"heated tanks"???

[tomcook]

I have seen several references to "heated" water and/or waste tanks.

I have a 1992 34' Excella 1000. Hate to sound like an idiot, but do I have heated tanks?? How do I check?

Clueless Tom

[Condoluminum]

Tom-

You gotta work on a new nickname as well...

The water tanks are between the floor and the belly skin on your trailer, and there are furnace ducts that run down to warm the space between the two floors... So, when you are in the trailer and the furnace is working to keep you warm, it is also working to heat the tanks and keep their contents warm (or at least above freezing..). There are no separate tank heaters, or electrical heat strips attached to the tanks, and if you are storing the trailer without running the furnace, then there is no heat available for the tanks..
Hope that helps...

John McG

[john hd]

john is right on the money!

How do I check?

look in the bottom of your cabinets, you should see a tee cut in the flex duct with a smaller duct disappearing down into the "basement".

and yes you must run the furnace in order to keep the contents from freezing!

john

[wahoonc]

Be forewarned that there will be at least two Airstreams with electrically heated tanks...MINE Seeing how I ended up doing a full interior tear down and having to pull the tanks for frame repairs. I decided to add tank heaters as an upgrade. From what I know the furnace does a pretty decent job, however backups can't hurt. I haven't decided whether to go with 12v or 120v but they will be added to the upgrade list.

Aaron

[markdoane]

Originally Posted by wahoonc

. . I haven't decided whether to go with 12v or 120v but they will be added to the upgrade list.
Aaron

No need to choose. Get the (very expensive) dual voltage heater from Camping World.

http://www.campingworld.com/browse/s...9&skunum=15706

[CanoeStream]

Two friends visited an Airstream dealer and looked at a 2007 23' Safari SE last week and told us all about it. There were wall switches in the bathroom and about the time I was going to say "hot water heater" he said they were black & grey tank heaters. He didn't have a clue why freshwater didn't have one -- though it might be a bacterial risk. I don't see anything at the Airstream site -- though that's not a surprise.

Whether looking at furnace forced air or the Camping World heater, one takes a big risk to be out in 20 degree temps. You're only one minor oversight away from an expensive mess.

john hd uses his Airstream for deercamp while fully winterized and carries water separate if I recall. Now that's worth a little recognition for using your noggin and not relying on all the conveniences of home!

[john hd]

bob

i have had water in my trailer down to 17 degrees with no freeze ups! sure do go through alot of propane! i have 3 30 pounders and never let the last one running get below 3/4 full.

lately i have been guest camping at rickstream's place during deer camp and have been dry camping. much easier!

if you cold weather camp with water in the trailer you must be prepared to winterize in a moments notice and have the supplies/tools on hand.

i have had the furnace quit and had to rely on the heatstrip in the ac unit! a dinosaur board fixed that!

john

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by markdoane

No need to choose. Get the (very expensive) dual voltage heater from Camping World.

http://www.campingworld.com/browse/s...9&skunum=15706

Kewl...I hadn't seen those yet. Might be the way to go I think the ability to heat the tanks by some process other than running the furnace might prove handy on occasion. But then again so would moving to South Florida...NOT!

Aaron

[wahoonc]

I agree with Bob and John. I got got caught with my pants down (so to speak) a couple of years ago in VA Beach. I was using the popup in January as temp housing (I know a canidate for the Darwin Awards ) and the weather man lied, then the power went out at the campground AND I had to tow the freakin' thing 125 miles in an ice storm. Short end of it was I had to replace quite a bit of plumbing including faucets. Fortunately I was able to empty the water heater or I would have been replacing that too! Temps hit around 19 the night prior to the bailout.

Aaron

[GallivanGM]

So, the two switches on the wall are not for the hot water tank? Well, that is news to me. I guess they can remain off and as long as the trailer has power, the water will stay warm. airstreams ought to come with detailed videos!

[Gene T]

We have a 23' Safari with heated tanks. There are two switches on the bathroom wall. One for fresh water tank and the other for both the black and grey water tanks. The fresh water lines beneath the wardrobe cabinets are also wrapped in heat tape. They are 12 v heaters.