[Stoots]

I tried hoses through the floor and went back to not having them on my new van.

Rollers through the floors advantage is to be able to pull up grab your hose and pull straight to the back of house and clean .

In practice this rarely happens and normally there are walls, bins, van tyres etc to negate so you end up having to go back to unsnag anyway. Even if you do manage to pull to back in one go you e probably created a tight rope across the pavement, you need to go back and lay it flat.

They also make pulling out hose harder, more resistance, especially when angles are involved.

When reeling in the hose can snag on the roller.

In my experience occasionally you will think this is great but most of the time they are a hindrance.

With regards having to uncouple the pole after every house, I never did that. I put the pole in the van and reeled in till the hose was tight round the bumper then closed the doors.

[Jonny 87]

The disadvantage I see to this is every job you have to disconnect the pole from the reel

Currently the only time the pole is disconnected is the end of the day, I’d find constantly connecting the pole a bit of a pain

Do you leave the end of the hose exposed when driving or do you need to thread it back through the floor every job ?

Darran

That is true.

There’s probably a way around it mind you. I just have got used to reconnecting at every job.

The hose connection doesn’t actually fit through my rollers, so the hose is kept outside the van.

Just pull up to a job, grab the pole, and reach under the bumper for the connection.

A frost protection system would not be able to feed back to tank then if that's the case.

I’m having grippa rig up a different frost stat for me. A section of pipe inside the van from
The hose reel connection to the return pipe. That way I just open a valve inside the van.

Only down side is that my reel won’t be frost protected. But I think essentially it will, as hot water is getting pumped into my tank and my reels are mounted on top of the tank.

I always find the frost protection is best to go through the hose as the coiled hose acts as a radiator for hours after the heater switches off reducing the number of times it comes on over night.

That’s a good point. I’ll see how it goes in practice, and then I can always tweak it.

Thanks.

[dazmond]

I'd have a rethink if I was you jonny.....

When the frost stat is activated it's better to have warm water running through the entire hose reel,pumps,the lot to ensure everything stays frost free.....

The frost stat kicks  in when the temperature in the tank goes down to 2c then fires up until the temperature reads 7c then turns off(10 mins)....

[Jonny 87]

I'd have a rethink if I was you jonny.....

When the frost stat is activated it's better to have warm water running through the entire hose reel,pumps,the lot to ensure everything stays frost free.....

The frost stat kicks  in when the temperature in the tank goes down to 2c then fires up until the temperature reads 7c then turns off(10 mins)....

Yeah I know what you mean. It is an easy fix though. I’m going to have a return to tank pipe fitted, so all I need to do if I want to change things, is cut into that pipe and add a connection for my hose.

Also the way my tank is made, there is a recess in the tank where my pumps are mounted to the tank itself. That way warm water will be on three sides of the pump, that should keep things nice and toasty.

[simon w]

I'd have a rethink if I was you jonny.....

When the frost stat is activated it's better to have warm water running through the entire hose reel,pumps,the lot to ensure everything stays frost free.....

The frost stat kicks  in when the temperature in the tank goes down to 2c then fires up until the temperature reads 7c then turns off(10 mins)....

Your pumps will draw cold water out of your tank and the water will heat as it passes through the heat exchanger this will still leave (most important parts) pumps vulnerable to damage in extreme cold weather unless you lag and protect them against very cold freezing weather also if in extreme cold weather the water manages to crystallize and freeze in your hose reel no hot water will be able to circulate back to the tank.

In very cold (nights) conditions my hose reels go in the garage where it never drops below 0 degrees  along with poles and my pumps are lagged along with the half inch hose that draws cold water out of the tank before it reaches the heat exchanger.

The frost protection is designed to protect your heat exchanger from serious damage and won't necessarily protect  all other parts without taking other precautions for frost damage by yourselves IMO anyway

[The Jester of Wibbly]

Untrue.   The system prevents the tank to go below 2 degrees so nothing will go below that temp at all if done properly through your hose real to create a radiator effect sending hot water back to tank.

[simon w]

Untrue.   The system prevents the tank to go below 2 degrees so nothing will go below that temp at all if done properly through your hose real to create a radiator effect.

I'd question whether in extreme cold weather it's able to keep the temperature of the water in your (full) tank above 2 degrees and then carry on loosing heat before and after heater. I lost two pumps to frost damage last year with frost protection in place (Pure Freedom 9KW) and that is with just drawing water out through pumps and returning directly to tank Hence why my pumps are also lagged and hose reels taken out of van on VERY cold nights. I've had diesel hot for eight years so I've seen and experienced a few cold winters. Just my opinion and experience of the above.

[Jonny 87]

Untrue.   The system prevents the tank to go below 2 degrees so nothing will go below that temp at all if done properly through your hose real to create a radiator effect.

I'd question whether in extreme cold weather it's able to keep the temperature of the water in your (full) tank above 2 degrees and then carry on loosing heat before and after heater. I lost two pumps to frost damage last year with frost protection in place (Pure Freedom 9KW) and that is with just drawing water out through pumps and returning directly to tank Hence why my pumps are also lagged and hose reels taken out of van on VERY cold nights. I've had diesel hot for eight years so I've seen and experienced a few cold winters. Just my opinion and experience of the above.

That doesn’t sound right to me.

Surely a diesel burner firing up and pumping 60 degree water into the tank is going to keep
You pumps frost free.
 
Sounds like a faulty frost stat.

[The Jester of Wibbly]

As Daz has already pointed out.  The system kicks in when tank goes down to 2 degrees and runs at high temp until tank rises back to 6 or 7 degrees which takes about 10 mins on average.  With so much high temperature going through the kit radiating the van, it stays very warm inside for long periods slowing down the tanks process of loosing heat.  In extreme conditions then the system will probably need to kick in more frequently.  It will never let the tank fall below 2 degrees preventing any freezing.

[simon w]

As Daz has already pointed out.  The system kicks in when tank goes down to 2 degrees and runs at high temp until tank rises back to 6 or 7 degrees which takes about 10 mins on average.  With so much high temperature going through the kit radiating the van, it stays very warm inside for long periods slowing down the tanks process of loosing heat.  In extreme conditions then the system will probably need to kick in more frequently.  It will never let the tank fall below 2 degrees preventing any freezing.

Like I said this is just my opinion on what I've found and experienced  owning a 9KW water heater for the past eight years. My heater is set up correctly and serviced close to home by a webasto trained engineer once a year so I can only speak of my own experiences. I maintain frost free equipment during the coldest times of the year but won't rely solely on the   frost protection to maintain this.  I'm happy with the way I keep tank, pumps , hose reels and poles frost free during the winter but wouldn't rely on the frost protection alone, but if this works for you and others then good on you.

[simon w]

Hi I was wanting to thread hose through van flood .its a kangoo.prefer to do this at side door .wondering if anyone else has done this with this van . Thanks matt

If it helps this is how I had my hoses set up to go through the van floor this time last year. All components were bought from Grippa not using it now though as the friction caused by rollers was unwanted and hose can still be fed out of the back doors of my transits closed and locked whilst working so we go for this method of working now.  Also when the temperature is below freezing it's not a good idea to have any parts of your hose outside of your van as you move between work frozen rectus 21 etc.

[Splash & dash]

I'd have a rethink if I was you jonny.....

When the frost stat is activated it's better to have warm water running through the entire hose reel,pumps,the lot to ensure everything stays frost free.....

The frost stat kicks  in when the temperature in the tank goes down to 2c then fires up until the temperature reads 7c then turns off(10 mins)....

Your pumps will draw cold water out of your tank and the water will heat as it passes through the heat exchanger this will still leave (most important parts) pumps vulnerable to damage in extreme cold weather unless you lag and protect them against very cold freezing weather also if in extreme cold weather the water manages to crystallize and freeze in your hose reel no hot water will be able to circulate back to the tank.

In very cold (nights) conditions my hose reels go in the garage where it never drops below 0 degrees  along with poles and my pumps are lagged along with the half inch hose that draws cold water out of the tank before it reaches the heat exchanger.

The frost protection is designed to protect your heat exchanger from serious damage and won't necessarily protect  all other parts without taking other precautions for frost damage by yourselves IMO anyway

In theory what you are saying is true in practice it keeps the whole system frost free we had -10 which is very rare down hear for several days on the trot pumps and all hoses stayed frost free and the whole system water would circulate quite freely

[Dazzler3370]

Biggest thing about having rollers through van door is that, if anything gets stolen from your van and it's not locked. You are not insured. That's why I did mine

[dazmond]

Untrue.   The system prevents the tank to go below 2 degrees so nothing will go below that temp at all if done properly through your hose real to create a radiator effect.

I'd question whether in extreme cold weather it's able to keep the temperature of the water in your (full) tank above 2 degrees and then carry on loosing heat before and after heater. I lost two pumps to frost damage last year with frost protection in place (Pure Freedom 9KW) and that is with just drawing water out through pumps and returning directly to tank Hence why my pumps are also lagged and hose reels taken out of van on VERY cold nights. I've had diesel hot for eight years so I've seen and experienced a few cold winters. Just my opinion and experience of the above.

my pump is integrated into the heater cabinet so this wouldnt happen to mine.......