we are new to caravaning and purchased a new sterling europa 545 and the salesman went through everything with us and spent all of 15 minutes telling us wot worked what and what went where.
we drove away and to be honest by the time we stopped at the first traffic lights i think we had forgot everything told to us.
we have been away for two weekends and the help we have had from other caravanners has been brilliant.
i need to know when we pack up and disconnect the electric hook up do we need to turn anything off ? i think i'm right in thinking the battery is charged as i drive but what do i do when i take the caravan to the storage and maybe leave for over a week does anything drain the battery whilst stood ?
there is a consumer box that means nothing to me under the settee/bed with heater, pump etc do i leave this as is? any tips would be appreciated
Can you post a picture of your consumer unit . If you have a switch in your caravan that is marked Caravan / Car , it may have a middle position which is off ( might not be marked ) , you should set it to the middle position when you put your caravan in storage . Before leaving a site i always turn off all the mains appilances in my caravan , then disconnect from the hookup post , disconnect from the caravan last . If i'm on a hardstanding pitch i'll drain the water heater down there , if i'm on a grass pitch i'll wait till i'm on the road then drain it down . Also i try to make sure that the water in the water heater is only warm when draining down and not hot . This is done by switching the heater off and then running the hot tap until it's only warm or cold . Also i make sure the toilet flushing water has been drained off , i do this by operating the electric flush until there's no flushing water left in the tank , then i empty the toilet cassette . Solar panels are a good way of keeping your battery topped up while in storage providing your storage is not inside .
"i do this by operating the electric flush until there's no flushing water left in the tank ,"
Just curious...is there not a drain pipe in the toilette casette locker, up in the roof of that locker?
Op you should drain everything and turn everything off. The alarm, if you have one, may drain some power when the van is in storage. I left my battery in over this last winter and it was Ok in spring so there is not much of a drain. I gave it a Charge before the season started again and we are fully charged. Maybe with an older battery take it out over winter and give a it a regular charge. Make sure that it is topped up if its not a sealed battery. Halfords do a good charger.
Before you leave a site make sure that all windows and vents are shut and blinds are up .
The consumer box is like your fuse box in the house. If something doesn't work, start there and see if the fuse for the appliance has blown. Carry a supply of fuses always useful.
Phil
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I have learned by experience to turn everything off, disconnect the hook up and disconnect the battery. That takes away any worries you may have because absolutely nothing in the caravan can work because there is no power source. Happy Caravanning starts with removing the worries.
hi,
also make sure you remove any heavy tins jars ect from the over head cupboards, we pack all that sort of stuff in the fold-away box's you can buy at most camping shops, they are great as they fit down the aisle and stop it moving around when on the road. make sure you switch your fridge from van to car when leaving the site, when switched over to car and plugged in should be able to see a green light to indicate it has a 12v supply from the car. Leave the fridge open when not being used, there is a pin you can push down at the top of the door on the fridge to lock it closed when on the move or open the door push the pin down and the door will stay open a-jar. If you have an on-board water tank drain this before you move off of site.
If you don't have an alarm fitted you don't need to leave the battery in the van. I'd suggest removing it and giving it a maintenance charge once a month over the winter. Either than or invest in a proper maintenance charger and leave it connected up in the garage.
Batteries will hold their charge all winter - but as they get older you run the risk of the weakest cell losing its charge before the others and that will finish the battery off. Hence I keep mine on the bench during the winter and our current one is about 14 years old and still going strong.
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Topic: do`s & donts
