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The Club House - Pop in and say Hello => General Discussion => Topic started by: Billy on August 08, 2021, 06:34:26 pm
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Ok guys ...
So far as draindown is concerned, I'm figuring there are maybe a couple of drain cocks to empty taps and pipework, shower feed etc. for the winter.
And clearly there will be a water valve to isolate.
But so far as central heating is concerned, am I right in saying that both boiler and radiators will have additive/anti freeze of some description and thus will not need draining down?
Otherwise it would need adding again in the springtime ... and bleeding all the rads?
And especially, if it's a combi boiler with an aluminium heat exchanger, am guessing it should be sealed, am I right, or wrong pls.
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So for the water system drain down, they actually pressurise the system with an air pump after disconnecting the water, then they open up each tap individually and blow any water out. They should also add antifreeze to any traps/loo to make sure that the water in there doesn't freeze. They need to keep the water in them to stop any smells getting in while you are away.
You are right, the central heating system is a closed system. It will have inhibitor and antifreeze in it so no need to drain it down. Many be worth topping it up from time to time but the site should take care of that more than likely.
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Oh and just a small point, don't forget to do a turn down when it's locked up for the season. Move mattresses and pillows away from walls, leave doors open and put bowls of salt or dehumidifiers dotted about to collect moisture. Just so that it will be all right as rain when you come back.
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Our park recommend keeping the CH on low after general drain down. Is this necessary? What do others do?
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The drain down should cover water supply and drains etc. but CH is an enclosed system and provided it has a correct amount of anti freeze in should not need to be left on.
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Our park recommend keeping the CH on low after general drain down. Is this necessary? What do others do?
Many boilers are designed to left on during the winter, best to check in the handbook. Ours has automatic frost protection which will operate if the temperature inside the caravan goes below 5 degrees. If yours is like this, set both boiler temperature dials to minimum (off) position. Keeping gas and electricity on also allows the circulation pump to run briefly every 24 hours to prevent siezing up.
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Scorpio makes a good point but there are some parks which turn off gas and electric across the park throughout their closed season. If supplies are disrupted like this, or for any other reason the boiler will stop working and may not restart on it’s own when supplies are restored..
I wrote the first paragraph earlier this morning ( Sat 27th November) and have since read the news about Storm Arwen last night where it is reported that over 80,000 homes in Scotland lost power. As many holiday parks are in more remote areas, either coastal or rural, I wonder how many of them also lost power with boilers hence shut down possibly for the whole winter?
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We went to our van yesterday to lock it up for the winter , we was going to stay the night but the electric was off due to the storm. Luckily we had already drained down the previous weekend. I use the floe 868 to drain down , takes 10 mins to do all from inside the van. A lot of vans on our site have trace heating and are told to leave the boiler on frost protect but they wouldn’t have been working yesterday . Only sure way to be safe is to drain down and use antifreeze in traps & toilets.
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I have Trace Heating as well but do not rely on it for when we are away from the ‘van.
To my mind it is brilliant for preventing a freeze up (especially overnight) of the water supply piping when we are staying at the ‘van, but it is not a practical way of preventing damage during our absence during the “cold” months and only a drain down does this.
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So I was down at our 'van over the weekend closing down.
Did the normal, vacuum pack all the soft stuff, move mattresses and cushions off of walls, keep all the cupboard doors open with a small bit of pipe lagging and a tray of cat litter in every room.
We have TVRs on every radiator in the 'van and they do have a frost setting. I've never used it but I may think twice about that now. When I arrived on the Friday night it was around 4deg outside. Darted in to turn on the boiler and get the heating going. Now whoever was there last (it could of been me :-\ ) set all the rads to the frost setting. When the boiler fired up I ended up pottering about a bit until I remembered to adjust the rad in the bedroom. Could of been a very interesting night if I hadn't ::). Well the heat was coming through the radiator in that room which means the temp must of been below 5deg to trigger the TVRs to open up.
Our place is in Cornwall and it doesn't really hit low temps often. I always make sure the water is off but I get the site to drain down at the end of the season. I may start leaving the heating on frost protection now just in case we get a cold snap when we aren't there. Just concerned about how the boiler will react. Will it start heating the water up within it constantly all winter or does it only fire up when the pump feels a pressure drop due to one of the TVRs opening up?
I must admit I would like to start doing my own drain down. I came close to it this year. Not sure I trust the site to do a proper job. I did put a dash of antifreeze in every loo and sink/shower trap but was a bit of a waste as when the site guys come down they'll flush that away when they do their drain down. Maybe next year.
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Hopefully antifreeze in traps and toilets will be part of drain down service. Once drained down you can switch the boiler off …it has antifreeze in the ch system to protect it. Have a look at the floe 868 , seems expensive but our site wanted £90 to drain down this year , I do it myself inc. antifreeze in 15 mins . Watch the video to see how easy it is. Very easy to fit as well just using pushfit connectors.
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Our drain down is £65. That is just the pipes. They have a separate close down service.
I like the look of the floe 868. Do you have any images of your install? How is it fitted? I may grab that for next winter. How much did you pay for it if you don't mind me asking. I have found it for £230.
If you really think about it, I'm going to be there another 10 years plus so will pay for itself in no time really.
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By the way, found this video on YouTube. Presume the other chapters will be on there as well if you root around.
Looks like a real nifty bit of kit. Definitely on my "want" list
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As well as being a member on here I’m a member of a group on Facebook where the Floe is discussed regularly. Whilst I don’t have it myself I can say the Floe 868 does appear to be a well thought of practical piece of kit.
The only criticism I see is that many have found that to install the pump as advised in the boiler cupboard and connect as instructed an air pipe extension(& joint) is required.
But it does appear once set up it works well.
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Pic attached , all you can see is a green box screwed to the boiler cupboard wall, there is a mains plug ..which is left unplugged till needed , I unplug the boiler and plug the floe in. There is also a 10mm pipe that can’t be seen because it comes out of the bottom of the floe , that goes out the air hole at the bottom of boiler cupboard under the van and as close to the stop tap as possible , this is all supplied with the floe inc. a check valve to stop water running up into the floe.
If you can get under the van then it’s a doddle to fit , 4 screws to fix it to cupboard wall , cut water inlet paper as close to the stop tap as the supplied tubing will reach , then use push fits ( don’t forget inserts if it’s plastic pipe) to T off the floe tubing and run it to the floe unit and a pushfit connection there as well. I think the T might be supplied but not sure. Then follow the video.
I think I paid about £225 , it came with a 5 year warranty .
Picture is on its side, floe is below the boiler on the left hand side of the cupboard
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That is nifty. I've watched a couple more of the install vids that I found on YouTube and run it past the misses. We are definitely getting one. Will take 4 years to pay for itself and, yes it's not cheap, but is a lot less faff than using an adaptor with a car tire pump. Running inside outside to pump the water out. And it's never warm when I'm going to be doing this.
Slattster, you are a star Should be on commission mate.
We reckon, with doing the turn down, drain down and jet washing ourselves we'll be saving approx. £220 a year and I'm sure the sites service fees are only going to get higher. Turn down is £5 more expensive than last year anyway.
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So digging this one out of the ether 8)
Stattster, been given the go ahead to purchase the Floe 868. I have a standard caravan set up. Outside stop cock with external tap. Boiler inside etc. Is everything I need in the box?
I saw DaveE mention an air pipe extension is required? My stop cock is not directly under the boiler but not far off. Outdoor connecting hose is 15mm. You mention inserts for plastic pipe. Would you mind elaborating on that for me?
Just want to buy everything in one hit and then arrange a day to head down to fit. My dad and I are quite practical so should be a doddle according to the videos.
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I mentioned the pipe extension because I have seen posts n a Facebook group (where floes come up as a topic regularly) and they say it was the one thing needed as an extra.
They had me think about my ‘van and my water inlet tap ( the start of my piping.) and the boiler cupboard where the floe would be are too far apart and I would need the extra pipe for the air pump to connect.
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Nice, I did have a think about that. Did some visual mental maths about the distance to my stop cock. Comes with 4m of air line which should be plenty for my set up.
Have ordered and will post an update when I have it fitted. Should be at some point mid August I reckon. Will do a "Boiler Clense" when it is fitted and see what comes out of a 3 y/o boiler. Will be interesting.
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So ordered Wednesday, arrived today (Friday)
Pretty quick turn around.
First impressions. Really like the look of it, it's compact and neat so won't be too cumbersome in the boiler cupboard. Looks like a very well made product. I would be interested to know what the pump piston is made of. Plastic or metal. Some of the car tyre pumps, which this basically is, can be made of plastic and then break under load but then I suppose this won't be pumping up to anywhere near those pressures.
They have spent a fortune on packaging. Came in a simple brown outer box but inside the retail box is something else. Velvety to the touch, pre-opening peak window (if that makes sense). They really have gone all out. I would of been happy with just a simple brown box but then I suppose they need the wow factor at the trade shows. Another nice touch, they have put in an embroidered flannel, presumably to cover the tap with when draining down.
(https://i.postimg.cc/Sxwpmb9K/IMG-1419.jpg) (https://i.postimg.cc/MGVJT30m/IMG-1420.jpg) (https://i.postimg.cc/KzbSg7JS/IMG-1421.jpg)
Have noticed that there are no butterfly bolts for affixing to hollow walls as shown in all the YouTube clips. Do we reckon they were left out as they are overkill? Just get some simple cavity wall rawl plugs and that will do the job or should I purchase butterfly bolts?
Only other difference I can see from the videos, the on off button is now a push button rather than a flick switch. Shouldn't make a difference.
Air hose does look short but I think it should be fine for my install. My inlet stop cock is almost directly under the boiler cupboard outside.
DVD makes me laugh. I litterally have no way of playing it. Is in HD though, haha
So far I am really happy, looking forward to installing it in a month or so or maybe sooner if I can get down to the 'van on my own in the coming weeks.
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Your post reflects what I’ve seen before elsewhere. I’m glad you’re happy with your purchase and will wait to see how you find the actual installing and then use.
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Hello spark, a purchase you won’t regret , do you still get a 5 yr warranty with it? It does make a racket when in use but it’s only in use on and off for 10 mins to do the drain down.
Everything should be in the box , you will need inserts for the pipe( if it’s plastic) , where you cut the pipe put an insert in - this gives the pipe some support so it doesn’t collapse … something like this. https://www.screwfix.com/p/jg-speedfit-superseal-plastic-push-fit-pipe-inserts-15mm-50-pack/18100 …. But you should get the correct insert for the pipe so you need to know manufacturer of pipe , it will be stamped on the pipe at regular intervals.
I screwed mine in to boiler cupboard itself rather than caravan wall
Good luck
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Cheers Slattster,
So looks like you get a 9 month money back warranty, no questions asked and a 5 year parts warranty where they will repair or replace if anything breaks through normal use.
So I have just got a plain black plastic/rubber 10mm pipe and a load of push fit fittings for it to join into. It's exactly what was demoed in the installation videos online. No sign of any push fit inserts of any sort in his video.
(https://i.postimg.cc/cHYRkHDj/IMG-1427.jpg)
When did you get yours? Wondering if there has been any kind of update to it like the on of switch etc
Will also be going in the boiler cupboard but off the top of my head, I'm not actually too sure if that is a "solid" wall or not. Does have a loo mounted on the other side so could quite feasibly be.
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Ah, I think I get it now. So they are for the existing mains pipe that feeds the 'van and then these slot into the push fit connector tee.
As it goes I have a photo of that as well
(https://i.postimg.cc/hXkznLGm/IMG-1220.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/hXkznLGm)
What you listed is exactly what we have so I will pick up some of those connectors. Cheers for that, will save us rushing around trying to sort that out last minute.
Is anything like this needed for the air pipe?
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I got mine when it first come out … maybe 3 or 4 years ago now. Don’t think I used inserts for the air . Inserts should always be used at connections with plastic pipe though - it will work without them but as said previous the pipe could collapse.
I have the boiler in one cupboard and the fridge in a cupboard next to it so I fixed to the cupboard wall in between them.
Have you got a 15mm plastic pipe cutter , makes the job simple and clean
https://www.screwfix.com/p/ox-polyzip-15mm-manual-plastic-pipe-cutter/921hv
I have one of these for air pipe https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/353274058982?hash=item5240c658e6:g:htYAAOSwWaFh8VYh
Then it’s just all push together in the right order ….make sure check valve goes the right way round.
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Nice. We have a plumber friend who is going to lend us his plastic pipe cutter.
Inserts are in the basket. We are also going to put a blank plug on the wall so we don't have a loose one hanging around when it is not in use.
I have emailed floe about the lack of butterfly bolts but I don't expect a reply. I'm off down there in just over a week with the family so I can check what the wall is made up of before I come down in August to install fully.
Cheers for all the links to those bits. So useful
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I leave the plug loose , I plug into the socket the boilers plugged into , that way both can’t be on at the same time. Thinking of visitors here switching things on rather than me .
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I'm just planning on installing a non powered slim line plug face. Just so it is out of the way. https://www.screwfix.com/p/13a-1-gang-unswitched-plug-socket-white/6856d (https://www.screwfix.com/p/13a-1-gang-unswitched-plug-socket-white/6856d)
If I left it hanging loose there would be damage. My misses is constantly throwing stuff in that cupboard so it would only be a matter of time