Star Bright -46°C Antifreeze and Truma Ultrastore - can it be used for overwintering?

[MH04RMV]

Hello all,
I'm a newbie MoHo owner, and am getting nervous about freezing UK temperatures and the potential untold damage that any water left in pipes can wreak!
I've been advised (by an RV owner in the US) to get (& have subsequently bought) some of this antifreeze to use in the water system to protect it...however, the notes on the bottle suggest the water heater should be isolated from the water system, if the antifreeze is added into the water system?
I'm not sure how easy (or if) the pipes to the heater are to disconnect/reconnect.

I've contacted Star Bright who say the system should be drained down, but can't / won't say what effect it might have on the heater (though it doesn't affect copper/plastic/rubber)...and Truma have said that they can't advise using it (they only advocate water and vinegar if needing to descale it).

So...has anyone else used this in their MoHo and left the hot water system/tank connected, and come out the other side without any damage to the tank/element?
Or, should I just use air to blow the water out of the system and not bother with the antifreeze?

Appreciate any help/thoughts that the more seasoned in this forum are able to provide...

Cheers,

Rich.

 

[pappajohn]

I think that stuff is mainly used in RV water systems and is said to be non toxic.
Personally I would drain and blow out the system if a decent compressor and tank is available.

 

[TDub49]

Hello all,
I'm a newbie MoHo owner, and am getting nervous about freezing UK temperatures and the potential untold damage that any water left in pipes can wreak!
I've been advised (by an RV owner in the US) to get (& have subsequently bought) some of this antifreeze to use in the water system to protect it...however, the notes on the bottle suggest the water heater should be isolated from the water system, if the antifreeze is added into the water system?
I'm not sure how easy (or if) the pipes to the heater are to disconnect/reconnect.

I've contacted Star Bright who say the system should be drained down, but can't / won't say what effect it might have on the heater (though it doesn't affect copper/plastic/rubber)...and Truma have said that they can't advise using it (they only advocate water and vinegar if needing to descale it).

So...has anyone else used this in their MoHo and left the hot water system/tank connected, and come out the other side without any damage to the tank/element?
Or, should I just use air to blow the water out of the system and not bother with the antifreeze?

Appreciate any help/thoughts that the more seasoned in this forum are able to provide...

Cheers,

Rich.

I guess you could use it if you wanted to spend a lot of time flushing the system through in the spring because as far as I am aware the water heater shares the same supply as the drinking water and cross contamination is possible. Personally I think you could do worse than follow pappajohn's advice suggests and drain the system down and if you are still worried, blow any residual water out using something like a Floe system https://www.caravanguard.co.uk/news/floe-draining-down-system-14679/

 

[GeoffnDee]

Rich H The water system you have is very different to a American RV and yours should be drained down in the Winter when not in use , If you look at the other posts today @ joe777 had a similar question under the title - Draining Clean Water - and the replies given there should help you in how to drain your system and boiler down.

 

[rb62]

Draining Clean Water

Hi all, Sadly my father passed away last week and has left us with a 2006 Fiat Ducato 15 JTD MWB, UK model. He told us with it getting colder, the clean water would need draining away so it doesn't freeze in the pipes. He said it was drained from under the fake floor in the wardrobe, but i...

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[MH04RMV]

Hi All,
Many thanks for the replies - I'm comfortable draining down the water/heater system, as I gave it all a good flush through with Puriclean after purchase (wasn't sure when it had last been used).

It's likely that "day trips" out (perhaps with the odd overnight stay) will be taken throughout the winter, so am prepared to do flushes if the antifreeze is used.

It seems that draining and air-blowing the system would be the way forward, as there's some abiguity about the resilience of the heater element/tank.

Time to go and make up the Floe alternative that's been posted on YouFace:

Cheers,

Rich.

 

[599]

Hi All,
Many thanks for the replies - I'm comfortable draining down the water/heater system, as I gave it all a good flush through with Puriclean after purchase (wasn't sure when it had last been used).

It's likely that "day trips" out (perhaps with the odd overnight stay) will be taken throughout the winter, so am prepared to do flushes if the antifreeze is used.

It seems that draining and air-blowing the system would be the way forward, as there's some abiguity about the resilience of the heater element/tank.

Time to go and make up the Floe alternative that's been posted on YouFace:

Cheers,

Rich.

hi . that's all well & good but that vid is for a caravan not a m/h different type of water filler . 1 /open your fresh water tap to drain the tank outside 2/ open the hot water valve for the boiler 3 /open all taps in m/h 4/ press the flush button on the toilet 5 /switch the water pump on for a short burst you well here just air . we have had 7 m/hs & that's all bill does never had to do any of that rubbish . & where are you putting the antifreeze ??? it should only go in the central heating system . val