Cold in West Yellowstone...
We drove over through the park coming out of Cody to West Yellowstone yesterday morning. Had a great ride with hardly anyone on the roads until we got west of Fishing Bridge {which is currently close...
Forum Discussion
Phil- Re how to determine that your tank heaters are working: FWIW, just thought I would pass along my 'sperience since I had to replace the heaters on my rig a couple of years ago (the OEM gray tank heater pad was a so-so install by the factory and was lifting around the edges plus the original owner had damage on the black tank due to a blowout and the service folks who installed his replacement black tank did a turibble, turrible job on that heater.)
Our tanks are likely about the same size, so my data may be helpful.
I installed Ultra Heat pads after a bad experience with a poorly made (cheaper) brand. WBGO uses (made in the USA) Ultra Heat ….. same as almost all RV manufacturers, I believe. Each of the 2 large pads draw about 5.5 amps and I also have an elbow heater which draws just under 1 amp. The large pads have a built in Tstat that turns on at 44F and off at 64F; the elbow heater has no Tstat …. it is constant on when powered up. I'd wager your current draws are in that "ballpark".
For a pre-trip checkout one can use a clamp on DC ammeter (takes 2 people.) One person holds a zip lock bag of ice cubes on the "bulge" at each of the pads (that's where the Tstat is) and the other observes current flow when the stat kicks in. (I did this to verify operation after my installation.) Mfr says to have at least a couple of inches of fluid in the tanks to operate the heaters (probably more to prevent excessive Tstat cycling than anything else, I believe.)
I only have these installed in case I get "caught" with a surprise cold front as we like Fall season travel the best. I carry my clamp-on meter along and would plan to look for 12 add'l amps off the coach batteries when the tank heater switch was thrown to verify the pads were drawing current …. but have never had to use it. Sounds like the OP has a built-in meter which would do the same thing ………… cool.
BTW- The WBGO tech I talked to about the heaters said the rig should be good to about 20F if I opened the inside cabinet doors and turned on the tank heaters ………. but I overheard him talking to others around him when I asked that question and I believe his answer was just an educated guess. West Yellowstone campers would be a better source of knowledge, me thinks. :^)
Stay healthy, and safe travels.
Our tanks are likely about the same size, so my data may be helpful.
I installed Ultra Heat pads after a bad experience with a poorly made (cheaper) brand. WBGO uses (made in the USA) Ultra Heat ….. same as almost all RV manufacturers, I believe. Each of the 2 large pads draw about 5.5 amps and I also have an elbow heater which draws just under 1 amp. The large pads have a built in Tstat that turns on at 44F and off at 64F; the elbow heater has no Tstat …. it is constant on when powered up. I'd wager your current draws are in that "ballpark".
For a pre-trip checkout one can use a clamp on DC ammeter (takes 2 people.) One person holds a zip lock bag of ice cubes on the "bulge" at each of the pads (that's where the Tstat is) and the other observes current flow when the stat kicks in. (I did this to verify operation after my installation.) Mfr says to have at least a couple of inches of fluid in the tanks to operate the heaters (probably more to prevent excessive Tstat cycling than anything else, I believe.)
I only have these installed in case I get "caught" with a surprise cold front as we like Fall season travel the best. I carry my clamp-on meter along and would plan to look for 12 add'l amps off the coach batteries when the tank heater switch was thrown to verify the pads were drawing current …. but have never had to use it. Sounds like the OP has a built-in meter which would do the same thing ………… cool.
BTW- The WBGO tech I talked to about the heaters said the rig should be good to about 20F if I opened the inside cabinet doors and turned on the tank heaters ………. but I overheard him talking to others around him when I asked that question and I believe his answer was just an educated guess. West Yellowstone campers would be a better source of knowledge, me thinks. :^)
Stay healthy, and safe travels.
