DOWN AND DIRTY FREEZE-PROOFING VAN AND TRUCKMOUNT

[Jimbo]

Sorry to holler at you...but the US has a dynamic weather situation going on right now...Cold, Cold weather in a lot of places...

You might remember my dissertation on how to keep your van warm....


viewtopic.php?f=1&t=35850&p=394885&hilit=+broke+dick#p394885


But we can throw a lot of that out the window RIGHT NOW...we have to do GORILLA freeze-proofing...No Joke...you need to do this right now if you live in the storm area...Check out the updated chill map for today...

The big problem today is a lot of areas are losing power...I just got a call from a friend where it is really cold...and we discussed the gorilla method of winterproofing your van...if the power goes out and you have no way to heat it...

1 Drain water out of any fresh water tanks you may have in the van.
2 Take all the tools inside that have water in them...wand...hydroforce, sprayers...etc High pressure lines...all of them.
3 Get 5 or 10 gallons of RV antifreeze...if you cannot find that...use a 50 50 mix of clean new radiator antifreeze and water...
4 You need to pump the antifreeze all the way through your pump AND heating system...
5 If you have a water box on your unit,,,vac it out with the TM vacuum...then introduce the antifreeze that you have there...and pump it through your tm...INCLUDING whatever heating system you have...you will need an open end on a hose to let the antifreeze move through the system.
6 No water box? Maybe a fresh tank and a line going to your pressure pump? Unhook the line at the fresh tank that goes to the pump...hold it up above the pump...put a funnel in it...and turn the machine on...introduce the antifreeze through the funnel and pump it completely through the system as before.

I have done this before when an old van broke down at Lake Tahoe During the middle of winter...all the tools stayed in it for a few days...I antifreezed it thouroughly and had no problems.

So success in your efforts to keep your stuff from freezing...and remember 60 or 70 dollars worth of antifreeze is much cheaper than the repair bill for a frozen unit!

Cheers, Jimbo!

 

[Dolly Llama]

good info Jimbo!

for the guys with slide-ins and the power goes out...and you have no back-up heat system like propane or kero heaters..and there's no place open to buy anti-freeze ...start your TM and let it run for 15-20 minutes ..Partially cover the vac port too and it will heat up quick.
The TM will be hot when you shut down

The radiant heat from a hot TM will keep the van from freezing for several hours ...more depending on how well insulated


if your exhaust is run thru the floor, (our is) close the doors while getting the TM hot .
The van will be toasty warm (70-80+ degrees) in 15 minutes


..L.T.A.

 

[bob vawter]

good info Jimbo!

for the guys with slide-ins and the power goes out...and you have no back-up heat system like propane or kero heaters..and there's no place open to buy anti-freeze ...start your TM and let it run for 15-20 minutes ..Partially cover the vac port too and it will heat up quick.
The TM will be hot when you shut down

The radiant heat from a hot TM will keep the van from freezing for several hours ...more depending on how well insulated


if your exhaust is run thru the floor, (our is) close the doors while getting the TM hot .
The van will be toasty warm (70-80+ degrees) in 15 minutes


..L.T.A.

if you can't see daylite through yor GArage.....!

 

[The Magician]

I love my 60 deg. garage

 

[0331grunt]

May be stupid question, but after you winterize your TM, what do you have to do to operate again? Simply turn on, set pressure and let antifreeze drain thru hoses/tools/wands?? Good info on winterizing. My TM is in a trailer and outside... -6* this morning before windchill.....

 

[Dolly Llama]

May be stupid question, but after you winterize your TM, what do you have to do to operate again? Simply turn on, set pressure and let antifreeze drain thru hoses/tools/wands??

yep

Plug in a naked quick disconnect (just a QD, not attached to any tools) to the end of the solution line,
start the TM , turn on the pump and flush the system til it's running clear water.
i reckon you could recycle/reuse the anti-freeze .
Least the first few gallons pumped out til the fresh water starts to dilute it

if you take your wand, sprayers and such in doors, you won't have to monkey with them

trailers kind of present a unique problem not encountered with vans..cause in extreme cold temps, you could freeze up the way to a job depending on travel time.
Unlikely freeze hard enough to cause damage, but enough to cause PITA problems when starting the first job of the day

starting the TM and letting it warm up would help there .
as I mentioned, the radiant heat from a hot TM will keep things from freezing for quite some time.
Be sure to partially block the blower vac to heat it up too.
if you don't restrict the vac on it, it won't get very warm
Plenty radiant heat can come from that big chunk of cast iron too.



..L.T.A.

 

[Jimbo]

http://vortex.plymouth.edu/uschill.gif

 

[rwcarpet]

Thank God that me and Meats area is experiencing 60* weather today and tomorrow. NE Ohio. Unusual for this area this time of year. I've even left the van home the last couple nites. But we still have a lot of Winter left here to go. Feb usually get's nasty.

 

[Mardie]

You guys sure know how to complicate things. If i had no power or any other means of keeping the equipment from freezing I would just leave the van or motor in the trailor running all night with the heat on. When i worked in the far north of Canada a lot of us had the trucks running 24/7 from the begining of Nov. till it started to warm up in the spring.No big deal.
As for know i put an oil filled heater and fan in the van every night.