Heater in the van in winter

The original shower head in my Duetto had an additional tap on the head itself. One year, although drained and all taps left open I forgot the little one on the head itself - the rose disintegrated when it froze. Even though I've never had such a tap again I always remove the shower head -and that is a good reminder to blow back down the hose to clear the last dregs.

If you read the many posts in the many threads on heating vans in winter you will discover that owners of van conversions are happy not too and owners of coachbuilts find it useful to heat.

Peter

Thanks all for all your comments and help, being new at this I find it helpful to ask and be aware.
As the van had loads of snow on it I took Winnie out for a spin which cleared all the snow of the roof, kept her in fourth gear for a couple of miles, tip learnt on here and parked her up the other way around so away from the north winds on the screen. As it was bright and 10 degrees inside after the run I let her cool down whilst I checked the inside, after an hour I locked her up and left the leisure battery on charge.
The only thing I missed was the toilet unit which still had solution in it. silly me.
Cant wait for the spring or even a nice weekend to try her out properly.
Thanks again gang.
Best regards, Mike, Sue and Winnie.

Never put heating in the van when unused in winter before. Having drained down as normal and left taps open, removed shower-head and blown down shower hose, I thought all would be well. Yesterday I decided to check for any signs of damp or water (rain or snow) seeping in. First thing I noticed was a frozen lump of what was presumably snow sitting on top of the flyscreen of the rooflight, where did that come from, rooflight shut properly, not cracked but somehow had got in.
I then turned the taps, all very tight to turn so presumably a small amount of water has remained in the taps and frozen. So I ran the hot air blower for a couple of hours after which all the taps were nice and free again. Thought I'd check the pump (no water in tanks) but complete silence. Removed false floor in cupboard under cooker, where the pump and charger are located, in order to allow warm air to reach pump, left heater on for a bit longer. A hour later tried again and pump running freely so despite back-blowing through the shower hose, some water had remained in the pump and frozen.
So for the first time ever, I've hooked up the electric and left the oil-filled radiator on a low setting inside the van. We have only had temperatures down to minus 2 here so not exactly arctic conditions but cold enough to freeze things up.

Yes - I forgot to mention that the time my shower head cracked in my Duetto the pump also stopped working even though 'drained'. I got as far as taking it out and stripping it down before realising nothing was actually wrong!

Peter

pcb7ty wrote:Yes - I forgot to mention that the time my shower head cracked in my Duetto the pump also stopped working even though 'drained'. I got as far as taking it out and stripping it down before realising nothing was actually wrong!

Peter

Peter,

Oooooh! and Ouch!

I can think of nothing worse than being surrounded by pump parts and then thinking "Did I prime it?" or even worse "Did I switch it on?"

That's the trouble with "experience" it gives you the exam first and the lesson afterwards!

Best regards,

Ian

I'm not a fan of oil filled radiators anymore. i've had 3 leak oil and one of those sprayed stinking oil over my bedroom wall. 2 other mini radiators had control mechanism failures. I didn't manage to drain all the water from my water heated last year and ended up having to replace the heat exhanger and rework the diaphragm housing.

I have left my Symphony without heat and i am not there to check it.
I have a cover which i have not used.Never had a vehicle cover before.
So will report when i get home 21/3/2013.
Regards
mike
ps hoping the sun will warm it a bit!!

mclacr02 wrote:I'm not a fan of oil filled radiators anymore. i've had 3 leak oil and one of those sprayed stinking oil over my bedroom wall.

Crikey how did that happen? I thought they were just filled with oil I didn't think they were pressurized in any way perhaps they are!

Maybe I've been lucky (or maybe you've been unlucky) but I've never seen an oil filled radiator leak. I've got several at home and never had a problem.I don't carry one in the van though I carry one of these:



No bigger than the equivalent wattage oil filled and a bit lighter, if expensive new. I picked mine up in a charity shop for a fiver (1kW version).

Brod.