Winterisation

[Stu]

Hi,

I have a Willerby Westmorland that is just a couple of years old on a site near Dartmoor in Devon. In previous years we've had the water disconnected and drained down over winter. But the price for doing this has now doubled to £60, and I'm wondering if it is now cheaper - or as cheap - to leave an electric heater on inside the 'van on a frost protection setting. The van is double glazed but no central heating. I've insulated the water pipes running inside the van, will check the factory insulation on the pipes running underneath (and fit extra where required), and will leave the door to the 'boiler cupboard' open and temporarily block the big air vents directly under the boiler. Anyone any thoughts or experience of this? I'm going to ask other people on the site as well ...

Thanks,

Stu.

[Andy]

Wouldn’t it be a lot easier and straightforward just to drain down the boiler yourself? We do ours ourselves now as that is one of the many things that most parks like to overcharge for. It’s only a 5 minute job.

[Caraconnect]

Hi Stu £60 does seem very expensive and the job of draining down is fairly straight forward and is a service that we do offer but Devon is a bit fare to travel for just one drain down, we only charge £32.50 inc vat. If you want you can give us phone call and I will happily talk you though the process if you so wish. But I would certainly recommend draining down as repairs can work out very expensive, and insurance companies will not pay out as this is one service they say you should carry out. Ian 01206860746 or 07817730981 our web site is www.caraconnect.co.uk

[Stu]

Thanks for the replies chaps. One reason I thought about not draining down and leaving a heater on is that it lets us pop down whenever we want to during the winter. Otherwise Sod's Law says that we'll have a row of really lovely weekends just after we've drained down around the end of October!

The drain down charge used to be £30, but we've been told we'll also be charged £30 to reconnect again. I haven't spoken to the site manager yet, but I thought what you would do is disconnect the mains pipe to drain and blow through the caravan pipework, then reconnect the pipe but leave the water switched off. 'Reconnection' is then simply a case of switching the stopcock on again?

"Caraconnect" - I'm aware of what the procedure is but obviously haven't actually carried it out myself yet. Can you suggest what sort of pump would be suitable for blowing the pipes through? What sort of thing am I looking for exactly? Also, is it necessary to drain the blue plastic pipe from the stop valve at ground level up to the stopcock on the underside of the 'van?

Thanks,

Stu.

[Caraconnect]

Hi Stu, please donot make the mistake of just disconnecting the pipe and blowing and then reconnecting that is not the best idea. Yes disconnect the main feed pipe into the van and as you have 2 stopcocks turn off the first one at ground level and leave the second one open and just lay on the ground, remove all external drain off cocks and keep somewhere safe, open all taps and you will hear air enter the pipework and water will come out of the pipes where the drain cocks were, flush the cistern and remove the drain screw from the bottom of your water heater, see manufacturers guide for precise postion, you can for added protection, pour a small amount of undiluted anti-freeze into all traps and the toilet. You are then drained down leave everthing as it is untill you reuse your caravan at the start of the new season and you basically do this is reverse.
As for as using a pump in concerned it is not really needed as when the drain off cocks are out and you have opened the taps about 90% of the water will remove itself so a piece of hose and a bit of puff at each tap is all it really needs.
If this is unclear please donot hesitate to contact me.
Ian.