Speaking of heating pads

We have the 12V heating pads on our grey and black tanks just in case we want to camp without hookups in cold weather. Also perhaps more importantly, 12V pads can of course be switched ON when driving in cold weather to keep the tanks from freezing while going down the road.

The 12 pads are supposed to consume around 6-8 amps, each, while they're operating. However, they cycle ON and OFF so they don't consume current continuously.

Running the pads over cold nights when camping without hookups should probably be done with only at least a 200 amp hour coach battery bank ... that gets charged back up daily.

Butch50 wrote:
Some of them are temperature controlled and won't turn on till it is around 40*.

Correct.......

Per one of the mfg. of heat pads

The built-in sensor in the heat panel will active "ON" the tank heater as soon as the contents in the tank drops to a temperature of 44°F (7°C). When the liquid within the holding tank is heated and rises to 64°F (18°C), the tank heater will automatically power cycle "OFF" and deactivate.

They also advise against turning them ON or leaving them ON when tank(s) are empty or ambient temps remain above freezing.

You can test by fooling the 'sensor' using a bag of ice....provided you have access to heat pad.
Turn switch ON
Place the bag of ice over sensor (where power leads attach to pad)
Place your other hand in center of pad........when sensor activates you will feel pad gradually warm up.

No access to pad........guess you would have to dump bags/bags of ice into tank to chill contents down enough to drop liquid temps below 40*F

Hi,

Are they 12 volt or 120 volt?

Some of them are temperature controlled and won't turn on till it is around 40*.