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Evening All,

Just wondering when and if you all drain the water from your water heater.

I didn't used to bother until the van was back on the drive, thinking that it's not too much weight and didn't like to " dump " it all onto the pitch before leaving the site. Afterall no-one likes a soggy grass pitch.

But as we were carrying more weight for our 2 week summer holiday, I felt it was safer to open the drain tap before leaving the site. I didn't like doing this.

Can I ask what you all do please ? I haven't seen any rules about this, so am fairly sure it's OK to drain the heater onto the pitch before setting off.

Stupid / pointless question ?

p.s. this is my first post, so please be gentle.

Of course !!! That's the way to do it !!!

Thanks Jafa and for putting it so diplomatically. It was a totally stupid question.

Just hope this post disappearsoff the front page quickly.

IF YOU GO ON SITES AND FIND DEAD PATCHES ON YOUR PITCH THIS IS OFTEN CAUSED BY EMPYTING HOT WATER  STRAIGHT ONTO THE GRASS. WE DRAIN OUR GOING UP THE ROAD.

SENNEN

Well draining into the wastemaster does nothing as to get hot out the top, cold has to push it out coming in the bottom so the tanks still full?. To drain the water heater tank you need to open the drain cock. What you must not do though is let it drain while the water is very hot onto the grass, better to switch the heater off an hour before leaving or drain it, (for the short period of time it will take), on the move while travelling off site.

The point is though you should not travel constantly with the water heater full, this means 20lbs of water is pushing and pulling at the heater/vans side wall while on the move.

Carver heaters don't like it at all and Truma for different reasons are no different, they are simply not designed to cope with it. That's to say nothing of how this weight might upset the balance of the van?.

We only drain ours at the end of the season too!  To prevent frost damage.       Would it not be very awkward to empty the tank whilst driving out of the site??   How would you get at the drain valve thingy once you have hitched up and moving on?

Excellent reply fro Gary, I was trying to think of how to word a similar reply & couldn't have wished to put it better. We always turn our water heater off first, as soon as we get up on the morning of the day we leave, we turn it off to give the heater time to col right down while full of water. I then open the drain cock & then the shower tap to allow air back in last thing before raising the stabilisers prior to hitching up.

All the concern over draining water on the pitch is lost in my opinion. You have no control over any rain falling on the pitch between you leaving & the next person arriving so I wouldn't panic about a drop of water falling from my van as I leave the pitch. Considering some of the mess I've found on our pitch on arrival, a drop of fresh water is nothing.

BB   

To avoid the hot water damage, just switch off heater, run hot taps until cold water flows, (you need to empty the aqua roll anyway) then let the water out of the tank.

My manual says its best to open the valve and taps before travelling as the movement will get all the water out of the system.

We always drain, last job before moving off.  Our van has a drain tap for cold, and one for hot.

Procedure:   (1) Switch off the heater.   (2) Open hot tap in kitchen or bathroom.  This will allow the heater to fill with cold water.  (3) Close tap.  (4) Disconnect water pump.  (5) Disconnect EHU  (6) Open drain tap(s).  (7) Open hot and cold taps in van. This allows air into system to obtain a good drainage flow. Leave all taps, including drain taps, open.  This lessens risk of residual water in pipes; particularly when freezing is a possibility.

Before draining the heater, it is better for it to be cold, or only warm, as this protects the element.  And disconnecting the EHU prevents accidental switching on of the heater when empty; preventing a burnt out element.

Bertie.