Tank warmer turned on an empty tank

[BarbRude]

I'm hoping we didn't mess up, the tank warmer for our fresh water tank was on for 13 hours while the tank was empty. Could we have a problem, like a melted fresh water tank? Any advise will be appreciated.


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[sail2liv]

I think someone said on here they are thermostat controlled and come on at 40 degrees....we know when they are on by the amps flowing into our 5 er....on the surge gard

[RSchleder]

I don't believe there's any way that the heater could/would melt the water tank, those tanks are very heavy duty. If anything, you would blow a fuse or burnout the heating element. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it, just test it out to be sure it's still working the next chance you get.
Now, if it had been your hot water heater, be ready to replace the heating element!

[Mikegjax]

Should be temperature controlled. On when near freezing and off above 40 or so. They don't get that hot to begin with.

[bturner]

I read somewhere on at 44 and off at 64. So no damage.

[Dakota EV]

I just had tank warmers added to my 2015 sierra by the dealer that sold me the unit. But they told me that the tank warmers come on when you turn on the switch and that there is not a thermostat control for them. I thought that they should be temperature controlled but not according to the dealer. The units were supposed to be the same unit that you can order from the factory. Does anyone know if I can possible add a thermostat control to them. Thanks,

[MrJoe]

Dakota, I read that the 120 volt heating pads are not thermostatically controlled, but the 12 volt pads are.


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[Dakota EV]

Thanks for the reply but the dealer told me before I ordered these units that they were 12 volt dc pads. That is why I thought that they were thermostat controlled. But I guess that I was wrong.

[MrJoe]

Odd, the 12v units I've looked at all had a built in stat.


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[Dakota EV]

I would love to be able to check these units out but to do that I would have to take the underbelly cover down and I would rather not do that. When I turn the switch on I hear the inverter kick in which should mean that the pads are working and that they are 12 volt DC. The outside temperature was above 60 when I tried it. I also spoke to the techs that installed them and they said that they were not thermostat units. So I am confused too at this point.

[youroo]

Our V Lite came from the factory with (Heat Pads on all (4) tanks as well as All the (Piping) that is Outside the (Enclosed Belly) valves,elbows,and straight runs! There is a (LOT) of heat pads and wire most is (INSIDE the Enclosed Belly)! There is (ONLY) (1) illuminated switch for (ALL of these heat pads),I have NO idea how a person can tell (Easily) if ALL are working! It is a (Snake Pit Mess of Wiring) inside the (Belly covering) and you would need to drop (30+ Feet) of belly to probe all the Heat Pads! Youroo!!Ours are (12V).

[Eaglelover]

My heater thermostats are wired out to the black and grey tank valves. There is a black foam wrap around the tank side of the valves and the sensors are under the foam. They are 12V. Just a FYI, I had to remove the converter from the wall and I was surprised to find a fuse holder for the pads behind the converter. I would have never thought to look there. There is also a relay that activates the power to the pads. The switch on the panel only activates the relay and that sends power to the pads. Nothing about that in the manual !! Regards; Frank

[DBsRedVett]

Don;t think so, even if you had it on, it will only go into action when temps are below 40 or 35

[greymedic]

When we purchased our 2014 flagstaff last spring, the dealer told us the tank warmer was on a thermostat.

[F and E Damp]

Our Georgetown had the Arctic Pack option. There were two elements on each of the black and grey tanks. The heaters were thermostatically controlled (built in, not adjustable), The switched on at 40F and stayed on until 64F.

I couldn't see any point in heating sewage to 64 degrees or drawing 28 amps out of the house batteries (7 amps per pad) to do so. The pads were quite small and I was concerned about possibly melting through the plastic tank wall.

Since we never camped in cold weather, they never got used.

[ykdave]

Shouldnt have caused any damage though its not a recommended practice.

The pads have internal thermostats, and should cut out long before causing any damage to the tank, though with no mass to heat up it causes it to 'short cycle' and could cause premature failure of the thermostat.

[geotex1]

Originally Posted by BarbRude

I'm hoping we didn't mess up, the tank warmer for our fresh water tank was on for 13 hours while the tank was empty. Could we have a problem, like a melted fresh water tank? Any advise will be appreciated.


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Really, depends on what material your freshwater tank is made of. If it's a common rotationally molded polyethylene tank, it may have caused the bottom to droop a bit because polyethylene is a polymer that softens with heat. Though, it's more likely a non-thermostatically controlled pad would burn out before that. However, unless something has changed, FR uses thermostatically controlled 12VDC pads when the Arctic Pack or heated tank option is ordered. So as soon as the temperature reaches 65 degF they cut off.