Arctic Pac

[robertmayberry]

Hi,

Its down to 25 and supposed to go down to 22 tonight where I'm currently camped while waiting for it to warm up tomorrow.

So I turned on the Arctic Pak switch.

Does anyone know what it does?

Under the fridge I can hear a whirring sound. Like a small fan. It stops when I turn off the Arctic Pac switch.

Just curious.

Thank you.

Bob
2011 Solera
San Francisco

[bclemens]

That fan is probably just the convertor fan coming on. The Arctic Pack are 12v pad heaters on the black and gray tank. If it's going to get cold, make sure the furnace stays on at a decent temp. Keep cabinet doors and closed spaces cracked open slightly so air is getting in there.

[robertmayberry]

Hi BC,

Boy, with you around its like having your own personal tech on board!

It is the converter, under the bed actually. With all the heat ducts running under the bed and behind the fridge, stove and kitchen sink its actually very toasty in those spaces. I've set the furnace at 65 in the day and 50 at night.

Thank you for the advice sir.

Bob
Solera 24S
2011
San Francisco

[robertmayberry]

Another question.

Can you turn on the Arctic Pac while driving down the road or will it drain the house batteries?

[bclemens]

Yes...while driving down the road the alternator would be charging the batteries anyway.

[F and E Damp]

I have the Arctic pack on my 02 GT. What a stupid system. I expected it to work like frost protection on water pipes at the S&B. No way. The built-in, non-adjustable thermostats come on at 40 degrees F and keep the heat on until they sense that the tank contents reach 65 F.

Who wants to burn 56 Amps at 12v dc (4 pads at 7A each) to heat up the black tank contents to 65 degrees? With the level of contaminants, even in the grey tank, the contents wouldn't solidify until about 28F.

I'm also concerned that there's no protection against the pads being on when the tanks are empty, other than the thermostats. Wouldn't take much to melt through the tank bottom if there was no water in it.

Since we don't use the rig in cold weather and don't keep any liquids on board when it's parked for the winter, I disconnected the system.

[Loefflerh]

You do not have to worry about draining the battery......just on battery power the Arctic Pak will shutoff within minutes, as soon as the voltage goes < 13.3 V it will shut off! Once you put a charge on the battery like driving it will come on again...
Hans

[robertmayberry]

Hello,

Well, I'm in Denver now. Six inches snow on ground. 22 degrees predicted tonight. All is well so far. In NW New Mexico it got so cold my water hose froze as stiff as a stick.

Now I'm wondering about the gray water tank and black water tank. My grey water tank is almost empty and the black water tank is 1/3. Will it cause any problem heating an empty tank with the Artic Pac?

Thank you.

Bob
2011 Solera
San Francisco

[bclemens]

Shouldn't be an issue, I'm sure they get turned on with bone dry tanks all the time at shows and on the lot.

[cfsoistman]

Can't imagine you would have any problems with anything melting. I have the same pads on the elbows at my discharge lines. The pads shouldn't get hot enough to do damage to any of the tanks. If you're still worried, add some RV Antifreeze to both tanks with some water.

[Taylorgso]

ABS (which I think I've read is the material the tanks/pipes are made from) softens at 190 degrees, melts at 230 - Artic Pak doesn't heat those tanks anywhere near that temperature.

[garbonz]

THEY SHUT OFF AT 65 deg, empty or full. They do NOT heat the whole tank nor will they melt anything cause they only get to 65deg. Typically they will not all run at once nor will they run all the time unless really cold.