The Grand Californias waste water tank is not insulated or heated at the factory. Since we like to travel in Scandinavia in the winter, we thought about a solution. What seems logical at first, of course, is to heat the tank. However, the disposal is already difficult in the summer in Sweden and Co. Thus, we have decided on our first winter tour to simply leave the tank open and to wash and rinse appropriate, environmentally friendly means to use, or if necessary to put a waste water canister under.
What worked out wonderfully in January 2022 almost turned into a disaster on our trip this year. The first two weeks in the far north went without a problem until we spent a night near Överkalix at -20 degrees. Our Grand California was slightly crooked on our pitch, but unfortunately we didn’t pay much attention to that. When I went to the bathroom to wash the next morning, I didn’t look bad when the water ran onto my feet. The reason, the sink was completely full and the water did not drain. My thought, that can’t be, the tank is open.
Well, there we were, in the middle of Sweden near the Arctic Circle at -20 degrees and without the possibility to wash us sensibly inside or rinse off. First attempts to solve the blockage with hot water have brought no success. So we first made our way to our next pitch on a husky farm. I was hoping to get tools or hot water from the operator there. After several attempts to thaw the tank from the outside, I noticed that there was a large block of ice hanging on the sewer lines. We must have caught this one the day before on a completely snow-covered road.
After removing the ice block, we could look directly at the sewer line and the problem was almost solved. The ice has caused the waste water to freeze directly in the pipe from the outside. The design chosen by Volkswagen is, let’s put it mildly, not exactly ideally chosen. The lines are completely bare and are permanently exposed to snow and ice while driving.
Even if we had insulated and heated the tank, this error would have occurred. So if you have a clogged or frozen drain, you should look for it first. It is a good idea to install some kind of splash guard there to get ahead of the problem. The tank itself did not freeze once on the entire tour, not even at temperatures far below -20 degrees.
