Water holding tank

[Robsdad]

Question:
Need some help on my water holding tank in my sleeper. I know it will not freeze while driving and probably not while I am sitting still with the apu running. But what do you do when you are home and not in your truck for 2 or 3 days. Is there something you can add to the tank to prevent freezing or do you place a small heater in your truck. It is not cold enough yet to worry about it but its coming.

 

[Broompilot]

Drain IT.. Or else..

It will also freeze under load if it gets below 0 F. Need to keep this in mind at all times when these two circumstances come into play.

 

[are12]

We always drain ours when we are home.

 

[SHARP327]

I may be jinxing myself but here goes anyway.

I've never had a problem with our water container (5 gal.located under the sink) freezing in real cold weather while we're in the truck either going down the road or while sleeping and currently we don't have a apu and except for extreme temps we don't idle either.

While at the house I run a small ceramic heater just to take the chill off but not to make it balmy.

We also store our clean and folded bath towels around the tank year round to insulate and to restrict any possible movement of the tank.

Also something to keep in mind is to never fill the tanks to the brim in cold weather in case they do happen to freeze the ice will have some room to expand if not the tank will split.

 

[ATeam]

When we park the truck at home in Minnesota, in the winter when sub-zero temperatures are common, we plug in shore power, turn on the heater, open the cabinet doors to make it easier for warm air to reach the water tanks, and we are fine.

That may not work with all sleepers. It works with A.R.I sleepers because they are very well insulated.

If your ride does not have shore power, a space heater and extension cord may do the trick.

 

[Robsdad]

Thanks to everyone for the tips. I do have shore power and the small heater will work without a hitch. I use potable water so didn't want to pollute with some mixture. Thanks to everyone and have a safe and happy holiday season.
Robsdad

 

[LDB]

I've never had the water tank freeze but the drain from the sink will freeze. I keep the tank handle pulled all the time which should mean anything going down the sink should drain away. It doesn't. No matter what I do there's always enough between the sink and holding tank to freeze up and stop everything until I get somewhere warm enough to thaw it out. Good luck.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB
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Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
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[SHARP327]

Leo just a thought but do you think a little heat tape wrapped around the drain pipe would work in your situation?

Just plug it in when your problem is present,I know that folks that live in mobile homes in the north couldn't survive without it.

 

[Fr8 Shaker]

Please just make sure that if you are using any kind of heater without being there to keep an eye on things, make sure there is nothing in the way that could catch fire. unless your looking for an insurance payoff.

 

[BigBusBob]

Another tip, somebody above mentioned they keep towels by the tank to insulate... if for some nutty reason your tank does spring a leak... the towels go from insulating to absorbing mode.

Make sure there's no electrical sockets (of any kind) that could come in contact with the wet towels.

Why? Because then you'll end up with blown fuses that you may not discover right away. Not to mention the fire hazard that occurs when water and electricity meet for lunch.

Something that's common now in homes, and also on wheels sometimes... for the safety freaks, is placing water heaters/tanks inside a small plastic containers so if the water does decide to leak - it will not fry the carpet/floors/cabinets... if it does, it's not as extensive on the damage.

Towels are great for insulating a tank, so is insulation material of various kinds, but insulation material has 1 use - to insulate. Towels insulate, absorb moisture, and can serve as grease rags if needed. Or as quick bandages if you get a nasty cut while doing somthin' by the rig. Towels can also serve as somethin' to lie down on to fix somethin' under the rig in NYC or anywhere else.

BigBusBob