# Waste tank freezing risk on panel van conversions



## pandalf (Oct 29, 2006)

Having "rightsized" from a double-floored coachbuilt (Euramobil Profila) to a panel van conversion (Adria Twin), I am wondering how worried I should be about the underslung waste water tank during winter.

The fresh water tank on the Twin is inboard, so that should be no problem. But the waste tank is under the body and presumably prone to freezing. I have an old separate waste tank from our caravanning days, and was planning to just leave the waste tap open during the cold months and let the waste water drain into the separate tank.

But we tried out the tank this weekend, and there is not enough ground clearance for it to fit under the outlet pipe. Obviously I cannot just let waste water drain into the ground, so what are other panel van users doing to avoid the risk of a frozen tank?


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Water*

Hi

I do not have a panel van so advising what I do with the Kon-tiki.

Leave the drain tap open and attach a flexible pipe to the water outlet. This pipe can be made from either...

1) Old vacuum cleaner hose
2) Plastic tubing from a fish pond shop
3) A couple of jubilee clips

You can then direct the water to a bucket etc.

Russell


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## rolyk (Aug 24, 2007)

Pandalf - My panel van has very little clearance under the waste pipe tap so I use a shallow portable tank about 125mm high which is made by Thetford. It's no longer manufactured but secondhand ones do come up on eBay from time to time.

They usually sell for around a fiver. I've just looked on eBay and can't see one at the moment but suggest you look from time to time.

Roly


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

It depends on how extreme the conditions you intend to use your van. In normal UK winters one of those black waste tanks that lays on its side that caravanners use would probably work, but if you want to use the van in more extreme conditions...

We had an AS Nuevo which was woefully equiped for winter conditions but we like to visit Alpine regions in the winter. Even draining to an external container didn't work as the pathetic narrow gauge pipes and drain taps would quickly freeze as water passed through the narrow gauge pipe and the silly little homebrew type drain taps that Autosleepers insisted on fitting.

As we travelled south and temperatures started to drop we had a plan to abandon the use of the sink/shower facilities in the toilet room and concentrate ablutions solely from the kitchen sink and use the shower room just for toilet use.

All we did was to divert the waste pipe from the kitchen sink into an inboard 5 gallon container. Simply and quickly done as long as you have free space under the sink for the container and easy to swop pipes and revert back to full facilities when conditions warm up a bit.

This procedure served us well for several holidays down in the Alps in conditions down to minus lots of degees C.




Pete


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## Suenliam (Mar 22, 2006)

Hi Pandalf - good to see you have an Adria  

Now, not being of a technical disposition, the following may be garbage  . 

Our Adria has a heater in the waste water tank which we only switch on when it is very cold and we know there is water in the tank. Does your Adria have the same thing? Strange if it does not as I cannot imagine a situation where Twins are not suitable but Corals from the same maker are OK.

Sorry if I'm teaching my grandfather to suck eggs 8O 

Sue


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## Mouse44 (Aug 23, 2010)

*Hi*

If you are plugged up on sites you could put a fish tank heater in there
and that would stop it and they draw hardly any current.


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## pandalf (Oct 29, 2006)

Thanks for the helpful replies.

Suenliam - I have bought my Twin privately, and sadly there was no documentation. So if there is a heater for the waste tank, I am not sure where the switch is. Can I ask where the switch is on your Coral, and I can try to look out for something similar in my van.

Mouse44 - The fish tank heater sounds a good idea, but there is no interior access to the waste tank that I can see. 

Cheers,
Andy


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## grizzlyj (Oct 14, 2008)

Hi

The grey tank on our camper is about 70l, so the bigger volume with warm washing water added a few times a day may have an effect on keeping the whole lump from freezing?

The outlet with gate valve is of course below this, and more in the breeze when we're driving. The water in this bit only is what freezes in our experience (a consistant few weeks well below freezing) with our set up.

Some people have suggested adding some salt water, but I found putting maybe 100ml of screenwash in directly after emptying prevented any further problems. It did seem as if when there was only a sink full in the tank it froze easily, but a bigger volume swishing about while driving was fine.


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## rowley (May 14, 2005)

My Twin did not have a tank heater so I would not think that yours has.
We spent a night at -7C in the Twin and did not suffer with the tank freezing. The tank is quite large so I would not lose any sleep over it.


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## Suenliam (Mar 22, 2006)

Hi again, just looked. It's a switch in the control panel by a sign that shows "heat" coming off a water tank that empties from the bottom. 

Sue


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## homenaway (Jul 27, 2005)

Hi,

Our Twin doesn't have a tank heater (not the same spec levels as the Corals  ) but we've not had any problem with the tank freezing so far. As stated it has a ninety litre tank but it's shallow.

We have a Thetford waste tank as well and usually let the main tank drain into it overnight if it's likely to be freezing.

Steve


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