[ccmids]

how do you get on in winter , any good ideas to stop water freezing , pipes, tank ,pump, does pure water still freeze on glass  i know this sound daft but it will be my first winter water fed pole . or do i go back to trad?  is there some sort of heater you can fit in back of van to stop the freeze. will lagging stop it.

when i did trad it did freeze on glass sometimes.

[Londoner]

You can't get enough heat out of a 12v source without killing the battery.  I take everything out into the garage and have a paraffin heater there.

[sparklebright]

I have put an oil filled rad in the van on the drive, and leave it on frost setting all night.
Quite cheap to run, worked quite well last year and that was a bit nippy!

The other thing I did for very cold nights was put a 300w aquarium heater inside my tank and plug that in. It doesn't heat the water in a 650 litre tank, but does stop it freezing.

[ccmids]

yes someone said try a low watt heater leave in back of van all night to keep out the cold

[JSMC]

who sells these heaters?

[dean123]

i use a small parrafin geeen house heater you only need to take the chill of the van

and i only use it on the rather frosty nights although there is orther precations i take but no good for w/c tanks

[AuRavelling79]

who sells these heaters?

Aquarium shops and garden centres.

[sparklebright]

i use a small parrafin geeen house heater you only need to take the chill of the van

and i only use it on the rather frosty nights although there is orther precations i take but no good for w/c tanks

Be careful with parafin heaters they can leave a filthy residue all over the inside of your van.
That was a nasty surprise one morning

[dean123]

yes i know but thats because the flame is to high

i think i got mine from b and q or focus for less than 20 quid does the job an cheep but not completley fool proof

watch out you dont forget to remove it before you drive of if you do use one
i always put the clip board on the drivers seat  when the heater is on the van so i dont forget to remove it

even during the coldest of days ive known the van to freeze up during the day

[sparklebright]

yes i know but thats because the flame is to high

Oh right.
If you can park on your drive an Oil filled rad is still my favourite

[AJ]

we got some isopropanol last year for the first time. Very effective. Add some to your tank and run it through your hoses, it will stop them freezing with no adverse effect on the quality of the clean. It is 100% pure alcohol so it evaporates very quickly when in open air.

[dean123]

yes i know but thats because the flame is to high

Oh right.
If you can park on your drive an Oil filled rad is still my favourite

safest option

[Gleaming windows]

i use a small parrafin geeen house heater you only need to take the chill of the van

and i only use it on the rather frosty nights although there is orther precations i take but no good for w/c tanks

Be careful with parafin heaters they can leave a filthy residue all over the inside of your van.
That was a nasty surprise one morning

Also with regards to paraffin, for every litre burnt a litre of water is produced, thats a nice bit of condensation in a vehicle, could get quite damp in there.

[dean123]

i know the one i have dont use a litre of parafin a night
1 gallen usually does me through the worst of the winter

[EZclean]

we got some isopropanol last year for the first time. Very effective. Add some to your tank and run it through your hoses, it will stop them freezing with no adverse effect on the quality of the clean. It is 100% pure alcohol so it evaporates very quickly when in open air.

how much per size of tank?
and where from, i know maplins sell it but in small quantities, 100ml i think

[leapstallbuildings]

how do you get on in winter , any good ideas to stop water freezing , pipes, tank ,pump, does pure water still freeze on glass  i know this sound daft but it will be my first winter water fed pole . or do i go back to trad?  is there some sort of heater you can fit in back of van to stop the freeze. will lagging stop it.

when i did trad it did freeze on glass sometimes.

I cannot connect up electricity to my van as I'm in a flat.  A greenhouse heater would be a bit risky I feel.
What I do is as follows:- (I do not have RO in van - there are some small premises for this).  I remove pole hoses, brushes (just remove the whole pole if it's easier) and hosereels as they are vulnerable to freezing.  I remove backpack too (all into the flat).  Then I remove the feed pipe from the tank and turn on the pump until all the water has come through.  The piece of hose that I normally connect to the reel is left hanging in the tank until drained.  This means no water left in pump or the tank hoses.  Running a pump dry is not good if you do it a lot apparently but to do it for the minute or so it takes seems OK.  Not sure how this would work out with an electronic flow controller as I don't have one.  As for the water left in the van tank, well it can sheet up on top sometimes but you would be drawing the water from under the surface anyway.  Expansion may cause some more fragile tanks to crack.  I'm told that placing a ball or similar large float on the water can help with this but not sure how true that is.
Of course, it is sometimes better to start late in such conditions when the temperature has climbed above freezing.

[ccmids]

lots of heaters in argos

[Mike #1]

you can get ispropanol of ebay i use pf trolley so i put 25-30 ml in 25 ltr container's

[AJ]

we got some isopropanol last year for the first time. Very effective. Add some to your tank and run it through your hoses, it will stop them freezing with no adverse effect on the quality of the clean. It is 100% pure alcohol so it evaporates very quickly when in open air.

how much per size of tank?
and where from, i know maplins sell it but in small quantities, 100ml i think

you can buy it on ebay. ISOPROPANOL or IPA its called.
You will need about 1ltr for 800L.
I get it from a company that supply to the printing industry local to me.