Joropoolie Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 Hi We have just joined the ranks of Motor Home owners and intend to use our van on weekends throughout winter. I need advice on how best to keep the water system working or is it best just to drain it down and use external systems eg carry water! The van is a compass avantgarde 140. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJH Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 Welcome to the forum. We have an Autoquest 100, not disimilar to your Avantgarde. You need to drain both fresh water and grey water systems, including opening the water heater dump valve. Also, empty the toilet cassette and the separate flush tank. Leave taps open once the systems are drained. I normally lay the shower head down near the drain - and a tip that Don Madge gave me is to remove the shower head and blow down the pipe to remove any water in it. Leave internal locker and cupboard doors open (and the curtains across the Luton) to let air circulate. We can put our van on hook-up as it's parked on our drive so we use a small oil filled radiator when freezing weather threatens. Make sure the radio is switched off fully, not just on the ignition, so that it doesn't flatten the vehicle battery. We also use our van for some trips during winter. It means filling the tanks etc and then emptying them again but it doesn't take long so well worth it. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 Joropoolie - 2007-10-31 8:12 PM Hi We have just joined the ranks of Motor Home owners and intend to use our van on weekends throughout winter. I need advice on how best to keep the water system working or is it best just to drain it down and use external systems eg carry water! The van is a compass avantgarde 140. Hi Joropoolie, We use our 'van all year around for days out and week-ends - we are off for a week tootling around the south coast next week. We always use the 'van's water systems and have never had any problems. Many pople use theire van's for skiing and seem to get on o.k. with reasonable precautions. I don't know if the water system in your 'van is winterised (insulated) - if not you may have problems if it gets really cold - if the fresh tank and the pipes are inside then you should be o.k. using them if you keep some heat going in the 'van whilst you are on your trips. The waste system may freeze up if it gets cold enough - but ours is not insulated and I have never had any problems. Draining the systems between trips may be advisable, but I only do this if the gap is more than a week or two. Otherwise I open the locker doors keep a greenhouse heater going (obviously need to be able to hook-up to a mains supply for that). Our Truma water heatr has a frost protection valve and drains it itself if the temparature drops - I don't know if your 'van has the same. HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Le Thou Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 Hi Welcome to the mad world of motorhoming and if when on site you see fellow motorhomers walking about with a smile on their face it's not trapped wind it's just good fun so enjoy. We tend to use our MH throeugh the winter months and I tend not to drain down but I do keep an eye on the weather forecasts and if it looks like below zero temperatures are on the way then I will drain down otherwise I just leave it. It's up to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joropoolie Posted October 31, 2007 Author Share Posted October 31, 2007 Thanks for such quick responses. There is a lot to take in but we will enjoy learning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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