[Archived]

Mine, is in the breaker box and labled bay heat..when I want it on I turn breaker on that runs an electric heater in the bay ..adjust heat on the heater by turning a knob.. hope this helps

[Dick]

Our water bay heat is provided by either a 120v heat gun and/or the webasto. Power to the heat gun is controlled by a breaker in the electrical compartment labelled “compartment heater” thru inverter #2, thru a thermostat mounted near the heat gun, and a switch on the heat gun itself w/positions “ON/FAN/OFF”, The webasto heat exchanger fan is on same thermostat. Of course the webasto needs to be ON.

[Dick]

“a switch on the heat gun itself w/positions “ON/FAN/OFF””

Huh. Never thought about the switch on the heat gun itself.

I have the electric water heater on and its 51 degrees in the water bay. In the low 20’s outside right now.

[Archived]

You have to remember this stuff is converter specific boys…

Dave – Mine is controlled with a 120v breaker and there is a thermostat in the water bay that turns on/off the heat as needed.

[joel]

Dave on our 99 Marathon, I found that our bay heat was not comming on and after checking it out here is what i found. In your breaker panel you should have a breaker for the bay heater, but it gets a signal from a 110 volt inline thermostat in the roadside water bay behind my outside faucet, near the ceiling of the bay. It is preset to 40 degrees and sends a signal to the breaker/switch to power the plug in the curbside water bay letting the little broan heater come on. So i now have to check the thermostat and the breaker to see which one is not working. Yours may be set up like mine, hope this helps.

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1999 XLV X-6872,  liberty #440

[Archived]

Thanks for all the advice, i have the hot water heaters on. its going to be in the low 20s this week . i should be alright I hope!

[Archived]

I know others are comfortable with the expectation that heat loss of the water heater is adequate for maintaining temps in the water bay.

I am not.

For a short exposure to higher freezing temps it does not take much to keep the bay protected, but for sustained freezing temps, especially those that get into single digits or below, and especially if the coach is exposed to wind, freezing is a likelyhood. Use the converter installed bay heater(s) or as an alternative fill the water tank to its capacity, aim a small cube heater at it set to the 500 watt setting and rely on the mass of the stored water to be a huge heat sink that will moderate temps in the water bay.

If you are driving in freezing temps make sure the coolant valves are open in the bay because coolant flow on most conversions is used to heat the water bay.

[Corey]

I am not either.

George and Corey have what I think is the best method for avoiding coach freeze-up. I wish we could implement it, but we’re not able to.

Last year I drained the water system on our coach (or so I thought) and blew it out with air. Right after New Year’s Day we headed for Jeff’s to have some work done. Arrived at Jeff’s on a Sunday night, he was to work on the coach on Monday/Tuesday. Plugged into his complimentary 50amp service and hooked up to his complimentary Tennesse fresh water. No water pressure in the coach and water running out from under the coach. Upon examination the Headhunter Mach ?? water pump was cracked wide open and the 15y/o water filter made of PVC pipe was cracked open. Fortunately Jeff had a new water pump in stock and explained the 15 y/o filter system wasn’t effective, so his guys installed the new water pump and bypassed the water filter after removing it from the coach. The busted filter created a problem with the refrigerator as the filter media in the filter got into the water line to the refrigerator and blocked the ice maker shut off valve open; result was water on the floor and Jeff’s had to pull the fridge out (which was enlightening to me to see), replace the valve, and clean up the water. Total costs were probably $1,500 to $1,700. Jeff said I missed removing a cap from the underside of the water pump which would have allowed the water pump to drain the residual water out of it, keeping it from freezing and breaking. I paid Jeff before we left.

While in Florida I ran into Frank Konigseder from Liberty and had him send us a manual. It was waiting for us when we arrived home at the end of January. Had great instructions for how to winterize the coach with RV anti-freeze, which I did upon returning home. No problems from the cold weather in Feb and March.

This year we’re planning on leaving for Florida immediately after Christmas. Rather than going through the RV anti-freeze exercise right now, this is my plan:

1. Coach is plugged into 50amp shore power, parked on the east side of race shop, somewhat protected from the westerly winds.

2. Water heater is on.

3. I’ve got two 1500watt heater fans running inside the coach to try to keep interior temps in the coach “up” and all the cabinets under the sinks are open. I’m also running two of the Cruise-Airs on heat mode.

4. I have a remote temp sensor in the water bay with the receiver console in the kitchen allowing me to monitor MIN temps in the water bay which has allowed me to “learn” how the water bay reacts to low temps.

5. Once the temps get below 15 degrees or so I expect the water bay to get into the 40’s. If that is the case, I’ll turn the heat gun on, unless I adapt Jon’s suggestion about a small ceramic heater set to 500watts and pointed at the water tank. (If I were to ever remove the water tank for some reason, I might consider putting bungs in the tank for an electric heater probe like we use in the oil tanks of the race cars, thermostat probe, and a thermometer probe which I think would provide better monitoring, control, and more direct and efficient heating of the water.)

6. If we get really cold temps (sub-zero) and I don’t think I can keep adequate temperatures in the water bay, I’m off to Camping World for 14 gallons of RV anti-freeze and will pump the water system full of anti-freeze per the Liberty manual.

Question: Is their any reason to heat the electrical bay in a Liberty? There is something that looks like a heater on the ceiling of the electrical bay.