What happens when the Carver tank gets frozen and as not been drained, I think mine has done this, yesterday when I switched it on in the electric mode, the fault light comes on after 10 seconds ,so I switched it off
Cheers Micheal for the info, BUT what kind of damage would occure if it did freeze ie would the return valve stick, or would the box fracture, at the moment there are no leaks or any visible damage
The return valve would fracture and need replacing. There's a possibility of the tank cracking. Leaks may not be obvious until you heat the water in it. Fingers crossed for you.
------------- Caz
If you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, just keep going till you go round the bend.
Its years since I had the Carver boiler so this is from the memory banks.
I would think frost damage is almost certain to lead to a leak. From cracked non return valve, blown main body o-ring etc.
I note you said it was an electric fault, I cant recall any indicator for that but I have had an indicated gas fault which I found out was caused by no more than a spider/web on the sparker/sensor.
note you said it was an electric fault, I cant recall any indicator for that but I have had an indicated gas fault which I found out was caused by no more than a spider/web on the sparker/sensor
that is what i was thinking too.on the carver the lights are for the gas side.if a light comes on in seconds it is due to no gas or a very low battery voltage.
First as has been noted, you said you switched the electric side on but your then saying this led to the gas sides red light coming on? So you actually switched the gas on but left the gas bottle off perhaps??
Frost damage is simple, if even a small amount of water within freezes, it expands and pushes the tank backward, the centre is held by the tie rod and cannot move so this distorts the end of the tank. If this has happened you will find the tank can be rocked on the heat exchanger without the exchanger moving. I can say it won't crack or distort the tank in any other way, nor will it damage the heat exchanger.
It is though possible for already weak plastic fitting to crack and leak, as can the weight of ice attached to the thermal fuse snap the internal stem off, this will then pour water over the burner outside. A corroded and weak tie rod can also snap, an otherwise strong tie rod can distort it's threads under the pressure and the holding nut jam solidly on.
One other possible is the non-return valve in the cold water inlet, if this freezes it can distort it and prevent the tank filling fast enough to get water to the hot taps.
Right ! the pump passes water to the cold taps ok , I never thought to try the hot tap, But having read your threads on this, I was on mains electric,I turned the water heater on ,the green light appears, then 10 secs later I heard a click the red light came on, so I turned it off, I also noticed when I disconected the mains my battery was flat, it is an old 75 hr battery, so with it not working I thought maybe it was something to do with the bad frost we had a few weeks ago, could it be the battery, I would like to think so as I was going to get a new one
So you turned the 240 volt mains on because your battery is u/s and your running the van on the charger alone?
The water heater your running on gas but the 12 volts to control it is supplied by the charger?
If your getting green light followed by red then the water heater is trying to work, it could be that you need to repeat what you did if gas needs to get to the heater, ie. there,s air in the pipework that need bleeding through.
Here's an overview of the Cascade so you know what your dealing with....
The Carver Cascade 2 is a 9 litre storage water heater, which when running on gas will heat the water to 65deg c in about 45 minutes. On 240V mains assuming it has this facility, the time can be somewhat longer or shorter depending on the wattage (630w 3amp to 840w 5amp) of the element fitted, you can use both gas and electric together for faster times. To operate the gas there is a wall switch or a switch within a main control panel, either way both have three lights green, amber and red. When switched on the green lights, (water tank must be full, i.e. water coming from hot taps), if it stays on after about 8 seconds then the gas has lit and all is well. If the green is joined by the red then you may have a problem, but if the gas bottle has just been changed then air in the pipes will have to be bled through by repeating the above 2 or 3 times. Once lit, and it should light without any pops and bangs, (this would indicate it needs a service), the heater looks after itself and gives constant hot water. Any problems will cause it to shut down safely and show the red light. Forget the amber light, it's to show low voltage and won't light unless the voltage is so low the heater and everything else packed up long since, though you may notice it 'flash' as the switch is turned on or off. The 240v immersion heater if fitted is totally separate, and lies behind a white plastic box on the inboard end of the water tank. It is controlled by a switch, often close by and at floor level, but again sometimes as part of a remote control panel. The switch has a red light to show it's 'on', not that it's working, this will be determined by the water getting hot. If it does not then it may have 'tripped' Two types exist, early circa 1990 are non-re-settable but are repairable. Later models have a Red button on the end of the plastic box which is sometimes behind a little flap. Switch off mains, and press to reset. Other faults concerning the gas side very often come down to the 'Burner Module'. This handy little unit contains the burner, gas valve and all the electronics which control it and is accessible from behind the cover outside of the van. In the event things go wrong it's a 5 minute job to replace it, with a new or serviced exchange unit. One other safety device is a wax filled 'fusible' plug, this again is behind the outer cover and shows itself as a 13 mm nut set in the fins above the burner. The wax will melt if things get too hot allowing hot water from the tank to spray over the burner and put the flame out. This will render things safe but will require a new module because it's control circuitry is faulty. However given if the fuse 'blows' without the water apparently getting to hot then replacing the plug will be sufficient. The point to note here is that over time the wax in the plug degrades or the threads leak, at the very least allowing water to seep onto the burner causing it to rust and eventually will still require replacement of the whole burner module. Further problems that come to light in spring is the discovery of frost damage to the water tank, the non-return valve which is part of the cold water inlet and other plastic fittings. Failing to drain the heater when there is a chance of temperatures dropping below freezing can be very expensive to repair and should be avoided by removing the drain bung and allowing the heater to drain completely. Later models have a valve above the drain hole in the top left corner of the flue cowl, these have a 'toggle' showing that when turned a ΒΌ in any direction will allow air into the tank and assist the draining. Older models still have the valve but the flue cowl needs to be removed and the valve end pulled to open it, in this case opening all taps in the van will do much the same thing. It is most important that the drain bung is then only placed back into the hole and not screwed in, any water left in the system can then drain away. Frost damage to the tank will be obvious by the leaking water from the damaged seal, the damaged non-return valve quite often will prevent water coming from the hot taps although the cold water flow will be fine. Other fittings are often cracked by the pressure of the frozen water and will leak on refilling the system.
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Topic: Frozen water Tank
