# Frozen Water Tank!!!



## Mr Valet (Dec 4, 2008)

Hi Guys,

I've been car valeting for about 4 years now and this is definitely one of the coldest winters I've ever experienced. I have used the forums loads to get some great tips, thanks ever so much for that.

I've found that when I go out in the morning all the pipes and connectors in my pressure washer and water tank are frozen solid. 
I've been thinking about trying to fit some sort of immersion heater that I could plug into the mains in the morning before I leave just to warm the water enough for the pipes to thaw and so the water isn't bitter on my hands.

I was wondering what do other people use/do in the winter, has anyone has any experience with this? I've tried phoning a few local plumbers but had no luck at all. Any help would be greatly appriciated.

My tank is a 500L upright baffled tank.

Thanks in advanced, really look forward to hearing your replies and ideas.
Mark


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## -Ashley- (Nov 19, 2010)

You could use I.P.A in your tank. That's what I do in the winter, I also have a 500 litre baffled tank. That way it won't freeze as easily while you're working either.

I also leave an oil filled radiator in my van via extension cable coming from the garage, just above the frost setting overnight.

Also try and make sure you drain your PW out as much as possible.

I have also made a tank jacket and insulated my van as much as possible to reduce the amount of time my rad spends sucking leccy juice.

Ashley

P.S Welcome to the site :wave:


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## Mr Valet (Dec 4, 2008)

Thanks for your quick reply. 

What did you use as a tank jacket? 

Mark


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## -Ashley- (Nov 19, 2010)

I bought some Black polythene sheeting, some loft insulation and improvised. I doubled the sheeting over and stapled it at one end then filled with the loft insulation and stapled the other end.

This sounds a bit amateurish but actually looks very smart and does the job.

IPA in the water is a must this time of year buddy.In my opinion anyway :thumb:


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## Grizzle (Jul 12, 2006)

Plug a fan or oil filled heater in over night if possible thats what i am doing.


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## Apex (Aug 29, 2009)

Heater in overnight, drain the pressure washer and I keep my water tank filled to the top seems to stop it freezing. I also run my electric heater when I'm out working and keep my spray bottles next to it to prevent freezing up. It's certainly not easy at this time..!


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## cheeks (Aug 26, 2010)

yeah as already said, i took all the ply lining off foil insulated it then replaced the lining, did the roof also, then i have a small oil rediator on timer all throught the night, toasty! as for the washer, wet vac, they live in the kitchen at night


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## philworrall (Nov 17, 2006)

Apart from the old insulation thingumy, why not get a fish tank heater for the tank. I am sure that a small 20 to 30 watt heater would be sufficient to stop the tank from freezing if it was insulated. As for the pipes just make sure that they are completely empty before putting away after work. Alternatively brig them inside after work. HTH

P:car:


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

Just park mine away in the garage at night.


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## Mucky (May 25, 2006)

as i have said before most of the problems is because everyone uses hosepipe to connect the pw to the tank,i had a hydraulic pipe made and with a bit of lagging around never froze up


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## David (Apr 6, 2006)

my 2 pressure washers are sitting pretty infront of the radiator in the hallway, theres no water in my tank (or very little) overnight and i run a tap through the kitchen out to my driveway in the morning

ive also got a heater but don't use it often incase the windscreen has frozen inside, then it melts and goes down in front of the dash (bulkhead area)


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## DPN (Jan 7, 2006)

I got feed up of washing with cold water whilst on the road.

I ended up purchasing a 20L Commercial tea urn which has a built in heating element, this plugs directly into my van's power inverter.

I now have 20L of hot water when ever I need it.


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## brightspark (Aug 21, 2010)

You must have one hell of a good battery


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## Beau Technique (Jun 21, 2010)

Interesting to see how many are in the game on here tbh.

@ the OP, surely being in the trade 4 years you are switched on enough to get round these such issues?
True, its been quite bad and subzerop temps arent helping but weve had bad enough frosts to cause frozen pipes and tanks in the past. A lot of the tank issues is science and volume orientated and obviously heat helps.


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## DPN (Jan 7, 2006)

brightspark said:


> You must have one hell of a good battery


2 x Optima Yellowtop batteries :thumb:

The tea urn only pulls 1600w on full load.


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## Evil Monkey (Mar 15, 2010)

A McDonald's apple pie, opened and thrown in your van, will defrost everything within 5 seconds. (Thank you Viz Top Tips for that one).


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## Grizzle (Jul 12, 2006)

Beau Technique said:


> Interesting to see how many are in the game on here tbh.


Being your fairly new here there were a lot of supporters who didn't renew(my self included)


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## Beau Technique (Jun 21, 2010)

Grizzle said:


> Being your fairly new here there were a lot of supporters who didn't renew(my self included)


Ohh!, get you touchy.


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## Grizzle (Jul 12, 2006)

Beau Technique said:


> Ohh!, get you touchy.


:lol: Awesome Reply :thumb:


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## Defined Reflections (Jun 4, 2009)

I empty the tank,and i take the pw and hoses and wetvac in the house and i also throw a lot of my products in a large container and take them in the house
I leant my lesson last year when i broke my pw i also got to a job with a frozen wetvac (pipes) i also snapped the tap switch of my watertank


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## VIPER (May 30, 2007)

Hmmm....shall I?......Nah, can't be bothered - it'll wait


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## M4D YN (Nov 24, 2007)

Viper said:


> Hmmm....shall I?......Nah, can't be bothered - it'll wait


:thumb:....


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## JJ_ (Oct 26, 2005)

I use this in the garage because I love a gadget. Hot water is a bit of a walk from the garage so this works a treat !


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## VIPER (May 30, 2007)

What is that ^^ please? (I can see it's a heating element, just a bit more info if you'd be so kind ).


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## M4D YN (Nov 24, 2007)

any link JJ_ ??


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## amiller (Jan 1, 2009)

I'm sure this has been asked before and the heating elemenet was an epic fail in terms of how long it took to heat the water and the power needed.


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## JJ_ (Oct 26, 2005)

Its an ebay link but Ill post it if I am allowed ? I obviously don't sell these things I sell windaes and doors  lol


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## JJ_ (Oct 26, 2005)

amiller said:


> I'm sure this has been asked before and the heating elemenet was an epic fail in terms of how long it took to heat the water and the power needed.


Hey man I remember that thread but that was based on the one I thought I was getting at 500w, I now have the 1500w and it heats up in the time it takes me to snow foam a car and jet wash it off. 15L of water that is but thats about all I need to wash my own car.


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## VIPER (May 30, 2007)

JJ_ said:


> Its an ebay link but Ill post it if I am allowed ? I obviously don't sell these things I sell windaes and doors  lol


It's fine, post it :thumb:


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## burger (Feb 10, 2009)

-Ashley- said:


> You could use I.P.A in your tank. That's what I do in the winter, I also have a 500 litre baffled tank. That way it won't freeze as easily while you're working either.
> 
> I also leave an oil filled radiator in my van via extension cable coming from the garage, just above the frost setting overnight.
> 
> ...


What IPA concentration you using? I know something like 30% conc. will go to around -15ish thats something like 150 litres of IPA into a 500 litre tank at full capacity soo thats alot of IPA your using? and the extra expense!!! (Circa £400 when ive ordered 200 litres before) Ummm ...


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## JJ_ (Oct 26, 2005)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1-5-KW-Immers...arden_Hearing_Cooling_Air&hash=item519685a22e

I use this with no problem, I have devised a very simple thing which clips onto the bucket and the element happily sits in the middle of the bucket about 1" short of the plastic bit at the top.

Dunno what the pull is like on electricity no worse than a 1500w convector heater which a few of us may have on this winter.

Not sure how safe/effective it would be in a plastic tank for the valeting side of things, on plus is if you could safely secure it then you could heat the water as you drive


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## -Ashley- (Nov 19, 2010)

I'm using a concentration of 20 litres for a full tank. It lowers the freezing point enough to stop it freezing on customer's drives etc. The guy who I bought it from worked it out and I think that takes the freezing point down to -4 ish. And it's never below that in the day where I am so all is good.

Also I can get it for £1 a litre, not £2 

I also can't use a heater such as the one linked to above as the metal element will spoil my de-ionised water.


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## amiller (Jan 1, 2009)

JJ_ said:


> Hey man I remember that thread but that was based on the one I thought I was getting at 500w, I now have the 1500w and it heats up in the time it takes me to snow foam a car and jet wash it off. 15L of water that is but thats about all I need to wash my own car.


thanks for the clarification!

Do you need 15l for the bucket stage or is that for the PW stage?


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## David (Apr 6, 2006)

Defined Reflections said:


> i also snapped the tap switch of my watertank


mines has done the same, must have been brittle, i went to turn it on and the tap swivel snapped off (thankfully the ball valve was in the closed position)

having to use my honda petrol washer just now until such times it becomes warmer and can get rid of any ice from the tank etc and get a new tap


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## JJ_ (Oct 26, 2005)

Hey man, just the pressure washer stage. I use the hot water to jet the car down and apply snow foam. Does depend how manky it is to start with as I presume I could go more at this time of the year :lol: 

I am in the middle of getting a larger bucket 25L and permanently linking the heating element and also putting a tap on the bucket so that I can have hot water. Its about half the price of an urn and its a bit more fun too lol! 

Demon tweeks offer a 260 degree, heat resistant sealant which should do the job for mounting the heating element. I would always be with the element right enough because it has no thermostat so it just keeps on going and going! 

Ill maybe do a post on the build of it, it is from the ukraine though so I take no liability for this !! haha


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## JJ_ (Oct 26, 2005)

Sorry guys I eat my own words, just found this reconditioned. I imagine the heating element is as thats probably the only thing that goes on these.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SWAN-20-LITRE...374647&cguid=d4dedb611270a0e202012411ff10a8cc

£35.00

CHEAP AS CHIPS


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## ianFRST (Sep 19, 2006)

just put a heater in the back of the van?

surely a warm van wont cause a tank to freeze, and theres no arsing about with heating elements, that, lets be honest, if you're buying off ebay, wont be the best quality:lol:


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## Typhoon 180 (Oct 26, 2006)

^^^

as above i have a little 450watt oil filled radiator in the back of my van and that keeps it warm enough for nothing to freeze, 

or the other tip to stop your washer from freezing is to empty your tank and then go an buy some cheap and nasty screen wash, pour some of this into your tank and then run your washer enough so it sucks some of the screen wash through, this will not freeze then :thumb: obviously rinse it out before using it next :lol:


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