slash2
Senior Member
I wanted to follow up on my question about water pipes freezing. Based on all of the comments I figured it wasn't a big risk factor in my situation, the simple solution would be to drain the system and use jugs if I was going to be in a very cold environment, however I couldn't let it go without at least trying out an idea.
I purchased 6' of 12V self regulating heat trace cable of from Ebay, but it didn't work quite like I was lead to believe from the product description, I thought it only drew current when it went below a certain temperature however when I hooked a 1' piece to a 12V battery it quickly heated up 106 degrees, not quite what I had in mind, so I bought a simple thermostat that comes on at 35 degrees and goes off at 45 degrees.
I attached the thermostat to a PVC T coupler by opening up one of the threaded ports with a dremel, sealing the thermostat in with a little silicone seal and an O ring and securing it in place with a little U bolt.
I ran about 3' of heat trace cable from where the water line comes out of the tank, dipping below the T coupling with the thermostat to prevent short cycling and on along the line with a wrap around the the end of the water pump.
I wired the heat trace cable through the thermostat to one of my internal 12V batteries, along with an LED indicator and a 5 amp inline fuse. The cable supposably draws 5 watts per foot so about 1.25 amps.
I haven't had a chance to get somewhere cold enough to test it out, I've jumpered the leads on the thermostat and the cable does warm up but how much at what temps I have no idea. It may not even work but it's been fun playing with it. You can probably tell that I'm just winging this with no expertise or background in any of this stuff, so if you see any obvious faults in my reasoning or execution feel free to point them out.
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I purchased 6' of 12V self regulating heat trace cable of from Ebay, but it didn't work quite like I was lead to believe from the product description, I thought it only drew current when it went below a certain temperature however when I hooked a 1' piece to a 12V battery it quickly heated up 106 degrees, not quite what I had in mind, so I bought a simple thermostat that comes on at 35 degrees and goes off at 45 degrees.
I attached the thermostat to a PVC T coupler by opening up one of the threaded ports with a dremel, sealing the thermostat in with a little silicone seal and an O ring and securing it in place with a little U bolt.
I ran about 3' of heat trace cable from where the water line comes out of the tank, dipping below the T coupling with the thermostat to prevent short cycling and on along the line with a wrap around the the end of the water pump.
I wired the heat trace cable through the thermostat to one of my internal 12V batteries, along with an LED indicator and a 5 amp inline fuse. The cable supposably draws 5 watts per foot so about 1.25 amps.
I haven't had a chance to get somewhere cold enough to test it out, I've jumpered the leads on the thermostat and the cable does warm up but how much at what temps I have no idea. It may not even work but it's been fun playing with it. You can probably tell that I'm just winging this with no expertise or background in any of this stuff, so if you see any obvious faults in my reasoning or execution feel free to point them out.
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