Heater for Water Bay

peter.leabo · 11-09-2019, 12:25 PM

We own a 2019 View 24D and this is our first winter with it. When not in use, it will be stored in limestone caves near Kansas City, which are temp/humidity controlled so we won't be winterizing it. We plan cruising across the southern tier this winter and I'm sure we'll be in areas where the nighttime temps will dip below freezing and possibly to the mid 20s. Does anyone have suggestions for heating the water bay area just enough so we don't have to worry about the drain pipes or outdoor shower hose freezing? Thanks for any suggestions!!

Winterbagoal · 11-09-2019, 12:50 PM

Year of your unit might make a difference in the answers you may get.

Unless it's a fully enclosed water bay, there's not much you can do about it except avoid freezing temperatures. Our N24V's water tank is exposed to the elements and isn't insulated as far as I know. It could probably handle short periods of sub freezing temps overnight, as long as the days were well above freezing to compensate.

peter.leabo · 11-09-2019, 01:22 PM

Thanks! It's a 2019 (I edited the original post). The water bay in the N24D is on driver's side rear, just ahead of the electric bay. It is enclosed like the other storage compartments, but not insulated. The RV would always be heated at night (65+ degrees).

Winterbagoal · 11-09-2019, 04:30 PM

Mine's about the same place. I've been underneath and it's encased in a metal box to protect it from road damage I'd guess, but it's probably not insulated that I can see. 31 gallons of water would take a while to freeze solid, but it could start along the lines in and out, and that could do damage. Like I said, maybe if you keep it fairly full, and keep the inside of the coach warm, it would survive low temps overnight, as long as things warm up during the day.

BVThunder · 11-10-2019, 10:06 AM

Mid 20s is not all that cold. I have a few suggestions based on experience. Our 2007 HR Endeavor had a small square ceramic heater that worked really well. I've messed with the light bulb thing but wasn't really comfortable with it because the bulb had to be placed or suspended as not to touch anything that might melt. The method we use now is a short heat tape draped around in the wet bay. If you are camped where your gray line is connected, then running the kitchen faucet as a bleeder works well at those temps. Not sure about your unit but it should keep temps above freezing if you are running the heat.

**creativepart** · 11-10-2019, 10:41 AM

The only real cold you need to be concerned with is extended cold. Overnight cold can freeze an outside fresh water hose on the ground, but the mass of your RV will keep the pipes and drains above freezing as long as it's not 24 to 48 hours of continuous temps in the 20's or below.

If it's 24 at night but warms to 40 during the day there would be no concern at all.

We travel in the Spring and in the Fall. In the Rockies it's not unusual for the nighttime temps to drop into the the 20's every night - but the days are 40's to 50's+. The only thing I do to prepare for freezes is make sure the fresh water tank is full enough to use exclusively and put away the city water hose so it doesn't freeze or burst.

AFChap · 11-17-2019, 08:02 PM

When I get concerned about the water bay I put a small incandescent bulb fixture in the compartment … auto trouble light, can light, etc. The one bulb will keep the compartment in the high forties in really severe cold, or higher.

bkg · 11-17-2019, 08:12 PM

I just returned from a 7 day trip that we experienced 3 days below freezing with 2 nights in the low teens.

I knew the weather change was coming so I added water to the fresh tank and disconnected and drained the hose to city water.
I turned on the tank heat pads and went about our business. No issue what-so-ever. In my unit (24V), the water bay is somewhat open to the bed above. This is also where the furnace common return is located. Maybe some spill heat gets around in the bay? However, I mostly ran on electric heat (portable ceramic) except for the one night that got to 13*, had to run the furnace to supplement the electric, meaning that the water bay didn't get any benefit of the heat the 2 other nights when the furnace didn't run. Again, no problems experienced.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Winterbagoal

Our N24V's water tank is exposed to the elements and isn't insulated as far as I know. It could probably handle short periods of sub freezing temps overnight, as long as the days were well above freezing to compensate.

Winterbagoal, my freshwater tank is centered at the back of our 24V, just ahead of the hitch, however, ours is enclosed within a metal box with styrofoam sheet insulation between the tank and box. I didn't dig far enough into it to see if Winnebago installed a heat pad/strip for that particular tank.
Mine is a 2019 and did come factory equipped with tank heat pads.

I will close with one other lesson learned years ago; make certain that if sewer hose has been used, to fully drain it too. A cold outting many years ago I drained my grey tank but I didn't pickup the sewer hose. A droop in the hose held some water which froze into a solid plug. 3 days later we were ready to go but the plug hadn't thawed. I had to get the wife's hair dryer out so I could dump my tanks. Gave my camping neighbors something fun to talk about.

Bobby

rvjimbo · 01-31-2020, 06:29 AM

I went to Walmart and bought a plastic caged worklight with a six foot cord. On a 2016 24G the bay is on DS rear compartment. That door also shares the electrical bay. I removed all wires from the bay and placed the bulb facing forward into the area behind all the water valves/connections, then fed the wire up into rear living area through the floor hatch that gives access to the water pump. Right next to the hatch is a 110 outlet to plug into. At night I turn the light on, and the 60 watt bulb keeps it warm in the Water connector compartment. Easy $5 fix

powercat_ras · 01-31-2020, 08:38 AM

Another thought is that you should be sure to leave your RV hot water heater electric heat switch on when it's going to be in the 20s. It will ensure water in the HWH tank can't freeze and some of the heat from the 140 degree heated water in the tank will radiate into the basement thru the hot and cold water lines running out of it.

Morich · 01-31-2020, 09:02 AM

A major point that might be missed is how water freezes quicker in small spaces like lines. The tanks are pretty hard to freeze as they are a larger volume of water but what does freeze quick is the part we often can't see. Also there is far easier room to expand in tanks than lines.
This thinking leaves me to worry more about the small stuff like lines that may run in areas that won't get the heat from a light in the bay. Each unit will take a different approach to see that those lines are protected.
A standard in the deep South where it doesn't freeze often is to leave water running a trickle on cold nights. It takes a bit of extra thinking on RVs, due to the limited storage for the excess water and it also needs some thought on how the lines run. It will do no good to leave the water dripping at the kitchen sink if the bathroom lines don't have water passing through them. It takes some looking to find if the plumbing leaves something like the bathroom sink on a line coming off a tee where water doesn't flow unless that faucet is dripping.
Not a firm answer to fit all units.