Kitec and Heat Tape...


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Old 01-03-10, 06:15 AM
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Kitec and Heat Tape...

My wife and I operate a mobile espresso van. It has two 45 gallon fresh water tanks on top of the van (Dodge Sprinter) and has exposed plumbing on top of the van that carries water from the tanks down into the roof and is split into various areas once inside. I did buy really good pipe insulation from Lowe's (the thick, closed cell foam) and wrapped the pipes tightly and secured with zip ties. It got down to about 16 degrees here last night and apparently it did freeze a bit in a few places. However, I did anticipate this and we bought an electric blanket and I draped it across the tanks last night and plugged it in. I didn't cover the plumbing thinking the insulation would be OK, but guess not. AND I do know an electric blanket isn't meant to be used outside, but as long as there is no rain I don't see an issue.

Now I'm thinking about 2 scenarios. One is to buy heat tape and wrap the pipes and then re-install the insulation. Or simply fashion some sort of cover to go over the plumbing like a dome and put a heat lamp on the inside of it. Can heat tape be safely used with Kitec? Thanks for any info. Later!
 
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Old 01-03-10, 09:47 AM
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I vote for the cover/dome idea. What about the old trick of letting the water drip at night so it doesn't freeze? Would that help?
 
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Old 01-03-10, 11:15 AM
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Yeah after thinking about taking the insulation off the pipe, then running the heat tape, then putting it all back together I'm looking for different alternatives.

Once I discovered some of the exterior plumping frozen in places (would still trickle out of faucet in van, not full flow like normal) I moved the electric blanket so it covered all the plumbing and not so much of the tanks. The tanks are 45 gallons each max, so they're not going to ice up nearly as fast as that 1/2" plumbing. Anyway, that did the trick and after being on the plumbing maybe 2 hrs. the electric blanket thawed it all out. Tonight I will keep it in the same place. Also might fabricate some sort of dome with a heat lamp with small bulb maybe 1 ft. over the plumbing IF the electric blanket doesn't continue to work.

Keeping the water trickling did come to mind, but it'd have to be a tiny trickle as I don't want to waste alot of water and don't want too much going in the waste tank. Might try it though one night for 6-8 hrs. just to see. Thanks again. Later!
 
 

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