Could I have some advice please I have just had my last trip of my first season as a caravanner. I have a bailey ranger 510/4 2002 firstly can anybody give some advice as to how I drain the water system down?
Secondly my van is in the driveway and continuously on electric hook up will it be ok to leave the hook up plugged in for the duration of winter? will this damage the battery.
Lastly is it ok to put heater on periodically will this keep damp at bay.
Putting on the heater may well cause condensation. Just ensure the low level vents are not blocked & interior doors are left open to allow circulation. The air in the caravan is at its dampest when you are living in it, not when it is parked over winter. How damp the air is depends on humidity not air temperature but it won't do any harm & is a separate issue from water ingress caused by failure of exterior seals on caravan body. Charge battery once a month.
Drain the loo by flushing the top tank until empty, then empty cassette. With cassette out you should see a drain pipe at the top of the loo hatch, undo the bung and drain any remaining fluid into a container.
I usually lubricate the flap and seal with either olive oil or silicon spray and leave the flap slightly ajar one cassette is back in.( You can buy Thetford lubricant)
The water heater needs draining-depending on type.
If is the round one (Truma type) there should be a yellow valve in the pipe run. Open all the taps then put the valve to the vertical position. The tank will drain. Leave the valve and taps open.
The square Carver type have a small plug in the bottom corner on the outside. This needs a half turn with a coin or big screwdriver and pulls outwards to drain-don't lose it!
If you have an inline filter it is worth disconnecting one end to let any water out then reconnect.
Make sure there are no bottles of water etc in the cupboards.
If you don't have a handbook I believe they may be available online-try Bailey website?
------------- DS-There's more to life than football!!!
After draining the heater, look under the van and you may see some plugs like these protruding
pull them out and you will clear any water left in the pipes, they may also be taps.
Older caravan charging units may only charge the battery upto 80% which is not good long term. It's best to keep the battery fully charged at all times - normally 12.8 volts, but check this at least 4 hours after switching off the charger.
Ideally you should remove or disconnect the battery and charge it with a smart charger once a month. In fact, ALDI are doing their smart chargers on 17th October, and at £13.99 they are a bargain.
If possible, I would avoid having the 'van plugged into the mains for very long periods. We recently had to replace our battery charger, not cheap at around £100. Ours is also a bailey, 2008 model. If your 'van is plugged in all the time it stands to reason that the charger is working constantly to keep the battery topped up. For that reason, we now plug in the mains cable once a month for a couple of days. Over winter this would be the perfect opportunity to put some heating on, open a window or two and give the 'van a bit of an airing.
Normally, I give ours a quick visual and "touchy feely" inspection around the windows and corners (inside), just to see if any wet is felt. If you have time, give the upholstery a turn over too. I presume you'll have opened all of the lockers and put your seating "on end" (unless you have room to store it in the house).
Edit: should have stated that the battery charger replaced was a built in model and part of OE spec, not an addition.
------------- Park van, awning up, open wine, enjoy life!
My old caravan (Swift Corvette 1989) sits on the drive over winter. The mains cable is permanently plugged in. The on-board electrics are kept off unless I need lights for something. The battery is permanently attached to an Optimax smart charger which keeps it exercised. Never had a problem for the 4 or five years the battery has been in.
Ours is hooked up to a power point in the garage but I don't have it switched on permanently. This is the first winter for us also and i'm not entirely sure the best way to go about caring for the battery, and wether or not to put heating on occasionally??
------------- I went to the top of the mountain...and looked over the other side!
As mentioned, the on-board charger isn't the most efficient for long term use during winter storage, however if connected via 7 day timer you could control to charging for 6-7 hours once a week. Ideally though, I'd recommend removal of the battery and charge seperately on a decent smart-charger unit. I use a C-Tek MXS 5.0 which is a brilliant unit; I tried the Aldi and Lidl model's, both of which packed up on me.
As for heating, you're likely to cause more problems than not; heating will encourage condensation in the van. It's better to ensure proper ventilation around the van (as already pointed out). Avoid too, the use of dehumidifiers, saucers of salt etc., as these just simply suck the moisture naturally present in the air and give the false impression of actually being useful.
I'm fairly sure the Bailey doesn't have the additional drain points which are illustrated above. You could however consider the use of one of these Floe pressure fittings which allows you to purge any surplus water from the pipework. There are many of us on here however, who have made our own devices for this purpose at a fraction of the cost of the commercial kits.
As far as draining the system. As the season nears the end, the best way is to open the drain taps when you leave a campground and open all the taps. That way the water gets shaken out as you drive home.
As regards the battery, I generally charge mine once or twice during the winter using a decent smart charger. Usually it only needs a slight top up, no more than an hour.
Consider the cost of electricity leaving the caravan charger on throughout the winter.
Quote: Originally posted by freeatlast on 11/10/2013
... the best way is to open the drain taps when you leave a campground and open all the taps. That way the water gets shaken out as you drive home.
Is this not normal practice for leaving any site? My van's literature have always stated that the van shouldn't be towed with fluids in either the water or loo flush tanks, so I do a full drain at every departure.
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Topic: Getting ready for winter
