Wet bay heat

[CSWVK]

They are wired into zone 3

[dlfishing]

Originally Posted by bclemens

We used to put in a thermostatically controlled ceramic/fan forced heater in the wet bay. That had its own share of problems.

Since I don’t have an Aqua hot that’s exactly what I was planning to do. What kind of problems should I expect. I’m thinking of using a thermostat switch and tapping into the water hose reel power wire for the 12 volt ceramic heater.

[bclemens]

We had one I think was called a wet bay heater or something. Real simple with t-stat on the housing. Then we just used pipe strap to secure it. The tech did not go into detail what issues, he just said "it was a nice little heater that worked well, but it wasn't perfect, we did have some issues with it"

[Webefine]

DL, I installed a 12 volt heater in my wet bay. The one I installed came with 15' of 12 ga. wire that I hooked directly to the battery with a in line fuse. It is 300 watts, so far works pretty well. I installed on the side wall above the hose reel.
https://www.12volt-travel.com/12-vol...se-p-5931.html

[dlfishing]

Webefine
Thanks, I had seen your post previously on this but I couldn’t find it. The search engine in this forum doesn’t work to good for me.
Why did you run it all the way to the battery. If it’s only 300 Watts the amperage can’t be too high. Do you have an auto thermostat for freezing temperatures?
The aluminum bracket you built really looks neat. Is it welded or bent and pop riveted?
I have saved the web site you provided and will probably order it. Not too urgent now, with spring near.

[Webefine]

Yeah 300 watts would need like 8 ga. wire but since the heater came with 15' of 12 ga it just made sense to me to run it to the battery. I have not installed a T stat but it would be simple enough. At only 300 watts, if its cold enough to use it I'm not worried about it getting to hot. The bracket is just bent out of one piece and screwed to the side panel.
I just checked in my garage and I have some metal left over, if you would like bracket I can bring one to the rally. I'm a sheetmetal worker by trade so bending metal is what I do.
Also I am pretty sure I got my heater off the shelf at Pilot or Flying j truck stop.

[dlfishing]

Webefine
I take you up on the offer to build the bracket. I’ll be glad to pay you or we can work out a trade.
12 Gauge seems big, I guess it’s because of the length. I believe I will tie it into the H2O reel power. I’ll decide after I purchase. I guess you ran the wiring under the coach.

[chroniekon]

I think 300 watts at 12 volts is closer to 25 amps.

[chroniekon]

300 watts at 12 volts is 25 amps. 12 ga. is typically rated for 20 amps. 10 ga. for 30 amps.

[Webefine]

Yes I ran the wire under the rig. No problem on the bracket just remind me as we get closer, my rig is in storage now so if we talk closer to the rally I will put it in the rig so I won't forget it.
As for wire size I was going by this chart.

[dlfishing]

You’re correct, my mind was on 120V

[joet19711]

FOURWHL:

Since I will be going back to cold weather soon, I mounted a "down to 40 deg" Honeywell stat in the water bay and wired the cozy exchanger under the washer to my zone 3 AH. Works good, as you say, one duct my not be enough down there.

[FOURWHL]

So my hose reel ended up freezing again. Seems its good down to about 10, but below that the temp gradient is just too much to keep up with. Was easy enough to run a space heater below 10.

Overall was really nice not worrying about a space heater most of the time.

I think adding a second duct on the hose reel side will make a big difference.

[joet19711]

Originally Posted by FOURWHL

So my hose reel ended up freezing again. Seems its good down to about 10, but below that the temp gradient is just too much to keep up with. Was easy enough to run a space heater below 10.

Overall was really nice not worrying about a space heater most of the time.

I think adding a second duct on the hose reel side will make a big difference.

Yeah, I think another cozy exchanger with two ducts (one on each side) of the bay would be ideal.
Big job cutting into the hydronic lines, I don't think I want to tangle with that one. You could mount the new exchanger under the bed, the return line from the one under the washer could go on there and then add a piece in between the two exchangers. Problem is more fluid, and air in everything.
Sounds like good job for Dynamax.

[dlfishing]

Originally Posted by Webefine

Yeah 300 watts would need like 8 ga. wire but since the heater came with 15' of 12 ga it just made sense to me to run it to the battery. I have not installed a T stat but it would be simple enough. At only 300 watts, if its cold enough to use it I'm not worried about it getting to hot. The bracket is just bent out of one piece and screwed to the side panel.

I just checked in my garage and I have some metal left over, if you would like bracket I can bring one to the rally. I'm a sheetmetal worker by trade so bending metal is what I do.

Also I am pretty sure I got my heater off the shelf at Pilot or Flying j truck stop.

Webefine
I Sent you a PM. Did you get It?