[geefree]

Its every year that we want to know what to use in the back of our vans to stop the pumps, and hoses freezing ,

After last years advice from lots of people, did anyone have any success with the methods they use, to stop this happening?

I have tried quilts,...sometimes works...

Electric heater on a timer plugged into the garage......very  expensive to run. but it works,

I am thinking of putting a parasene greenhouse heater in , may stink,

could be unsafe, but will try it.

Hot Water users are obviously ok,

some put a few drops of something like anti freeze in the tank

How are you going to fend off the frost this year?

[pingu]

Electric fan heater on a timer worked for me...

The r/o system in the garage has a boat type tube heater on a thermostat.

Bet we going to have the old 'iso' debate again this year...someone is going to claim that a a coke can full with prevent systems freezing.

Cheers
Dave.

[concept]

matt posted a few days ago about iso...

i would be interested to hear about this, as heaters etc being left unattended just doesn't sound right to me.

[dazmond]

never had a problem.i always cover the ladders up with polythene sheet if i think its goin to be a hard frost and use a TRAD POLE more often on slippy surfaces.hot water in bucket,gloves,beanie hat,bodywarmer. ;Dsorted

[thewaterwizard]

2x200wat frost protection heaters from b&q in my van

  worked ok  last year seem
  cheep enough to run

  robin

[ftp]

Greenhouse tube heater for me, back the van right up to the house and insulate the pipes.

[Sapphire Window Cleaning]

2x200wat frost protection heaters from b&q in my van

  worked ok  last year seem
  cheep enough to run

  robin

How much are they?



Matt

[thewaterwizard]

matt
cant remember how much they were just looked on their web site but cant see them ill go and have a look tomorrow and let you know

  robin

[matt]

its a simple solution

fill a 25 L with water and anti free, so you can see the water is BLUE

put "IN" hose in barrel and the pipe from your brush back into the barrel

run system till the BLUE water is coming back into the barrel ( your system is now full of antifreeze water )

leave in van

when it comes to work in the morning, connect hose to pure water and run though BACK INTO the BARREL till it runs clear ( your system is now empty of antifreexe water and ready to work ) if you time both fairly quickly the barrel of antifreeze water should last ages

it takes a few mins in the evening and night to do this

no heaters, no fuss

[leapstallbuildings]

Its every year that we want to know what to use in the back of our vans to stop the pumps, and hoses freezing ,

After last years advice from lots of people, did anyone have any success with the methods they use, to stop this happening?

I have tried quilts,...sometimes works...

Electric heater on a timer plugged into the garage......very  expensive to run. but it works,

I am thinking of putting a parasene greenhouse heater in , may stink,

could be unsafe, but will try it.

Hot Water users are obviously ok,

some put a few drops of something like anti freeze in the tank

How are you going to fend off the frost this year?

Living in a flat I can't really have a heater in the van that I regard as safe as I can't connect up to electricity.
What I do is to remove the feed hose from the tank and run the pump until it's just air running through the system (back into the tank).  This keeps water out of the pump that can expand and crack it.  I then remove any poles with a wet brush and the hose reel(s).  I have to carry them up a flight of steps to my flat.  It can be a nuisance but it does seem to stop any freeze up problems.  Sometimes I take a chance when a borderline night is forecast.  If I get it wrong, I have been known to run hot water into the bath and unreel the hose into it.  Same with dropping the brush heads in there.
The next van I get, I will probably go the Eberspacher route to keep the back above freezing point.  Not cheap but saves hassle.

[Sapphire Window Cleaning]

matt
cant remember how much they were just looked on their web site but cant see them ill go and have a look tomorrow and let you know

  robin

Thanks much appreciated.



Matt

[Sapphire Window Cleaning]

its a simple solution

fill a 25 L with water and anti free, so you can see the water is BLUE

put "IN" hose in barrel and the pipe from your brush back into the barrel

run system till the BLUE water is coming back into the barrel ( your system is now full of antifreeze water )

leave in van

when it comes to work in the morning, connect hose to pure water and run though BACK INTO the BARREL till it runs clear ( your system is now empty of antifreexe water and ready to work ) if you time both fairly quickly the barrel of antifreeze water should last ages

it takes a few mins in the evening and night to do this

no heaters, no fuss

Matt don't you have problems with spotting when you next use the system?




Matt

[matt]

no, because you have run pure water though the system

[d s windowcleaning]

i just use a butane gas heater from argos turn it on for 15 minutes before i go and im sorted they are only a small heater but give some good heat off .

[Bobs Window Cleaning]

Im going to get a tube heater. Cheap as chip to run.

Bob

[Window Washers]

no, because you have run pure water though the system

Matt, I am guessing you have a tank in your van, I do as you know, last year the water in the tank froze sometimes there is half a tank left, what do you do with this ?

The anti freeze is a good idea same as you do for pressure washers to stop them freezing.

Ian

[cybersye]

no, because you have run pure water though the system

Matt, I am guessing you have a tank in your van, I do as you know, last year the water in the tank froze sometimes there is half a tank left, what do you do with this ?

The anti freeze is a good idea same as you do for pressure washers to stop them freezing.

Ian

I do the same as Matt, living on south coast even when sub zero, I doubt it would ever be cold enough to freeze up my 650 tank, however if it were a concern I would probably just insulate my tank, it would be easy and inexpensive to do.
My van is street parked and so heaters have never been an option, the antifreeze method is cheap and it works.

[matt]

no, because you have run pure water though the system

Matt, I am guessing you have a tank in your van, I do as you know, last year the water in the tank froze sometimes there is half a tank left, what do you do with this ?

The anti freeze is a good idea same as you do for pressure washers to stop them freezing.

Ian

i do have a tank in the van, as i use both trolley and van mount ( more trolley though, as i find it less stressfull )

i am surprised that your tank froze to half the water, i have only ever had a inch ontop of my barrels

[thewaterwizard]

2x200wat frost protection heaters from b&q in my van

  worked ok  last year seem
  cheep enough to run

  robin

How much are they?



Matt

matt
cant remember how much they were just looked on their web site but cant see them ill go and have a look tomorrow and let you know

  robin

matt
 looks like they have stopped selling them shame their really good don't know if homebase do something similar

  robin

[HIGH LEVEL WINDOW CLEANERS (scrimmy)]

i am quite fortunate as i now use the mobile setup....i simply take everything in from the van if i know its gonna be a cold un.....and thats just a trolley and a DI tank and pole....simples.

when i did have the 250 litre tank i simply put old scrunched up blankets all round the sides of the tank and on top i would put old opened sleeping bags on....it never froze even when it was minus 6 one morning.

but i find that the second the water starts flowing out of the brush thats when the water starts to freeze...so i wait till about 11am and start when the temp comes up a bit.