heated waste tanks

I"ve been a lurker here for about a year. We bought a used 2350 this past Jan. Its a 2004 Ford 450 diesel, Other than the two side bench seats that fold down for the bed. We are very happy with the unit. I wish we could say the same for the dealer that sold it to us. But that would be a whole different thread.
We never got any of the manuals with the unit  that where promised us. So I have been on a learning curve on my own. I have most things figured out. But, I do have a question on the heaters on the gray and black tanks. We live in upstate NY and have already drained the system and winterized the lines.
But in Feb. we are planning on going to Arizona for a few weeks. I'm not sure how the tank heaters are hooked up? Do they work on shore power only? My thinking is that the power consumption would be to much for the house battery. But how would they stay warm running down the road? It would be a much more convenient to use the bathroom in the PC than stopping at rest areas. But it would be an unpleasant vacation if I freeze and split the tank.

Hi Joe, and welcome
The tank warmers don't take a lot of juice to run, and can be run off of the house batteries just fine.  Be sure there is some liquid in the tanks, though, as I don't think they should be on when empty.  You can also pour a little antifreeze down into each of the waste tanks for added insurance against freezing.
Have a great trip!

Joe,

We use the bathroom when leaving MI on our way to FL.  We stay winterized the first two days.  What we do is carry a couple jugs of water with us to use when flushing the toilet. We have never used the tank heaters and have never had a problem.  There is some antifreeze in the tanks from the winterization so they have not split.

Sue

            I would recommend you NOT unwinterize until you are out of freezing temperatures. To use the bathroom, get 4-5 gallons of RV antifreeze and pour down the toilet into the black tank. You should still have plenty of capacity until out of winter. Take jugs of water with and don't let any go down the drain. Use a dish pan and throw it out the door. Wouldn't hurt to put a couple gallons of antifreeze in the gray water tank as well just in case some water runs down the drain. At $3-4 per gallon, it is cheap insurance.
         Then reverse the process when you return home if it is still freezing.

David, do you have snows on that PC? And how does it handle in the snow? I would normally go out on I90 and start heading south in Ohio. But to avoid the lake affect storms I plan on heading south down I88 to I81 and turn west around Tennessee.  At the time we bought this PC in Buffalo NY they got a storm that dumped over 6 feet of snow. Luckily it melted by the time we where ready to pick it up. And we had to postpone a trip out there on Amtrack twice because of storms on the eastern part of the state. As it was we where 3 hours late when we did go out there. The RV place stayed open till we got there, took are check and sent us out the door.

Joe R,

What don't you like about your dinette?  Are the bench seats uncomfortable to sit on?  If so, are they soft foam with cloth?

If your answer is Yes x 2, I suggest you order leather memory foam cushions from the factory like we did.  They changed our dinette comfort immensely for the better.  The foam is more dense and also a little thinner.  Adding the leather and the 3 differences are remarkable in comfort, ease of entry and exiting, and also roomier.

The factory should supply those cushions for every dinette they offer.

As you can see in this picture, the framing material is our original cloth.  We replaced the cushions with leather/mem-foam.
Note the foam is a little bit thinner.  As little as the difference is, it makes a big difference in roominess.

Ron, our PC is not like that. I hope you can picture my description. Where your dinette is ours has a futon style couch. and on the opposite side there is another futon style couch and the table is mounted in the center of the two couch's. We very seldom use the table because its in the way of walking from the back to the front. The couch's fold down to make the bed and one annoyance is the 5 or 6 inch gap between the seat's so if you roll over to far you get stuck in the crack.
After a while it gets to be a pain to get the sheets and blankets out at night and make the bed. And then pack them away in the morning.

If your tank heaters are the same as my Winnebago they are DC(battery) operated and the don't draw much power. They are designed to turn on at about 40* and off anytime the tank is above that temperature so they are not on all the time unless needed. If in cold temps I would run them while you are running down the road and when you are stopped for the night if you have enough battery power to make it through the night if you are going to be dry docking. If you are dry docking on the way south then use the antifreeze in the tanks as suggested and wait till you get to warmer temps.

Right now we are in Bowling green Ky. Its snowing and the temps will be down in the teens and single digits. From here north it will be hard to find a camp ground that is open year round. On the way down a couple of weeks ago we found out that the tank heaters and the heater fan ran the battery down by 4 am. So we got up and started out early and beat the traffic in Columbus Oh.