Unexpected water dump despite pre-heat van. Any tips? (2 Viewers)

[ianto999]

Adria twin 2018 (new to us)
-1 at home so heated van(electric on 240v via Truma) to 15c before filling internal tank, and Truma 4e boiler, with 100L. I’d assumed that using the heater would help the boiler stay warm, so used this rather than an external fan heater etc. All seemed fine, water stayed in.
Drove 90mins on Mway, (still sub zero temps) with can heating on.
Arrived at wild site, no water and Truma drain frost protection had pinged open (presumably on the m74 somewhere…)
Other than heating the van for longer I can’t think of any way to prevent this?
Fortunately have a container as backup, so disaster averted, but it would be good to know if there are any other tips to help prevent this.

 

[Winger]

Can you turn the pump off to prevent it refilling the boiler?

 

[Cookieboy68]

I put my water heater on before we travel,the tank is in a cupboard where the frost protection valve is ,so the heat of the tank of hot water keeps the valve warm till we get where were going.

 

[Lenny HB]

Truma sell a heater for the dump valve about £35.
I take the valve is towards the outside of the van in a poorly insulated area, you could move the valve to a more central position in the van.

 

[Tombola]

back in the day we used to use pegs to keep the valve. Nowaday though its usually a push button and switch which can be taped or propped. Dont froget it though and let it freeze unless you want to pay some truma repair bills

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Mikeco]

Like many others before me I used a peg to stop it doing that when I had a van with the automatic dump. I fitted a manual one on my conversion which you could also fit on yours if you wanted to.

 

[ianto999]

Truma sell a heater for the dump valve about £35.
I take the valve is towards the outside of the van in a poorly insulated area, you could move the valve to a more central position in the van.

It’s in a cupboard in the garage, but it’s a pretty close to heater and a vent. Is the sensor in the blue valve/button bit?
Will explore the heater option. I was felling pretty smug when it filled up ok, less smug 100 miles later..

 

[Lenny HB]

Yes the Black valve with a blue knob on top and button at the bottom as the photo in post #5.
It dumps at 3° and needs to be at 7° to be able to reset it.

They have gone up a bit in price now 50 quid.

Truma Frost control Element | Truma Combi heaters + Spare Parts | Leisureshopdirect

Buy a Truma Frost control Element | Truma Combi heaters + Spare Parts | Leisureshopdirect

www.leisureshopdirect.com

Have a look at this thread.

Truma Frost Control Element

This is the small heater element which plugs into the frost control valve at one end & plugs into my Combi 6E at the other for it's power. Does anyone know where I can buy one. I believe the Truma part number is: 70070-01. Thanks George

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

 

[Peavy]

On my 2022 Twin, there is a heater duct with small cuts so the valve stays warm when the heater is on.
Maybe you could do something similar to avoid this?

 

[ianto999]

Thanks for all the ideas - heated van more today, and filled, and left heating going for a while too. Heated some water too. Opened the wee door in internal garage to access pump to promote some warm air in their. So far, still full..
There is a heater vent above 6 inches away, so might get some hose to help divert some heat into it.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[bruno66]

Maybe this is a stupid thought but, would decent bubble wrap or other kind of insulation material be a method of keeping the valve warm while travelling and then remove when stationary with heating on?

 

[ianto999]

Maybe this is a stupid thought but, would decent bubble wrap or other kind of insulation material be a method of keeping the valve warm while travelling and then remove when stationary with heating on?

Good idea - Might use my bobble hat next time we move tomorrow! Better a cool head than nae water!

 

[Reevsie]

I bought a cheap pet blanket off Amazon (£15) works vis usb. Then wrapped it around thew valve and had a battery bank to charge it up and keep it warm. You could wire it up to a permanent power source though.

 

[Maxieras]

If I am reading this correctly I will have a problem in a couple of days.
Everything is drained down and opened and I am about to refill for a short trip BUT it will be too cold for the auto-dump to be re-set.

Do I put a fan heater under the vehicle and try to warm the dump valve or give up and wait until spring ?

 

[Soycd]

This seems to be a common problem with Adria Twins. Lots of folk on the Adria Twin Facebook group have have the same thing happen. I suspect (but don't know for certain) that the valve is situated quite close to the outer wall of the van? Some folk swap the automatic dump valve for a normal one. Just have to remember to open it when the time comes. Our last PVC did not have an auto dump valve.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[stevewagner]

I put a cable tie around mine when I'm using it in winter

 

[Peavy]

the valve is situated quite close to the outer wall of the van?

Valve is in the middle more or les.
I find the system ok, to prevent damage when you are not in the van.
It worked for me, when in week storage.
Next time I will dump It myself, if frost is expected, as we never stop using the van, almost every weekend, all year around (well, except some weekends during the summer, when it's umbereable).
The thing is here's not that cold in winter, so this problem is not so expected, but could happen sometimes.

 

[Ian_H]

Valve is in the middle more or les.
I find the system ok, to prevent damage when you are not in the van.
It worked for me, when in week storage.
Next time I will dump It myself, if frost is expected, as we never stop using the van, almost every weekend, all year around (well, except some weekends during the summer, when it's umbereable).
The thing is here's not that cold in winter, so this problem is not so expected, but could happen sometimes.
View attachment 840932

In our last van we found that heating the water up to 60 before we went to bed would keep the dump valve warm enough, but the boiler and the dump valve were next to each other. Not sure if that is the case for you. Before we found that worked, we stuck a hot water bottle next to the valve!

 

[ianto999]

I put a cable tie around mine when I'm using it in winter

To stop the blue button popping out? Or the blue lever on top turning?

 

[ianto999]

In the 2019 albums, valve is in the back of van between gas bottles and heater cupboards. Today had the van heated up in the morning, but as we drove, put a remote thermometer next to frost protection valve.
Can temp was 16-20 (not in sun) but cupboard with FPV, was 10c cooler at the back. Even with door open to try and allow van heat in.
I think that’s what happened before, during 70 mph sub zero drive, van cooled and dumped water despite pre heat.
Options seem to be;
1) If diesel heater - run this while driving
2) use gas heater while driving (if trust crash protection..?)
3) use usb per blanket heater or hot water bottle next to FPV. Use bobble hat/bubble wrap etc.
4) tape/zip tie valve open - and accept risk of boiler damage if you misjudge the temps and leave water in that freezes.
5) really preheat the van very warm before setting off, including after filling with water to help the water temperature rise as well. Heat the water in the boiler too.
6) when stopping- even for an hour, put the heating on.

I presume some Scandinavian campers can help more, but that’s my learning from this so far.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Peavy]

The blue lever is a manual operation switch.
The blue button springs out automatically.

 

[Brains]

A hot water bottle is the solution!

You can even get rechargeable ones.

 

[ianto999]

Blocking the drain pipe so that even if it trips to drain the water stays in is another reported option…at the risk of leaving frozen water damage to tank. Might be a short term solution though such as for a cold drive.

 

[Brains]

Blocking the drain pipe so that even if it trips to drain the water stays in is another reported option…at the risk of leaving frozen water damage to tank. Might be a short term solution though such as for a cold drive.

But potentially very expensive if you forget or it gets frozen solid on the drive
There is a reason why most boilers have the low temp valve.

Put a hot water bottle in the locker before you leave and replace the water every time you stop if needed.
A hot water bottle in a case retains the heat for a surprisingly long time

 

[stevewagner]

To stop the blue button popping out? Or the blue lever on top turning?

Around the button

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[WanderingWibble’s]

My Truma 6002 frost valve also opens if the voltage drops below 11.5v or if the fuse is pulled. I lost all my water while off grid in private woods with a tall tree canopy that blocked the ligh to my solar panel hence my batteries went down. Truma have 2 none electric valves that can replace this one with, an auto thermostat release and one manual one that you need to remember to drain down in the winter.

 

[ianto999]

Thanks - think mine is the mechanical blue button one. Seems like no easy solution!

 

[Pausim]

If the valve is positioned on an un insulated floor the chill factor of driving along in cold or wet conditions might quickly suck the heat out of the valve. I think Lenny HB had the solution at #8.

 

[La Geneste]

On my 2022 Twin, there is a heater duct with small cuts so the valve stays warm when the heater is on.
Maybe you could do something similar to avoid this?

View attachment 839793

We are camper van newbies and have a 2022 Hymer Free S 600 with a very similar setup to your Adria Twin with a heater duct running close to the valve, are the small cuts in the duct specifically "designed" to warm the valve that way??

 

[royandsharont]

Yes they are La Geneste

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}