Is frost damage an issue?
When we collected our caravan, the dealer explained that it was important to drain all the water out of the system before the winter period. This is to avoid water freezing in the pipes or boiler and causing damage.
So we could have booked a trip in the last couple of weeks, and been on a site with our water fully connected and filled. But we've had some quite severe morning frosts. Question is, could it have caused some damage? Or in practice is it not a problem and we shouldn't worry about it?
We have a Truma Combi E boiler in the van.
Comments
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Probably not…if you were in it chances are you’d have the heating on, plus Combi E features an automatic drain so if the temperature falls below 3c (or thereabouts- can’t remember specifically) it pops open allowing the whole system to drain. That said, it’s not perfect as you really need to open all taps to empty the system fullly.
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Not if you are in it and heating it. Many including ourselves have used our vans in temperatures well below freezing without issue. Outside is a different matter, it is worth bringing the tube from your aquaroll in overnight. We used to rap the aquaroll in an old high viz jacket with the tube up a sleeve, which worked OK in all but the coldest conditions. If it’s very cold, waste tubes on the outside of the van can freeze, but we never had that happen often and no damage. You will of course have to drain it down fully before putting back into storage, so it’s worth fully familiarising yourself with the procedure, which will be detailed in the handbook. Some vans have hidden away valves or bungs that have to be removed. Our first caravan had two on the lower reaches of the pipe work which we missed and sections froze, fortunately with no damage. The current MH has a couple of hidden away valves that it would be easy to forget. Also assuming your van has a separate flush tank, don’t forget to drain that, there’s a tube with a bung in where you put the cassette. Again easy to overlook,
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It's important to leave taps and shower fittings fully open if storing over winter. Freezing is likely to crack any plastic fittings and the damage may be invisible until you refill with water in the Spring. Many members have suffered frost damage to toilet flush pumps when the header tank has not been fully drained over winter.
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AndyJF, look at the website Winterised.com for advice on using caravan or motorhome in really cold conditions.
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Using your caravan in freezing conditions is very different from storing it in freezing conditions. When you store it during the winter leave all the taps open and the shower head on the floor of the shower. Make sure loo tanks are empty. We’ve used our caravan at -5 and everything was fine, we’ve an on board water tank. It was the site taps that froze.
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I was out and about last week - having seen the coat I usually use for wrapping the water tank in - I discounted it as unnecessary! My last night was set to be the coldest so I put my warmest jacket on the water barrel with pump up the sleeve and all was well. Several years ago I was caught out with -5 in the night and wrecked the pump as it hit ice in the barrel. It's all a big learning curve and I try not to make the same mistakes twice!
Enjoy!
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