First frost (well, second tbh)

[ks789]

Yeh had our first frost yesterday, and one today. I hadnt run the pump dry, as the strainer had water in, though it hadnt frozen up. Probably a mild frost. Im just thinking, how many have actually had the pump destroyed through frost? Dont they use these pumps on boats? they must get proper frozen on them.

I do put oil filled rad in back of van when its severe, but would be interesting to know of many who dont bother, and have no problem, Also who have had stuff knackered when not bothering with keeping above freezing?

I know, this stuffs probably been in here before, but hey ho, bit of fresh input,

cheers all.

 

[Incheck]

Being backpack and tanks very easy to have everything indoors. I left the tanks in the van one night and woke up to 25L barrels of ice, tried everything to thaw them out and empty them, had them in the bath and everything ? it was hopeless. Took 3 days to thaw and even then i had huge chunks of ice left in them. Very frustrating. So for gawds sake dont let a tank system freeze lol

 

[ks789]

Being backpack and tanks very easy to have everything indoors. I left the tanks in the van one night and woke up to 25L barrels of ice, tried everything to thaw them out and empty them, had them in the bath and everything ? it was hopeless. Took 3 days to thaw and even then i had huge chunks of ice left in them. Very frustrating. So for gawds sake dont let a tank system freeze lol

haha yes, thats the issue when its constant severe frosts. happened before, not solid though. chunks of ice floating about in the tank dont half make a racket when driving about.

 

[Incheck]

haha yes, thats the issue when its constant severe frosts. happened before, not solid though. chunks of ice floating about in the tank dont half make a racket when driving about.

I just pack it in now whenever theres a signifcant freeze. Roads are dangerous, then theres the issue with flat roofs being iced up, water freezing to the windows, gutters being frozen solid etc so i just call it a day.

luckily cardiff is on the coast so it doesnt freeze very often, usually two or three times per year sometimes not at all and it rarely stays below zero for longer than a couple or days. Inland must be hard work as its always significantly colder

 

[ks789]

I just pack it in now whenever theres a signifcant freeze. Roads are dangerous, then theres the issue with flat roofs being iced up, water freezing to the windows, gutters being frozen solid etc so i just call it a day.

luckily cardiff is on the coast so it doesnt freeze very often, usually two or three times per year sometimes not at all and it rarely stays below zero for longer than a couple or days. Inland must be hard work as its always significantly colder

Agree mate. not worth trying when its too bad. Hopefully, for a change, our really bad spell might coincide with the christmas shut down. About time we had a white one 

 

[Incheck]

2010 i think we had a white one ? sure has been a while. Snow usually comes after christmas here, if it arrives at all. Weird. We had none for about 5 years, but the last two years its fallen more often. Two or three times last year to be worthy of mention

 

[ks789]

2010 i think we had a white one ? sure has been a while. Snow usually comes after christmas here, if it arrives at all. Weird. We had none for about 5 years, but the last two years its fallen more often. Two or three times last year to be worthy of mention

yeh more often february I think. we can dream on I guess like bing crosby ?

 

[Suhrly]

I think you just have to worry when it start to get really cold like -2 and below for your pump (if it's not drained). If I'm working the next day I'll put an oil filled radiator in the van overnight. If I'm not working I'll drain the pump and just let it freeze over. When I first switched to WFP, I got my van system right before the beast from the east hit last year so needless to say I was bricking it as I didn't know what was what at that point. 

 

[Bart90]

If you park your van and tank away from your house, is there anything you can use to heat it?  I'm presuming the oil filled rad runs off mains electric....  Any alternatives where there's no mains supply?

 

[ks789]

If you park your van and tank away from your house, is there anything you can use to heat it?  I'm presuming the oil filled rad runs off mains electric....  Any alternatives where there's no mains supply?

Yeh i sometimes have this trouble. Cant always park outside mine. Was thinking of sticking a couple of homeless in there to keep it from freezing with their body heat.?

 

[cbrjay]

I don't normally bother until it stays at a constant freezing temperature all night, about -1 and below. I have been caught out a couple of times in the past, once it blew the joints on one of my gas water heaters which had to be replaced and during the beast from the east, I was on holiday in Lanzarote, sent my son a text to turn the heaters on as I'd seen the weather forecast and he didn't ! Came home and it had popped all the filter housings. Quite expensive to replace so got me a Chinese diesel heater for about £110, best thing out, had it running for 3 days and nights solid during a cold spell last year. Great bit of kit.

 

[Bart90]

Yeh i sometimes have this trouble. Cant always park outside mine. Was thinking of sticking a couple of homeless in there to keep it from freezing with their body heat.?

Would putting a cover over the tank do anything?  I don't have this issue atm as like @Incheck I'm backpack & barrells but soon will have a van and intend to get a tank but unable to park outside my house!

 

[ks789]

I don't normally bother until it stays at a constant freezing temperature all night, about -1 and below. I have been caught out a couple of times in the past, once it blew the joints on one of my gas water heaters which had to be replaced and during the beast from the east, I was on holiday in Lanzarote, sent my son a text to turn the heaters on as I'd seen the weather forecast and he didn't ! Came home and it had popped all the filter housings. Quite expensive to replace so got me a Chinese diesel heater for about £110, best thing out, had it running for 3 days and nights solid during a cold spell last year. Great bit of kit.

Great idea that, dont need mains then.

Would putting a cover over the tank do anything?  I don't have this issue atm as like @Incheck I'm backpack & barrells but soon will have a van and intend to get a tank but unable to park outside my house!

Well, it may help a bit, to insulate any warmth that might already be there, but ultimately it wouldnt be enough. I think it was spruce said, something like, you have to have an actual heat source, otherwise you would just be covering/wrapping up the cold. I Cant describe it well.

 

[Davy G]

If you park your van and tank away from your house, is there anything you can use to heat it?  I'm presuming the oil filled rad runs off mains electric....  Any alternatives where there's no mains supply?

If you're really stuck, two or three hot water bottles with fleece covers, tucked tight in under the pumps. Put the reel close in as well. Cover the reel, hot water bottle and pump with a thick fleece or similar and tuck the whole lot in well.

Might sound far fetched but I've done it successfully in the past before I had the ways and means to have a drive and electric supply. The key is insulation, you don't need a lot of heat. Remember, the equipment doesn't need to be warm, only about 1 degree. I would insulate the van as much as possible, roof, sides and floor, easier if you have a bulkhead.

if you do need to resort to this method, I'd have the bottles as full as possible and put them in place as late as you can.

 

[ks789]

If you're really stuck, two or three hot water bottles with fleece covers, tucked tight in under the pumps. Put the reel close in as well. Cover the reel, hot water bottle and pump with a thick fleece or similar and tuck the whole lot in well.

Might sound far fetched but I've done it successfully in the past before I had the ways and means to have a drive and electric supply. The key is insulation, you don't need a lot of heat. Remember, the equipment doesn't need to be warm, only about 1 degree. I would insulate the van as much as possible, roof, sides and floor, easier if you have a bulkhead.

if you do need to resort to this method, I'd have the bottles as full as possible and put them in place as late as you can.

Hey also, just saw online you can get small battery operated heaters, for things like blankets. This could be worth seeking out if they arent too pricey.

 

[Wind o kleen]

I don't normally bother until it stays at a constant freezing temperature all night, about -1 and below. I have been caught out a couple of times in the past, once it blew the joints on one of my gas water heaters which had to be replaced and during the beast from the east, I was on holiday in Lanzarote, sent my son a text to turn the heaters on as I'd seen the weather forecast and he didn't ! Came home and it had popped all the filter housings. Quite expensive to replace so got me a Chinese diesel heater for about £110, best thing out, had it running for 3 days and nights solid during a cold spell last year. Great bit of kit.

Be carful with gas 

 

[Iron Giant]

I agree with @Davy G about insulation, it's my booster pump and R/O that are at risk really so I have my shed fully insulated with foil bubble wrap type insulation and fleece blankets over the pump and R/O as for my van system, my van goes in the garage so no worries there. 

 

[ks789]

Im ok with the Ro, as I got it on a board and only bring it out when producing. Just the shurflow in van worries me, as can always bring the reel indoors. Wonder if many have had their pump ruined. In past ive just ran it to get rid of excess water, then usually cover it in an old quilt. When it was really bad i put oil filled rad in, but i reckon i could've got away with not.

 

[Part Timer]

My experience is as long as you fill tank the night before and as long as it doesn't dip below -2 I don't have any problems, this was with a 650l tank. If it's freezing Friday and Saturday then the heater goes in when it's forecast 0. Never had anything inside the van frozen or damaged with this method. My van is parked on the road away from the house, unless I've got to put the heater in. 

 

[Rickadoo]

Had this problem last winter. Didn’t think it was gonna be that cold and it was freezing. Turned pump on and it made a tinny sound  then stopped. I immediately disconnected it. My pump is mounted to a board which is bolted to the inside of the van. So I removed the pump and controller and disconnected the pipe work. Had to leave it in the kitchen sink for a couple of hours to defrost. Also I have an isolation valve just on the outlet between tank and pump. I always close this after a day’s work to stop water syphoning thru my DI and out onto the drive. This valve froze shut and I had to use hot water bottles on and around it to defrost. I use oil radiator in van then tube heater under pump to prevent freezing now. Thinking of adding insulation ahead of the winter. Also I learned that if you have your hose unfurled on frozen ground then you turn your system off for a few minutes to have a coffee or chat with customer the water in the hose can freeze. Had to leave the reel in the cab of the van with engine running and heating blasting for 20 mins to get out of that one. 

 

[Shammy Davis Senior]

In 10 years and with numerous freeze ups inside vans I’ve only ever had one of those little pre pump freezers break. I’m in the south though.