Van interior over snow/cold weather

[The laird]

NOTICED A FEW THREADS REGARDING WHAT WE DO WITH VAN OVER WINTER,I HAVE NOT DRAINED THE WATER SYSTEM AS WE STILL USE THE VAN THE ODD TRIP OUT ETC,I HAVE A SMALL OIL FILLED RAD IN THE VAN ON ALL THE TIME AND ON HOOK UP AT THE HOUSE.BATTERYS ARE TIP TOP NEVER HAD ANY HASSLE,NO COLD OR DAMP IN VAN ALL LOCKERS ARE LEFT OPEN ,START VEH AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK ,RELEARE BRAKE AND MOVE A FOOT FORWARD OR BACK TO MOVE ON TYRES,THIS IS WHAT IVE DONE FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS AND NEVER FAILED ME YET .LAST SUNDAY WE WENT TO SOUTH QUEENSFERYY USED HEATING ,TOILET.AND WATER SYSTEM ,THIS OLD VAN STILL AMAZES ME ,1 build quality. 2 reliability
3 comfort for age ,
Hope this may assist or help other folks on methods over the winter.

 

[delicagirl]

my 25 year old old van has been stationary on hookup for 5 weeks now with no heating inside, i twice moved it a few inches, it has fullish water tanks, half open taps and all has been well, and batteries are in great nick. Tell me why you leave your locker doors open please Gordon? Thank you.

 

[The laird]

Let’s the air circulate throughout the van. We always have clothes ,underwear etc in van so it’s mostly ready to go and we have never had any musty smell or anything on our clothes,I do mean int cupboard doors Collette incase you thought ext lockers.
Happy new year to you and hope you have a goodie.

 

[delicagirl]

Let’s the air circulate throughout the van. We always have clothes ,underwear etc in van so it’s mostly ready to go and we have never had any musty smell or anything on our clothes,I do mean int cupboard doors Collette incase you thought ext lockers.
Happy new year to you and hope you have a goodie.

Thanks Gordon... that's useful to know although i have never had a fusty smells. i don't keep clothes in the van - when i get home i empty them all out. I have just bought a small heater for the van to use when i am on EHU or the van is on hookup at home in the cold weather (lots of cold weather is on its way this next few days apparently.)

Hope you had a good Hogmanay.

 

[mjvw]

It’s worth ensuring that all vents have mesh etc if van stored in a rural areas, the owner of the van next to mine showed me a couple freeloaders that had invaded his van, he caught them in a humane trap and released them two lovely field mice! One still had a piece of wiring loom with him.
But yes i leave all the locker doors open as well also a bit of salt down the plug holes/piping on the waste side where water may collect stop the sitting water from freezing in the bend/pipe.

 

[harrow]

You do have to be aware of the risk of frozen water pipes.

Ice WILL freeze and split water pipes, pumps, water heaters and tap fittings.

It's not just inside, pipes and tanks underneath can freeze and cause large amounts of damage and cost.

I would urgently remove all water and blow through all water pipes with compressed air.

This is much easier than having to do repairs.

:wave:

 

[delicagirl]

You do have to be aware of the risk of frozen water pipes.

Ice WILL freeze and split water pipes, pumps, water heaters and tap fittings.

It's not just inside, pipes and tanks underneath can freeze and cause large amounts of damage and cost.

I would urgently remove all water and blow through all water pipes with compressed air.

This is much easier than having to do repairs.

:wave:

Thanks..... i am very lucky i guess.... even in Scottish forests at -10 i had no water problems. i had frozen external locker locks freeze and take several hours to thaw.... but all my water tanks and pumps are internal and are not in contact with any outside air.

 

[harrow]

Do water pumps not have a one way valve like setup, making blown through with compressed air, impossible?

They might have but if water can go through so can air.

:hammer:

 

[harrow]

Some people use antifreeze,

but it might not be very nice in drinking water pipes.

 

[Deleted member 5816]

Far better to pour some concentrated windscreen washer fluid it acts as an antifreeze I have used it for years in the toilet flush tank about a 30% mix we use the van all year round.

Alf

It’s worth ensuring that all vents have mesh etc if van stored in a rural areas, the owner of the van next to mine showed me a couple freeloaders that had invaded his van, he caught them in a humane trap and released them two lovely field mice! One still had a piece of wiring loom with him.
But yes i leave all the locker doors open as well also a bit of salt down the plug holes/piping on the waste side where water may collect stop the sitting water from freezing in the bend/pipe.

 

[The laird]

Mines has a one way /nonreturnable valve in line hence it won’t blow back ,anyways as I’ve stated never had any hassle with pipe freeze as they’re lagged a fair bit and my water tank is inboard ,maybe just been lucky over the years but been up glencoe and places like when it’s been very low sub zero temps and never incurred hassle (not tempting fate I hope)the one way valve does do it’s job and I’m happy to go with previous years precautions

 

[The laird]

Gordon, when heading for home after a trip, I drain FW tank and boiler. Keep the weight down when on the move.

When I was working within aqua-culture industry. It was a real learning curve understanding various waterborne nasties that can populate within standing water, another reason I drain down, some of the nasties can kill you, ok we don't drink stored fresh water, but we do shower with it, where some water can be ingested!!

Just my take on it.

Yeah know what you mean ,we carry separate drinking water also ,every so often Milton gets belted through the system and I take the pump out the tank ,drain and put my delicate little arm in the tank clean it with a wipe then Milton it rebuild and flush out ,fitted a new pump last year for only the other was original.
Gonna stick with my procedures but many thanks for your input mate ,
Hope to c u soon

 

[delicagirl]

i also have 2 separate water systems which utilise large plastic jerry cans, one for showering one for drinking. I fill both with a watering can inside the van, and each has an easily removable water pump. I clean these containers and their pumps on a regular basis. The main water tank gets used for washing up and cleaning.