# Has anyone tested Chic C Line in the alps in winter



## darach (Dec 15, 2006)

Hi, We have been looking at the Chic E line which is a fully winterised vehicle but the price is very expensive. So had a look at the Chic C Line which is claimed to be twin floor fully winterised. I looked under one of these vehicles and to me it looked as though the grey water tank was just boxed in. It didn't look like a proper twin floor. Am I wrong? Has any one got one of these vehicles and tried it at between minus 10 and minus 20 with Alde heating fitted and have they had any problems?
Derek


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## Glandwr (Jun 12, 2006)

I've got a fully winterised double floor Hymer and yes you can see what you think is the greywater tank underneath.

In reality though it is as you say boxed in and warm air is circulated from the truma boiler into the void between tank and outer box. It wouldn't freeze as long as you have the boiler on. All pipework etc is in the double floor

I assume it would be the same on the Chic.

Dick


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## darach (Dec 15, 2006)

Hi Glandwr, I am sure you are exactly right with the Truma circulating air but we like the Alde heating because it uses less battery power than blown air which is better for us as we stay on aires a lot of the time. In our present van we have never ever been cold and would like to get Alde in a replacement van.
Thanks


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## Glandwr (Jun 12, 2006)

It doesn’t use the truma hot air heating. It uses the exhaust from the water heating boiler. We have the wet truma aquatherm (essentially the same as the Alde) and a cab truma C as well as the hot air heating. In extremely cold conditions we do not always leave the heating on if out for the whole day. Just the boiler.

On return bang on all three systems and its as warm as toast in a matter of minutes then shut down the 2 systems and use just the wet one to sustain temperature as we much prefer that too. Only trouble is it takes for ever to heat the van from cold.

As I say with the top of the tank in the double floor (water under 4 degs is reversed and hot falls and cold rises) plus some of the exhaust around the tank from the boiler keeps the frost off without any heating on. Much more efficient on gas (apart from when all 3 systems are belting it out :roll: )

Good luck with your search I hope you find the right van, but don't ignore those with multi heating systems  

Dick


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## angie (May 16, 2005)

Hi Derek,

We have a Carthago Opus which we really love.The quality is excellent. Looking under our van, you cannot see any water tanks at all.They are totally concealed in the double floor making our van fully winterised.
We have the Alde heating system which we are really pleased with. Our first van had Truma but this is the second van we have had with Alde. We would not go back to a vehicle with Truma.
In our opinion, the E line has extras, some of which you can see and some of which you can't see, which reflects in the pricing.
We are big believers in "you get what you pay for"

Hope this is of some help. Just ask if you need anymore info,

Angie and Keith


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## aikidoamigo (Aug 11, 2011)

I would think the space visible around the tanks is to allow the warm air from the heating to circulate.... so long as the tanks are enclosed in the body and heating is in that area they should be fine.

Alternatively you could ask a dealer to fit tank heating elements, they run off the 12v and should not be too expensive (lol)


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## adagio56 (Nov 27, 2013)

*CHIC C LINE IN WINTER*

Hello,
Owing a CARTHAGO CHI C LINE 4.2 T I can assure you that it is a full twin floor about 40 cm high. No problem at all to heat it with the Truma 6 even in the Alps in winter. Both fresh and grey water tanks in twin floor as well as taps (proper word ?) to empty them.
Hope this answers your question. If not, do not hesitate to come back to me.
Sorry for rusty english... Am french :wink: 
Best regards, Marc.


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## JohnWebb (May 1, 2005)

Our now old Chic i 47 has a double floor with an external extra skin. Everything is heated such that I get complaints there is nowhere cool to store spuds etc. Not had it below -10 which was when visiting friends in the Pyrenees in winter. They said we were welcome to come in to the house, before they had installed heating. We said we did not want to put them to any trouble.


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## darach (Dec 15, 2006)

Thanks for the replies. Carthago Chic is a great looking motorhome but as I said the E Line comes standard with Alde which I know has full double floor with no problem but the C Line at the rear of the vehicle the grey water tank is below the floor level and boxed in. With blown air I can see that working no problem but with Alde I don't think it would work as well. 2 years ago we were down at minus 22.5 degrees in the Alps and had no problem with our Frankia which has Alde so have now ordered another new Frankia. 
I even emailed the Carthago factory in Germany about the C Line and they would not guarantee anything for freezing which seemed very strange. They said they hadn't had any customers come back to them with reports.
Thanks again


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