Help: Water heater output to fresh water tank |
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dsmiths
Senior Member Joined: 10 Oct 2011 Location: Southern Ind Online Status: Offline Posts: 866 |
Topic: Help: Water heater output to fresh water tank Posted: 05 Nov 2011 at 12:57pm |
I think you made the right decision, the damage from frozen pipes, pumps, valves etc would have cost more in the long run than doing it right the first time, I have to agree with your dad. happy camping, we just got back about 2 hours ago and planning our next move.
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Dane and Donna Smith
2011 RP-172 2008 Chevrolet Trailblazer 4X4 lift kit prodigy wireless brake controller |
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XPod
Newbie Joined: 08 Oct 2011 Location: Evansville IN Online Status: Offline Posts: 29 |
Posted: 04 Nov 2011 at 3:08pm |
Decision made: Thank you for your input!
Thanks to everyone who responded, I read and considered every post and decided to have tank heaters installed. I take X-Pod in tommorrow and should have it back in a week. Several things applied....
1. Cheap <> Fast <> Good - You can only have two
- Since our first trip is coming up Thanksgiving week, excluding practice night or two locally, I needed fast and good.
- With enough time, say a summer, I think I could have made the idea work, but figuring out the system and troubleshooting would have taken too much time.
- My dad was the final word on helping me get over the pain of spending this small fortune. He's never been into RV's but the wisdom from other projects still applied "get something designed, well tested and professionally installed its worth it becuase it'll work."
2. Winter - My big reason for buying X-Pod was winter camping. I just closed my eyes and imagined being in the camper, 20 degrees, wind blowing etc... and that visual walk through of a camp out helped because I came back to one over riding piece of wisdom I have learned. EVERYTHING is 10 times more difficult and breaks 10 times easier in cold weather. If I cobbled something together that works in summer testing, on a camp out in the winter is not the time to find out it doesn't work in the cold.
3. Likely I would have saved less than I thought after building >> testing >> re-buying >> testing (repeat)
Thanks for the help! I'm going to cry a little and pay "the man" for a good system. I'll only have to buy it once an hopefully it helps re-sale value.
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Tidalwave4455
Groupie Joined: 25 Aug 2011 Location: minnesota Online Status: Offline Posts: 57 |
Posted: 01 Nov 2011 at 1:51pm |
You may wish to contact Forest River...my FR RV has what they call an 'Arctic Pak' optional water tank heating system. My C-Class RV has both fresh and waste water tanks suspended beneath the unit.
The tanks have a rubberized mat glued to the bottom of the tanks. The mats have electric resistance heating wires imbedded in them, with a thermostat control. The heating pads use 110VAC. You might be able to buy a couple of the Arctic Pak mats from FR. You would also have to find out what type of adhesive FR uses to glue the mats to the poly tanks. You would have to run the AC wiring to an outlet. About using the Pod's water heater to prevent freeze up of the fresh water tank...You would have to t-connect a new water line from the hot water line to another t-connector on the fresh water intake pipe. One problem would be to have a temperature controlled valve in the new connecting pipe. The thermostatic control for the new valve would have to be installed outside of the Pod. It needs to open only when the temperature drops below freezing. The other problem would be that the water pump would have to run to circulate the water. The hot water heater sits higher than the water tank suspended below the Pod. Therefore, the hot water would just sit in the water heater if the pump wasn't used toe circulate the water. |
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techntrek
Admin Group - pHp Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 9062 |
Posted: 01 Nov 2011 at 8:36am |
The black tank is an easier problem and doesn't require removing the stock toilet, just keep a gallon of RV antifreeze next to the toilet and use that to flush instead of water. The black tank contents should stay liquid with that much antifreeze mixed in. This is my plan for the upcoming winter trip (see my other post to you elsewhere).
The gray tank is much more of a problem since there is no way to keep the antifreeze from being diluted to the point of uselessness. True for the sink or shower, either "produces" many gallons of water. I would leave the gray tank drained and unused. Same goes for the fresh water tank, especially since there are exposed water lines coming from the tank, plus the exposed low-point drains elsewhere under the pod. Alternatively, RVs that can be used in the winter have all plumbing and tanks enclosed and insulated with cabin heat blowing into the lower compartment. You may be able to box in the tanks and lines on the pod with plywood and closed-cell insulation (the pink or blue stuff), then cut strategic holes in the floor of the pod to install computer biscuit fans to suck cabin air into the compartment. Much more trouble-free than using tank heaters, plus it gives you the option to dry camp on battery power (there would be no way to power tank heaters from electric w/o a generator). You will need several batteries though, since they have lowered capacity in cold weather and biscuit fans use an amp or two per hour. |
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Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
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Guests
Guest Group |
Posted: 01 Nov 2011 at 7:55am |
Another idea............
could you carry (?) number of 5 or 6 gallon jugs of fresh water inside the heated Pod and use the hose, normally used for pumping the pink antifreeze, to pump the water out of the jugs?
The water would stay thawed and you would only have to turn a valve or two.
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dsmiths
Senior Member Joined: 10 Oct 2011 Location: Southern Ind Online Status: Offline Posts: 866 |
Posted: 31 Oct 2011 at 9:41pm |
Yeah Goose I think you are right, stock tank heater would be dependent upon water level and may overheat, recirculation pump would be best or better yet dry camp, I saw a Post somewhere where they replaced the Thetfort toilet with a dry chem toilet so they could camp well into cold weather. As for us we will try to camp in Southern Ind for a couple more weeks, then its fire in the fireplace and wife and I will go into Winter home made soup cook off, She has me beat on homemade vegatable beef soup, but I make a mean Filet Gumbo. Donna says I make the best home made Chicken and Dumplins she has ever had, I make em from scratch, they are fairly easy. Happy Campin
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Dane and Donna Smith
2011 RP-172 2008 Chevrolet Trailblazer 4X4 lift kit prodigy wireless brake controller |
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Goose
Senior Member Joined: 24 Sep 2010 Location: Arizona Online Status: Offline Posts: 672 |
Posted: 31 Oct 2011 at 9:10pm |
I don't think that the stock tank heater would work to well, as the fresh water gets low the heat elements would make contact with the bottom of the plastic tank and the result may not be what you want besides having to cut a hole large enough to get into the tank and the electric wire to seal up tight. At this point I don't have a simple solution to your problem without doing something really expensive.
I have to vote with Iteach and say go the dry camping route even though it is not what you want to do. Goose
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Mother Goose's Caboose..2011 RP171..07 Grand Cherokee
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XPod
Newbie Joined: 08 Oct 2011 Location: Evansville IN Online Status: Offline Posts: 29 |
Posted: 31 Oct 2011 at 7:44pm |
Temps...i'd just like to keep the freshwater above freezing...maybe a little more for some buffer. I live in the tip of southern Indiana so the winters aren't too harsh but we can still go below freezing for a few days at a time. Ya the electricity might cost a fortune but i'm not sure about draining/winterizing every Sunday night, then de-winterizing on Friday. I went into this knowing the fuel for winter camping was going to be significant.
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TerryM
Admin Group - pHp Joined: 16 Nov 2009 Location: Saint Augustine Online Status: Offline Posts: 1950 |
Posted: 31 Oct 2011 at 7:44pm |
If you pack snow up all around the camper that will help a lot. It will also help in heating the camper. It really depends on how cold it will be. If it is only down to around 32* you shouldn't have much of a problem. Even colder temps. for short duration wouldn't be bad.
Remember the furnace blower draws a lot of power. Terry |
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RP-175 W/Lift Kit 2011 Ford F-150 4X4
Saint Augustine, FL: The first permanent European settlement in the USA: 1565 |
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XPod
Newbie Joined: 08 Oct 2011 Location: Evansville IN Online Status: Offline Posts: 29 |
Posted: 31 Oct 2011 at 7:37pm |
Is there a way to get into the freshwater tank other than the fill line and drain plug on the bottom? I thought about a pond heater but i'm hesitant to cut into the tank itself.
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