# Kitchen Tap Damaged By Frost



## tincan (Jul 31, 2006)

I have been preparing Tincan for its inaugural trip for this season. When I filled the tank and turned on the power to the pump I was stunned to see water gushing from the body of the tap at the sink. It had obviously frozen, I assume during December, but I cant figure out how. Before laying up for the Winter, I had emptied the tanks (fresh and waste), turned off the power to the pump and drained the hot water boiler, so how the blazes did the tap burst. The pressure forced the swivel arm up out of the body and when I replaced this I thought I had it cracked but no, the body of the tap is cracked and needs replacing. Just hope I can locate one before Thursday as with St Patricks DAy I have a 4 day weekend coming up and had planned to go visit Kerry

Noel


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## clive1821 (Mar 27, 2010)

I guess you might of overlooked leaving all the taps open as well been there done that


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## bulawayolass (Jul 27, 2010)

Thanks thats where l went wrong oh well l live and at least have learnt. l was wondering how the shower tap got frost damaged had done all Tincan had. i didn't realise had to leave the taps open with my problem it is like an inner seal has gone.


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## Nora+Neil (May 1, 2005)

Hi Noel.

Charles Camping, Blessington. and Buckleys in Mallow would be your best bet.

Hope this helps. 

PM send.


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## clive1821 (Mar 27, 2010)

Yep also remove the shower head as well they split very easily all good fun though..... The kitchen sink taps can be a nightmare to replace as is the bathroom taps....


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

I suspect there will be a few posts like this as those who dont use their vans in winter come out of the woodwork.

I had a similar problem at Christmas. Set off on Christmas eve to the lakes and the shower mixer tap fell into two pieces. I bodged it back together but on reading the manual (which I never do) it does say to actually remove the shower head tap when its freezing. Doh!

I also found I had water in the some of the pipes which took 3 days to thaw out. Didnt spoil our trip though.


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## Lambo (Oct 9, 2006)

Hello Noel, try taking the tap apart and you may find a replacement cartridge is all you need, rather than a complete tap relacement, cheers, Paul.


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## Bengal (Aug 13, 2010)

Before Xmas the spout of our Kitchen mixer tap had also been pushed off. I also didn't realise I had to leave the tap open. A plastic O ring had split in 3 pieces but when I pushed the spout back on it worked fine. I used the van over xmas & the tap didn't leak....I was lucky.


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## ICDSUN (Oct 10, 2006)

If it is a Reich tap you can get the cartridge body, alternatively you could dismantle the tap and remove the cartridge, you may find it is just the 3 way O ring that has displaced itself, you cant get the O ring on its own just have to replace the cartridge about £25

Be careful you don't snag the wires when replacing

Chris


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## tincan (Jul 31, 2006)

Thanks all for your responses. I contacted Pat Keogh Motorhomes from whom I bought her and he said they have had a spate of damaged taps this winter. It's very rare for the temperature to drop below -5 where we live by the coast in Dublin but on Christmas Day it dropped to -17 or summat like that. I imagine that would do considerable damage to all sorts of kit.

This evening I removed the tap and tomorrow my good wife is driving down to Pat who will fix or replace the offending piece. Apparently there is a disc in the innards which can burst and this can be replaced in lieu of buying a new tap. I also checked the shower head and its fine, maybe because it was dangling down and self drained. Lesson learned for next layup methinks

Noel


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