Wfp Water Heater Advice

[roly]

hi

i'm new here so hello. looking for advice on converting to hot water wfp. i want to do it as cheap as possible, any recommendations?

also when you just want to use cold water do you have to unplug the hose from the heater or can you leave the hose attached and just turn the heater off and the water still runs through heater but without heating it?

and is the heater fitted before or after the pump?

any advice appreciated

roly

 

[chip]

You can get a fog wash or an L5 for about 200 quid, main difference being the fog wash is altered to uk standards but have heard that's not an issue if it's just you using it, don't know hw true that is. I don't have a hot system so can't really comment further, but tree a chap called nat jones who popson here quite a bit, knowledgeable chap, f he sees the thread I'm sure he'll answer your questions. Nt sure who else has one.

 

[mark m]

I have just got a immersion heater total cost £30 i only use it for first cleans and in the winter only disadvantage is you can not change between hot and cold .The advantage is very cheap, heats the back of van in the winter so all you equipment does not freeze i have made a video if it helps which is in the video section

 

[Shaun1977]

Mark what do you mean you can't change between hot n cold surely ya just don't switch it on if you want cold water

 

[mark m]

Sorry what i ment is once you heat it up over night all you can do is use hot the next day

 

[harunh]

Mark m what immersion heater can i buy and what can i connect it upto ?

I dont have a clue give me a link of everything i need please mate

 

[Shaun1977]

Mark is there any way of puttin immersion on a timer I was thinking in winter I could run power sicker in the van off another battery were it knocks in and off every few hours

 

[roly]

cheers guys, i like the immersion idea but i only have a 6amp breaker going to my garage so it wouldn't run an immersion heater, but it's something to think of in the future. for now i'm going to take a look at the fogwash.

thanks again

 

[roly]

i spoke to the guy who does the fogwash but he won't be having any until the winter. i need something sorted now really, has anyone got any experience with the reach 2 clean ones advertised on ebay ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Window-Cleaning-Van-Reach-2-Clean-Flaming-Hot-Heater-/140557073802?pt=UK_HomeGarden_CLV_Cleaning_CA&hash=item20b9dabd8a

 

[mark m]

Mark m what immersion heater can i buy and what can i connect it upto ?

I dont have a clue give me a link of everything i need please mate

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/14-inch-Immersion-Heater-c-w-stat-FREE-POSTAGE-/290296821363?pt=UK_BOI_Materials_Supplies_Electrical_ET&hash=item439709f673

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Immersion-Heater-Mechanical-Tank-Flange-Boss-Biodiesel-Wvo-/140769632093?pt=UK_DIY_Materials_Plumbing_MJ&hash=item20c6861f5d

 

[mark m]

Mark is there any way of puttin immersion on a timer I was thinking in winter I could run power sicker in the van off another battery were it knocks in and off every few hours

You could try one of these but really it needs all night to heat up.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PLUG-and-GROW-Heavy-Duty-Light-Segmental-Timer-Contactor-/270846974754?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3f0fbcdb22

 

[Shaun1977]

Using a leisure battery would the charge last all night for immersion mate if I rigged a separate battery up?

 

[Njones]

An immersion is 3kw.

A 110A leisure battery fully charged has a theoretical capacity of 1.32kw (110a x 12v).

In reality, you will only get about 60% of this performance or 0.79kw which would drive a 3kw immersion for 47 minutes -- and draining the battery that fast would knacker it completely too! Realistically you would need 6 batteries (about £500), a hefty pure sine wave inverter (about £1200 for a decent one) and a heavy duty charger capable of recharging all 6 batteries ready for the folowing day (about £250). Because of the energy wasted in charging/discharging/voltage conversion etc, your electric bill for this process would be near double what it would cost to plug the immersion in directly!

A gas heater is a much better idea if you can't run a cable out to your van.

 

[Shaun1977]

Thts thing I have to park in the street

 

[Njones]

Thts thing I have to park in the street

If you install a gas heater properly (fit a roof vent and automatic fire extingisher) its easy enough to set it up for frost protection.

You just need to install a quick connect in your tank lid, so on cold nights you plug the end of your hose back into the tank so the water re-circulates, leave your gas & heater switched on, and use a frost protect flow controller which will automatically start your pump (& the heater starts with the water flowing) when the temp drops below 3C. Because the average gas heater kicks out about 12kw of heat, even on the coldest of nights the system shouldn't run more than 10 mins in every hour.

 

[Shaun1977]

How hard would that be to fit? We're would I get the parts ? And I have vent on my roof from we're I bought it I think originally it used to be dog van for police so has to have ventaltion or would tht by be good enough mate

 

[Njones]

The parts are easy enough to get from ebay, & I fitted mine myself. You need a proper roof vent & the flue of the heater connected straight to it, because a build up of exhaust fumes in the van could stop ignition & your whole system would freeze. You also need a small floor vent, (Or just a couple of holes drilled in the van floor) because gas is heavier than air, and in the unlikely event of a gas leak you need to have a way to let it escape.

The fire extinguisher is completely automatic too. The 10kg one linked might be a bit overkill, but I'd rather overkill than loose a van! http://www.fireprotectiononline.co.uk/10kg-automatic-fire-extinguisher.html