Cold weather questions on Arctic Fox TT's

[Learner1]

Hello all:

While we have been doing a little "dreaming" of upgrading some day to a Northwood AF, we first had been thinking of a 5er. But then we started thinking that a TT might be a better choice for us.

While looking at the excellent videos on the AF sites, I found something curious: it seems as though the TT's come without heating pads on the water tanks; they seem to be an option.

Do I assume correctly that the underbellies on the TT's are indeed heated by cabin air, and that the heating pads are just an extra measuer to improve cold weather robustness?

Or maybe it's so that when the TT is not being used (no cabin heat), but the weather is below freezing, the heating pads can be used to stop the tanks and plumbing from freezing?

Also, I can't tell from the videos if the outside shower on the TT's is insulated? If not, how does it keep from freezing?

Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts,
Frank

[450Donn]

If I remember right, mine was a 2002, the furnace also heats the underbelly

[1bigmess]

I have a sibling of the Arctic Fox, an ORV. In below freezing weather, I make sure to use the furnace to blow some warm air into the underbelly area. I do not have tank heaters. My freshwater tank is under the bed, which is warmer than the underbelly. I have camped very easily in temps in the teens without having any problems with the sewage tanks, but occasionally I have had problems opening the drain valve to drain them. When that has happened I just cranked the heat up to 75 for about a half hour and then I have been able to dump.

The trailer and I got through -10 nights with a few days that only got to around 10 for a high temp, and everything still works fine now. I had a heated water hose, poured a gallon or two of rv antifreeze into each sewage tank to prevent hard freezing, and used Reflectix on the windows to help hold heat in. Had some minor problems, but easily got past them once it warmed up.

Each RV will handle cold weather differently, and being prepared for it is the only way to handle it, as once frozen, you might not be able to play catch up to the problem(s). It's doable though.

[MtCamper]

The underbelly is heated by the furnace. The problem is most of us do not run the furnace when plugged in. We use a portable electric heater instead. You should easily be able to drop below freezing at night if daytime temps get above freezing. Or do what we do and head to Arizona!

[ALLOY]

Originally Posted by Learner1

Hello all:

While we have been doing a little "dreaming" of upgrading some day to a Northwood AF, we first had been thinking of a 5er. But then we started thinking that a TT might be a better choice for us.

While looking at the excellent videos on the AF sites, I found something curious: it seems as though the TT's come without heating pads on the water tanks; they seem to be an option.

Do I assume correctly that the underbellies on the TT's are indeed heated by cabin air, and that the heating pads are just an extra measuer to improve cold weather robustness?

Or maybe it's so that when the TT is not being used (no cabin heat), but the weather is below freezing, the heating pads can be used to stop the tanks and plumbing from freezing?

Also, I can't tell from the videos if the outside shower on the TT's is insulated? If not, how does it keep from freezing?

Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts,
Frank

Last I looked AF had a heat duct into a tank compartment that is insulated with layer of fiberglass insulation.

Other have a heat duct into the underbelly that runs the length of the trailer with no insulation around the tanks and many openings for the warm air to escape. As warm air blows out cold air will be drawn in from somewhere else.

Reflexite that manufacturers put under the tanks is a foil barrier to meant to reflect the rays of the sun. It is of little use when it is under the tanks.

Tank heating pads will quickly drain the batteries.

[Gray01]

Originally Posted by Learner1

Do I assume correctly that the underbellies on the TT's are indeed heated by cabin air, and that the heating pads are just an extra measuer to improve cold weather robustness?


Also, I can't tell from the videos if the outside shower on the TT's is insulated? If not, how does it keep from freezing?

The outdoor shower hose is contained in a plastic "cylinder" that protrudes back into the mechanical bay. It is not insulated per se, but it obtains heat transference from the mechanical bay and it is enclosed from the exterior by the door that covers the wet bay.



The "Four Season" insulation is mostly hype. If you pull the coroplast belly covering you will find (and possibly saturated) unprotected fiberglass matted down to about an inch or less, with zero insulation on the steel frame members surrounding the holding tanks.
We have a rear kitchen model with a dedicated galley gray tank. I just renovated that holding tank area, replacing the matted fiberglass with Dow styrofoam "Blue board" and found that the "heated holding tank" claim did not apply to this tank. Zero provision for heat (which on the front tanks is a routed forced air duct).


Here is a link to the galley gray tank project.

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fu...d/29919544.cfm


This is a photo showing the full length heating duct that runs bow-to-stern on the 5ver, and the gray flexible duct that comes from it and routes to the forward holding tanks (fresh, gray and black)