This is a very good video, however; being a mechanic on cars, trucks, and semis, you never use wire nuts on wiring that is out side in the weather elements. ALWAYS use butt connectors with heat shrink tubing so that you get a really good tight, sealed connection that is weather tight. The electrical tape can still allow moisture in and allow for corrosion to set in. Especially if you live in an area where the state uses calcium chloride ( liquid salt ) as a melting agent on winter roads. Yes.......definitely use either wire lume or tubing as a protector for the wiring. Thanks and just wanted to give a little heads up, but terrific video. Thanks
Have to agree with James on all points here. Great video but chasing down a bad corroded connection down the road is not fun. Spend the few extra bucks for the better connectors and shrink tube.
What to use to get adhesive off the holding tank before placing the heat pad on? I think the mobile rv guy who put my heating pad on had something else on his mind that day . I took my rig out today and noticed the pad dangling underneath. I went under there myself and he hadn't taken the paper backing off of the pad. It looks like he used some kind of adhesive around the outer edges to try and keep it on and theres stuff in the center, I suppose from the old one that fell off. The rig is 18 yrs old, so that didn't surprise me that it fell off. What a mess it looks like. I'm afraid to ask him to fix it because how will he know how to do it right and how to get the adhesive off that he used to try and put a new one on. What kind of cleaner should I use to get any old adhesive off the bottom of the tank? How can I tell if he hooked them up parallel as the instructions say to do when you have two of them? I think I need to find a new mobile rv guy.
Thank you for the comment. I really didn't even need tank heaters on my RV as I rarely use it in the winter. But I know installs are helpful when you can see the install done. As I can afford them I'll keep doing them. Thanks again, take care and happy camping. Jim
Could also go over if your adding this after its below 50 degrees. What I did was drain my tank, heat up a good amount of water just before boiling and got that done into the grey/black tank. This will one bring the temperature up to required temperature for install and two will put water into the tank so you won't short out your heater when you turn it on. Once your heater is installed, wire up your heater and have it turned on if it's cold out and go back underneath and rub on it a little bit more just to make sure it's adhered properly. Now if it's cold like well below the operating range, after you first put on the heater with fairly warm water in the tank I also took a flat board and other little boards stacked them on a bottle jack and had pressure on the heater just enough to hold it there while it did it's thing. With the jack still in place turn on the heater to keep everything warm and removed the jack and boards the next day, worked like a charm.
You can over size the wire and just run 2 wires with the same results just make sure you keep all the negatives together and the positives together. But you'll need to calculate the amperage times two and the use the wire to handle that amperage. Keep in mind you'll just have one switch if you want it individual switching follow this method .Great stuff and nice job. Not correcting you just putting out an option.
It's a valid option. However, you need to be able to turn off each individual tank if it doesn't have water in it. For example, if you use the black tank but you haven't put any water in the gray tank yet you don't want to switch on both heating pads as they cannot be run without water in the tank. Something to keep in mind. Thanks for the comment and happy camping. Jim
Great point. I'm an electrician and was just researching this for my buddy. On mine I will not be using in the winter but he will. I wired it the way you said on your video. Convinced him to switch it individually. Ps I like your channel did sub you and going to check out some of your stuff. I'm a newbie tt owner .Just bought .
Nice job gym thanks for all the information. PS I would recommend soldering the splices as first choice, using butt splices second choice and wire nuts as last choice but you did a great job taping everything up and securing it with the wire ties. Thank you
Thank you for the suggestions. I have personally never been a fan of soldering as it adds a lot of time and frustration when working underneath the RV or in tight spaces. Butt splices are fine and work well but I have always been a fan of the wire nuts. They might be big and bulky but add some electrical tape and I have never seen one fail. I have crimped several butt splices incorectly and had the wire I thought was secure slide out after install. I think its just personal experience that brings me back to the old wire nut. Thanks for the comment and happy camping. Jim
Hey! If I were to add all three tank heaters would the three negatives still be connected to the same wire that will go to the negative side of the battery? Thanks!
What did you do with the negative or ground wire that comes into the switch from the heating pads? In Part 2, when you are hooking up the switch, you say you are going to leave the ground from the heading pads for a little bit because you were going to use it to tie into some other stuff. In the end, it looks like that ground is just loose behind the switch. What did you ultimately do with it? Does it need to be grounded somehow? Thanks!
I have an all aluminum horse trailer w/ living quarters. Coulda I install these pads to the trailer underbelly to keep the tanks and water pipes (which are inside the floor) from freezing? I cant get to the pipes themselves to heat wrap them.
I'm pretty sure they have to be connected directly to the water tanks themselves. It's possible but you may want to contact the company to find out for sure
How about battery power for these heaters? How much power required for a 8 hour night? Do these heaters cause the tank to go bad over time? How about rocks that will bounce up and hit the pad when driving, is there a concern about damage to the heater filament. Good video, Thanks
I would guess you would need about a hundred amp hours worth of battery to make it 8 hours With both of these heaters running. Each one takes around 5 or 6 amps if I recall. Rocks hitting mine have never been a problem and we go off-road all the time in my class C so I wouldn't worry much about that. As for the tanks going bad over time they should be absolutely fine as long as you only use the heaters when there's a little bit of water in each tank as this will distribute the Heat. I've been fulltiming in the winter and believe me they do work. I hope that answers your questions. Thanks for watching and happy camping. Jim
They use about 7 amps DC per pad. The pads do fine without insulation as long as you have the power for them which I do. I would also caution putting anything flammable around the pads themselves. Thanks for the comment and happy camping. JIm
Keep up the good videos! Most of these heating pad turn on at about 45 degrees and turn off at about 65 degree. That seems like a big waste of battery power if the pads turn on at 45 degrees. Would it be better to have a thermostat switch in the cabin which is measuring the outside temperature. It would then turn of the pads when the outside temperatures reached maybe 34 degrees? Thanks
It is true these turn on at 45 degrees. A thermostat that activates the pads at 32 degrees would be a great idea. I don't think I'm going to install that because I rarely camping freezing conditions but if you are in constant freezing conditions and especially if you're boondocking that would be a great install.
Hi Jim. Great video as usual! I have tank heaters in my 04 Sunseeker but am confused about when to use them. They say that the tanks need to be partially full to use the heaters. How much water should be in there? On a 40 gallon tank, would 5 gallons be enough? It seems counter-intuitive to add water to your tanks just to turn the heaters on?
I was wondering that same thing this weekend when I took the RV to the lake. I ran the kitchen sink for 30 seconds and waited for one flush of the toilet. It worked great with no issues all weekend. 20 degrees with high wind. It seems weird to me that they need water in the tanks at all. You would think the pads would just heat up and turn off at the shut off temperature even without water but I did put some water in. I hope that helps. Jim
They sell heat tape that works the same way. You just wrap it around the pipes and it keeps them from freezing. You could also do what I did and vent the cabinet so that air flow from the your heater gets inside the the areas with pipes. I hope that helps. Take care and happy camping.
Hi, thank you for the video. In addition to the heating pad I was wanting to use a insulating blanket covering the tank to protect from direct contact to cold air. Would it be ok to have the blanket in contact with this heating pad, or would that be a potential fire hazard?
I definitely would not have the insulating blanket in direct contact or within a few inches of the heating pad. It would definitely be a fire hazard. Also make sure that you have a little bit of water in the tanks anytime that the heating pads are turned on. I hope that helps. Thanks for watching and happy camping. Jim
@@fullmoonadventureclub So I am building out a cargo van not an RV, so my grey water tank is only 9 gallons. I will be using just 2 or 3 of the 3" x 13" RV Elbow Pipe Heater Pad instead of a larger pad to save on electricity. Do these get as hot as the larger pads? I can't find a website for the manufacturer of these pads. Also, if I used a fireproof insulating blanket would that work, or just stay away from that idea completely.
@@ryanjones2930 I really can't say as I'm not familiar with the pads are going to be using. Using a fire resistant insulation might be an option for you but I would just assume keep anything like a blanket away from a heating element. So I'm afraid you're on your own with that decision I would not recommend it. But I definitely have to side on the air of safety and caution when giving out TH-cam comments. I hope that helps. Take care and happy camping. Jim
Hi, i was wondering if you can you put insulation over the water tank with heating pad underneath, or would that cause it to be too hot and possibly melt plastic?
As long as there's water in the tank when it's turned on it should not melt the plastic. I'm not even sure if it would melt the plastic without water but they caution against it. They say it will damage the heating pad itself not melt the tank but always have water in your tank and you'll be fine.
No I think it has to be an adhesive. If you just tape the outer exterior of the pad it might sag and overheat destroying the pad. The entire surface of the pad must be in contact with the tank at all times. You need to find a suitable adhesive in my opinion. Jim
Hi, thank you for this video. I´ve got a question. Do both Sides of the heater gettin hot ?? .. if yes how many celsius ?? ... or does only the side where you removed the paper ??? ... Because I think about putting one of these Tank heaters inside my van. Is it possible to use not the side with paper and put the tank on top of the other side of the heater ?? ... maybe somebody can help me ;-)
Hi Jim. Great job with the video as usual. Hope all is well. I need to replace defective tank heating pads on my rig. Is there anyway to get the old ones off easily?
That's a good question. Usually I would go with a heat gun to release adhesive but since thier heating pads the glue is probably designed to resist heat. I'm afraid you're on your own with this one. I'm going to guess a flat scraper and time. Please let us know if you figure anything out.
Hey Jim, I was wondering if I could just not use the switch plate and connect the positive and negative wires directly to my battery using ring terminals. I realize that would mean they’re on the entire time they’re connected. Is the switch plate only necessary if you want the option of turning the tanks on and off easily? Thanks.
I definitely would not recommend it but I suppose you could. The heat pad should only activate in temperatures below freezing however, you definitely need to put a fuse in there to avoid short circuit fires. The switches are just to be able to turn the pads on and off easily. The problem with your setup is the pad should only be activated when there is some water in the tank otherwise you could melt your tank and damage the pad. That's why it's good to have control over whether or not they are turned on. If it gets cold and you have no water in your tank you're in trouble.
In my case yes they're more than sufficient. However I'm not sure how big your tanks are. Just keep in mind that they do draw a lot of amps per pad so keep that in mind as well. Off the top of my head I'm not certain but I believe it was 7 amps per pad. Jim
Absolutely. They are rated from freezing down to -11°F (-24°C) ss long as you chose the right sized heater pad for you size of tank. Take care a nd happy camping. Jim
Hi, this is such a great video. Thanks for the detailed instructions. It really makes the task seem manageable. May I ask why you didn't also install a heater pad on your freshwater tank?
Hey Jim, Came back to this great video to do the install after a year since I first watched it but noticed that you changed the pads from Ultraheat to Facon. Was there a particular reason? How do you compare the new Facon one with yours?
@@fullmoonadventureclub yeah I mean the link to purchase. It directs to Facon pads which are much lower in price. Wondering why and if you recommend the quality
@@moeaskari9679 I will look into that. It's possible they stopped selling that particular brand on Amazon so I looked for another heating pad or I might just have the link wrong I'll look. Thanks for letting me know.
Ouch! Your teaching people to use the wrong type of electrical connectors. Been a automotive technician for over 30 years. Don’t use wire nuts and quick connectors. Always crimp, solder and use shrink tube.
Great video. Recommend using heat shrink but connectors rather than wire nuts for external applications
Best TH-cam instructional video I've ever seen on any topic! Quick, clear, concise, to the point, no wasted time, great pearls, knowledgable. Thanks!!
This is a very good video, however; being a mechanic on cars, trucks, and semis, you never use wire nuts on wiring that is out side in the weather elements. ALWAYS use butt connectors with heat shrink tubing so that you get a really good tight, sealed connection that is weather tight. The electrical tape can still allow moisture in and allow for corrosion to set in. Especially if you live in an area where the state uses calcium chloride ( liquid salt ) as a melting agent on winter roads. Yes.......definitely use either wire lume or tubing as a protector for the wiring. Thanks and just wanted to give a little heads up, but terrific video. Thanks
Great information. Thanks for sharing that with all of us. Jim
Have to agree with James on all points here. Great video but chasing down a bad corroded connection down the road is not fun. Spend the few extra bucks for the better connectors and shrink tube.
What to use to get adhesive off the holding tank before placing the heat pad on? I think the mobile rv guy who put my heating pad on had something else on his mind that day . I took my rig out today and noticed the pad dangling underneath. I went under there myself and he hadn't taken the paper backing off of the pad. It looks like he used some kind of adhesive around the outer edges to try and keep it on and theres stuff in the center, I suppose from the old one that fell off. The rig is 18 yrs old, so that didn't surprise me that it fell off. What a mess it looks like. I'm afraid to ask him to fix it because how will he know how to do it right and how to get the adhesive off that he used to try and put a new one on. What kind of cleaner should I use to get any old adhesive off the bottom of the tank? How can I tell if he hooked them up parallel as the instructions say to do when you have two of them? I think I need to find a new mobile rv guy.
Great informative video Jim. Doing an actual install is always helpful. Thanks and please keep those videos coming.
Thank you for the comment. I really didn't even need tank heaters on my RV as I rarely use it in the winter. But I know installs are helpful when you can see the install done. As I can afford them I'll keep doing them. Thanks again, take care and happy camping. Jim
This is an excellent video! Your instructions are clear and easy to follow. Thank you!!!
Could also go over if your adding this after its below 50 degrees. What I did was drain my tank, heat up a good amount of water just before boiling and got that done into the grey/black tank. This will one bring the temperature up to required temperature for install and two will put water into the tank so you won't short out your heater when you turn it on. Once your heater is installed, wire up your heater and have it turned on if it's cold out and go back underneath and rub on it a little bit more just to make sure it's adhered properly. Now if it's cold like well below the operating range, after you first put on the heater with fairly warm water in the tank I also took a flat board and other little boards stacked them on a bottle jack and had pressure on the heater just enough to hold it there while it did it's thing. With the jack still in place turn on the heater to keep everything warm and removed the jack and boards the next day, worked like a charm.
You can over size the wire and just run 2 wires with the same results just make sure you keep all the negatives together and the positives together. But you'll need to calculate the amperage times two and the use the wire to handle that amperage. Keep in mind you'll just have one switch if you want it individual switching follow this method .Great stuff and nice job. Not correcting you just putting out an option.
It's a valid option. However, you need to be able to turn off each individual tank if it doesn't have water in it. For example, if you use the black tank but you haven't put any water in the gray tank yet you don't want to switch on both heating pads as they cannot be run without water in the tank. Something to keep in mind. Thanks for the comment and happy camping. Jim
Great point. I'm an electrician and was just researching this for my buddy. On mine I will not be using in the winter but he will. I wired it the way you said on your video. Convinced him to switch it individually. Ps I like your channel did sub you and going to check out some of your stuff. I'm a newbie tt owner .Just bought .
Always useful information. Thanks for sharing great video.
Nice job gym thanks for all the information. PS I would recommend soldering the splices as first choice, using butt splices second choice and wire nuts as last choice but you did a great job taping everything up and securing it with the wire ties. Thank you
Thank you for the suggestions. I have personally never been a fan of soldering as it adds a lot of time and frustration when working underneath the RV or in tight spaces. Butt splices are fine and work well but I have always been a fan of the wire nuts. They might be big and bulky but add some electrical tape and I have never seen one fail. I have crimped several butt splices incorectly and had the wire I thought was secure slide out after install. I think its just personal experience that brings me back to the old wire nut. Thanks for the comment and happy camping. Jim
Hey! If I were to add all three tank heaters would the three negatives still be connected to the same wire that will go to the negative side of the battery? Thanks!
What did you do with the negative or ground wire that comes into the switch from the heating pads? In Part 2, when you are hooking up the switch, you say you are going to leave the ground from the heading pads for a little bit because you were going to use it to tie into some other stuff. In the end, it looks like that ground is just loose behind the switch. What did you ultimately do with it? Does it need to be grounded somehow? Thanks!
Amazing video, thank you so much!!🙌
What about the AC heating pads. How good are they
Awesome video! 👍👍👍
Thank you for this video 👍🏻
Is it OK to run the heaters while traveling down the road?
I have a majestic 23a with generator and solar panels. Would the 12v or 120v pads be a bette option?
Great video. Thanks
Excellent video! Can you tell me what kind of performance you've had from them, and do you still recommend them? Thanks!
Still seem just fine. I would recommend them.
I have an all aluminum horse trailer w/ living quarters. Coulda I install these pads to the trailer underbelly to keep the tanks and water pipes (which are inside the floor) from freezing? I cant get to the pipes themselves to heat wrap them.
I'm pretty sure they have to be connected directly to the water tanks themselves. It's possible but you may want to contact the company to find out for sure
How about battery power for these heaters? How much power required for a 8 hour night? Do these heaters cause the tank to go bad over time? How about rocks that will bounce up and hit the pad when driving, is there a concern about damage to the heater filament. Good video, Thanks
I would guess you would need about a hundred amp hours worth of battery to make it 8 hours With both of these heaters running. Each one takes around 5 or 6 amps if I recall. Rocks hitting mine have never been a problem and we go off-road all the time in my class C so I wouldn't worry much about that. As for the tanks going bad over time they should be absolutely fine as long as you only use the heaters when there's a little bit of water in each tank as this will distribute the Heat. I've been fulltiming in the winter and believe me they do work. I hope that answers your questions. Thanks for watching and happy camping. Jim
Nice work. Obviously not your first rodeo.
Excellent video. Thanks
I'm a little surprised that you didn't add any insulation around the tank and heater. How much power do your heaters consume?
They use about 7 amps DC per pad. The pads do fine without insulation as long as you have the power for them which I do. I would also caution putting anything flammable around the pads themselves. Thanks for the comment and happy camping. JIm
Keep up the good videos! Most of these heating pad turn on at about 45 degrees and turn off at about 65 degree. That seems like a big waste of battery power if the pads turn on at 45 degrees. Would it be better to have a thermostat switch in the cabin which is measuring the outside temperature. It would then turn of the pads when the outside temperatures reached maybe 34 degrees? Thanks
It is true these turn on at 45 degrees. A thermostat that activates the pads at 32 degrees would be a great idea. I don't think I'm going to install that because I rarely camping freezing conditions but if you are in constant freezing conditions and especially if you're boondocking that would be a great install.
Hi Jim. Great video as usual! I have tank heaters in my 04 Sunseeker but am confused about when to use them. They say that the tanks need to be partially full to use the heaters. How much water should be in there? On a 40 gallon tank, would 5 gallons be enough? It seems counter-intuitive to add water to your tanks just to turn the heaters on?
I was wondering that same thing this weekend when I took the RV to the lake. I ran the kitchen sink for 30 seconds and waited for one flush of the toilet. It worked great with no issues all weekend. 20 degrees with high wind. It seems weird to me that they need water in the tanks at all. You would think the pads would just heat up and turn off at the shut off temperature even without water but I did put some water in. I hope that helps. Jim
fullmoonadventureclub Thanks Jim. Much appreciated.
After I install heating pads, is there anything I can do to protect the pipes? Great video!
They sell heat tape that works the same way. You just wrap it around the pipes and it keeps them from freezing. You could also do what I did and vent the cabinet so that air flow from the your heater gets inside the the areas with pipes. I hope that helps. Take care and happy camping.
Hi, thank you for the video. In addition to the heating pad I was wanting to use a insulating blanket covering the tank to protect from direct contact to cold air. Would it be ok to have the blanket in contact with this heating pad, or would that be a potential fire hazard?
I definitely would not have the insulating blanket in direct contact or within a few inches of the heating pad. It would definitely be a fire hazard. Also make sure that you have a little bit of water in the tanks anytime that the heating pads are turned on. I hope that helps. Thanks for watching and happy camping. Jim
@@fullmoonadventureclub So I am building out a cargo van not an RV, so my grey water tank is only 9 gallons. I will be using just 2 or 3 of the 3" x 13" RV Elbow Pipe Heater Pad instead of a larger pad to save on electricity. Do these get as hot as the larger pads? I can't find a website for the manufacturer of these pads. Also, if I used a fireproof insulating blanket would that work, or just stay away from that idea completely.
@@ryanjones2930 I really can't say as I'm not familiar with the pads are going to be using. Using a fire resistant insulation might be an option for you but I would just assume keep anything like a blanket away from a heating element. So I'm afraid you're on your own with that decision I would not recommend it. But I definitely have to side on the air of safety and caution when giving out TH-cam comments. I hope that helps. Take care and happy camping. Jim
Hi, i was wondering if you can you put insulation over the water tank with heating pad underneath, or would that cause it to be too hot and possibly melt plastic?
As long as there's water in the tank when it's turned on it should not melt the plastic. I'm not even sure if it would melt the plastic without water but they caution against it. They say it will damage the heating pad itself not melt the tank but always have water in your tank and you'll be fine.
My tank heater fell down. Someone suggested Gorilla tape to put it back up with. What do you think?
No I think it has to be an adhesive. If you just tape the outer exterior of the pad it might sag and overheat destroying the pad. The entire surface of the pad must be in contact with the tank at all times. You need to find a suitable adhesive in my opinion. Jim
Hi, thank you for this video. I´ve got a question. Do both Sides of the heater gettin hot ?? .. if yes how many celsius ?? ... or does only the side where you removed the paper ??? ... Because I think about putting one of these Tank heaters inside my van. Is it possible to use not the side with paper and put the tank on top of the other side of the heater ?? ... maybe somebody can help me ;-)
Hi Jim. Great job with the video as usual. Hope all is well. I need to replace defective tank heating pads on my rig. Is there anyway to get the old ones off easily?
That's a good question. Usually I would go with a heat gun to release adhesive but since thier heating pads the glue is probably designed to resist heat. I'm afraid you're on your own with this one. I'm going to guess a flat scraper and time. Please let us know if you figure anything out.
Hey Jim, I was wondering if I could just not use the switch plate and connect the positive and negative wires directly to my battery using ring terminals. I realize that would mean they’re on the entire time they’re connected. Is the switch plate only necessary if you want the option of turning the tanks on and off easily? Thanks.
I definitely would not recommend it but I suppose you could. The heat pad should only activate in temperatures below freezing however, you definitely need to put a fuse in there to avoid short circuit fires. The switches are just to be able to turn the pads on and off easily. The problem with your setup is the pad should only be activated when there is some water in the tank otherwise you could melt your tank and damage the pad. That's why it's good to have control over whether or not they are turned on. If it gets cold and you have no water in your tank you're in trouble.
So was only one heater per tank sufficient? Have some pretty long tanks and want to be safe on the purchase.
In my case yes they're more than sufficient. However I'm not sure how big your tanks are. Just keep in mind that they do draw a lot of amps per pad so keep that in mind as well. Off the top of my head I'm not certain but I believe it was 7 amps per pad. Jim
@@fullmoonadventureclub that isnt too bad. What gallon size was your tanks.
@@xaploq1 I believe they're under 40 gallons. Not very big tanks. Jim
Dumb question, these tank heaters do they work in below freezing temperatures. I live in Maryland gets around 20 degrees here at nighttime.
Absolutely. They are rated from freezing down to -11°F (-24°C) ss long as you chose the right sized heater pad for you size of tank. Take care a nd happy camping. Jim
How do I turn the tank heaters on for a 2017 freedom elite
Why not add rv antifreeze to the grey and black tanks before using? That seems like a much easier solution than installing tank heaters.
I've heard the same thing.
Look for aluminum zip ties they will last longer than plastic.
so if i may ask what is the power draw in amps when on is a data sheet available for us
If I remember correctly each pad draws 7 amps when activated. Jim
Hi, this is such a great video. Thanks for the detailed instructions. It really makes the task seem manageable. May I ask why you didn't also install a heater pad on your freshwater tank?
Hard to remove the tank which is located inside the RV anyway.
wholey moley, but a soldering iron already ! lol
wire nuts??
Sure. Why not? I have never had one fail. You can of course use any method you wish. Jim
Hey Jim, Came back to this great video to do the install after a year since I first watched it but noticed that you changed the pads from Ultraheat to Facon. Was there a particular reason? How do you compare the new Facon one with yours?
I have not changed the pads on the RV. I believe they're still ultraheat.
@@fullmoonadventureclub yeah I mean the link to purchase. It directs to Facon pads which are much lower in price. Wondering why and if you recommend the quality
@@moeaskari9679 I will look into that. It's possible they stopped selling that particular brand on Amazon so I looked for another heating pad or I might just have the link wrong I'll look. Thanks for letting me know.
@@fullmoonadventureclub that'll be great 👍thanks. In a dilemma right now.
Ty
Ouch! Your teaching people to use the wrong type of electrical connectors. Been a automotive technician for over 30 years. Don’t use wire nuts and quick connectors. Always crimp, solder and use shrink tube.
:)
Can you get to the point u talk way to mich