# Alde Heating Expansion tank split



## trek (May 1, 2005)

Last week while staying in a carpark at a ski resort in France my ALDE heating stopped working (it was 3 am in the morning & -14C outside)

The ALDE boiler was on and the pump was running but only the pipework next to the boiler was hot the rest of the pipework was cold

I checked the expansion tank & there was no coolant left in the tank.
cutting a long story short I found that the expansion tank had a split in the bottom between the inlet & outlet pipe

This was due to the way the Frankia factory had fitted the pipework

The aluminium pipework connected to the tank didn't line up with the inlet/outlet connections on the tank, the ally pipes were closer together than the tank connections so this had the effect of squeezing the plastic tank connections together which eventually resulted in a split in the tank between the two connections.

I made a temporary repair with "SOUDAL FIXALL" sealant which is so good that after only a few minutes of applying the sealant and reassembling everything I could refill the tank switch the heating on & go back to bed ( after mopping up as much antifreeze solution as I could get at )

you can see the SOUDAL FIXALL CLEAR temporary repair in the photo it also shows the ally pipes bending the narrower plastic connection towards the other one

So if you have an ALDE system it may be worth checking that your expansion tank connections are not under any stress

if anyone is interested in the SOUDAL sealant here are some details:-

UKSealants

Soudal website


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Alde*

Hello Trek,

Wow, what a nightmare!

Well our expansion tank is in the Wardrobe, so would have had lots of glycol on the clothes.

I have not had time to check it yet, but intend to strip the cover off ours and see how it is plumbed.

Thanks for the sealant info too.

TM


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## darach (Dec 15, 2006)

Hi Trek.
Just come back this week from our skiing holiday and read your report tonight. Thought I would check mine and lo and behold there was a dampness. Went to dry it off and the bottom of one of the pipes snapped off flush with the header tank, the 2 aluminium pipes are pulled tight together with a tie strap which obviously puts pressure on the base of the plastic tank.
Chances of that happening at home are about zero and reading your problem.
Thanks for the information, saved me a lot of hassle on our next trip.
Derek


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## trek (May 1, 2005)

Hi Derek

Cranham's sent me a new one in the post & I had to send the old one back to them

They got it from ALDE in the UK who seemed to accept responsibility for the failure but I am certain the failure is due to the installation with the ally pipes too close together stressing the tank and in your case pulled together with a tie strap (had no tie straps on mine!)

where did you go skiing ? 
(car park , aire or campsite ?)

ps - did you loose any antifreeze when the tank split ?

mop it up if it did as when mine leaked the antifreeze managed to find its way out through the seams that were sealed!

have you seen my post where I made an access door into the back locker walls to access the services etc?
page 11 of this :- http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopic-74879-100.html


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## darach (Dec 15, 2006)

Didn't lose very much antifreeze as tank was on the minimum and I syphoned what was in it out. Mopped up what I could with kitchen roll.
We bought our van in Germany and I am going to email our dealer tomorrow and send him a photo of the tank and get him to send me a new tank over.

As regards the skiing, we were away for 7 weeks and stayed mainly on aires, we had 7 nights on camp sites in the whole holiday. 
We were skiing in the Grand Massif , Praz de Lys, Portes Soliel, Beaufort de areches and stayed 10 days in the Maurienne Valley which some people call the 4th valley. They had an excellent ski pass 85 euro for 5 days skiing but you had to ski in a different resort in the valley each time and you got a card that gave you a good discount of any other ski passes you wished to purchase in the valley. 

Haven't looked at your post about the access door but will have a study at that.

Derek


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## trek (May 1, 2005)

to prevent this happening again I dismantled the inside of the wardrobe to access the pipes and was able to realign them so they fitted perfectly to the expansion tanks ports 

if you cant do this I would suggest you shorten the aluminum vertical pipes (say at least 6 inches) & replace this section with the EDPM rubber 21.4mm ALDE pipe so that it provides a more flexible connection to the tank


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## Jezport (Jun 19, 2008)

I would contact Frankia and tell them about the issue, see what they say.


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## trek (May 1, 2005)

Hi Jezport

When I sent Cranham's a photo of the tank with a description of the problem via email I included a English speaking contacts email address at Frankia ( though didn't get any acknowledgement from Frankia on this)


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## jasonb (Feb 27, 2009)

could someone tell me what type of glycol(antifreeze) would be suitable for topping up the ALDE heating system in the Burstner i821. The spec tells me it should be Comma Super Coldmaster or Castrol grade 1729 but Halfords have never heard of it. Any info on where to get it or what alternatives are available would be most helpful.

many thanks

Ed


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## karlb (Feb 22, 2009)

comma antifreeze


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## trek (May 1, 2005)

P&P at £7.99 is a bit steep from camskill

try some of the motor factors in your area the places that the motortrade use to buy car parts

or try this link from COMA to fnd a stockist in your area:-

COMA STOCKIST

I have 5 litres of Coma Super Coldmaster - you could have had some but its a bit too far from Hampshire to S.Wales


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## darach (Dec 15, 2006)

Last month in the Alps my header tank split again. Should have taken Treks advice and put longer connecting pipes on. I thought I had it aligned correctly but there still must have been slight pressure. Managed to get a new tank in Germany which has now been modified. It is now fitted with 3 mounting holes which have rubber grommets in to allow movement and metal slides to allow in and out movement of the tank. It cost me 89 euro.
Derek


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