And so it begins

[Iron Giant]

In the last week or so I have had to increase the Cal on my controller, we are getting some colder mornings and had the odd frost already, so this week after just ordering a few bit's this morning I am going to affix some foil bubble wrap to the roof of my van, this will help maintain a reasonable temp in the van and hopefully prevent any moisture on the inside of the van roof and help reflect light on early mornings and as the light fades towards the end of the day.

I also purchased an interior led strip light bar with adhesive backing which I am going to wire into the rear interior light, so the van can be better lit up, I thought about buying the strips of led's on a roll but with minimal diy skills and a soldering kit needed and other bit's and piece's I sacked that off, I also some new waterproof gloves 

 

[dazmond]

i have to increase my cal slightly on cold mornings too but after 20 mins i turn it back down again once im at my first job as i have hot water by then(diesel heater).....another benefit of hot water is the flow doesnt decrease through the hose like it does when using cold water on a cold day....sometimes i used to have to turn up my pump to max to get a half decent flow at the jets.....

i bought a sailing jacket from decathlon the other week,half the price of goretex(berghaus/north face) jackets and much better quality and some new waterproof boots ready for the cold/wet winter days!?

my van has one factory fitted light in the back and its great!very bright!no need for any other lights for the dark nights/mornings....although i do have a large torch if needed(like the breakdown guys use!)....?

 

[spruce]

In the last week or so I have had to increase the Cal on my controller, we are getting some colder mornings and had the odd frost already, so this week after just ordering a few bit's this morning I am going to affix some foil bubble wrap to the roof of my van, this will help maintain and reasonable temp in the van and hopefully prevent any moisture on the inside of the van roof and help reflect light on early mornings and as the light fades towards the end of the day.

I also purchased an interior led strip light bar with adhesive backing which I am going to wire into the rear interior light, so the van can be better lit up, I thought about buying the strips of led's on a roll but with minimal diy skills and a soldering kit needed and other bit's and piece's I sacked that off, I also some new waterproof gloves 

Hi @Iron Giant.

I would be interested in what you purchased and how it performs.

I have replaced the interior lights in my van with LED ones. Yes, the light is white where the old festoon bulbs are yellow, but the old standard festoon bulbs shed a much better light.

I've now seen a few Youtube clips where owners are trying different LED bulbs as some of them just don't do what the adverts dress them up to do.

With regard to those rolls of LEDs, I'm sure you can get 'tails' that push onto the contacts which mean you don't need a soldering iron.

The lad has 2 lighting circuits in his kitchen. The first operates 2 rows of 230v LED downlighters and the second 2 rows of those LED lights. You can't see much when those LEDs are on.

 

[Iron Giant]

@spruce these are the lights Ambother Interior lights  which just one I thought would be enough, but at least i have a spare, I was also  looking at these  AMBOTHER 30 LED White Interior Lights Lamp Kit after watching a youtube video but thought they would be pointless for a little swb van but would be ideal for a bigger van maybe, I simply wanted something I could wire straight into the rear van light without much faff of buying extra bit's 

The ones you mention your son has we have had light strips in our kitchen before and they worked well, for their purpose, we had the colour changing ones with the little remote. 

 

[Jjs window cleaning service]

Just brought some foil insulation wrap myself after reading this. It's my first winter with a van mounted system so want to do all I can to prevent freezing and killing my pump prematurely 

 

[Iron Giant]

Just brought some foil insulation wrap myself after reading this. It's my first winter with a van mounted system so want to do all I can to prevent freezing and killing my pump prematurely 

I bought mine from Screwfix last year which has the the same insulation properties as 300mm of fiber glass insulation to insulate my shed with my R/O and booster pump in, to affix to my shed I bought a stapler with staples for about £10 form B&M's, to affix to the van I bought this Everbuild CONSPRAY5 Stick 2 Spray Contact Adhesive 500 ml a cheap double duvet will also work to cover feed hose from the tank to reel etc, thankfully my van goes in the garage on a night, so no issues with freezing 
 

 

[spruce]

Just brought some foil insulation wrap myself after reading this. It's my first winter with a van mounted system so want to do all I can to prevent freezing and killing my pump prematurely 

My pumps have always been mounted on the tank frame about half height from the van's floor. I have always had a duvet cover over the tank and use an 800 watt heater with an added frostat set at around 2 degrees.

In all that time I have never had anything freeze apart from the outside connectors at the van ports.

Our storage IBC tank is in the garage and that has never frozen either, even during that very bad winter of 2011/2 when we did very little work for 6 weeks. The only issue I did have was the remaining water in the transfer hose to the garage door froze. (I have an externally mounted transfer pump in a cupboard which can also be heated with a small light bulb.)

In the middle of one winter (it wasn't that bad one) I measured the water temperature of the cold water in my tank. It was 9 degrees C so the water in the van's tank will act as a heat source as well.

At one time my son used to use his van every day, but these days he mainly works with me off my van. This winter I will empty his tank and pump the water out of his pump so when everything freezes up there is no water in the pump to damage it.

 

[Den]

My pumps have always been mounted on the tank frame about half height from the van's floor. I have always had a duvet cover over the tank and use an 800 watt heater with an added frostat set at around 2 degrees.

In all that time I have never had anything freeze apart from the outside connectors at the van ports.

Our storage IBC tank is in the garage and that has never frozen either, even during that very bad winter of 2011/2 when we did very little work for 6 weeks. The only issue I did have was the remaining water in the transfer hose to the garage door froze. (I have an externally mounted transfer pump in a cupboard which can also be heated with a small light bulb.)

In the middle of one winter (it wasn't that bad one) I measured the water temperature of the cold water in my tank. It was 9 degrees C so the water in the van's tank will act as a heat source as well.

At one time my son used to use his van every day, but these days he mainly works with me off my van. This winter I will empty his tank and pump the water out of his pump so when everything freezes up there is no water in the pump to damage it.

Theduvet and oil filled rad on the van as always worked for me, last year my IBc tank froze as it's only in a plastic keter shed. 

 

[spruce]

Theduvet and oil filled rad on the van as always worked for me, last year my IBc tank froze as it's only in a plastic keter shed. 

I have my r/o in a self made wooden cabinet mounted on a garage wall. I fitted a thermostat and 140 watt tube heater inside. The thermostat was always set to kick in at 8 degrees although last year I reduced it to 5 degrees.

In the first few years of wfp I had a 450gpd r/o at the back tap. I used to process water directly into my trailer tanks overnight. When they were full in the morning I stored the r/o in the bath. In the winter the trailer with its exposed tanks froze up many times but the r/o was always ok even in freezing overnight conditions.

 

[dazmond]

ive still got some ice melt grit from last winter that ill use if the weather get really icy...thick neoprene gloves and my deerstalkers hat!?

 

[Den]

I have my r/o in a self made wooden cabinet mounted on a garage wall. I fitted a thermostat and 140 watt tube heater inside. The thermostat was always set to kick in at 8 degrees although last year I reduced it to 5 degrees.

In the first few years of wfp I had a 450gpd r/o at the back tap. I used to process water directly into my trailer tanks overnight. When they were full in the morning I stored the r/o in the bath. In the winter the trailer with its exposed tanks froze up many times but the r/o was always ok even in freezing overnight conditions.

My RO is protected with2" insulation inside a small plastic keter cabinet and also another 2" insulation on the outside should really insulate the I Ching tank as well. 

 

[spruce]

My RO is protected with2" insulation inside a small plastic keter cabinet and also another 2" insulation on the outside should really insulate the I Ching tank as well. 

Insulation on its own won't be enough. It needs to have a heat source.

We have 2 fridges in the shed outside, a deep freeze and a normal counter top fridge. During a cold spell a few years ago the wife complained that the thermostat in the counter top fridge had broken because the vegetables in the fridge were frozen. I told her we need to put a heater in the shed to solve the problem, but she didn't believe me.

Within a few days the ambient temperatures rose a bit and the problem resolved itself.

 

[ks789]

Gawd, hope its a mild one. never usually too much ice down here, and i think if your near the coast it can reduce frosts. I cant always park near enough to reach the oil filled rad into the van. Really meant to get pump/controller battery etc all fitted in a box to be able to just carry indoors when bad, not got round to it. Still got time, winter dont kick in down here normally till well into november.

 

[Iron Giant]

Insulation on its own won't be enough. It needs to have a heat source.

We have 2 fridges in the shed outside, a deep freeze and a normal counter top fridge. During a cold spell a few years ago the wife complained that the thermostat in the counter top fridge had broken because the vegetables in the fridge were frozen. I told her we need to put a heater in the shed to solve the problem, but she didn't believe me.

Within a few days the ambient temperatures rose a bit and the problem resolved itself.

I agree and disagree, with the fridges and freezers there is two types ones for inside and ones that are suitable for out buildings which are always more expensive, I have a chest freezer in the garage for my dogs meat, it is raised up off the floor with some decking boards and is kept in the polystyrene base tray it was packaged in never had an issue with freezers in the garage in over 6 years 

 

[spruce]

@spruce these are the lights Ambother Interior lights  which just one I thought would be enough, but at least i have a spare, I was also  looking at these  AMBOTHER 30 LED White Interior Lights Lamp Kit after watching a youtube video but thought they would be pointless for a little swb van but would be ideal for a bigger van maybe, I simply wanted something I could wire straight into the rear van light without much faff of buying extra bit's 

The ones you mention your son has we have had light strips in our kitchen before and they worked well, for their purpose, we had the colour changing ones with the little remote. 

I have just got round to fitting 2 of these in my van. Its now like full sun in the tropics inside now. ?

Thanks for the link.

I've coupled them into the door opening circuit as there was wiring in place for the rear passengers in the minibus option. This suits me as I'm guaranteed not to leave them on by accident.

 

[Iron Giant]

I have just got round to fitting 2 of these in my van. Its now like full sun in the tropics inside now. ?

Thanks for the link.

I've coupled them into the door opening circuit as there was wiring in place for the rear passengers in the minibus option. This suits me as I'm guaranteed not to leave them on by accident.

Still not got around to fitting mine, been useless at diy ? although I did pick up a a motion activated light out of Aldi for less than a fiver so that's attached to the van roof with magnetic backing, another job for my neighbour at some point

 

[steve garwood]

Theduvet and oil filled rad on the van as always worked for me, last year my IBc tank froze as it's only in a plastic keter shed. 

My mates and I have just formed a band and called it ‘Duvet’.

We’re a cover band ???‍?