Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
RV Trip Planning Discussions

Go Back   iRV2 Forums > THE OWNER'S CORNER FORUMS > Newmar Owner's Forum
Click Here to Login
Join iRV2 Today

Mission Statement: Supporting thoughtful exchange of knowledge, values and experience among RV enthusiasts.
Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on iRV2
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 02-02-2023, 06:07 PM   #1
"Formerly Diplomat Don"
 
Dutch Star Don's Avatar
 
Newmar Owners Club
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Moorpark, Ca.
Posts: 23,914
Refer Water Line Heater Help!

We're camping in 10-degree overnight weather. The refer water line is freezing up overnight. Here's how I believe it works and have been told by Newmar. It's wrapped with a heated wire and is supposed to be turned on by a thermostat.

I called Newmar this morning and was told it was powered by a 12-volt fuse in half bath panel. Well.....I looked.... there were no fuses related to the heater. I then checked the fuses and self-resetting circuit breakers in the power cord reel bay. There I found circuit breakers **B9, **B10 and **B11 are assigned to the refer heater depending on floor plan, the reason for the **. All three circuit breakers had power.

I called my local Newmar mechanic, and he said there should be a thermostat in the wet that turns on the refer heater. My only issue with that, my bays stayed at 60+ degrees in the 10-degree weather because of our heated floors.

So......I'm looking for anyone who has knowledge of how this system works and has found what triggers that heated wire. If it's truly a thermostat in the wet bay, separate of the Oasis heat, then my intention would be to remove the thermostat and just add a switch.
__________________
Don & Mary
2019 Newmar Dutch Star 4018 (Freightliner)
2019 Ford Raptor
Dutch Star Don is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 RV Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

iRV2.com RV Community - Are you about to start a new improvement on your RV or need some help with some maintenance? Do you need advice on what products to buy? Or maybe you can give others some advice? No matter where you fit in you'll find that iRV2 is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with other RV owners, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create an RV blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 02-02-2023, 11:06 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
Ray,IN's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: North America somewhere
Posts: 30,593
Adding a thermal switch might be the best option at this point if a convenient 12V source is available. FWIW, my heater wires originates from the Norcold board area, I don't know more because I've never has to work on it_yet.
__________________
2000 Winnebago Ultimate Freedom USQ40JD, ISC 8.3 Cummins 350, Spartan MM Chassis. USA IN 1SG 11B5MX,Infantry retired;Good Sam Life member,FMCA." My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. John F. Kennedy
Ray,IN is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2023, 02:58 AM   #3
Senior Member
 
Tedj101's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2022
Location: Wilmington, DE
Posts: 135
The heater controllers are supposed to be in a basement area that is open to the atmosphere. While my coach is a Baystar, not a Dutch Star, they are located in the propane tank bay. I have heard of others that are located in the battery bay. I'll try to add an attachment showing what they look like on a Baystar.

<TED>
Attached Images
 
__________________
2022 Bay Star 3226
2020 Honda Fit toad
Tedj101 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2023, 05:28 AM   #4
Senior Member
 
ThunderRidge's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2020
Location: Winter: Fort Wilderness Campground
Posts: 658
On my Dutch Star the thermostat is located in the battery bay. It should activate at 40. I believe there’s a small very hard to see green light indicating there is power. I also believe there’s a small , hard to see blue light indicating the heating elements are activated. Mine never seemed to activate when it should, however I noticed in a thread posted around the time I purchased in 2018 indicating problems with the location of the thermostat mounting in the battery bay. It was mounted to close to the batteries, and I believe the post thought the heat from the batteries was keeping the thermostat to warm. They moved the thermostat higher up the wall and closer to the door of the bay. I did the same thing, and it solved my problem. Try leaving the battery bay door open. Unless, you have a failure of the thermostat, leaving the bay door open should activate the heating elements.

If, I can get over to my storage unit today, I have a print out of the system from the company that produces the unit. I will scan it into a post for you.
__________________
Paul, Cathy and Chocolate Lab, RIO
2018 Newmar Dutch Star 4362 (Spartan)
2012 Ford F-150
ThunderRidge is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2023, 07:36 AM   #5
Senior Member
 
ftharrisiii's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Posts: 353
Here is a thread that addresses the refer waterline freeze protection. See post #19. In my coach, the relay module controlling freeze protection is located in the house battery compartment.

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f103/heated-fridge-water-supply-420221.html
__________________
Tom & Linda
2016 Dutch Star 4369
2016 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited
ftharrisiii is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2023, 10:50 AM   #6
Senior Member
 
ThunderRidge's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2020
Location: Winter: Fort Wilderness Campground
Posts: 658
I guess I moved the thermostat down below the battery tray and close to the door. The above post is where I found the information.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	FD1ECC76-42C4-4042-BA85-F84C16F2DE9A.jpg
Views:	27
Size:	272.3 KB
ID:	385667   Click image for larger version

Name:	BCD4F6EF-2B98-44AD-B694-3BFCA32CAA6D.jpg
Views:	27
Size:	235.6 KB
ID:	385668  

__________________
Paul, Cathy and Chocolate Lab, RIO
2018 Newmar Dutch Star 4362 (Spartan)
2012 Ford F-150
ThunderRidge is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2023, 11:31 AM   #7
Senior Member
 
Rev. Roy's Avatar
 
Spartan Chassis
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 1,498
You made a good point Don when you said that the floor heat kept the bays at 60 degrees. If the thermostat for the ref is near the top, the electric floor heat will adversely effect the purpose. That is one reason I don't use the front floor heat overnight. We usually only have the bedroom floor heat on when we go to bed then turn the other ones on first thing in the morning. I guess I'm too lazy to move the thermostat for the ref.
Rev. Roy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2023, 06:45 PM   #8
"Formerly Diplomat Don"
 
Dutch Star Don's Avatar
 
Newmar Owners Club
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Moorpark, Ca.
Posts: 23,914
ftharrisiii......THANKS for the link.....that was exactly what I was looking for.

Rev. Roy......good point on the battery bay being too warm. Another project for when I get home.....locate and possibly move the thermostat.
__________________
Don & Mary
2019 Newmar Dutch Star 4018 (Freightliner)
2019 Ford Raptor
Dutch Star Don is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2023, 08:16 PM   #9
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: USA!
Posts: 38
DSD...
In an emergency you can use an alligator clip lead between the red and orange wires and that will keep the heating element on until the weather warms up.
TheBigBus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2023, 11:10 PM   #10
"Formerly Diplomat Don"
 
Dutch Star Don's Avatar
 
Newmar Owners Club
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Moorpark, Ca.
Posts: 23,914
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheBigBus View Post
DSD...
In an emergency you can use an alligator clip lead between the red and orange wires and that will keep the heating element on until the weather warms up.
Thanks.....my issue, I didn't know what I was looking for or where it was at. We get home tomorrow after a two-week trip, and I have s mall list of things to do.
__________________
Don & Mary
2019 Newmar Dutch Star 4018 (Freightliner)
2019 Ford Raptor
Dutch Star Don is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2023, 06:53 AM   #11
Senior Member
 
USMCRET's Avatar
 
Newmar Owners Club
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 3,453
After all of the assistance you have provided to others on here, I’m glad you received the assistance you were looking for.
__________________
2021 DSDP 4326 Freightliner
2023 Winnebago ERA 70A
2005 KSDP 3910 Spartan
USMCRET is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2023, 06:26 PM   #12
"Formerly Diplomat Don"
 
Dutch Star Don's Avatar
 
Newmar Owners Club
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Moorpark, Ca.
Posts: 23,914
Quote:
Originally Posted by USMCRET View Post
After all of the assistance you have provided to others on here, I’m glad you received the assistance you were looking for.

__________________
Don & Mary
2019 Newmar Dutch Star 4018 (Freightliner)
2019 Ford Raptor
Dutch Star Don is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-05-2023, 06:10 PM   #13
"Formerly Diplomat Don"
 
Dutch Star Don's Avatar
 
Newmar Owners Club
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Moorpark, Ca.
Posts: 23,914
I located the refer water line heater module today. When reading the printout (photo/wiring) it says right on it that the unit is mounted to the side wall of the battery bay. Mine was all the way up the wall, about a 1/4" from the roof the bay. I think REV. ROY nailed it when he said it was probably sensing the heat from the heated floors.

The wiring isn't long enough to move it to a colder area, so I cut the three wires and extended them 18". At the back of the battery bay is a diagonal brace welded to the frame. Directly below that is an open area (to the ground) behind the fuel tank. I mounted the unit as low as I could go on the brace and still see the indicator lights. The RED LED indicates the unit is sensing weather above 40 degrees. The GREEN LED is on when it senses weather below 40 degrees.

I found a good way to test the module. I used a can of compressed air for blowing off keyboards. When used upside down and pointed at the BLUE thermistor on the unit, it was cold enough to trigger the green LED.

Thanks again for the help from everyone.

Click image for larger version

Name:	20230205_162542.jpg
Views:	27
Size:	415.3 KB
ID:	385847

Click image for larger version

Name:	20230205_162512.jpg
Views:	22
Size:	124.5 KB
ID:	385848
__________________
Don & Mary
2019 Newmar Dutch Star 4018 (Freightliner)
2019 Ford Raptor
Dutch Star Don is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
heat, heater, water



Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Freezing Temps - Refer Water Line Dutch Star Don Newmar Owner's Forum 7 02-08-2022 07:38 AM
Reatta 2022 Water Leak from Refer Water Line DOrmerod56 Entegra Owner's Forum 3 11-14-2021 11:51 PM
Residential Refer Installed, No Line Voltage In Displayed for Shore Power wydglydrydr RV Systems & Appliances 1 03-31-2016 06:13 PM
Refer water line freeze concern TDL Newmar Owner's Forum 10 02-22-2016 09:25 AM
Water Line and Water Heater help.... okcableguy Class A Motorhome Discussions 11 02-25-2014 03:37 AM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:06 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.