Community Forums

Gatesway · 12-03-2020, 08:18 PM

I hear the circ pump come on under the passenger side front bumper and the t-stat is not calling for heat inside the coach - so, it must be the t-stat in the wet bay.

There is a dial to increase/decrease the temp in the wet bay, but when it is “on”, I don’t hear a fan (like those inside the coach. Does the fin tubes in the wet bay have a fan that you know of?

I’ll post a picture of my t-stat knob in my wet bay.

Thanks!

John

dons2346 · 12-03-2020, 08:45 PM

John,
I don't think there is a fan in the wet bay. I have never really paid any attention as to how the bay gets heat.
I got stuck in 4 degree weather and I added a small cube heater in the bay and removed the plate over the pump so warn air could get to the pump.

**CountryFit** · 12-03-2020, 09:52 PM

Our coach isn't the same as yours, if anything is worth of reference... There isn't a fan in the wet bay. It's about 2' long alminum tubing with fins that allows heat exchange to take place. That dial is a mechanical t-stat, it calls for furnace action when (1) ambient temp is below than the preset temp, and (2) the "Central Heat Control" is on.

Bluefoot53 · 12-03-2020, 09:58 PM

No fan, there is a heat exchanger in the wet bay that keeps it from freezing.

TR4 · 12-03-2020, 10:03 PM

John, I found this old post talking about the wet bay thermostat,

https://www.countrycoachforums.com/i...p?topic=1013.0

Bill

Gatesway · 12-05-2020, 05:06 PM

Thank you all for that quick feedback! I never had heard a fan in there before… But with it getting down in the low 20s here in North Carolina I just want to make sure we’re all set.

I do have an outdoor thermometer sensor in the wet bay and have been watching the temp in there. It’s well above freezing.

Bill I spent a half an hour reading through that thread you sent me a link to… Very interesting!

DJ55 · 12-06-2020, 11:59 AM

As another alternative, I've found that putting a 75 watt incandescent drop light in my wet bay keeps the pump and bay plumbing warm enough to prevent freezing when temps are dropping down to the low 20s. This has worked fine when I haven't felt like having my Oasis (Hurricane replacement) stay heated up all night.

ArtJoyce · 12-06-2020, 01:34 PM

I put a small 25w 12V heater with a fan in the wet bay. Our wet bay is very well insulated. I had thought about a 50w, but decided to conserve 12v. It seems to be enough between the heater and heated floor above the compartment.

My thoughts were 12V is always available. I don't have to be pugged in, invert it, or generate it.

Gidyupgo · 12-06-2020, 03:14 PM

ArtJoyce, can you share the source for a 25w 12v heater with fan?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArtJoyce

I put a small 25w 12V heater with a fan in the wet bay. Our wet bay is very well insulated. I had thought about a 50w, but decided to conserve 12v. It seems to be enough between the heater and heated floor above the compartment.

My thoughts were 12V is always available. I don't have to be pugged in, invert it, or generate it.

caryt · 12-06-2020, 04:56 PM

2nd winter I'm parked on asphalt and the coach is in a north south orientation on the east side of my shop.

This year iplunged in but I just have the floor tile elect heat set for 80*. We have got down to 17* at night and 32* during the day for a couple of days. Rest of the time its been 20-45*. We have had 10" of snow that leased for a few days. 90% of our days this last month have been clear sky's.

Storage bays have been around 65* min and wet bays low of 49*max.

That's without running the boiler to heat the bays.

Coldest inside the coach has been 52* first thing in the am.

So confident that at least on my coach where it spends the winter thereir is no need to worry about winterizing anymore than what I am doing.

Had a friend visit and he stayed in the coach, the hydro hot and the 2 zones have no problem keeping the coach toasty.

Smitty77 · 12-06-2020, 10:13 PM

On he 04 Allure, now fan. And with the Zone 2 heat on, the wet bay did well with temps into the single digits... I did, on the non slide side where water lines went to our kitchen, have one night of kitchen sink like freezing. We left the lower kitchen cabinet doors cracked at night - and never a problem with freezing water lines to the kitchen.

Our 98 Bounder, I used the drop light in the wet bay. And, I know of two owner's with Class A's without basement heating - that used heating pads they 'put into the wet bay tank area' (I understood this as basically cramming them into the bays where they would fit

!) - and also did well...

A full water tank does better then a lower water tank!

Best to all,
Smitty

Fredward · 12-07-2020, 07:40 PM

For as well engineered as the CC's are I'm disappointed by the wet bay freeze protect system design. Our 2000 Magna with Webasto source hydronic heat has a little radiator (small section of copper pipe with fins on it) which is controlled by that wet bay thermostat. But that little radiator is up at the top of the bay and last time I checked heat rises. And our pump is down on the floor of the bay which is uninsulated. Can anyone explain the theory of operation?

Why wouldn't they have put the radiator down on the bottom of the wet bay? Or why wouldn't they have installed a 12volt fan that also runs when the wet bay thermostat calls for heat to circulate warm air down there? Living in Minnesota this is one of those things that I would like to improve upon by adding a small fan to circulate that heat from the radiator. But our coach sits inside all winter and the few times we use it in the cold we have gotten by. It just seems strange they wouldn't have done something a little different with that freeze protect system.

Fred

Gatesway · 12-10-2020, 04:10 AM

Again, thank you all for the feedback!

It has been in the mid 20's for the past few nights and the bay temp (I have an outdoor thermometer sensor in that bay) has been in the 50's. I did not hear a fan, but the setup CC did is sure working! I think I'll play with turning down the heat on that t-stat.

Thanks!

gsander1 · 12-10-2020, 08:43 PM

Fred, I hear what you are saying. Remember though, it matters less where the radiator in the bay is located than where the thermostat is mounted. In my Magna, like the Allure I had before, the thermostat is down low in the bay right beside the water pump. So it will be the set temperature low in the bay and warmer as you go up. It works just fine for me.