Tank heat

[mikeyr]

How do I turn on the tank heaters in a 2014 Coachman Miradia 34 BH? It is freezing and I can't turn them on. Thanks

[Dave_Monica]

I looked on the Coachman site and the type of system is not mentioned.

If you have 12V tank heaters (heating pads on the tanks and dump valves) there should be a switch controlling it in your control panel. If there's no switch for a 12V heater, it must use ducted heat from the camper's furnace.

Dave

[mikeyr]

Thinks for the fast reply. I have been trying all day to keep the water from freezing. I have learned that ducked heat is not enough to keep from freezing up.

[Mr. Dan]

Mine is a completely different unit... but my switch looks like this. Obviously, mine is optional equipment.




Sent (I think)

[Roll]

Are you sure you have heated tanks? Coachmen does (or did) not offer that option as far as I know. I don't think you can get heated tanks even on the Diesel line from Coachmen (Forest River). Someone may comment that heated tanks in the diesel line are now available, I don't know.


I have an Encounter (2011) which was offered as their top of the line gas coach in that year (and since I think) and it does not have heated tanks nor was there an option for heated tanks. It is a three season coach.


I did look at retro fitting tank heaters and the cost was prohibitive. There is no furnace ducting to the tank area or to the wet bay. FYI you will have a freezing problem in the wet bay before you have a tank freeze.

We got caught out in 28 degree weather one trip in March this year (2014). If you are caught in cold temps my advice is to run your furnace up to a higher heat setting than you might otherwise use, pull your slides in to conserve heat, and put a portable light (incandescent or halogen) in your wet bay. That should generate enough heat to keep the water lines in that enclosure from freezing.

Good luck; freezing pipes is not something you want to have to deal with.



Roll

[2014-319DS]

I have a Coachmen Leprechaun 319DS and it had tank heaters. The switch is located on the main control board with water heater, water pump, etc. I decided to give it a go this past weekend in 12 degree weather and while the tank heaters worked, the valves did not have a heater the froze. I wish they had heaters on the valves. One thing I did for the second night was to pour some winterizer in the tanks and that kept the valves from freezing.

[F and E Damp]

I had a Georgetown 325 which had the Arctic Pack heater system. I thought it was such a dumb system, I never used it. Why would you let a system pull 28 amps out of the house batteries to heat the sewage to 64F? The thermostats were built into the pads and were not adjustable. Until I read the info leaflet, I expected something like the "FrostStat" systems in S&Bs, on at 35F and off at 40F.

I also didn't like the pad size and the fact that there was no check for "is there liquid in the tank". The pads were about 8" x 6". and I was concerned that if you concentrated 84 watts into that area on a polyethylene tank, there was a risk it would damage it.

Since we didn't travel into very cold regions, it was never an issue.