Holding Tank Heaters

[Tom and Kelley Crawford]

We live in Florida and have a Cougar 327RES and camp all winter here in Florida (weekend camping, not full time) However, we would like to do some camping this winter in Georgia and NC where the temperatures will be below freezing at times. Our camper does not have holding tank heaters. What can we do to avoid problems in cold weather camping? Is it possible to add tank heaters and is it expensive? Any suggestions out there are appreciated !!!

[chuckretnav]

Im not sure about tank heaters, I have a 327res as well. But I was a truck driver for several years and here are a couple of things I learned over the years. 1. Our loads didnt freeze no mater what the temp due to the movement of the truck. Even when we sat still the viberation of the truck just idealing kept the liquid from freezing. 2. Your underside is covered and that will afford some protection but I have heard that their isnt any extra instalation. But see if you have a sticker on the trailer talking about a polar pack on the trailer. Supposed to be good down to 0. 3. If your still worried you could carry some RV Antifreeze with you and pour it down the toliet to protect the Black tank then run some down the shower to protect one of the gray tanks and then run some down the kitchen sink to protect the other gray tank. Only thing is after you dump the tanks you have to do it again but you will be protected. Hope this helped some Happy Camping :)

[Festus2]

I think your biggest concern would be with the water lines rather than the holding tanks. If you have dumped chemicals into the gray and black holding tanks, that should be sufficient in temperatures slightly below freezing but adding RV antifreeze as chuckretnav suggested would offer additional protection. Forget about the Polar or Arctic Package - it will offer very little, if any protection in prolonged freezing conditions. Any warm air that finds its way into the enclosed underbelly where your holding tanks and water lines are located will be dispersed into an area that has openings and cracks which allow cold air to enter. This warm air will only come into the underbelly and the ductwork when your furnace is running.
You might try using styrofoam pipe wrap around all of your exposed water lines which will help somewhat.

[Tom and Kelley Crawford]

Thanks for all the suggestions. We do plan to wrap exposed pipes with styrofoam but there really aren't many exposed. You mentioned chemicals in the tanks.....is there something other than RV antifreeze that we can use. Normally we keep black tank chemicals in that tank, but that is the only chemical we use regularly. Is there something else we need to be using. Would it be a a good idea to open the sewer line line and leave the water running very slowly throughout the night to keep the water lines from freezing? What about the water heater. We are just afraid of freezing lines cracking and leaking when thawed. Anyone ever use the after market tank heaters???

[Festus2]

Tom and Kelley C

You might want to check out today's post (see "Keystone Questions" - Tank Heaters) by KanTC. He has provided a link which may be of use to you.

[Wolfwalker]

Thanks for all the suggestions. We do plan to wrap exposed pipes with styrofoam but there really aren't many exposed. You mentioned chemicals in the tanks.....is there something other than RV antifreeze that we can use. Normally we keep black tank chemicals in that tank, but that is the only chemical we use regularly. Is there something else we need to be using. Would it be a a good idea to open the sewer line line and leave the water running very slowly throughout the night to keep the water lines from freezing? What about the water heater. We are just afraid of freezing lines cracking and leaking when thawed. Anyone ever use the after market tank heaters???

Here is a link also for tank and pipe heaters:

http://ultraheat.com/tank_heaters.html

also, modmyrv.com has an install under 'heating' or plumbing about this....

This spring, I am dropping the entire underbelly and redoing wiring, adding dedicated circuits, insulation, insulated duct work and upgrading the furnace, adding heat to the 'john', controlled duct work for underbelly, insulating the basement floor as well as other 'convienence' mods...