When winter finally arrives we always drain down the water system. After some damage last year through frost, we now want our system to be totally dry!
Blowing down the system and towing with drain and taps open does not work.
There is a tool on the market made by Floe but when you add on the adaptors you may require, it is a tad expensive, especially if you change vans regularly.
Some time ago I read about a DIY assembly that also used a foot pump or tyre compressor to do just this, but have lost the article.
Does anyone have any ideas or has made something that may suffice?
The system should have been designed to drain down the system completely, if it doesnt then you have a problem. Are you opening the drain cock in the cold water feed? Opening this and opening all the taps should drain down the system. I leave them open all the time I'm not using the van.I also remove the shower head as last year there was some water trapped in it which froze and split the plastic
Regarding the toilet, on my Elddis Avante with a Thetford toilet you can drain the top tank completely by unhitching the sight tube at its highest point. The bottom tank I take out of the van and store in a frost free garage with the tyres.
Hi 'Clever', yes, it probably would be cheaper than buying a new pump etc., but when you have to pay £20-£25 for each 'adaptor' it really adds up.
I understand 15 psi is the max you would use, whatever 'gismo' I come up with.
Thanks
Yes 'Andrew', last year we did all the 'draindown' possible without pressuredraining and we still ended up with a shattered 'bye pass' (something to do with external shower) in our lunar - even with taps left open etc etc. Thanks for post......
Hi 'Beanpark', Thetford are offering a FREE adaption kit (bit of hose and clips) to make sure you can totally drain your flush tank - it is very easy to DIY as we did on our Lunar. Suggest you try their website or even ring them. We got ours very quickly good luck.....
Quote: Originally posted by AndrewMoorey on 31/7/2012
The system should have been designed to drain down the system completely, if it doesnt then you have a problem. Are you opening the drain cock in the cold water feed? Opening this and opening all the taps should drain down the system. I leave them open all the time I'm not using the van.I also remove the shower head as last year there was some water trapped in it which froze and split the plastic
Regarding the toilet, on my Elddis Avante with a Thetford toilet you can drain the top tank completely by unhitching the sight tube at its highest point. The bottom tank I take out of the van and store in a frost free garage with the tyres.
making sure by taking it out for winter sounds a good idea. Will be looking at that when we get over later thsi week.
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Topic: winter water draindown advice required
