Heat tape vs rv specific heat patches?
I'd like to add some freeze protection to my three season RV to maybe get 3 and a half seasons out of it.
I accept the cost of the large surface area heating pads for the gray and black tanks, but they really seem to zing you on the small pads for the sewage plumbing.
Having a constant supply of 120vac power on my TT is no problem, so I'm hoping to use plastic pipe compatible heat-tape on the plumbing instead of the rv specific heat pads.
Even the plastic compatible tape is for pipes that hold water, under pressure... every brand I've found claims its not for drainage / waste pipes, I assume because those pipes normally aren't full of water.
My logic is this... on an RV, the waste plumbing is typically going to have water in it all the time, unless its just after a dump, and after a dump, there's no need to have the heat tape turned on. If the dump station provides a hose with usable thread, I usually push a few gallons of water back into the black tank to keep whatever's left in there lubricated.
Sound reasonable?
oh, for the fresh water, only a small section of PEX runs outside the cabin, and it has a marginal layer of fiberglass on it. I'll try to fish some incandescent rope-light through the hole the pipe runs through.
I accept the cost of the large surface area heating pads for the gray and black tanks, but they really seem to zing you on the small pads for the sewage plumbing.
Having a constant supply of 120vac power on my TT is no problem, so I'm hoping to use plastic pipe compatible heat-tape on the plumbing instead of the rv specific heat pads.
Even the plastic compatible tape is for pipes that hold water, under pressure... every brand I've found claims its not for drainage / waste pipes, I assume because those pipes normally aren't full of water.
My logic is this... on an RV, the waste plumbing is typically going to have water in it all the time, unless its just after a dump, and after a dump, there's no need to have the heat tape turned on. If the dump station provides a hose with usable thread, I usually push a few gallons of water back into the black tank to keep whatever's left in there lubricated.
Sound reasonable?
oh, for the fresh water, only a small section of PEX runs outside the cabin, and it has a marginal layer of fiberglass on it. I'll try to fish some incandescent rope-light through the hole the pipe runs through.
