Hi got an avondale pennine 1996 all new to me this do i need to drain carver heater after use every time do i need a drainage kit or is there a plug somewere an how do i steralise when filling so its safe water thanks seems like a mine field lee
waterdrainage
- Thread starter lee886
- Start date
Hello Lee,
First of all if you don't have the operating instructions visit the web site "
arcsystems.biz
where you can read or down load a copy of the instructions.
But briefly, its not a good idea to travel with the Cascade water heater filled, as the weight of the water in the tank sloshing around can weaken or cause the main tank joint to work loose.
You must drain the heater whenever you are storing the caravan and there is any risk of frosts.
The heater has a drain port as you will find in the instructions.
First of all if you don't have the operating instructions visit the web site "
arcsystems.biz
where you can read or down load a copy of the instructions.
But briefly, its not a good idea to travel with the Cascade water heater filled, as the weight of the water in the tank sloshing around can weaken or cause the main tank joint to work loose.
You must drain the heater whenever you are storing the caravan and there is any risk of frosts.
The heater has a drain port as you will find in the instructions.
While the Prof is absolutely correct with the advice given, many of us do not drain the heater before each trip. If the heater b fitted fairly close to the axle, the effecct on nose weeight will be low. When the heater is full, the water cannot 'slosh' much as there is no room for it to do so.
The problems with the 'correct' method are the extra water needed on site to fill, the time taken to vent the lines,and most important, how to empty the heater without leaving a large pool of water on the pitch - very anti-social. You will find the drain tap takes anthing up to 15 minutes to empty, even with the sink taps open to admit air,(You will fond this when draining for winter which really should be done)
As for cleaning, the instructions tell you how and what to use. I fit a large in-line filter (frm Filtapac) which filters all the water coming into the caravan. Particularly useful on european sites
The problems with the 'correct' method are the extra water needed on site to fill, the time taken to vent the lines,and most important, how to empty the heater without leaving a large pool of water on the pitch - very anti-social. You will find the drain tap takes anthing up to 15 minutes to empty, even with the sink taps open to admit air,(You will fond this when draining for winter which really should be done)
As for cleaning, the instructions tell you how and what to use. I fit a large in-line filter (frm Filtapac) which filters all the water coming into the caravan. Particularly useful on european sites
hi Lee,
I allways drain down the system before moving as a matter of course for 2 reasons if you have done it allready you cannot be caught out by forgetting to drain it down later, and draining the hot water into the waste hog with a little cleaner gives something to wash it out with that will get rid of any grease ect before leaving the site (no need to leave a wet bit on the pitch!!
the time taken to do it properly reaps rewards later it is easy to start the draining process 10 mins before you leave say before winding up the legs, (and emptying the loo) having had a motor home for many years filling and emptying the internal tanks before a move 10 mins for this procedure is nothing,
one other point you cannot save hot water in the system as this cools down very quickly, ok so it may save half a waterhog of water to refill it but it will have to be reheated on site anyway
I allways drain down the system before moving as a matter of course for 2 reasons if you have done it allready you cannot be caught out by forgetting to drain it down later, and draining the hot water into the waste hog with a little cleaner gives something to wash it out with that will get rid of any grease ect before leaving the site (no need to leave a wet bit on the pitch!!
the time taken to do it properly reaps rewards later it is easy to start the draining process 10 mins before you leave say before winding up the legs, (and emptying the loo) having had a motor home for many years filling and emptying the internal tanks before a move 10 mins for this procedure is nothing,
one other point you cannot save hot water in the system as this cools down very quickly, ok so it may save half a waterhog of water to refill it but it will have to be reheated on site anyway
Ray S said:
Hello Ray,
The Cascade always has an air cap in the tank. It is designed to have it so there is room for the expansion of water as it heats up. It actually represents about a 20mm vertical height, which equates to about a 250mL or 2.5% of the tank volume So there is some room to slosh admittedly not much in the grand scheme of things, but just the sheer mass of the water which is effectively cantilevered horizontally from the mains casting can exert quite some force on the tank joint and tie rod when teh caravan is towed over bumps etc. As these parts are made from aluminium it doesn't take too much punishment to start some movement over time.
The best advice is still to empty the tank before towing.
Hello Prof, I'm sure you right as I said in my posting. However, I am equally sure that the number who don't drain is far greater than those who do, and I also take the point of draining into a water hog or similar - assuming that you can get such a container sufficiently far back under the caravan which i cannot.
I cannot imagine draining down each night when driving 1500 miles in 3 or 4 days in midwinter dwon to Span each year. See my earlier comment about time taken to drain.
Up to now - in 26 years of caravanning with modern water heaters, I have had only two problems. The inlet connection (white nylon) to the old rectangular Carver used to shear due to bad thread form, and the prussure release valve used to stick sometimes due probably to limescale or similar in the valve. Always solved by a few sharp taps with a screwdriver handle.
However, I appreciate that you have given your best professional advice to the original poster and applaud you for it. My professional engineering career has had a large element of making things work despite knowing that the solutions my not be exactly in accordance with the 'book' and pushing the envelope a bit, so between us the OP should be very much the wiser or very much more confused - not sure which.
I cannot imagine draining down each night when driving 1500 miles in 3 or 4 days in midwinter dwon to Span each year. See my earlier comment about time taken to drain.
Up to now - in 26 years of caravanning with modern water heaters, I have had only two problems. The inlet connection (white nylon) to the old rectangular Carver used to shear due to bad thread form, and the prussure release valve used to stick sometimes due probably to limescale or similar in the valve. Always solved by a few sharp taps with a screwdriver handle.
However, I appreciate that you have given your best professional advice to the original poster and applaud you for it. My professional engineering career has had a large element of making things work despite knowing that the solutions my not be exactly in accordance with the 'book' and pushing the envelope a bit, so between us the OP should be very much the wiser or very much more confused - not sure which.
We almost always drain down too, but the couple of time I've forgotten have not caused me to lose any sleep. We just drain it into the washing up bowl so there is a nice bowl of warm water to rinse the hands after all the crawling around, raising the steadies, pulling up pegs etc.
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