waste water tank heater, daft question??? (questions) (1 Viewer)

[skylinersi]

ok, so away weekend gone, waste water froze (i assume?) as kitchen sink wouldnt drain, no blockage etc so assume frozen?

van is an adria twin 600 sp btw

now, i have checked in the past and couldnt get waste water tank heater to 'work', ie led didnt light,

so came back, couldnt drain tank, but.................managed to get the heater led to light up.
tank didnt defrost till next day, and again checking manual, it says dont switch on when empty as damage may occur, tank heater if switched on, will automatically come on (if in on state) at less than 5 degrees c.
its a schaudt control panel according to our manual............

so at what point do i switch it on?
where is the element for the heater?
what kind of output is said heater?
how much water ought to be in it to be safe to use without damaging it?

id love to know where the heater element thingy is?, and at what height is it in the tank?, ie do we need to have it half full before switching it on????

manual is less than..................um.................clear?

clarification much welcomed.......

 

[icantremember]

Save your batteries etc ... leave the valve open to drain into a bucket (A tapered bucket so you can extricate the lolly pop!)

 

[Basildog]

Save your batteries etc ... leave the valve open to drain into a bucket (A tapered bucket so you can extricate the lolly pop!)

I was going to suggest scrapping the van and buying one that is properly winterised , messing around with a bucket seems a bit extreme

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[The Wino]

If you have a waste tank heater sounds like you are fairly well winterised compared to most but sorry can,t give any advice. Perhaps the led doesn't light until the heater powers up (ie when water is less than 5c) so you were switching it on when you thought you weren't

 

[skylinersi]

helpful thus far........................

 

[skylinersi]

If you have a waste tank heater sounds like you are fairly well winterised compared to most but sorry can,t give any advice. Perhaps the led doesn't light until the heater powers up (ie when water is less than 5c) so you were switching it on when you thought you weren't

thanks for the reply, the van is apparently fully winterised, just fail to understand the somewhat vague manual instructions regarding this part.................

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[motorhomer]

Ours - an Autosleeper - is a heated "blanket" that is fixed to the underneath of the tank (similar for fresh). But some are heating elements inside the tank. They are pretty low power and will take time to melt it if already frozen, but will help prevent freezing. That said unless you are on mains the 12v drain is enough to flatten a battery in not many hours. We do not use the one on the waste, preferring to run into a bucket. But we do sometimes use the fresh water tank heater. In answer to BA if you have a PVC you almost certainly have underslung tanks so heaters are part of the winterisation.

 

[pappajohn]

I would expect the heater to be in grid mat form and stuck to the outside of the tank.
I would also expect a low wattage.....100 watts or so

 

[skylinersi]

I would expect the heater to be in grid mat form and stuck to the outside of the tank.
I would also expect a low wattage.....100 watts or so

many thanks, so the heater is outside the tank?, visible? and what kind of heat will it give?
sorry to be a pain lol

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[Spriddler]

It seems to have sensor that causes the heater to operate when the temp is below 5. When you couldn't get the LED to come on it may have been because the temp was above 5 deg. It would seem therefore that you can leave the heater switch 'On' and the heater will only come on when the temp drops to 5 deg. as The Wino has suggested. It probably took til next day to defreeze the water because it is only a very low wattage element producing just enough heat to keep water unfrozen. It obviously only needs to warm the water to a degree or two above 0degC.
As far as the position of the heater element goes I don't know your model but it may be possible to identify the position of the element by looking at the location of its power wires on the tank. I would say that you need to have enough water in the tank to cover the element (if indeed it's inside the tank).

 

[motorhomer]

I would expect the heater to be in grid mat form and stuck to the outside of the tank.
I would also expect a low wattage.....100 watts or so

Mine draws about 5 amps which makes it about 60 watts. As I said it may keep the frost off but once frozen it would take a very long time to thaw!

 

[skylinersi]

It seems to have sensor that causes the heater to operate when the temp is below 5. When you couldn't get the LED to come on it may have been because the temp was above 5 deg. It would seem therefore that you can leave the heater switch 'On' and the heater will only come on when the temp drops to 5 deg. as The Wino has suggested. It probably took til next day to defreeze the water because it is only a very low wattage element producing just enough heat to keep water unfrozen. It obviously only needs to warm the water to a degree or two above 0degC.
As far as the position of the heater element goes I don't know your model but it may be possible to identify the position of the element by looking at the location of its power wires on the tank. I would say that you need to have enough water in the tank to cover the element (if indeed it's inside the tank).

cool, i will look at type and location of said element on saturday, good excuse to get underneath and maybe clean tank........

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[skylinersi]

Mine draws about 5 amps which makes it about 60 watts. As I said it may keep the frost off but once frozen it would take a very long time to thaw!

thats what i thought sunday night, too little too late lol, ie, its preventative, not a cure for frozen tank!, thankyou for reply

 

[pappajohn]

many thanks, so the heater is outside the tank?, visible? and what kind of heat will it give?
sorry to be a pain lol

Not all but most are like an electric blanket.
100watts is very low....the same as a 100w house bulb.
We have a 100 watt towel rail in the downstairs toilet and it does warm the small room if the door is kept shut

 

[skylinersi]

Not all but most are like an electric blanket.
100watts is very low....the same as a 100w house bulb.
We have a 100 watt towel rail in the downstairs toilet and it does warm the small room if the door is kept shut

ok, cool, but do we need some water in it before its on?, or just leave it on assuming it will only heat up when below 5 degrees etc?,

ta

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[TheBig1]

tank heaters are normally self adhesive pads stuck to the base of the tank

 

[skylinersi]

tank heaters are normally self adhesive pads stuck to the base of the tank

crikey, 3 different answers thus far, must get under van and check lol, and thankyou for the reply

 

[Spriddler]

ok, cool, but do we need some water in it before its on?, or just leave it on assuming it will only heat up when below 5 degrees etc?,

checking manual, it says don't switch on when empty as damage may occur,

No point in ignoring the manual. I would switch it on only when there's water in the tank.

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[pappajohn]

ok, cool, but do we need some water in it before its on?, or just leave it on assuming it will only heat up when below 5 degrees etc?,

ta

As thebig1 said, the pads/mats stick to the outside and have no direct contact with water so using without won't hurt..

 

[Janine]

Save your batteries etc ... leave the valve open to drain into a bucket (A tapered bucket so you can extricate the lolly pop!)

Like this? Unfortunately the outlet pipe froze too when the first Beast from the East visited Bristol. I had to leave the 'lollipop' on top of the grey waste grid much to the amusement of other campers

 

[Thepiper58]

Did you ever locate where the heater is and what it looks like and also... how it works? i.e. how do you switch it on and off (regardless of the thermostat control)

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[TerryL]

I know this is an old thread but probably relevant in the current cold snap.

The reason people say use a bucket is that it is more likely that the waste drain pipe has frozen up - it would have to be really cold for a prolonged period for the tank to freeze. More suited to winter skiing trips than normal m/h use, and even then the pipe will freeze long before the tank. Happened to me a few years ago whilst transiting Spain when we didn't realise how high we were parked overnight. Once the tap had thawed the waste ran freely. there is a trap under the van and that was full of ice when I eased it off, just a clip on cap on our van.

 

[Thepiper58]

I know this is an old thread but probably relevant in the current cold snap.

The reason people say use a bucket is that it is more likely that the waste drain pipe has frozen up - it would have to be really cold for a prolonged period for the tank to freeze. More suited to winter skiing trips than normal m/h use, and even then the pipe will freeze long before the tank. Happened to me a few years ago whilst transiting Spain when we didn't realise how high we were parked overnight. Once the tap had thawed the waste ran freely. there is a trap under the van and that was full of ice when I eased it off, just a clip on cap on our van.

So is the idea with the bucket to leave the wastewater tank open and it all collects in the bucket? i.e. there is never anything in the tank/pipe to freeze as it all will drain out to the bucket before it has a chance to freeze?

 

[TerryL]

So is the idea with the bucket to leave the wastewater tank open and it all collects in the bucket? i.e. there is never anything in the tank/pipe to freeze as it all will drain out to the bucket before it has a chance to freeze?

Yep - it's easier to get rid of the lump of ice in the bucket.................... But that's another "getting rid of waste water" thread!

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[dipsie]

We have individually switched internal tank heaters in our V Line ( retro fit ) I’v only ever left the fresh water tank one on due to the watts used overnight. I’v used the bucket system but put some salted water in it in the evening, helps release the ice block.
If we are on hook up I’v used both heaters but it does not stop the waste pipe freezing up.

 

[skylinersi]

my apologies for the late reply / update

so, i did speak to dealer regarding this last yr...........(sorry)

and it appears there is not one fitted, so no idea why the symbol lights up......................

so in essence. im none the wiser, i did however, insulate the waste pipes under the van, which had no insulation at all, make me wonder what fully winterised is.........................

 

[dipsie]

We have insulated waste pipe but the tap still freezes up.

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[skylinersi]

not much you can do about that, if you mean the external waste tap?

 

[Thepiper58]

My dealer has just told me that the van does not have an eletrical heater (even though the manual seems to say so), but that the switch under the seat next to the Truma boiler (which has a picture of a water tank on it) is how the wastewater tank is heated. I cant see how that can work as the tank is on the outside and I thought the switch was for distributing hot air around the boiler dump valve to bring it back to temperature to allow it to work again..... It's all a mistery!

 

[Two on Tour]

When I winterised our fresh and grey waste tanks, I used a trace heating cable on the grey waste pipe to the dump tap.

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