michele Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 Ok dont say a word, we left the camper on the drive nearly full of water . The tank has froze . That isnt the problem He has put his hand in the top of the tank broke the ice and swished it about . trying to bring the camper back up to some sort of heat again he tried the aircon and it keeps blowing the household electric . Now aircon has special coolant in it, does it have water ? Why does it keep blowing the house supply Malcolm dad has just had a heat attack so we want to leave for St Ives . Will this affect anything else ,the van starts on the button and apart from being so cold with the tank froze & water froze in the taps we dont anticipate any other probs . Whats wrong with the Aircon.? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rainbow-Chasers Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=14391&posts=9 I put this up last night to answer a similar problem, might help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 "Now aircon has special coolant in it, does it have water ? Why does it keep blowing the house supply" No water, it is full of a gas with an oil lubricant and nothing to do with 230v/leisure side of things as its vehicle engine driven? forget about supply from house for a while...... disconnect supply from house and run vehicle engine and heater, then run a separate 230v lead from house and put a blow heater (or 2) in van pointed towards frozen area's. leave all internal doors and cupboards and hatches open...wait and see what happens . then run heating. have you tried running n heating on gas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted January 11, 2009 Author Share Posted January 11, 2009 Ok have unfrozen all pipes its lovely & warm now have drained all the system . Have opened the waste and let it all go . Van ticking over nicely but Aircon just dont want to know .Maybe its frozen also . Will try what you suggest ,typcal its down to us we should of known better just get so busy sometimes with the kids and dont do things that we should we always seem to run out of time. Just need to make it to Cornwall and make sure Dads ok . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 michele - 2009-01-11 2:26 PM Ok have unfrozen all pipes its lovely & warm now have drained all the system . Have opened the waste and let it all go . Van ticking over nicely but Aircon just dont want to know .Maybe its frozen also . Will try what you suggest ,typcal its down to us we should of known better just get so busy sometimes with the kids and dont do things that we should we always seem to run out of time. Just need to make it to Cornwall and make sure Dads ok . OK...But have you run the camper truma heating and put water in the tank? Is this working OK? Have you hot water and heating? Just make sure before you head of, as you may or may not of damaged van heating system...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted January 11, 2009 Author Share Posted January 11, 2009 Ed, he's gone to get Rose from respite as soon as he is back I will check . To be honest its me doing the worrying not him . He aint daft its me that is and I worry over things . He has dumped the truma I think does that make sense ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Dwight Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 Hi Michele, Sorry to hear of your problems. When we get back from a trip in winter we drain down as soon as we get home, sometimes even before we leave a site. As you say it can be a bit hectic at times with little one, but try and make it a must do. Hope everything is ok in Cornwall safe trip as least its not so cold now. Take care, David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted January 11, 2009 Author Share Posted January 11, 2009 Hi David, How are you both ,we usually do but just came back from Holland emptied it out and started the usual chasing around after the kids straight on into Christmas . We dont check it much because its on the drive . Some would say Lazy but we wouldnt try doing what we do and juggling it all :D Anyway never mind whats done is done now . We have taken the hairdrier to it and so far so good nice and warm now like toast . :-D Bet its cold in Cornwall . maybe blow down the hill into St Ives bay 8-) . Thanks for the wishes . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minstrel Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 Michele, it's much warmer in Devon now so Cornwall shoudn't be too bad. I thought I'd try my car aircon as I know it needs running regularly and it didn't cool at all. I'm hoping it's just been too cold so I shall try again in a day or two now it's warmer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rainbow-Chasers Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 Sounds like the air con needs gassing, i wouldn,t worry too much as it is an extra. Just take some extra blankets and use your normal heater. There are places in cornwall that do regassing if you really need it. As for the water system, as already said, fill and check it. Don't want to find something ruptured whilst you are away! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted January 11, 2009 Author Share Posted January 11, 2009 Thanks was worring again, Turns out the ice is stuck in the pipes from the heater hopefully it will defrost but the way the weather is here at the moment i dont hold out much hope . Trouble is how do you know if you have done damage We have opened the dump value in the hope that it defrosts . Derek where are you :'( :'( :'( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 michele - 2009-01-11 3:45 PM Trouble is how do you know if you have done damage We have opened the dump value in the hope that it defrosts . Derek where are you :'( :'( :'( By running the truma system as I suggested and see if it operates correctly.... A/C and cab/vehicle heating should be unaffected by cold weather as the heating system has anti freeze and A/C is a gas as explained earlier.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenewellhome Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 Michele, is the air con you refer to engine driven or roof mounted and why do you want to use air con now anyway? If its a roof mounted unit are you perhaps wanting to use the heating side of it to thaw out the motorhome? One possible reason that it might blow the trip is if you have the Truma heating on electric and your hair dryer and then fire up the roof mounted air con for heat. The total current draw will be higher than the household circuit can take and therefore trip it. If your Truma boiler has frozen with water in it then it is possibly scrap, running it will not tell you much, you need to look at it physically. If its been damaged by frost the boiler tank will be bulged and swollen. Chances are though that the auto dump valve has drained it beofre it got too cold. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted January 11, 2009 Author Share Posted January 11, 2009 Everyone thanks for your help again, Dave , yes what you said roof mounted oh why do the women like me who aint got a clue start these things . The reason like you say Dave to warm up the camper anyway since we last spoke we have not got that side of it sorted yet and it will have to wait perhaps we will have time to check it on his parents drive in Cornwall . The boiler is fine and we have managed to get the van back all in working order everything was froze still we only have ourselfs to blame and will remember to do it next time . Hubby has had all the heating working fine and we gave the van a good once over and its been nice and warm with everything working fine. We had one last problem we couldnt get in the hab door for the D ring we thought that was frozen as well it turns out that the pin was stuck . At one point he was about to screw the hole thing from the door we sprayed it with WD40 and a little anti freeze it still wouldnt give up the ghost . Just about to get the screwdriver set out and hey presto it came undone . :$ Thanks everyone for help once again hopefully we wont have any probs and we will make double sure we dont do it again . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 Just forget the air conditioning. It is best used for cooling the van, they are not a good way to heat it. Just use the gas for heating and remember to get the air conditioning electrics checked over before you go anywhere hot! Sounds as though there is a earth fault somewhere, which is tripping the RCD in your house main switchboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted January 11, 2009 Author Share Posted January 11, 2009 Brian, Think you may be right . The reason that we turned to that first is the van was colder than the Aircon could blow oh its to technical for me but hubby understands it anyway turns out that even the Aircon would of brought up the temp. WE will forget it for now as obviously its not needed . Just get on with getting there safely . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onecal Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 Michele, Dampness plays tricks on electrics and causes earth faults which will trip out your household supply. Use a hair dryer to slowly heat up around the air con unit. Make sure you dry out the motorhome with heaters as advised The air con unit will usually be OK when the dampness is removed Dont worry too much,we dont to lose the one that keeps us smiling (lol) Happy new year Regards Brendan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 For what it is worth, my aircon gas 'top-up' man says the aircon should be run at least once a month to ensure that the seal on the pump drive shaft does not dry up and leak the gas out. I find that the aircon demists the wind screen faster than warm air when starting from cold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 In the Maintenance section of the Ford Transit Owner's Guide is the advice that the cab air-con system should be run for at least 30 minutes per month. I read something recently about 'elderly' new cars that had been standing idle for extended periods and air-con seal-failure was said to be one of the (several) potential problems that might result from this lack of use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Jones Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 I'm glad I read this thread. It had never occurred to me to run the cab aircon every month in winter - even during the summer we only used it when we really felt it was necessary. Does the "quick-clear" windscreen gizmo count? The aircon light comes on when I use that, which I do quite often. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rainbow-Chasers Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 o it in your car as well (running air con that is!) They can be used hot as well as cold, keeps it all running sweet and stops storing bugs! As for cornwall, it is mild and very wet! weds,thurs,fri due to be sunny! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 Tony Jones - 2009-01-12 9:40 AM I'm glad I read this thread. It had never occurred to me to run the cab aircon every month in winter - even during the summer we only used it when we really felt it was necessary. Does the "quick-clear" windscreen gizmo count? The aircon light comes on when I use that, which I do quite often. Tony No the quickclear is an electric heater element in the windscreen itself.... The a/c comes on automatically if heater switch set near to windscreen setting - this is for fast demist.... Important to run a/c frequently as it has oil inthe system which is there to protect the seals in the system. if the seals are not lubricated they let the refrigerant gas escape...and then no a/c and an expensive repair job if seals need replacing*-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Jones Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 JudgeMental - 2009-01-12 4:37 PM No the quickclear is an electric heater element in the windscreen itself.... The a/c comes on automatically if heater switch set near to windscreen setting - this is for fast demist.... I was terminologically challenged - it's the fast demist I was thinking about, not the electric bit. So using that should keep the a/c system in good nick then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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