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Hi All, This May sound like something out of a story book, Here goes, To-day I was asked by a caravan aquaintance, if I would go with him to storage yard and help him change wheels on van, Looked at van, there was something not right about it(had not seen van for 4 years),Took spare and one on van wheels to get new tyres, no problems,fitted the new tyres,and moved van to get it cleaned,(washer next to yard)

I said to the blokes there, that they cannot use a pressure washer jet on van, they said they do it all the time, and they have washed hundreds of vans, I voiced my concerns to the aquantiance," It will be ok they know what they are doing", They set about the van with full pressure,water only,on the van sides,then the windows and rails, Said to aquaintence again (Look they are going to Damage all your seals) He said it will be ok,

At this point I turned away, could not look any more,10 min later, I looked round to see one bloke on hands and knees on roof of van,( at this point I could not take it any more, I let out a Roar to get of the van roof,you will brake the spars,(I am on the the main beams it is ok, was reply) Roared to him again Get Off the Roof,(or word to that affect) He came off ,came over to me and said, the beams will hold him as he has done that with all the van that have been washed here, He was then informed that only, one or two caravan have roofs that will support a persons weight, And This is Not one of them, it has a 15ft one peice fiberglass roof, and dose not have the so cauld beams, they are not beams they are thin spars of wood and can be broken with weight on roof, and you can crack the fiberglass roof,and the high pressure you are using on van seals will wash out the seals, allowing water in van etc,etc,

Ok he then returned to van and started to apply the spry on foam, and used a car brush to work it into grime, Fine i thought, he has listened, And again started to wash off foam with the high pressure washer and was now above the seals with great lumps of dirt comming off van,(i think it was part of the seal). aquaintence was unconcerned,ah well it your van.

Any way returned to storage yard,did all the usual checks in van ( made repairs list) he then said think i'll put on hitch lock, when i saw the hitch lock "thats not the hitch lock for that hitch" Thats the one that was on van when i got it and i have had it on that hitch!  No it's not, that lock you have is for the AL-KO stabiliser (I now knew what was not right about the van, the AL-KO hitch had been stolen, and a new ordinary type hitch put on in its place). Turned out he could not find it in van and left it.

Moral of this, Do not leave lock off, And Do Not Use Pressure Washer, So For all those Caravaners that have had their vans washed out side this storage yard in Airdrie Check your van seals!!!!!!! And for any one thinking about using the Car Wash Next Door to Rowan Timbers on the Airdrie/Cumbernauld Road at 4way roundabout DONT.

PS, sorry this was so long.

Quote: Originally posted by Surfer01 on 30/4/2011

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We have used a pressure washer on our caravans for many years with no problem. We just don't go blasting around the windows and seals. Easier to clean the roof with a pressure washer than a hose. Agree about standing on the roof!

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