I have a Compass Lynx 1993 model and have been advised that I need to drain the system so it doesn't freeze over the winter. I've looked in the book, which is no help at all, and tried a few videos on the internet, but they just say you need to do it, not how!
Thanks in advance for any help/advice with this.
Depends on which type of water heater, if a Carver there is a screw plug on the outside near the heater flue / vent, just loosen it and the water drains away. Or there maybe a lift up tap near the water heater inside, also open all taps to help drain the water. My previous Sprite also had some plugs (red top) in the pipes under the caravan, just pulled them out to drain any water left in the pipes.
When draining down for the winter, remember also to completely flush out any remaining water in the toilet top tank into the waste tank and then empty the water. Some people on this forum often have problems with toilet flush pump issues but quite often it could be related to frozen water left in the pump that expands during extreme cold spells.
As for the fresh water, follow the advice that 'Octavia4x4' (above post) has stated.
The other thing I found helpful was to raise and lower the front of the van as much as possible (using the jockey obviously) with the drain plug open.
I was shocked how much more water poured out of the drain hole and the waste water pipes at the back of the van, this was after I had already drained the system.
Quote: Originally posted by checkley1973 on 06/11/2017
We open the drain tap and leave all the taps open before we drive home on our last trip. The movement of travel ensures all the water is removed.
Good advice. It also prevents a little amount of water being trapped in the shower tap and freezing. I missed that little trick the first winter we had the van, it cost me a smashed ceramic insert and quite a few quid for a new one, I won't do that again.
Dave.
------------- Never argue with an idiot, they will drag you down to their level and beat you on experience.
Mark Twain.
The only safe way to make sure you have removed all water in the system is to use the Floe drain down kit, I always used to drain down as stated by previous posts but still suffered from frost damaged so purchased a floe kit and found that it removed approximately 1/2 a litre of water even after draining down prior to leaving site. Great piece of kit well worth the money, if only for piece of mind.
Caravans used to survive the winter before people had to spend getting on for £50 on a floe system. The key is to find the drains and as others have said open the taps and shower. Then even if a tiny amount water freezes then as the system is vented it has got somewhere to expand and no harm will be done.
Also don’t forget if we have a really cold winter then other liquids can freeze. We one year had coke and beer freeze and blow the cans. We even had a shelf that was nailed down lift because drink cans under it froze and expanded.
Further to my previous post ,about 5 years ago we were away for our first outing of the year and having done the usual winterising duties at the end of the previous year and when getting ready for bed I retrieved the bedding from the bed lockers and to my shock horror found them to be wet, on investigating I found two of the whale pipe connectors were leaking slightly this I was told by my local service engineer that he had often come across this problem and was caused by a small amount of water getting trapped in the connector and being pushed away from the pipe slightly due to the water freezing ,with this in mind when I purchased our new van I noticed that most of the water pipes were not so visible as the ones in the old van and was concerned as to the amount of damage that could go unnoticed if the same problem occurred, with this in mind I purchased the flow drain down kit for £43.00 like I said for piece of mind and to try and protect my £21k purchase a small price to pay I thought.
Hi,
Good tip from Jeff.
Also pays to unscrew the shower head and leave the shower hose hanging in the tray.
Even if it hasn't been used amazing how much water gets trapped in the head.
Regards,
Greg
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Topic: Draining system for winter
