We are due to go to Strathyre for Easter. Forecast says -5 to -7 at night. The cold doesnt faze us, we have all the right gear. I'm thinking the water container might freeze. Too late to buy anything in the way of lagging etc. anyway, apart from carrying a couple of big bottles of water any more tips re the water issue. What do others do?
For lagging you could use an old coat and feed the water pump through one of the arms , Or a hot water cylinder jacket and some grey foam pipe insulation for the water pump pipe .
When we were in morecambe a couple of weeks ago and it was -3 at night I made sure the water hog was full every night, brought the external pump inside and disconnected the waste pipe from the van and we had no trouble
Been there done that.best advice is to take in the pump each night if freezing.water barrel a large blanket wrapped over and round.make sure the waste pipes are empty at night.empty waste container,if its frozen you cannot add to it.always make sure you have water on board for teeth cleaning,hand washing,brews,ect.have extra blankets av.
------------- the only silly question is the one you do not ask.
Would also advise to take the water barrel off the ground. We usually carry blocks to go under the steadies and use these. In a previous post an old Parki from a charity shop for about a £5 was suggested, works great
A piece of Kingspan or similar insulation under the Aquaroll and wastemaster, insulation around the Aqauroll then wrap both in bubble wrap and cover aquaroll with bin bag to keep moisture off insulation and a wheelie bin liner over the wastemaster and bubble wrap. This has kept things from freezing in temps down to -8C but I always bring pump in last thing in the evening. Any colder than this and its going to more of a problem to even get water out of a site tap than to worry about an aquaroll freezing. A 15l water carrier is handy to keep topped up in the caravan for extremely cold weather. Keep the 'van as warm as possible and leave cupboard doors open wherever you can as it help to stop cold spots causing condensation on the cupboard contents.
------------- 'A sure cure for sea-sickness is to sit under a tree'
Thanks folks, the tip to lift barrel off the ground will be useful. And We'll drain and empty pipes and bring in the pump at night. Or our old standy, old 2 litre milk cartons filled with water and face wipes!
A few layers of bubble wrap wrapped round the barrel and something to stand it off the ground a bit should do the trick. If you can get the bubble wrap with the big bubbles that it better and more fun to pop afterwards!!
If the temperature is getting to -5 overnight and struggling to reach above zero during the day, no amount of lagging will stop it freezing. A fish tank heater dangling in the aqua roll may work
Quote: Originally posted by feeblecat on 26/3/2013
Does anyone know about cassette toilet? Is that likely to freeze or does the chemicals (pink/blue) stop it?
that is going to depend on how well heated the space around your toilet is. In my old 'van I used to keep a 400W oil filled rad under the sink and that always did the job. Nowadays in the newer 'van the Alde heating pipes run at the back of the toilet and provide enough heat to prevent freezing. I think the simple answer is keep everything as warm as you can and you should be OK.
The pink fluid will freeze if left unheated. Not sure about blue as I normally use sachets during the very cold weather as it saves messing with bottles of chemicals when my hands are going numb with cold. I guess if it is cold enough for urine to freeze it is time to put the heating up a notch or two.
------------- 'A sure cure for sea-sickness is to sit under a tree'
If your caravan is heated to being warm enough to keep yourselves warm then the toilet header tank being inside should be ok.what I do is only fill it half full if freezing is possible that day.Our toilet area is always warm.
------------- the only silly question is the one you do not ask.
We empty the waste hog and aqua roll, bring the aqua roll and pump inside and as long as the heater is on the rest will be OK.
We've only had time to use the van in winter, standpipes frozen up but providing you have a supply of water in the van there is no real problem.
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Topic: Water when freezing tips?
