After being so excited at buying our first caravan and having our first break away, we have ended up a litte dissapointed.
We brought our 1992 Abbey Piper 14-4L EX earlier this year. In very good condition for her age. No obvious signs of damp, no musty smells. She had been serviced in 2009 and all ok. We had her serviced last month, in preparation for our trip and again all ok and damp test was fine. We also brought a second hand NR Libra awning. Seller confirm never had any problems with leaks - assumed all ok, although hubby did use fabsil on it to be sure.
Unfortunately we've experienced some rain on our trip and had some problems highlighted. We've had rain dripping in from the awning roof. Although frustrating we took the opinion we could sort this upon our return home (we hope anyway!!). For some reason the drips only happened in light rain not the heavy rain we had during the early hours of one morning :-s.
The morning after the heavy rain I went to convert the rear dinette from a single bed back to the seating and when removing the cushions discovered that we had a damp patch in the left rear corner - just above the seat storage. It seems the rain water had seaped in!
If there was exisiting damp, should this have shown on a damp reading when it was serviced or have we just been unlucky in having this happen?
Any advice on resolving our problems would be appreciated. Is it going to be costly for us to get the leak sorted?
Thanks
------------- Easter 2014 - Blackbrook Lodge, Derbyshire
23-26 May - Sealwood Cottage, Linton
29 May-1 June - Town Farm, Ivinghoe
28th July - 8th August Dolbryn
August Bank Hol- TBC
We've just had our van serviced & whilst there's no problem at the moment the engineer did point out a couple of tiny areas where the seal was starting to perish a bit at the back of the van so could lead to leaks/damp in the future. He recommended we re-seal it ourselves with 'Sikaflex'. We bought some off ebay & went round the rear seals with it yesterday.
Hi Claire1805, Is the damp area wet or just a little damp, if wet you could have leak, if just damp it could be the condensation from your nights sleep, (hot cushions against cold walls), check window seals, have a look at seals between awning rail and van (no gaps however small), clean any lose sealer from rail and re seal, this should do as a temporary repair. Full repair requires awning rail to be taken off, cleaned with white spirits, same with van sides, then clean off the white spirit residue with Meths, it is a messy job, can cost £60 depending on the amount and make of sealer, Caravan repair shop will charge around £1000, I know I have asked, I have just finished re sealing my one van, on my own took me two weeks in between rainy days.
------------- If everything runs smoothly then I must have done something wrong
If in Doubt Check it Out.
Thanks both for your help. A job for hubby I think!
------------- Easter 2014 - Blackbrook Lodge, Derbyshire
23-26 May - Sealwood Cottage, Linton
29 May-1 June - Town Farm, Ivinghoe
28th July - 8th August Dolbryn
August Bank Hol- TBC
I was thinking condensation, especially as it appeared overnight (the inside patch) and especially as the van had been checked for damp. It could just be because it hasn't been used for a while. Heating up a caravan from unlived-in tends to cause a bit of condensation.
I had this on my campervan, the windows would steam up overnight, this condensed into water and then leaked down onto and behind the beds, just like you describe, ending up with a wet patch on the wooden underbed storage lockers. I bought some car insulation/sun shade covers for the windows - those with the little stickers to stick to front and back windscreens and windows, and look like silver bubble wrap. I used them at night, behind the curtains and that was the end of the problem.
The above might help but just keep a close eye on it, and ventilate, eventually it will just go on its own. If you have a window nearby check the seals of that.
Cant give any advice on the awning! Maybe not pegged out taut enough - sagging in the middle and that led to a puddle which eventually seeped through. This wouldn't happen as much in heavy rain as it could have bounced/ran straight off. Perhaps all that is required is pegging out better, and maybe a bit of waterproofing.
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Topic: First trip in caravan - leaks!
