Preparing for Winter

Does anyone have any advice on how to prepare your van for winter? We had our first real frost last night and i realised ive not done anything and don't know what to do!

I would start by ensuring all fresh water and waste water was removed. Leave drain taps open and don't forget to empty the toilet flush tank. You might want to take bedding out of the van to avoid it becoming damp. I also remove food to avoid attracting mice or insects. I am sure the list will grow as others join in.

Hi ames449

Heres a thread already started on this forum - take a look it may help

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Waves117

Hi try and get hold of some of those silica crystals that absorb moisture and put them in a tray in the van, just dry them out every so often by putting them near a a low heat source
vwt4
mike

In a nutshell, this what I do:

• Drain clean and grey water tanks.
  
  
• Run pump with cold taps open one at a time until little more comes through. In our van the flush water comes off the cold feed so that needs to be operated too until just air comes out.
  
  
• Ditto with hot water.
  
  
• Remove drain plug on Carver Cascade 2 water heater.
  
  
• Run pump until little more comes out.
  
  
• Remove shower head and blow down pipe whilst alternately opening hot then cold taps - this should eject water from the Carver drain point. Take care not to overdo this and blow a gasket in your lungs: if you go red and start seeing stars then lie down and put the radio on for a bit!
  
  
• When little more comes out, put the shower head back on then reinsert the Carver drain plug part way so that water can still come out but preventing bugs getting in.
  
  
• Put a piece of electrical tape across the corner of the heater just to stop the plug dropping completely out when you take the van out for a periodic winter 'spin'.

During winter I check the van from time to time for dampness, includiing the Porta Potti cassette compartment.

That's what I've done for the last 16 years on the Harmony, so far without any frost damage.


Bartfarst