it out. What brand name and where did you order your new heaters from?

 

[LanerC]

I found one of the gray tank heaters is not working. There are 2 gray tanks on the 310gk but during the amperage check yesterday, the meter only showed enough amps for one tank heater. So hopefully tomorrow when its a little warmer 53, I will drop the coroplast and check it out. What brand name and where did you order your new heaters from?

You might know this, but the tank heaters only come on at I think 37 degrees so if its warm out its hard to check them by just turning them on at the control panel. How do you check them under the chloroplast?

 

[440scout]

You might know this, but the tank heaters only come on at I think 37 degrees so if its warm out its hard to check them by just turning them on at the control panel. How do you check them under the chloroplast?

I checked them a couple days ago when it was colder, I'm in Colorado. The black tank heater, fresh water tank heater and only one gray tank heater worked. Each one showed about 5 or 6 amps at the batteries when switched on individually. Because there are 2 gray tanks, the amperage should have been double when those heaters were activated. Those tanks are forward of the axles and once the coroplast is lowered the tank heaters should be very visable since they are glued to the bottom of the holding tanks usually near the tank drains. I will try to get pics and post them this weekend.

 

[Nuffsaid]

44Scout,
These are the ones I ordered off of Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CJ8PQ4DV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Just curious how many screws you usually remove to drop the coroplast under the fresh water tank, or do you just remove enough to reach up in there to work? I am thinking about adding some heat tape on the feed line and will see where the heat duct is and move it if necessary. Have you had any issues with screws breaking when you remove them?

I made it home the 300 miles from Bozeman to Worland, WY. We stopped and ate some barbeque in Billings, MT and it was 46 degrees out, but my tank still didn't thaw out. Should be a simple fix and maybe the weather will hold and not be as cold as normal for this time of year. One of my amber clearance light lenses departed, does anyone know which one to order?

 

[440scout]

Nuffsaid those tank heaters look pretty good and had good reviews. I like that the t-stat is in line to the heater.
When I found the pex from the fresh water tank froze, I removed about 6 or 7 screws from the coroplast along the driver's side frame adjacent to the tank and thats when I saw that 2" diameter heat duct near the front and along the street side of the tank. As I said earlier, it can be stretched almost a foot closer to the fresh tank drain valve but, I believe the reason why the pex froze is because that silver thermo blanket was folded away from the tank. It should have been spread out so that it was under the tank.
If you're going to install those new tank heaters, you'll have to remove a lot more screws from the coroplast to get to that inoperative tank heater. According to those new tank heater specs, each heater pulls about 3.5 amps so the factory switch and feed wire should be ok to use for the 2 heaters as long as that circuit is on at least a 10 amp fuse. Looking forward to hearing about your new tank heaters installation.

 

[Nuffsaid]

Nuffsaid those tank heaters look pretty good and had good reviews. I like that the t-stat is in line to the heater.
When I found the pex from the fresh water tank froze, I removed about 6 or 7 screws from the coroplast along the driver's side frame adjacent to the tank and thats when I saw that 2" diameter heat duct near the front and along the street side of the tank. As I said earlier, it can be stretched almost a foot closer to the fresh tank drain valve but, I believe the reason why the pex froze is because that silver thermo blanket was folded away from the tank. It should have been spread out so that it was under the tank.
If you're going to install those new tank heaters, you'll have to remove a lot more screws from the coroplast to get to that inoperative tank heater. According to those new tank heater specs, each heater pulls about 3.5 amps so the factory switch and feed wire should be ok to use for the 2 heaters as long as that circuit is on at least a 10 amp fuse. Looking forward to hearing about your new tank heaters installation.

I also ordered a 12 volt heat trace wire to attach to the feed line, I found it also on amazon and it was about 26.00 plus tax, I bought a 13 foot length and will try to wrap some of it on the gate valve too and then I will figure out some way to insulate the gate valve. Nothing annoys me more than freezing up in the winter when it is due to poor design. I have long advocated for my spray foam on the outside of the frame rails, inside of the frame rails would be better, but it would be harder to do. I wasn't having any problems with freezing up until this year, I will throw out last year, because when it gets down to -44F you are pretty well screwed. Maintaining water flow at -15 shouldn't be that hard when you are heating the belly as long as you can keep the heat in. You said the foil wasn't in place under the tank, so I take it that means there is no fiberglass insulation under the tank either? I might try to slip some reflective bubble wrap under the tank since it actually creates an air gap. I personally think the reflective foil is snake oil! Engineering sites don't give it much credibility. It might be ok to reflect heat back, but it has 0 insulation qualities. I was really disappointed to see it under the carpeting on the big slide out, carpet pad would have been much better.