# "heated Enclosed Underbelly, Tanks And Valves"



## FordFamily

According to the Outback literature, their TT's have "Heated enclosed underbelly, tanks and valves". I have a 28RSDS, so...

1.) Can someone please explain what this means to me?
2.) Is the bottom wrapped in plastic, metal, fabric, what...?


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## zoomzoom8

The next time you're out with the new baby, look under the trailer. All of the tanks, valves, etc., are enclosed (vs exposed tanks on 90% of the rest of the makes out there). There are only a few companies doing this (probably copied the outback). This helps with better air flow for towing, protection from things being thrown up under the trailer and when you are using your heater, there is radiant heat also going to the enclosure. Not sure how much, but it's going.

Congrats on the new ship!


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## mswalt

FordFamily,

I wouldn't bet money on the "heat" keeping your pipes from freezing should you camp in very cold weather.

Read the numerous posts about this on our forum.

Mark


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## HootBob

I believe its not truly heated like your vents
But more like radiant heat coming from the duct works

Don


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## PDX_Doug

Imagine it is late at night in the Jones household. Our man Steve has had a tough couple of weeks, and needs to score soon. Let's listen in on his dreamwaves...

_"Let's see....As Keystones main marketing guy, how do I spin the fact that we are not going to insulate the heating ductwork in the Outback...hmmm?

I got it! The radiant heat from the ductwork heats the plumbing and tanks, thus extending the camping season! Yeah, That's it! It's not cost savings. It's a feature!

Man am I good!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"_

Actually, I think it does help, but you should not consider your Outback a four-season trailer because of it. Yeah, I know Ghosty, it's 88 degrees and sunny in Texas!









Happy Trails,
Doug


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## tdvffjohn

My opinion is the 'heated' underbelly is more of a mildly good marketing game. They figured out it would be easier and cheaper to use a corrugated cover along the length of the chassis than it is to secure all the wires and pipes. The radiant heated underbelly was a bonus as it can work to a point. I myself do like it because it keeps the elements while driving, rocks, rain etc from damaging anything while traveling. Also if you needed to trace a electrical gremlin the wires are hanging instead of hidden if you remove the 'underbelly'

John


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## Moosegut

I've been winter camping for decades (YIKES - Decades?







) and I camped all the time in my old TT with no problems. I took the Outback out in 14 degree weather with no problem - but the temps rose into the 30s and 40s during the day. The post below was a reply to someone who had bought an Outback in Chicago. I have changed my mind completely and am now on the "you shouldn't camp in very cold winter weather" side of the argument - without mods to the lines and/or underbelly. It stayed in the teens and below for two days and nights last weekend while we were camping. Had a great time though.









<< Quote: Being from the Chicago area though, don't plan on winter camping unless you plan on making some modifications. I was firmly on the "winter camping is okay" side of the argument until this weekend - everything froze on us. You'll be okay if the daytime temps go back into the 30s but watch out if they remain in the teens. I'm hoping to finally drain everything today after work (in the 40s yesterday and the 50s today) and I'm praying all is well with the plumbing.

Never-the-less, I love the Outback. I don't think you can go wrong if you purchase one. So far as price is concerned, Y-Guy's quote of 20,495 is a good price. Being on the upper east coast, everything is higher here. All the best no matter what you decide.

Scott


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## nynethead

My understanding of the heated underbelly is that the ducts which supply your trailer with heat are run under the holding tanks and as heat passes through the ducts and radiates upward it provides enough heat to keep the holding tanks and water lines from freezing. I camped mid november and for 2 days it was below freezing all day and all 4 nights, the year round people including the guy who managed the site said their water froze. I had no problem in my outback for the whole 4 days.


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## Castle Rock Outbackers

Right, the brochure says the "enclosed, radiant-heated tanks" CAN EXTEND your camping season. The Outback is not an Arctic Fox.

Randy


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## FordFamily

Thanks for the feedback, but I'm still a little unclear on what is the bottom wrapped in (plastic, metal, fabric, what...)?


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## tdvffjohn

corrugated plastic screwed to the chassis and black sealant


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## HootBob

The underbelly is made out of polypropylene
It reminds me somewhat like corrugated plastic

Don


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## Y-Guy

FordFamily our Raptor has the same underbelly as the Outback does.

The corrugated plastic acts to keep the cold air from reaching the floor (directly) and when you run the LP heater it helps trap the heat and keep the valves, water tank, etc warm. In extreme cold weather you may still freeze the valve lines and the pipes. We camped over Thanksgiving temps were in the 20s and below. We ran the LP heat as well as some space heaters. For the first couple of days, no problem but the last night (coldest night) the valves froze up and our already low tank of water froze (should have kept it filled more) but the worse thing was the waste water line froze (don't ask).

So, while the enclosed underbelly is great for mile temps it will not keep things from freezing unless you were to keep the LP heat on 24/7 which would run through LP fast and probably still wouldn't keep things from freezing. However that enclosed underbelly can make a huge difference when its not so cold and you just get a cold breeze through the campsite.

Most manufacturers do the same type of underbelly, if they even do that. The Actic Fox and some other 4 seaons campers actually use an insulated underbelly, which adds weight and really only makes a huge difference in very cold temps.

For all but the coldest days your Outback should do just fine.


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## cookie9933

FordFamily,

The underbelly material is a corrugated black plastic that in a cross-section is constructed a lot like heavy cardboard, except it's not made out of paper/cellulose. The plastic is quite tough and resilient and is waterproof. All in all, it's a good feature.

Bill


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## nascarcamper

The problem with mine is the water line is laying on the underbelly. Not much insulating value in that black plastic.


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## Thor

cookie9933 said:


> FordFamily,
> 
> The underbelly material is a corrugated black plastic that in a cross-section is constructed a lot like heavy cardboard, except it's not made out of paper/cellulose. The plastic is quite tough and resilient and is waterproof. All in all, it's a good feature.
> 
> Bill
> [snapback]74847[/snapback]​


I think the main reason is for air flow while towing, a great marketing feature for little money, makes the Outback look completely finished, and an added bonus of extending the camping season.

Thor


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## nynethead

Believe it or not I was able to run my heat 24 hours a day for 5 straight days including boosting my hot water on one 30lb tank of gas. It might have gone longer but it was 10pm the last night and below feezing and I did not want to have to get out of bed if the heat went out. I know I could have used the auto feature, but the dealer suggested not to.


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## PDX_Doug

nynethead said:


> I know I could have used the auto feature, but the dealer suggested not to.


I assume you are refering to the automatic propane tank switchover. I wonder why the dealer advised against it? Do they have issues in really cold weather?









Happy Trails,
Doug


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## tdvffjohn

Good question Doug. I do not see why cold would make a difference, people in mobile homes that use 2 tanks use a similar device. I never understood why some dealers advise people not to use something for what it is designed to do.

John


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## camptails

My salesman said that you could run the furnace while traveling between campsites to keep the lines from freezing . Has anyone ever done this??? It seem like the furnace would just blow out.


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## HootBob

I have never ran the furnace while traveling and don't I ever will try that
Thats just me.

Don


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## Crawfish

tdvffjohn said:


> Good question Doug. I do not see why cold would make a difference, people in mobile homes that use 2 tanks use a similar device. I never understood why some dealers advise people not to use something for what it is designed to do.
> 
> John
> [snapback]75000[/snapback]​


 I think the reason they recommend not to use the auto switch is because of the pressure. When the auto switch is activated both tanks equalize which lowers the pressure below operating levels when they get low. In other words you could still have gas in both tanks but not enough pressure to operate some systems. If you use one tank at a time the pressure remains high enough.

Leon


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## tdvffjohn

I beg to differ. The idea of the valve is to switch from the almost empty tank to the full one so you do not run out of a tank, not to equalize the two.

John


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## aplvlykat

Like others I have had the bottom off. I could not find any duct outlets, radiant heat only. I did think about adding one but in sunny So. Cal its not a must have. Kirk


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## PDX_Doug

tdvffjohn said:


> I beg to differ. The idea of the valve is to switch from the almost empty tank to the full one so you do not run out of a tank, not to equalize the two.


Yeah, what John said.

I do recall an earlier thread discussing problems people were having with the tanks equalizing. That was in fact due to a malfunction on the part of the auto-valve. Working properly, it will only open one tank at a time.

Happy Trails,
Doug


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## HootBob

tdvffjohn said:


> I beg to differ. The idea of the valve is to switch from the almost empty tank to the full one so you do not run out of a tank, not to equalize the two.
> 
> John
> [snapback]75254[/snapback]​


Ditto to that John









Don


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## Thor

I think it is time to get the Marshall's owners manual out. I will have to check it tomorrow. All manuals are in my TT.

Thor


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## topjudge

zoomzoom8 said:


> The next time you're out with the new baby, look under the trailer. All of the tanks, valves, etc., are enclosed (vs exposed tanks on 90% of the rest of the makes out there). There are only a few companies doing this (probably copied the outback). This helps with better air flow for towing, protection from things being thrown up under the trailer and when you are using your heater, there is radiant heat also going to the enclosure. Not sure how much, but it's going.
> 
> Congrats on the new ship!


Is the enclosed underbelly heated separately? In other words can it be heated to protect the pipes, etc. during the winter while not in use?


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## topjudge

Is the underbelly heated separtely? In other words can it be heated to protect the pipes, etc. in the winter when not in use?


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## Traveling Tek

ok, time for me to chime in here since I full time in my outback in all kinds of weather. 

The under belly is heated via radiant heat from the duct work coming from the furnace. The water lines run along the duct work to keep them from freezing. The plastic covering basically keeps the wind off the tanks and stuff. That being said, the place where it freezes is is where the pipes loop near the pump and city water hook up. There is no furnace duct work over there. After mine froze a couple times, I drilled a 1 inch hole in the front duct so that more heat would read those pipes and that seemed to take care of the problem.

On the auto propane switch over. The tanks do no equalize. They can not back feed into each other. Propane is pretty highly pressurized to keep in a liquid form. Next time you get a tank filled you will notice that they use a pump to put the LPG in there and they also turn a little set screw to shut of the safety float so they can fill it. The switch over does its job, when one tank reaches low pressure, then other one kicks in and the top turns red. You can disconnect the empty tank without any leaking.

Now while the auto switch does it's job great. I leave one tank on at a time because I like to know when my tank is empty so I can refill. Nothing worse then running empty on both tanks in the freezing cold. I get approx a week (5-7days) out of tank when running my furnace, water heater, and fridge.

Yes I run my heat while traveling through freezing temps. I usually set it on the lowest setting which is about 50-55. This keeps my tanks from freezing while I travel and also makes it nice to get into the trailer after a long day of driving. So far this has worked great.

You can see my mods on my web site.


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## john7349

Thanks Tek for all the good info,especially your propane tank usage. Do you also supplement your heat with shore power?


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## Traveling Tek

john7349 said:


> Thanks Tek for all the good info,especially your propane tank usage. Do you also supplement your heat with shore power?


I do when I am parked. We have two $20 walmart heaters that we use on the low setting when ever we are in a camp ground. We boon dock a lot when driving between jobs. I looked all over for a solution for tank monitoring and there just isn't one thats reliable. I do have a generator as well, what I do is set an alarm for like 5:30am. I wake up fire up the genny and turn the furnace up and then hop back in bed. That way when the family wakes up the trailer is warm. Not a problem when we are in a campground.

A propane bottle lasts me almost a month when we don't have to run the furnace. I use the calendar app on my phone to track tank switches just so I have a general idea of when I will run out.


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