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Subject Topic: DIY method to blow water out of system
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Personwizzo
15/10/2012 at 12:04am
 Location: Formby Merseyside
 Outfit: Adria 542DT 2010 - Galaxy Powershift View wizzo's Profile View Profile   Reply to wizzo Reply   Quote wizzo Quote  
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There are devices on the market to do this but I made mine for free. I already owned a truma ultraflow waterline mains kit and cut the hose between the pistol connector and the pressure valve and fitted an inline hose connector. I then fitted a car tyre valve I obtained from a local tyre fitter and cut off the bit that fits into the rim of the wheel and this left me with a valve that fits snugly in a spare piece of water hose that I had around and secured it with a tie wrap. I then connected the length of hose coming from the pistol grip using the inline connector.

I then connected a car tyre inflator to the tyre and I have equipment to get rid of any remaining water from my freshwater system.

I have tried it and it works a treat. The most important thing is to make sure the psi doesn't exceed 15 but to be honest it worked fine even when only 5 psi albeit it needed repeating a couple of times to get everything out at this low pressure. I prefer this rather than running the risk of popping of a connector inside the van.

I thought about making it very tidy by connecting the tyre valve via a very short hose straight to the pistol so you wouldn't even see the hose but that would mean that I couldn't reconnect the hose to the waterline but also having a longer hose enables me to feed the hose into the interior of the van via the window so the compressor is actually in the van and I can keep an eye on the pressure while opening the taps in turn in the van. This also means that the pump is higher than the pistol to avoid any drain back to the compressor.

If I didn't have the waterline kit then you can make one from scratch. You can buy the ultraflow pistol for around £10 and a metre or so of garden hose (I used food grade but you wouldn't have to as you are only passing air through it) and a valve about £1 new from a car tyre outlet. I would also suggest a couple of jubilee clips

It worked very well and I managed to get around 1/2 pint out despite the fact that I had dumped the tank on site and had left the valve open with the taps left open all the way home. That water would have remained there all over winter and would been stagnant and could have frozen.

You close the drain valve and all the taps. Turn the compressor on (for about 1 minute or so in my case) keeping an eye on the pressure gauge and 1 by one go round all the taps and open(both hot and cold)until the water comes out. Once one tap is done then close it and go onto the next. I suggest collecting the water in a jug and I have no doubt you will be surprised by the amount you will collect.

This is not only important ant winter but also when you lay you van up for any period of time when the water will stagnate.

Mine is a little crude but works very well. After use I just unscrew the inline connector and take of my extra length of hose and valve and reconnect up the waterline kit.

I enclose photo's to explain.









I hope this may be of use to others






Post last edited on 15/10/2012 00:20:59


Personbirder99
15/10/2012 at 7:54am
 Location: Cambs
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Great post Wizzo. A good example of using what you have without paying out for something that you will only use for a couple of minutes a year. The use of the hose connector meant that you could have various connectors for caravan side of things such as a Whale or Crystal connector and then share the use of it between friends to save everyone making such a device.

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Personmichael
15/10/2012 at 10:05am
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good post,i made one like it only i fitted a pressure gauge into the pipeline as i do not trust the tyre pump gauge.the pressure should not go above 1 bar or 15 psi as it could push pipe work apart.

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the only silly question is the one you do not ask.


Personclever
15/10/2012 at 1:10pm
 Location: Derbyshire
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Thats a brilliant post - thankyou wizzo

I had been thinking of doing the same thing, but was worried that the 'retail kits' had something special in them and I would do some damage to my van.

I'm off to my local dealer to get a ultraflow pistol to start making the kit.

Thanks again wizzo - You have just saved me around £40


PersonG7ACU
15/10/2012 at 5:59pm
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Good post, especially with the photo's.
I'd made up one similar (again with integral pressure guage) several years ago and it's suprising how much extra water you can purge from the system with this idea.



-------------
Paul

Every day's a school day!


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Personredwatch
16/10/2012 at 12:27pm
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Excellent post.

Thank you, I'm in the process of making one now.

Andy.



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QUECHUA Base Seconds 4.1 + Seconds Base (standard).



June/July(3 weeks) Le- Papillon, Tarn Gorge,France 2012.Aug/Sept (3 weeks)2012. Les Mathevies, Dordogne, France


Personclever
16/10/2012 at 12:35pm
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I have ordered all the bits from Ebay and it's should cost me around £12 in total. A big saving over the 'retail' kits.

I will get it built and tested this weekend. Will be very interesting to see how much water comes out after it's been in storage for a couple of weeks.


Personwizzo
18/10/2012 at 1:22pm
 Location: Formby Merseyside
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Quote: Originally posted by redwatch on 16/10/2012

Excellent post.

Thank you, I'm in the process of making one now.

Andy.




I am glad to be of help.



Personclever
20/10/2012 at 3:49pm
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Just up up to the van in storage with my new 'home made' drain down device as shown below.



The van has been in storage for several weeks and despite having the drain valve open whilst we drove home I have just got over 1/2 a pint of water out of the system.



As wizzo said above - 'That water would have remained there all over winter and would been stagnant and could have frozen.'

It was very easy to make and only cost around £12 in total, so is well worth it.   Thanks again to wizzo for the great post.

If anyone wants any help making one, just let me know.


Personc.kempy
03/11/2012 at 9:03pm
 Location: Essex
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Hi
Your DIY connector promted me to make my own too. I could not find the Whale block connector i required for sale on its own.
So i used a one meter length of pipe just pushed directly onto the Whale spigot. The valve was off an old bike innertube with a little electrical tape wrapped around it to build up the diameter and pushed into the pipe.
The whole thing cost 85pence for the tube and works a treat.
The compressor cost £22 from Ebay.







Post last edited on 03/11/2012 21:12:27


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Personc.kempy
04/11/2012 at 12:04am
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Feel free to save money.


Personold chap
04/11/2012 at 4:31am
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I made mine by removing the "water pipe" from my whale pump (the bit that goes in the barrel). I simply loosened the jubilee clip,& pulled,the pipe off, I then trimmed a car tyre valve down to fit into the pipe,& retightened the jubilee clip. you then fit your pump into the caravan as normal & inflate the water system to 15psi.
simply remove valve,& refit water pipe to pump head when finished


Personphantomtrucker
04/11/2012 at 1:36pm
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Wizzo.........Very good idea, but, would it not be better to blow the air in from the taps so the water drains down instead of pushing it up? Could you not get some still trapped in the hot tank or other such places or is there non return valves I don't know about? Excuse my ignorence on this subject but just a thought. Did wonder how it worked. 

-------------
Sue & Bob


PersonG7ACU
04/11/2012 at 1:43pm
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Quote: Originally posted by phantomtrucker on 04/11/2012
... or is there non return valves I don't know about?

Your idea sounds a good alternative to be fair, blowing downwards; but there are generally non return valves between the inlet housing and water system. I'd also be wary of excess pressure into a tap spout as you could theoretically blow washers off their spigots.

-------------
Paul

Every day's a school day!


Personreevco
30/11/2012 at 10:46pm
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I made one with a different approach using the shower. and a 60p hose pipe tap adapter.
I also use the hose to fill up the top water tank for the loo.... saves messing with bottles and jugs






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It takes thousands of bolts to hold a car and caravan together but only one nut behind the wheel to put them all over the road


Personba.roberts
01/12/2012 at 10:44am
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Obviously this is good because removing the water over the winter prevents it from freezing but having found that I remove the best part of a litre of water every time I use it, I have now started 'blowing out' every time we put the van away. That way we don't have a litre of stale water sitting in the pipes, growing heaven knows what ahead of our next trip out. Takes about 20 minutes to do 3 taps (hot and cold) and a final blow through the tank drain.

-------------
Regards
Brian



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