Insulate Holding Tanks

glav · 12-16-2005, 09:36 PM

Hi all, name here is Gene. I have a trailer with the waste tanks exposed to the weather, underneath the basement. I have unfortunately been in a cold area twice now and ended up with all waste tanks frozen up. Fortunately the tanks were not raptured and no damage was result of that.

Has any body ever installed some insulation around the tanks, and if so, what type of materials were used.

Thanks for any comment and suggestions
Gene

Crazymo · 12-17-2005, 01:24 AM

Camping World sells "Heater Pads" that you attach to the tanks and hook up to electrical. I havent heard anything bad on them. the underbelly of my 5'er is sealed and heated allready.

MDTdriver · 12-17-2005, 03:05 AM

I have a 38ft. Prowler 5er which has 12volt heating pads on all three of my tanks, switches just inside the front door, seem to work so far. I will get the paper work out and post the mfg. name latter.
Larry & Kathy

BobW · 06-24-2006, 12:53 PM

Every RV I've had has a way to heat the tanks. Our Monaco had a heat vent in the tank area. Our 5th wheels tank is located next to the heater. I'm sure the heat from it would keep the tanks from freezing. look around the tank area and on the covering of your rig, for a vent. You could add a tee and vent some heat into the tank area.

Motor31 · 06-25-2006, 12:21 AM

You might try buying some spray on foam insulation. Just get the canned stuff from the hardware store. If you can build some kind of box between the tanks place a 100 watt light there and when it gets cold keep it lit during the night to add heat to the tanks. Put a small access panel in the box so you don't ahve to leave the light there all the time.

cwsoules · 06-25-2006, 04:09 PM

We spent one winter in cold weather in our Automate. I put a wooden skirt around the trailer and placed a 100 Watt AC bulb under each tank and had no problem. If you are towing in freezing weather I'm not sure what to do. If you have a built in generator perhaps those AC heating pads would work if you left the generator run on the road. DC heater will draw a lot of current and to use them on the road you would also have to have a generator runnning to keep them from exhausting your trailer batteries.

Maxy28 · 12-28-2010, 01:17 AM

I have never had any issues with condensation but my tank was sprayed with foam insulation at the factory (1982) it's still in good shape and I have not found any mold or evidence that it has had moisture problems on the exterior, even our black and grey tanks are spray foamed.

**wingnut60** · 12-28-2010, 11:15 AM

I thought Tetons were advertised/sold as 'cold-weather' units--they were made in Casper, WY. Is there a possibility there used to be an enclosure on the lower frame with heat vents somewhere?
Joe

Crabber0001 · 01-14-2013, 02:50 PM

Measure between the frame rails (approx 6ft) Next go to Home depot or Lowes and get some 1in thick foam board,highest r value you can find(4'x8' sheets approx 6ea). Next a half gallon of denatured alcohl for cleaning the outside frame rails. Next a couple of rows of duct tape( for temp holding). You will also need 1.5" X 2"x 6-8' ALUM L angle(about 10-12 pieces). Some 4' x 8' 4mm honey comb plastic sheets.
Mark all your cross members on each outside frame rail(Drawing also helps with measurements). Install one foam board and one plastic sheet( use duct tape to hold in place), You can cut all with a good razor knife.
I measured 3' wide for each piece, and cut then taped one at a time up so I could drill holes into the crossmembers for srews(self taping approx 1.5-2" long). Then just wotk your way back. Farm teck has a neat connector H for the plastic. This is pretty close to the factory setup. Once your all done caulk around the seams. Don't forget to make a door for your dump valves.

Good luck
Craber0001