Dammit - fresh water woes!

[PaulC70]

My last trip was the fortnight in Scotland in July and for some reason (probably thinking about the upcoming french run in a fortnight) thought I'd just check things over in the MH. Despite turning the tap to drain the fresh tank, something made me undo the top cap and have a look inside.

Yep, scummy, not smelly but there's scummy water in there :-( Then shining a torch inside thinking the drains blocked, nope, realised my rookie bloody error, Im on a slope ain't I so it's not drained it all. So despite thinking Im a good boy and leaving all taps open and opening the drain, i've been good, not clever :-/
Which then make me also realise i'd not drained the boiler either!

So, I guess I'll simple turn the MH round, drain the water, drain the boiler, use some purisol, fill with water, prime boiler, leave as per the 12 hours, drain both again, refill and add some aquasol to keep it fresh

 

[coutts1983]

My last trip was the fortnight in Scotland in July and for some reason (probably thinking about the upcoming french run in a fortnight) thought I'd just check things over in the MH. Despite turning the tap to drain the fresh tank, something made me undo the top cap and have a look inside.

Yep, scummy, not smelly but there's scummy water in there :-( Then shining a torch inside thinking the drains blocked, nope, realised my rookie bloody error, Im on a slope ain't I so it's not drained it all. So despite thinking Im a good boy and leaving all taps open and opening the drain, i've been good, not clever :-/
Which then make me also realise i'd not drained the boiler either!

So, I guess I'll simple turn the MH round, drain the water, drain the boiler, use some purisol, fill with water, prime boiler, leave as per the 12 hours, drain both again, refill and add some aquasol to keep it fresh

Should I be draining my boiler regularly ?,??
I’m new to motor homing and didn’t really think of that.

 

[funflair]

Should I be draining my boiler regularly ?,??
I’m new to motor homing and didn’t really think of that.

I only drain when it is going to freeze

 

[Lenny HB]

Only drain the boiler in the winter.

Leaving water in the tank from July I wouldn't expect any problems. The chlorine disperses after few days so it should just need draining and refilling.

 

[funflair]

My last trip was the fortnight in Scotland in July and for some reason (probably thinking about the upcoming french run in a fortnight) thought I'd just check things over in the MH. Despite turning the tap to drain the fresh tank, something made me undo the top cap and have a look inside.

Yep, scummy, not smelly but there's scummy water in there :-( Then shining a torch inside thinking the drains blocked, nope, realised my rookie bloody error, Im on a slope ain't I so it's not drained it all. So despite thinking Im a good boy and leaving all taps open and opening the drain, i've been good, not clever :-/
Which then make me also realise i'd not drained the boiler either!

So, I guess I'll simple turn the MH round, drain the water, drain the boiler, use some purisol, fill with water, prime boiler, leave as per the 12 hours, drain both again, refill and add some aquasol to keep it fresh

I never drain the tank unless it's going to be very cold for a prolonged period and even then I would close the drains and taps afterwards or at least as soon as the cold spell had passed, my thinking would be that getting airborne bacteria into the tank which will never be 100% dry is worse than leaving it with water but sealed.

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[GAVLAD]

I’d be more concerned as to why you have scummy water in your fresh water tank.
As above, you only need to drain down when you’re not using the van and it’s freezing conditions.
Some people like to drain down their fresh water tank to save on weight and fuel whilst travelling but others like to have water for when they arrive so it’s a personal choice.
However, if your fresh tank has mucky water in it, it needs draining. I’d be tempted to stick the hose in and give it a good jet clean whilst the tank drain is open. Be careful not to blast the gauge though.
You might need a few flush outs after using the cleaning tabs anyway.

 

[Zoobec]

we forgot to drain our tank between trips and the water was left in for a month, I drained it off and refilled it but it tasted disgusting - like stale! I think I need to use something to clean the tank. I ended up buying bottled water!

 

[coutts1983]

I only drain when it is going to freeze

Cool, thought I’d missed a trick there.

 

[PaulC70]

my thoughts were that the water in the fresh tank had that typical biofilm (scummy) from the water being in there too long. Hence I wanted to clean it all out. I don't drink the water from the tank to be fair but I do use it for showering and the washing up etc.

As for the boiler, I did this for two reasons.
1. Im sure I read someone here that does it after every trip and thought everyone thought it was good practice.
and
2. more importantly I was under the impression the water in the boiler is the water that I would be showering in therefore didn't want to be showering in the water containing the biofilm?

I cant get a hose to the tank sadly, but wouldn't need this anyway for this biofilm, the puriclean will have done the job overnight, this mornings plan is to drain everything again after flushing through to the waste tanks then fill and flush the fresh again.