Waste water insulation for winter
We've seen many different varieties of insulating your Aquaroll 40L fresh water container against ice, but none for a typical waste water set up. Surely there's equal chance of it freezing up?
Does anyone have any ideas or experiences providing a solution to waste water insulation? We are starting to go away in the winter months but want to be ready if the weather turns
Comments
-
Firstly if you use a wastemaster do not have the waste pipe dip down into the wastemaster and touch the water in the top reservoir used to form a trap. It is likely to freeze and ice back up in the waste pipes.
I have a rounded base bucket, like an inverted dome, to make it easier to empty a block of ice, rather than a straight sided bucket.
1 -
Alan, like ET I use a bucket to drain into if the forecast is for a hard frost, instead of using to wastemaster. I also have lagged all the exterior waste pipes under the caravan. Each night last thing I also pour a strong salt solution down all of the drains in the van.
0 -
I suppose also, that a frozen wastemaster is not as 'bad' as a frozen aquaroll? A frozen aquaroll means you have no water coming into the caravan so no running water and no hot water. While a frozen wastemaster means what? Proving you have done as ET says and perhaps emptied it before bedtime what is the worst that could happen?
Could you add an anti freeze to the wastemaster?
0 -
Nellie - I would be interested to know how you insulated the waste pipes. Can you get foam lagging wide enough to fit over the plastic drain pipes? - or did you come up with another solution? We had a problem with the waste pipes freezing last Christmas which resulted in the kitchen waste ending up in the shower! Not pleasant. What's more - it took an age to thaw and no end of pouring hot water down the pipes did any good. We have an inboard tank so a frozen Aquaroll isn't a great hardship, but frozen waste pipes are.
This has reminded me to do something before we go away this Christmas.
0 -
surely waste pipes freezing are only an issue outside the van and when the pipe is full of water?
we don't have that issue as our waste gate is inside the van, so the pipe never has water in it.
our previous van (and many like it) had a tap,on the end of the pipe run which meant the pipe was always full of water and therefore subject to potential freezing.
even this can be eliminated by leaving the drain open and a wide top bucket/bowl placed underneath.....easy to sort even if that freezes...
so, IMHO, no need for lagging unless the tap is kept closed....not recommended in really cold weather....
0 -
Thanks ET - I will have a look for some. We were at a CL at Flamborough and it was cold but I don't know the temperature. The problem was really down to us being on a fully serviced pitch and the pipe run was such that it clearly wasn't draining well, so water was left in the pipes. Didn't realise until it happened. The owner has since rectified the problem by putting in extra drain points to allow for a better run.
0 -
Sorry to hear what happened but I can't understand how?
On our van and the one before it the kitchen sink and the sink in the toilet compartment drain into one outlet, while the shower tray has its own outlet so that what you describe can't happen?
0 -
Yes the club is guilty of this too, they expect water to flow uphill. Some SP have the drain right at the back of the pitch which means that we've had the plastic pipe almost horizontal. Some club sites have the drain on the actual pitch just where the outlets are, much better.
0 -
Agree Corners and I was confused at the time but it is now obvious that the problem was standing water which had frozen in the pipes away from the van, which was allowing it to back up. On reflection, I probably don't need to insulate the pipes under the van. I have moved over to using rigid piping rather than the corrugated stuff, so that should help - but next time I will have to ensure that there is a good flow to the drain.
0 -
thanks for the reply R&R
0 -
my coachman amara has drain for sink and bathroom at rear of van which can be good if drains at rear of pitch but a bit of a pain if they are midway down the pitch, however, never have stagnant water, just raise the jockey wheel and everything runs to rear and out of pipes. Lived in Scotland for many years but never had much problems with freezing waste, aquaroll we used to put in a sack then wrap a piece of foam round the barrel, tie neck of sack as close as possible to caravan water inlet valve and bingo.
0 -
Sorry about the delay in responding but had problems with CT last night.
I used ordinary pipe lagging fastened on by zip ties. I just made sure that the split was to the top. It seems to work well. Hope this helps.0 -
Even though the waste pipes are threaded through the chassis there are spots where there's a sag, and this is where water can lie and so freeze. It is also a potential blockage point for gung, as has happened on our van, and is then a bu##er to clear.
1 -
Remember that the effect of wind chill can be considerable so although it is technically not below freezing temperature the pipes can be cooled three or four degrees lower.
After a mamoth session to unblock the galley drain (Kirby grip!) I only refitted the pipe that drops straight through the floor. For summer use I added a 90 degree elbow and an additional outlet fitting. In winter I remove the elbow and water goes straight down into Wastemaster/bucket. It now makes a very satisfying "whoosh" as it leaves instead of the former trickle.
0 -
We perfected the straight down drain for both sink and shower on our old van. No blockages, no frozen pipes.
Serviced pitches become a pain in very cold conditions. Our first Winter out in MH, we stayed at Durham Grange in a very severe frost. The only tap working outside was one up against the toilet block, a bit more protected. If you intend touring through Winter, it is worth modifying your van as Nellie has done, and protecting external water containers. We also learned to carry a water container to use inside, for drinks and hand washing in severe conditions. Our onboard freshwater tank never froze up in our larger van. Not had problems with MH either.
0 -
In previous caravans that we've had, and the insulation wasn't as good, I put extra carpets under each seat and also lagged the internal pipework.
1 -
Remember that the effect of wind chill can be considerable so although it is technically not below freezing temperature the pipes can be cooled three or four degrees lower.
Very true Navi. Probably 8 years ago I did not realise that the caravan that we had then had two additional drain points on hot and cold. We towed through very cold weather although the heating had been on for two days whilst packing. On site, no water! We went out for lunch after opening the front seat locker one side and setting a fan heater to blow inside. Water working an hour later.
0
