winterisation

[warrior1690]

what do you have to do,i fully intend to use the bus as much as possible during the winter months.

 

[Geo]

I personaly like to keep mine on permanant hook up with a small oil filled Heater on 24/7, she's ready to go at short notice
Geo

 

[Ralph-Dot]

If you got the van from outside the UK it will probably already be winterised, if not you will need someone with the same van to advise properly and not just generalise. But to generalise you will need a good quilt and warm cloths.

Ralph

 

[Adria 5]

hi if you dont heat the van like geo and parked up

you will need to drop all water out tanks and boiler and pipes because off frost especialy if it get really cold
____________________________________________________________________
more in a bit tea time:thumb:

ray

 

[wildcamper]

Hi,

We tend to use our's during the winter, we use red gas because it doesn't freeze, when we get home we empty the tanks, heater.
Personally I think its better to use it if you can, rather than have it stood up think it does more harm than good:thumb:

 

[FunTesters]

Hi Warrior
As others have said, we have ours on hook up always and during the winter we have heaters running 24/7, and although we use ours throughout the winter we always leave cupboard doors open (it is a pain disabling the lights that come on when you open the doors ) to allow air to circulate round all the units and get into the corners which prevents condensation etc. We don't drop the tanks because the fresh is inboard and the grey / black are usually empty anyway. If we were storing for a long period then I would drop the tanks completely to prevent freezing.
Hope this helps

Keith

 

[sammclouis]

gotta get house finished so.......wont use as much this winter

 

[Supertractorman]

Like many others, I keep it plugged into mains on low heat with Silverscreens on, and should we get a Power cut, we can jump in the van, cook a meal, and watch TV on Leisure Battery and relax, while the neighbours go for a takeaway

 

[koffee]

We have a CI 55P Special which is 4 years old. When purchased in France they told us it was winterised, is there anyone out there who can tell us how we can verify this?

The fresh water tanks are inboard, has anyone any advice as to how low the temperature can get before we have to be concerned, that's if we are away and living in Esmerelda...

Thanks

Sue

 

[stagman]

what do you have to do,i fully intend to use the bus as much as possible during the winter months.

I have a small ceramic fan heater with frost stat .The fan heater I find circulates the air better and faster than oil filled and with less condensation .Also I don't drop my the water from my boiler , instead I leave it on summer seting . therefore no chance of freezing and also keeps the garage under the bed warm .

 

[cyclingdoglucy]

last year i put a thermostatic electric fan in the m/h and did all the usual things like drain tanks opened all cupboards etc , i had the fan heater on minimum settings & had no problems untill i recieved my electric bill & noticed a sharp increase on electric used & the cost ,while i am not crying about the cost to atlantic gas & electric .
my question to you experienced m/homers is , " why can i not leave the m/homes own blown air heating system running on minimum setting (thermostat setting) on hook up , which will keep my two batteries in use, instead of standing idle ? & has i fill my own gas bottles the gas cost should be to the minimum at eg 50p a litre.
the only downfall i can see is that i would be useing the M/homes equipment & may not last the long term distance, but there again its what its built for? .
what do you think ?, any advice would be most welcome , also we will be useing the m/h for a few weekends away & over the new year.
kind regards to you all & thankyou.
brian&julie

 

[Terry]

Hi Brian, no problem at all with what you suggest :thumb:Nothing to stop you keeping the battery's charging ? so that they do not get low ? Full timers use there heating etc all year round.I do not think that when the motor home stuff is made it is only made to be used for 3 / 4 weeks per year plus if used only on a frost type setting I can not see it costing much after all we probably only get a few weeks a year when it will need to run
terry

 

[Bulletguy]

You will need to drop all water out tanks and boiler and pipes because of frost especially if it gets really cold.

Which is the safest and best measure to take for the many part-timers and fair weather users......but how do fulltimers tackle this problem?

An internal pipe burst is bad enough in bricks 'n mortar, but the same in a motorhome I would imagine to be pretty catastrophic. Also, how well protected are the onboard water tanks?

 

[Terry]

KEEP HEATING ON
terry

 

[wayfarer]

I keep a small electric dehumidifier running in the van pretty much all the time when not in use. I leave everything on board so I can leave at short notice. The dehumidifier keeps the electrics and electronics dry as well and it also acts as a heater. I would still drain the water system in heavy frost.

 

[Decmac]

I have a small ceramic fan heater with frost stat .The fan heater I find circulates the air better and faster than oil filled and with less condensation .Also I don't drop my the water from my boiler , instead I leave it on summer seting . therefore no chance of freezing and also keeps the garage under the bed warm .

I tend to use a small dehumidifier (low power consumption), although I have a small oil-filled radiator as well if I wanted to use that instead. Have a look in the van after a week or so being parked up and you will see a fair amount of water in the dehumidifer tank. It takes all of the condensation (water) out of the air and I have been doing this when not in use (mostly wintertime) and haven't had any black spots or dampness problems with the van. I think though it is a matter of personal choice (heater or dehumidifier). Would welcome any comments on above.

 

[tucker_j]

Well this is our first winter so I've drained the water tanks, plan to put the mains on regularly to top-up the battery (the water empty alarm is a constant drain on power) and if it gets really cold I'll pop an oil radiator in. I also plan to take the truck for a run at least once a month even if we're not using it.

Ask me in the spring if it went okay

 

[pappajohn]

I tend to use a small dehumidifier (low power consumption), although I have a small oil-filled radiator as well if I wanted to use that instead. Have a look in the van after a week or so being parked up and you will see a fair amount of water in the dehumidifer tank. It takes all of the condensation (water) out of the air and I have been doing this when not in use (mostly wintertime) and haven't had any black spots or dampness problems with the van. I think though it is a matter of personal choice (heater or dehumidifier). Would welcome any comments on above.

dehumidifiers are a waste of time in any ventilated room, and a motorhome is a ventilated room.

as fast as you draw moisture from the air its replaced by moist air from outside.

looks impressive when it fills the container but its doing nowt really.

 

[wayfarer]

I recently left the dehumidifier out of the camper for about 2 weeks and when I next used it, the bed clothes etc were damp, wet weather high humidity, so ventilated or not I think it is still worth it. Even in a house rooms are ventilated.

 

[Bulletguy]

I recently left the dehumidifier out of the camper for about 2 weeks and when I next used it, the bed clothes etc were damp, wet weather high humidity, so ventilated or not I think it is still worth it. Even in a house rooms are ventilated.

The difference being that unlike motorhomes houses are built with double bricked walls for that very purpose. Apart from the odd small vent in the bodywork of motorhomes the only natural venting is by opening windows or the roof vent.

Dehumidifiers will do the job they are supposed to do if left in an entirely closed space. If a window or door is left open then it's wasting electricity.

I don't need to use one in my campervan simply because the vehicle is in use the year round, but when I had a caravan I always took all the bedding etc out during the winter months.

 

[geoff1947]

what do you have to do,i fully intend to use the bus as much as possible during the winter months.

From the replies I am confused!!! Are you lying up your vehicle for the winter and commuting by BUS or do you refer to your MH as the BUS and are using it throughout the winter It a different question?

If you are lying it up there is lots of info here. If you intend using it etc then enjoy it.