Wilderness 2450FB

hank0123

Member
I have a 2017 Wilderness. Are the tanks sealed or heated. Looking for suggestions how to winterize the trailer for winter use in Idaho. Thanks.
 

jimtoo

Moderator
Hi hank0123,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and to the family. We have a great bunch of folks here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge when needed.

This is link to "Tools" tab at top of page where you will find lots of good information about everything in and on your unit. Some of the manuals are written by our members that actually use campers. I am sure you will get lots more info from our members on using the unit in the winter.

Be sure and check out our Heartland Owners Club. Join us at a rally when you can and meet lots of the great folks here and make friends for a lifetime.

Enjoy the forum and your new unit.

Jim M
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Hi hank0123,

You probably don't have tank heaters or heated water lines, and you may have minimal insulation (or none) in the underbelly. So from the standpoint of keeping the water running in Idaho during the winter, it'll take some doing. You may have to get skirting or build an enclosure and put a ceramic disc heater under the trailer to keep the plumbing warm.

We have an owner-written Water Systems Winter Usage Guide that's got tips and techniques that may be helpful to you.
 
I have the same model, but a 2016. No tank heaters or heat tape on the lines, does have a heater duct routed into the underbelly but probably not enough heat for Idaho. I will be wintering just north of OKC and am considering options as well. Will be following....
 
Hank, good news is the bulk of the water lines are in the conditioned space - not underneath. I have spoken to Heartland and the are sending the plumbing plans, once I have some more info and have dropped the belly I will post
 
Not sure if the OP is still checking in...

Okay, I looked at a couple options in respect to the lines interior to the conditioned space, of concern were the lines feeding the outside shower and the lines feeding the sink at the outdoor kitchen. I considered heat taping and wrapping all these lines, however the run under the shower made that a no-go. So I decided to give myself the option to "kill" those exterior lines when the temps dictate, I looked at valves but decided the cost was not justified. So I elected to make plugs; Each of these sink connections are a threaded flex hose, so I gathered some materials - about $28 to make 4 (disclaimer I already own the crimper ($40)). I will install these / disconnect the exterior sinks when that time comes.

I also decided that "sharing" more of the living space heat would be a good thing, so I picked up some wooden registers that matched the colors well, these are installed in the panels under the stove, the bath storage cabinet (below the drawer), and below the converter. I will open the registers when freezing temps approach, closed the rest of the year. I will do similar to the under-shower access panel when I find a matching register that fits. Speaking of under the shower- HL had to cut into the floor to facilitate the P-trap, this left an open edge of the wood laminate exposed as well as a large section of the foam insulation missing. I sealed the laminate edges with roof rubber sealant and filled the hole back with spray foam. (Side note - the reefer deck / floor is only coated an inch or two back from the exterior hatch, good place to butter while you have the roof sealer at hand.)

The space under the outside sink is now stuffed with fiberglass as well, it is open all the way under the reefer and stove! So something has to be done there as well.

For the life of me I cannot get photos to work (very frustrating, keeps claiming my photo bucket links are invalid?), and this reply box only seems to work if I type approx. 3 words per minute, like the Zootopia DMV Sloth! This is the only forum I have ever had these issues with. Hopefully the thumbs work.......
 

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A couple more simple but effective mods;

I tied in a 1.5" duct to the duct under the converter and routed this under the bath drawers along the waterlines, this is slit to blow warm air on the lines and to blow under and along outer shower pan. I did the same under the outdoor kitchen sink and then boxed that area with R-75 foam board. I still plan to disconnect both outdoor sink feeds and install my plugs in winter, the outdoor shower wand will be removed and the box stuffed with insulation as well.

In my engine room days we had valve "blankets" installed. These served several functions, but they also kept a minor leak from becoming a big problem before it could be discovered and repaired. Taking that thought I have wrapped all likely leak points with children's diapers. They will still require periodic checking to make sure all is tight and dry, however a minor drip should be contained and hopefully it will help to prevent damages.

Hope these ideas help someone - the underbelly work is on hold until these temps come down - I was delayed as I discovered my coroplast is pinned on and not screwed on - see thread in the general section.
 
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