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Swope7896's avatar
Swope7896
Explorer
Jan 07, 2021

Heating pads

I'm thinking of placing heating pads on my grey and black water tanks, but I'm not sure what kind of watts/volts to use. Has anyone else done this? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!!
  • RV tank heater pads use 4 to 10 amps per hour. Will you be plugged in to 120 volt power or do you have adequate batteries?
  • Yes. old waterbed heating pads with thermostat worked well The attachment of them to the EPDM tanks was troublesome, theres few caulks that can do the job. We used a butyl rubber caulk
  • The one I use for my battery bank is a waste tank heating pad and it draws 6 amp at 12v. It is intended I believe for 49 gallon tanks.
  • What kinds of temperatures are you experiencing/expecting? Due to the mass in the fresh and waste tanks, it takes a lot longer for them to freeze than it does for your water lines, water pump, etc. to freeze. We have weathered temps in the 10F range at night without tank heaters and without the tanks freezing (enclosed, heated underbelly on a fifth wheel).

    Rob
  • Second Chance wrote:
    We have weathered temps in the 10F range at night without tank heaters and without the tanks freezing (enclosed, heated underbelly on a fifth wheel).


    With the tanks enclosed in a heated underbelly, wouldn't you expect them to stay unfrozen indefinitely?
  • Provided you don't get some crazy low temperature, yes.
  • rlw999 wrote:
    Second Chance wrote:
    We have weathered temps in the 10F range at night without tank heaters and without the tanks freezing (enclosed, heated underbelly on a fifth wheel).


    With the tanks enclosed in a heated underbelly, wouldn't you expect them to stay unfrozen indefinitely?


    I was merely making the point so the OP (who doesn't seem to have returned to the thread) would know it's not an issue if you have a heated and enclosed underbelly. In answer to your question, yes, I would.

    Rob
  • rlw999 wrote:
    With the tanks enclosed in a heated underbelly, wouldn't you expect them to stay unfrozen indefinitely?
    How much heat really gets down there? And how cold is cold?

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