Rolling Condo
South Carolina
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Joined: 11/22/2005
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Ultra Heat Check them out.
'90 GMC R2500 7.4L
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Pbronson
Syracuse, NY
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Joined: 10/30/2002
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I am in the Mechanical Insulation business and would recommend looking in the Yellow Pages for a distributor in your area. Using spray foam like Great Stuff would be quite messy and there are other materials that would do a much better job for less money. Ask them about Armaflex insulation for the piping and tanks. All insulation does is slow down the heat loss of the materials it is surrounding so instead of freezing in 1 hour it will freeze in 4 hours (just made up comparison numbers). Heat tape would be necessary.
Hope this helps.
Pete
Pete and Pat
2004 Itasca Horizon
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TXiceman
(Near) Houston,TX
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Joined: 11/17/2000
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About the best thing to do is to use some of the aluminum backed duct board. Cut to fit and glue tot he tank. I'd still add some straps to hold the stuff into place. This will not help much in a static situation. Over a period of time, the tanks will still loose the heat and eventaully freeze unless you apply an external heat source such as the stick on tank heater pads.
Ken
KE5DFR
Vintage 1979 Silver Streak Supreme Rocket toted by a 2002 F350, crewcab dually, 7.3L,4.10 axle,SCMT. Travel with two miniature Schnauzers and one African Gray parrot. Practicing for retirement!
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wileecoyote
Tennessee, USA
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Joined: 09/02/2008
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I am interested in this topic as well. I have read quite a few different solutions for winterizing your tanks and pipes. Options include spray-on insulation, heated pipe tapes, dog warming blankets, RV tank blankets, building tank enclosures, sealing the belly with foam boards, adding a ducted heat vent, etc.
Yet there doesn't seem to be a clear cut option out there that most people agree is best. From all that I have seen and learned it seems best to add a small heat source around the tanks and pipes, then insulate the tanks and pipes from the exterior weather to keep the heat in. I have seen pipe tapes used before but those were almost always AC-only and I would expect DC models to drain a battery in no time. We would have AC at most CG but not all of them, and there might be times when we need to travel with partially full tanks or water in the lines and we wouldn't anything to freeze in transit. So the ideal solution seems to be a heat source which will work on AC when available but switch over to DC if needed.
The tank blankets that skpinchar listed above seem like they would do the trick but these are only for the tanks. If we applied one blanket to each tank and insulated the tanks and pipes then I am wondering if this would be enough to do the trick? I figure the water in the tanks would be slightly heated which would then mix with the cold water in the drain pipes and hopefully prevent them from freezing as well. If so then the only other issue is whether we need to protect the water lines that run inside the trailer walls and floors, under the sink, etc. I figure we could insulate some of them through access panels but of course some of the interior lines will be impossible to get to. Maybe it would be ok if we just kept the trailer warm while the lines are full and then blow out the lines any time the trailer will be cold inside for more than a few hours?
Regarding insulation for the tanks and pipes under the trailer: I plan to find some kind of foam insulation board and then mount these with removable bolts, hinges, hooks, or something similar. This would be important so I could gain access to the area for maintenance and inspection later if needed. Some of the trailers we have seen with sealed underbellies were sealed with a single long sheet of plastic board that ran the full length of the trailer, then had insulation on top of it. Good for winterizing but terrible for maintenance as the board had to be cut for access and then the insulation had to be ripped out and packed back in. Plus a water leak inside of the plastic board would not be visible externally until much damage was done. Surely there has to be a better way.
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jferre9570
Southeastern MA, USA
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Joined: 06/10/2004
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Rolling Condo has the RIGHT answer for this application. Visit the website. They have products for tanks and pipes.
John & Diane
1996 Beaver Monterey 3403
2002 Ford Windstar toad
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pnichols
Santa Cruz Mountains
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Joined: 04/26/2005
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"Yet there doesn't seem to be a clear cut option out there that most people agree is best. From all that I have seen and learned it seems best to add a small heat source around the tanks and pipes, then insulate the tanks and pipes from the exterior weather to keep the heat in. I have seen pipe tapes used before but those were almost always AC-only and I would expect DC models to drain a battery in no time. We would have AC at most CG but not all of them, and there might be times when we need to travel with partially full tanks or water in the lines and we wouldn't anything to freeze in transit. So the ideal solution seems to be a heat source which will work on AC when available but switch over to DC if needed."
Why wouldn't one always want DC tank heaters so that they have the option of emergency tank heating overnight with no hookups if ever caught in this situation? Remember that with hookups, the 12V system is getting supplied through the hookup converter/charger anyway .... along with keeping the RV batteries topped up, too. It seems like 12V heaters would be the more versatile choice to have.
Regarding keeping tanks from freezing, it must be that many RV's don't have their tank valves close to the tanks themselves? (My valves are right at the tank.) For this case, tank heaters also should keep the liquid lying against the one side of the valves warm enough so as to keep the valve from freezing up. The large diameter draining lines leading from the other side of the valves should of course have no liquid in them to freeze.
My preference is to rely on 12V tank heaters for both hookup situations and boondocking, while always keeping drain valves closed when camping with hookups. Doing this, wrapping drain lines should only be necessary if there are long drain line runs between the valves and the tanks. Also with heaters on the tanks themselves, why would heating lamps/lights ever be required inside enclosed tank compartments?
Phil, 2005 E450 Itasca 324V Spirit
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Handbasket
Asheville, NC
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Joined: 01/17/2003
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Using the canned foam presents another problem that I don't think anyone mentioned... If the pipes and tanks are anywhere near clean, you are going to have one heck of a time cleaning it off to make repairs later. For instance, what if you need to replace a valve?
But yes, I've had this thought myself. FWIW, I rejected it.
Jim, "The world is run by those who show up."
'06 Tiger CX 'C Minus' on a Silverado 2500HD 4x4, 8.1 & Allison ('Loafer's Glory'); '07 Forester 2.5 ( the 'HANDBSKT'); '95 Toyota SR5 V-6 4x4 pickup, ARB locker, Bilsteins, Warn hubs & M8000, etc;
'94 968, M030 swaybars ('DOPPLER')
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Broccoli1
Los Angeles
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Joined: 02/28/2007
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Great Stuff- not just for insulation
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pnichols
Santa Cruz Mountains
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Joined: 04/26/2005
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Ed,
Jost how big is the portable black water tank inside that snowman, anyway??
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BillyW
North ID
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Joined: 10/08/2003
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The Ultra Heat link above is a great starting point. I used AC/DC heat blankets on my tanks, and one DC pipe heater down near the drain. Then I wrapped the drain plumbing with insulation and put .5" thick foam insulation on the bottom and sides of the tanks and filled the gaps with the spray foam. Then I added corrugated plastic sheets between the frame rails to enclose and protect my tanks.
Yeah, they can drain the batteries REAL well, if left unattended. I also added switches in side the trailer to have complete control. This configuration has worked well for me though I haven't tested it in severe conditions.
I'm in to it for almost $400, but I know I'm ready any time. Oh yeah... good old Eternabond comes in handy to make sure things stay stuck down there. The heat blanket didn't want to stick to the black tank for some reason.
'97 F150 4X4
'04 Pioneer 18T6
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