Water Tank and this weather?

Nighters · Dec 6, 2012

Hi all,

I am off for a weekend away tomorrow after a day at work and wondering if adding water to the water tank tonight is a good idea.

Has anyone had experience of adding water to the tank in these cold conditions is it liable to freeze?

Cheers,

Andresz · Dec 6, 2012

You should purge both tanks before sub zero temperatures occur. VW also recommends to remove the water pump fuse and open the tap to empty the pipes and the tap itself...

Californiaman · Dec 6, 2012

Ours froze last year after I forgot to empty it. It defrosted with no damage which was probably more by luck than judgement.

We're going to stick with bottled water whilst it is freezing - although if you are using the van, I would imagine it would be warm enough inside to keep the fresh tank at least from freezing.

Iain&Shani · Dec 6, 2012

Great post! I will be opening my taps ASAP!

Bjohnson · Dec 7, 2012

we've been away the last couple fo weekends without any problems, but its only been down to 2 or 3 degrees.

I usually empty both tanks when i get home so theres no water in the system while the van is parked on th rdriveway during the week.

We have noticed that whilst the interior of the van is nice and toasty with the heating on, inside the cupboards is actually really cold. Not sure if this is an issue or not.

pingpal6 · Dec 7, 2012

Just emptied my water tank and noticed if the filler cap is removed the water runs away a lot faster. Don't know if this is common knowledge but it's new to me

calikev · Dec 7, 2012

Yes just like a radiator when you let air in it will drain much quicker :thumb

dfps · Dec 8, 2012

As a newbie, it would be great if someone could post some pics of the tank emptying process or a link to a youtube video.
Bought my Cali second hand so would like to empty the water and waste tanks this weekend before the temp really drops.

This is a great forum---thanks

sebking · Dec 8, 2012

Remove filler cap. Remove shelf above gas tank. On the water tank in the corner nearest the rear light is a lever. Move leaver 90 degrees.

Freeley · Dec 8, 2012

dfps said:
As a newbie, it would be great if someone could post some pics of the tank emptying process or a link to a youtube video.
Bought my Cali second hand so would like to empty the water and waste tanks this weekend before the temp really drops.

This is a great forum---thanks

Do you not have the California supplement with your owners handbook? If not i'd recommend getting one from your local Vw dealer, if they can only get one for the facelift it would still be worth getting as the camper part is the same as for the pre facelift.
I didn't get one with mine and really struggled with how everything worked was much easier once i got the supplement.

Both tanks are dead easy to empty, for the fresh water tank just turn the red handled lever which is situated inside the gas bottle compartment in the rear cupboard. The tap for the waste tank is in the lower left cupboard under the hot/sink unit.

As has been mentioned earlier in this thread if you remove the fresh water filler cap when draining the tank it will empty much quicker (still takes a while though if its fairly full)

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

Martin · Dec 8, 2012

Good point Jason, California supplement is in the downloads sections

http://vwcaliforniaclub.com/downloads/supplement.pdf

Freeley · Dec 8, 2012

Ah yes i forgot it was in there lol

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dfps · Dec 10, 2012

Thank you to everyone offering advice.

The manual refers to removing a fuse from under the drivers side seat.
Fuse number 16 ( fresh water pump)- 5 amp

1. Does this really mean the drivers side on a RHD vehicle of does it really mean passenger side
because I cannot find any fuses under my drivers seat.There are connectors there but no fuses.

2. Under my passenger side is the leisure battery and a load of electrical connections including a fuse board but it does not look the same as the one in the supplement and it a bit of a pig to access as it is running vertical down the side of the seat with very limited access.

I am not convinced this is the right fuse board a there only seem to be one bank of fuses rather than a double bank of fuses as shown in the supplement.

a ) Can someone please guide me if I am looking in the wrong place.

b ) Is it really necessary to remove this fuse as nobody else has mentioned it in the above posting but have just said turn the relevant taps to purge the water.No mention of removing a fuse.

Its going to get really cold tonight so was hoping to sort this today to avoid unecessary expense
should the water in the tanks freeze.

HELP PLEASE !!!! ?

Andresz · Dec 10, 2012

Hello David

I was facing the same dilemma. Unfortunately there is no good diagram of the fuses under the left seat.
I scrapped the idea to follow the manual in this regard. I emptied both tanks, and opened the tap until there was no water bubbles sound anymore, I did it in intervals to avoid overheating the pump without water.
If you want to follow literally the VW recommendation, probably easier than to find the right fuse, it would be to disconnect the water pump which, if I am not mistaken, is located in the vertical cupboard under the round cover...

Regards
Andrzej

dayslikethis · Jan 12, 2015

Californiaman said:
Ours froze last year after I forgot to empty it. It defrosted with no damage which was probably more by luck than judgement.

We're going to stick with bottled water whilst it is freezing - although if you are using the van, I would imagine it would be warm enough inside to keep the fresh tank at least from freezing.

Hanging on to this comment with hope! My tank is frozen.

igmac · Jan 13, 2015

I generally use the principle that the gas will stop working before it's cold enough to freeze the water. In France skiing last year it got down to -6 over night and the gas was fine as was the water (i did keep the water tank full however (bigger thermal store)). That said, this year, again skiing in France I was using propane so could not use as an indicator, to be on the safe side I drained tank, disconnected pump and opened tap... I'm glad I did because it got down to a sustained -12 cold enough for the sink drain to freeze stopping the sink from draining, I had to put a little oil filled heater in the cupboard to thaw it.

Ian

snowy55 · Jan 14, 2015

dfps said:
Thank you to everyone offering advice.

The manual refers to removing a fuse from under the drivers side seat.
Fuse number 16 ( fresh water pump)- 5 amp

1. Does this really mean the drivers side on a RHD vehicle of does it really mean passenger side
because I cannot find any fuses under my drivers seat.There are connectors there but no fuses.

2. Under my passenger side is the leisure battery and a load of electrical connections including a fuse board but it does not look the same as the one in the supplement and it a bit of a pig to access as it is running vertical down the side of the seat with very limited access.

I am not convinced this is the right fuse board a there only seem to be one bank of fuses rather than a double bank of fuses as shown in the supplement.

a ) Can someone please guide me if I am looking in the wrong place.

b ) Is it really necessary to remove this fuse as nobody else has mentioned it in the above posting but have just said turn the relevant taps to purge the water.No mention of removing a fuse.

Its going to get really cold tonight so was hoping to sort this today to avoid unecessary expense
should the water in the tanks freeze.

HELP PLEASE !!!! ?