Frankieshome1 Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 I wonder if any of you can help me. I used my motor-home for the first time at the weekend, when I filled up with water and put the pump on water gushed out of a pipe underneath the van. This pipe does not seem to go anywhere of seem to have broken off anything. I am at a loss to what is up. I have a Peugeot Autocruise 56 plate if that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Frankieshome1 - 2015-04-27 8:29 PM I wonder if any of you can help me. I used my motor-home for the first time at the weekend, when I filled up with water and put the pump on water gushed out of a pipe underneath the van. This pipe does not seem to go anywhere of seem to have broken off anything. I am at a loss to what is up. I have a Peugeot Autocruise 56 plate if that helps. If you're unused to these systems, the most innocent explanation would be that you've omitted to close the drain valve for the water heater. You will normally, but not always, find that there are separate drain valves for the water tank and the water heater, and on a number of plumbing configurations, leaving the water heater valve open will not necessarily drain the whole water system (but only the heater). Turning on the pump, however, transfers water into the heater circuit, and then straight out through the open drain valve (normally via a pipe through the floor). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spospe Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Robinhood - 2015-04-27 9:30 PM If you're unused to these systems, the most innocent explanation would be that you've omitted to close the drain valve for the water heater. You will normally, but not always, find that there are separate drain valves for the water tank and the water heater, and on a number of plumbing configurations, leaving the water heater valve open will not necessarily drain the whole water system (but only the heater). If you have a Truma water heater fitted, then you need to know that they have a frost protection drain valve fitted which will automatically open to protect the boiler when the temperature gets down to circa 5 degrees centigrade. This valve does not require the power to be on in order to work as it is mechanical in action and needs to be warmed a bit if the weather is cold, before you can close it to complete filling with water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankieshome1 Posted April 28, 2015 Author Share Posted April 28, 2015 Many thanks, would you know where the valve is so I can turn it off please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 ...it varies from 'van to 'van, but is likely to be very close to your water heater. You should look for something like the attached in line in your water pipes, and pull up the little button on the top to close it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankieshome1 Posted April 28, 2015 Author Share Posted April 28, 2015 Brilliant thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Frankieshome1 - 2015-04-28 5:54 AM Many thanks, would you know where the valve is so I can turn it off please? At the risk of sounding glib - it's immediately above where the drain pipe exits through the floor! Does your van have gas (probably Truma) or diesel (probably Eberspacher) heating as they do differ slightly and the handbook will have pictures and an explanation of how it works and how to protect from frost damage. If you have no handbook try getting the boiler model number off of the casing and Googling for operating instructions. In case you are unaware, it is CRUCIAL that you drain the boiler down in winter when not in use or frost will cause some very expensive and inconvenient damage to the system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dav7 Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Hi we have a 2002 Autogruise Wentworth and our dump valve for the water heater is in the rear of near side locker almost under the heater itself, it is a small yellow lever which is flicked up to drain and down to close. Hope this is some help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 If you switched on the hot water tap and it poured out water, then the likely cause is the frost setting on the boiler or the valve for the water heater has been left open when the water system was last drained down. It happened to us when we first used one of our previous vans and nobody had mentioned the frost valve. If the water pours out only when the cold tap is used, the water system was probably drained down and the valve left open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solomongrundy Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 'A' in line with pipework. Press 'B' to stop water draining. Truma Combi 6E - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 ...but on a '56 plate 'van (as per the OP), unless any later upgrading has been done, the earlier dump valve show in my post above is the one that is likely to be fitted. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 Robinhood - 2015-05-06 7:44 PM ...but on a '56 plate 'van (as per the OP), unless any later upgrading has been done, the earlier dump valve show in my post above is the one that is likely to be fitted. ;-) That is indeed the case, as the Truma “FrostControl” drain valve (shown in Solomangrundy’s photo) was introduced for “Combi” air/water heaters and those appliances were not manufactured before May-2007. The original Truma frost-protection drain valve used with Truma “Trumatic C” air/water heaters is as shown in Robinhood’s “Older Dump Valve.JPG” drawing. Unlike the “FrostControl” valve (that needs no electrical power-supply) the earlier valve does require 12V power to keep it closed. It’s likely that a frost-protection drain valve will have been fitted as part of a Trumatic C’s installation, but there is the possibility that a Truma manually-operated valve may have been fitted instead. Truma no longer makes the 12V-powered valve, so (as Robinhood touches on) if a 12V valve becomes defective there’s a good chance that it will be replaced by a “FrostControl” valve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted May 8, 2015 Share Posted May 8, 2015 A 56 Plate puts this Autocruise (whatever model) when it was still Autocruise CH, and not Autocruise Swift, a lot of Autocruises (?) from that era, as Tracker says, had Eberspacher Water Boilers (Calorfiers) fitted, a very differant (and IMHO) better set up than a Truma ( Combi, which I now have). If the OP would like to confirm which they have ? Both of course have a Drain tap for winter protection. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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