2012 Coachmen Mirada 34BH Heating Fresh/Holding/Grey tanks

[lordnorth]

Last year I picked up a 2012 Coachmen Mirada 34BH and we are really enjoying it.

One of the things we tried this winter was going skiing in it. Worked pretty well - parked right next to the slope, walked on and off the lifts and could easily come back for lunch and rest.

BUT I was really worried about the cold weather, so we did it all dry. 6 people in an RV, in the winter, with no running water, is not a great setup. So I want to add some tank warmers and a heat source in the wet bay.

But I can't figure out how to access the tanks to do this. Its my first RV and I'm still learning, but this has got me mystified.

Can anyone tell me how I go about finding the tanks and installing heating pads (or if they have any other suggestions?)

Thanks!
Chris

[Michigander]

Depending on your out side temperatures I would not be overly concerned with the tanks. We had a 2005 Mirada in the UP of Michigan that we ran for a lot of AAU basketball tournaments and unless you were pushing 10F or less for a good chunk of time we did not have much of an issue. The only time I recall freezing up was in Ohio with lots of wind and that was the actually the lines inside along the bottom of the bedroom wall. Took the cover off and a hair dryer did the trick. Since then we carry fresh water in jugs in the coach and use it for flushing and heating up for wash water.

[lordnorth]

Just in case anyone comes across this thread. I DID manage to find all of my tanks. The Black and Grey are in the wet bay, but you have to remove the panel that all of the connections are mounted on to actually see them from that side. As Lenny mentioned, you can find them from the other side as well if you take off the panel that runs right along the top of the compartment.

I found my freshwater tank in the next compartment back (which is my propane bay). You have to take off the sheet metal on which all of the LP directions are printed to get to it. The two bays are connected with a metal channel that runs between them, but considering that it is just sheet metal, and I can see light through the joints... I don't expect this to be very insulated.

The freshwater bay DOES have furnace ducted into it at one spot. Basically, I think they take the vent for the bedroom and split it to the fresh bay. This makes sense (doesn't make sense) because that vent has about half of the volume everywhere else has. Now why would you split from the vent that heats the bedroom and is the last duct in the RV... Why would you not take it from the HALLWAY or something logical like that?

Anyway, now that I have found them, it should be a pretty straight forward job of installing the heating pads on the tanks and heater in the wet bay.

Thanks for all of your suggestions!

Chris

[lordnorth]

LennyH wrote:
Hi Chris
The holding tank for fresh water is located above the third bay door on the right side on the RV, after you open the bay door you have to remove the panel on the top of the compartment and there you will see the holding tank, Hope this helps.

Lenny

Thanks Lenny. I will take a look tomorrow to see if I can find it. You don't have any suggestions on how to get to the holding and grey tanks to you? I am less concerned about these since PURE water freezes at 32... so these should freeze considerably lower, but I'd like to find out for sure what the temps are there.

rcmiller32 wrote:
Not sure on your model, but on our 2014 Coachmen Pursuit the black tank sits right under the toilet and the gray tank runs crossways behind the black tank. The wet bay has the furnace line blowing in to warm the compartment. They took the 4" line and put a tee into it. Then there is a 2" line ducted down into the compartment.

You might have to remove or move the panel in that compartment to see were the tanks are. At the least to follow the piping.

Thanks... but I'm not sure which compartment you are referring to. My wet bay doesn't stay warm at all. With the furnace running it was warmer than ambient, but still below freezing. I figure mine must be below the toilet as well, but can't figure out for the life of me how to get to it.

Chris

[rcmiller32]

Not sure on your model, but on our 2014 Coachmen Pursuit the black tank sits right under the toilet and the gray tank runs crossways behind the black tank. The wet bay has the furnace line blowing in to warm the compartment. They took the 4" line and put a tee into it. Then there is a 2" line ducted down into the compartment.

You might have to remove or move the panel in that compartment to see were the tanks are. At the least to follow the piping.

[LennyH]

Hi Chris
The holding tank for fresh water is located above the third bay door on the right side on the RV, after you open the bay door you have to remove the panel on the top of the compartment and there you will see the holding tank, Hope this helps.

Lenny

[lordnorth]

Thanks hanko. I hear what you are saying and I *think* it would do the trick as well... but I can't find any documentation to back that up and you only find out it doesn't work -- once it doesn't work.

Definitely going the lightbulb/ceramic heater in the wetbay. I would like to do it DC rather than AC, and I am looking for something like the "ThermoCube" in a DC version to hook it up.

At the very least, if I could find the tanks, I could put a thermometer nearby and see what the temperatures are actually doing.

Just can't find the tanks....

Chris

[hanko]

Me thinks running the forced air furnace will do the trick. You can also put a 100 watt light bulb in the wet bay for a little more protection.