Water pipes frost protection

Azamat · Nov 27, 2023

Hello,
I am preparing my GC600 for winter. I opened all of the waterpipes drainage valves. However there is a waterpipe with solenoid valve in toilette cassette cabinet (as on picture) which cannot be drained. Is it problem ?
Thank you for response

GordonH · Nov 27, 2023

That’s a good question. I’ve not seen mention of any specific process to do with that. I assume the other end of the pipe is open to free air in the toilet bowl so any expansion on that side won’t likely be an issue. The cold drain valve under the utility cupboard floor flap should take care of the feed side.

Carryon Cali Camping · Nov 28, 2023

Hi @GordonH, I’d be grateful if you can confirm that I’ve done as much as possible to prevent frost damage as we are leading up to the cold snap…..I have obviously drained the main water tanks and also the Truma tank and have the dump valve open, I have the kitchen and bathroom taps open, I have connected the outdoor shower and ensured no water is coming out of the shower head And finally opened/unscrewed the 2 valves under the cupboard in the rear garage. Anything that I am missing? many thanks as always! Dave

GordonH · Nov 28, 2023

Yes, I think that’s it, it is all that I do and then cross my fingers. ! The one I neglected last year was the rear shower and it froze. Plugging in the shower hose with spray head on or pressing in a screwdriver to push the ball bearing seal back and release the pressure is all that’s needed (once all drained down)

Carryon Cali Camping · Nov 28, 2023

GordonH said:
Yes, I think that’s it, it is all that I do and then cross my fingers. ! The one I neglected last year was the rear shower and it froze. Plugging in the shower hose with spray head on or pressing in a screwdriver to push the ball bearing seal back and release the pressure is all that’s needed (once all drained down)

Great, thanks! I think I’ll go out again and press the ball bearing in on the shower connector! Have you ever used your GC in the winter? We plan on visiting my mum in 2 weeks for a weekend as she has now moved in to a small bungalow, so will be easier for us to stay local in the GC, just wondering that water etc. Will be ok if it weather freezes, we will be on hook up and plan to have a small oil radiator on all the time, as well as the hot water turned on, to keep the van warm, so I think that should keep the water etc. From freezing.

GordonH · Nov 28, 2023

Yes. We’ve used in all weathers, sub zero upwards. No issues. Heating is excellent and van well insulated B pillar back. I’d not bother with the oil heater just run the Truma on low (6A) ‘electric only’ on hookup that way the air will be properly circulated. There are hot air vents behind the fresh water tank to keep that from freezing as well as in the wc, garage etc.

Carryon Cali Camping · Nov 28, 2023

GordonH said:
Yes. We’ve used in all weathers, sub zero upwards. No issues. Heating is excellent and van well insulated B pillar back. I’d not bother with the oil heater just run the Truma on low (6A) ‘electric only’ on hookup that way the air will be properly circulated. There are hot air vents behind the fresh water tank to keep that from freezing as well as in the wc, garage etc.

Great, appreciate the advice! Thanks

GordonH · Nov 28, 2023

apologies if teaching to such eggs but often forgot, ensure you fully roll out your hookup cable when running on all electric. If you don’t the cable could overheat. Generally only becomes obvious on extended use at reasonable amps draw and not usually a problem if you are just running the fridge and a few lights. That said, always best practice.

Carryon Cali Camping · Nov 28, 2023

GordonH said:
apologies if teaching to such eggs but often forgot, ensure you fully roll out your hookup cable when running on all electric. If you don’t the cable could overheat. Generally only becomes obvious on extended use at reasonable amps draw and not usually a problem if you are just running the fridge and a few lights. That said, always best practice.

Good advice, yes I always do that, we have had Motorhomes for a few years before the GC, we actually saw somebody suffer from this a few years ago where they kept their EHU on a reel and only unwound a few metres to connect up! I do not think they did it again!!!

dannymerlin051162 · Dec 2, 2023

Hi. I'm currently away in my GC and on arrival at the site I filled the clean water tank to 50 litres. The outside temperature was around 5 degrees. By the time i had pitched up I noticed that the water from the tap was a trickle and the clean water tank was empty. It had automatically emptied due to the temperature. (This is referred to in the small GC manual).

We ended up filling bottles and had no running hot water.

Is this something we have to live with?

Would it make any difference if I had of heated the van interior prior to filling up with water?

Fortunately the heating was unaffected as we had EHU.

Mr T · Dec 2, 2023

dannymerlin051162 said:
Hi. I'm currently away in my GC and on arrival at the site I filled the clean water tank to 50 litres. The outside temperature was around 5 degrees. By the time i had pitched up I noticed that the water from the tap was a trickle and the clean water tank was empty. It had automatically emptied due to the temperature. (This is referred to in the small GC manual).

We ended up filling bottles and had no running hot water.

Is this something we have to live with?

Would it make any difference if I had of heated the van interior prior to filling up with water?

Fortunately the heating was unaffected as we had EHU.

Yes you need to keep the interior of the van above about 5 degrees, then it won’t dump the water.
You can run the heating with the boiler/Water tank empty.

dannymerlin051162 · Dec 3, 2023

Thank you for your response. Pleased to hear that. Cheers

ksinkhernaniGC600 · Dec 18, 2023

thanks everybody for all the inf above.
This weekend I've been on a small trip with the GC and the bike with sub zero temperatures. No problems! The heater does the work properlly.
But today, at home, all the water drained to the floor... I forget to let it empty yesterday..
Will check all the points you listed before to avoid any problems during winter.