Tank heaters

cruisin2251le · 12-06-2014, 10:11 AM

Hi need some advice new camper I turn on heaters switch lights up but no amp draw on system no blown fuse on panel is there a inline fuse ?

**dcheatwood** · 12-06-2014, 10:18 AM

Mine only kick on when outside temps get close to freezing. @ 40° I think. How cold is it where you are?

Witch Doctor · 12-06-2014, 10:52 AM

No fuse that I know of but DCHEATWOOD is correct they come on at 40 degrees and shut off at 60 degrees. They are on a temp sensor. I would think that it's to warm in the basement for it to come on. I THINK they draw like 14 to 16 amps when on. Hope that helps a little. Camaradeie, just showed me an amp pro that reads the DC current. Got it on Amazon. Clamp that baby around the DC hot leg and it will show you how many amps that circuit is pulling in DC. I have to thank him and also recommend it to everyone for use as a multi meter. You will beable to see how many amps anything is pulling, plus what amount of amps your charger is putting out.

cruisin2251le · 12-06-2014, 10:54 AM

Checked at 32 and going by the reading on the emshw30 and touch

Witch Doctor · 12-06-2014, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cruisin2251le

Checked at 32 and going by the reading on the emshw30 and touch

How cold is it where you are at 32 like you said? Are you running your Furnace with a duct in the basement? That would stop them from coming on if I understand you correctly. If your basement is above 40 degrees they will not come on. Some member also had a problem and he found that they cut a wire during installation.

cruisin2251le · 12-06-2014, 02:19 PM

Working on it now power in power out of switch working my way back now question how far back can I go before I hit the thermostat its 46 now so I know the heater will not come on

Witch Doctor · 12-06-2014, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cruisin2251le

Working on it now power in power out of switch working my way back now question how far back can I go before I hit the thermostat its 46 now so I know the heater will not come on

That I can not answer sorry but just leave your switch on. When the basement drops you should see your amps pick up. I think the whole system is wired in series so trace back to the end of the wire from the switch. If I understand your question.

cruisin2251le · 12-06-2014, 07:53 PM

OK I have power to the heaters we will see if they come on when the temps drop thanks for all the emails

ykdave · 12-22-2014, 10:34 PM

Just a little insight if you still havent figured out your tank heaters yet.

Each tank (that is equipped) has a "pad" which is 12v (wattage is dependent on tank size) and they all have built in thermostats. They would be wired parallel, so each pad/tank can operate independently (as well, being 12v pads, wiring them in series would require a 24/36/48v/ect feed and they would only function once all tanks were below the thermostat threshold). The thermostat turns on at 44*f and off at 64*f.

This being said, the tank (and its contents) need to drop to 44*f before the unit turns on, if you have any great volume of fluid in the tank, and temperatures are mild(near, or not far below freezing), it may take a long time between cycles of the heater (and like mentioned, if their is heat in the basement it can 'falsify' the thermostat readings and keep the heater from cycling)

IF your unit has 120v heat pads (i dont believe these are standard on any model, but are available from the manufacturer), they are 'live' as soon as they are plugged in, they do not have a thermostat

Witch Doctor · 12-23-2014, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ykdave

Just a little insight if you still havent figured out your tank heaters yet.

Each tank (that is equipped) has a "pad" which is 12v (wattage is dependent on tank size) and they all have built in thermostats. They would be wired parallel, so each pad/tank can operate independently (as well, being 12v pads, wiring them in series would require a 24/36/48v/ect feed and they would only function once all tanks were below the thermostat threshold). The thermostat turns on at 44*f and off at 64*f.

This being said, the tank (and its contents) need to drop to 44*f before the unit turns on, if you have any great volume of fluid in the tank, and temperatures are mild(near, or not far below freezing), it may take a long time between cycles of the heater (and like mentioned, if their is heat in the basement it can 'falsify' the thermostat readings and keep the heater from cycling)

IF your unit has 120v heat pads (i dont believe these are standard on any model, but are available from the manufacturer), they are 'live' as soon as they are plugged in, they do not have a thermostat

You are correct the series I was talking about to the OP is that if you have 3 heaters like mine to follow the hot from the switch to the first pad and follow it to the second and so on in series from first to the 3rd. I meant one circuit that each was not wired independently.....

cruisin2251le · 12-23-2014, 01:13 PM

Hi it's dropping down to 9 tonight so I hope they work

**dcheatwood** · 12-23-2014, 03:11 PM

Don't lose any sleep over it. Tank heaters on and furnace set to minimum for the night will keep it warm enough.

MrJoe · 01-01-2015, 01:17 PM

Along the same line... I have a 2014 Sunseeker with the arctic pk. I've never really checked the operation until this morning. Here's what I found.

The light on the rocker switch only lights with 120v present... Odd since I thought it was a 12v system?

The inside temp was 27 degrees F. 23 degrees F outside. With rocker switched on there was no current draw. Checked both A/C and D/C... nothin'

Sounds like I have a pretty light and nothing else. Anyone have any ideas?

cruisin2251le · 01-01-2015, 03:36 PM

Gave up for now using a heat tape

Timex · 01-01-2015, 07:31 PM

Since we are on the subject; I've got a dumb question.

On my TT, at the discharge pipe, looks like a foam pad that wraps around the pipe that says something about a heater. Is this where the tank heater is or is there a heat pad under the tanks(s) itself?

I've not yet camped where I was worried that my tank contents would freeze.

Just curious.

arpipeliner · 01-01-2015, 08:49 PM

The tank heaters are on the tanks themselves. It's a foam wrap and spray foam on my discharge pipe. Just had my underbelly to check on things not to be worried. My pads looked like 1' by 2'. Was plenty of insulation on my 29 RE.

Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

Witch Doctor · 01-01-2015, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timex

Since we are on the subject; I've got a dumb question.

On my TT, at the discharge pipe, looks like a foam pad that wraps around the pipe that says something about a heater. Is this where the tank heater is or is there a heat pad under the tanks(s) itself?

I've not yet camped where I was worried that my tank contents would freeze.

Just curious.

What you are seeing is heat tape on the discharge line. When your tank heater comes on it will supply 12v to the outlet to stop the valves from freezing if I understand you correctly. You should also have a pad under each tank it is stuck to the bottom, Mine have one under each tank and the tape on the the black discharge line only. You should see a white and red wire off the tape wrap. If you push up around the underbelly you might be able to see it better.

Witch Doctor · 01-01-2015, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrJoe

Along the same line... I have a 2014 Sunseeker with the arctic pk. I've never really checked the operation until this morning. Here's what I found.

The light on the rocker switch only lights with 120v present... Odd since I thought it was a 12v system?

The inside temp was 27 degrees F. 23 degrees F outside. With rocker switched on there was no current draw. Checked both A/C and D/C... nothin'

Sounds like I have a pretty light and nothing else. Anyone have any ideas?

They are mostly 12v systems, but do make a 110v system. What makes your problem odd is that the switch will only work with 110v only plugged in. Are your batteries fully charged? or are you running off the convertor only? How did you measure the current draw? Did you measure at the switch? Where you getting 110V or 12 V with the light on? You need to pop that panel off and put a meter on the switch. I really doubt if FR put a 110V system in. If the light came up you would have to have voltage either 110V or 12V at the switch ?

MrJoe · 01-01-2015, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gljurczyk

They are mostly 12v systems, but do make a 110v system. What makes your problem odd is that the switch will only work with 110v only plugged in. Are your batteries fully charged? or are you running off the convertor only? How did you measure the current draw? Did you measure at the switch? Where you getting 110V or 12 V with the light on? You need to pop that panel off and put a meter on the switch. I really doubt if FR put a 110V system in. If the light came up you would have to have voltage either 110V or 12V at the switch ?

I disconnected the shore power, flipped the rocker switch and watched my DC voltage. I didn't use an amp meter. The voltage remained 12.8-13.0 for over 30 minutes, until I plugged backup to shore power. The rocker didn't light. The rocker lights when on shore power. I was drawing less than an amp for the entire MH with batteries charged and Arctic Pk on using shore power. Sounds strange.

Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

Witch Doctor · 01-02-2015, 06:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrJoe

I disconnected the shore power, flipped the rocker switch and watched my DC voltage. I didn't use an amp meter. The voltage remained 12.8-13.0 for over 30 minutes, until I plugged backup to shore power. The rocker didn't light. The rocker lights when on shore power. I was drawing less than an amp for the entire MH with batteries charged and Arctic Pk on using shore power. Sounds strange.

Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

That really is odd, are your other rocker lights working on 12V only? You are going to have to pull that switch and measure it there with a meter. The wire could be cut or not making contact. You going to have to trace it back to where your losing power. Also check your ground on that circuit. Until we know that the switch is working we can't go farther. You might just have a bad switch. Do you see any heat tape at your sewer line. You should be able to get 12v there if you can see the wires. Should be between the outlet and the valve. I had to replace my switch once already. Do you have any liquid in your tanks? a couple of gals. or so?

You may also like: