Hi All
We bought our first tourer in February last year. After a trial season we have loved every minute of touring and are now completely hooked :)
We have therefore taken the plunge to upgrade (not new but nearly new) and we part ex tomorrow, we have only 'lost' £1000 on purchase price and given that we are part ex-ing with a dealer we're very pleased with that especially given how many times we have been away. We are buying an Elddis Affinity 550 as the 540 we have now doesn't quite fit our layout needs (two teenagers and you need a bit of segregation!) and they seem to be very hard to come by so we are very excited.
As we were unsure of how we would take to caravanning we didn't want to commit to a storage facility, however Hubby is getting frustrated with it on our drive so we have been lucky enough to find a space on a local facility (about a mile away) but I have some questions please.
Our current van has been heated during the colder weather and I obviously won't be able to do that where it's going so.......
How on earth do I prepare it for storage???
I have read post after post on numerous forums (I understand it's a very personal thing) but I feel like I'm going round in circles!
If any of you knowledgeable people could please tell me what you do with yours it would be much appreciated!
Do I need to add antifreeze to plug holes?
How do I make sure all the water is out of the system?
Should I buy a cover?
Should I leave it open but prepare it with a certain cleaner?
What can I leave in it?
How often should I go to air it?
How on earth do I prepare it for storage??? - remove anything inside that has either food or liquid content, so make sure nothing is hiding like an errand packet of biscuits, but also dont forget to remove the bottle of shampoo! food my encourage mice and liquids expand if frozen and make an awful mess.
Do I need to add antifreeze to plug holes? - no definately not! just put the end of the pipe bung in place.
How do I make sure all the water is out of the system? - get into the habit of dropping all the water each time you leave a site but flick the yellow tab by the water heater and turn off the power to the taps, this will allow air into the system and all the water will come out the pipe under the caravan
Should I buy a cover? - they are best not covered as they can scratch the caravan and windows, along with the issue of having to fold it before you can leave the storage site and find somewhere to store it, not so bad in the summer but in the wet cold winter its not much fun with it billowing around.
Should I leave it open but prepare it with a certain cleaner? - not sure what your meaning
What can I leave in it? - bedding, towels pots and pans, tv and awning and anything else that is specifically caravan use only, basically leave it packed ready for your next trip
How often should I go to air it? - that is entirely upto you, if its a nice sunny day and you have nothing much else to do then take a flask and a book and go and sit in it for a few hours and have a bit of peace and quiet!
anything else? - yes get your husband to go under the caravan after getting some fine steel mesh and some staples, and cover over any entry points he can find, so where pipework enters the caravan etc, this will still allow air to circulate but stop any potential mice visiting remember they can get thr a gap the size of a pencil. and finally remember to pull the seats away from the walls a little to allow air to circulate
hope that helps for starters?
so when we are going away in the caravan (ours is in storage too) all we do is pack the bags with the clothes also the food we are going to be taking and anything we need for a hobby we are doing, the rest of the things we need are left in the caravan permanently
yes thats a good list by marg6. and its just what i do.
just one point----------
( get into the habit of dropping all the water each time you leave a site but flick the yellow tab by the water heater and turn off the power to the taps, this will allow air into the system and all the water will come out the pipe under the caravan)
turning the power off the taps will not allow air into the system , you also need to open all taps to allow the pipes to drain.
i also blow down the shower pipe, (with taps shut) to force water out
using those crystals is a waste of time, yes of course they are going to collect a lot of water, it comes from the air entering the caravan from the drop out points, and if you left it too long to empty those things out then the water spilling out is very caustic and will damage anything that gets wet
I have read a lot of posts on this topic over the years on many different forums and people seem to do a lot of complicated things.
We try to keep it simple by draining down the system before we leave our site. We leave the taps open and the journey back to the storage site seems to jiggle most of the remaining water out.
We throw a dose of Fenwicks waste pipe and tank cleaner down the sinks at the end of every trip away and this seems to keep the pipework fresh.
When we are not going to be using it for several weeks we empty out all food stuffs, pull the cushions slightly away from the walls and open all cupboard doors to let air circulate.
We don’t bother with a cover or any winter treatments or dehumidifiers and we have never had an issue with any of our 3 caravans. We use the caravan at least monthly from February half term through to October half term and it gets taken for a service in January so it is really only not used in November & December when we try to visit it once a month on a sunny day and air it for half an hour but if we don’t find the time, it doesn’t worry me at all.
Enjoy your new caravan and I hope you have lots of lovely family holidays in it!
Thank you all for responding. Having received our new baby I am more reluctant than before to let it go to somewhere we don't need to. Fingers crossed I can persuade hubby to leave it on the drive then if him and the kids drive me nuts I have somewhere to escape to with the dog!!
I know Elddis can get a bad name but for us the spec and layout in the 550 is poles apart from anything else we've seen.
Test run next weekend hopefully!!!
Thanks again
Clair
just to point something out ok, when the caravan is normally parked at home its clear that someone is likely to be around, but when its not......... well its not unheard of for things to happen.
having your caravan stored is much safer as they dont know if your just at the shops or work etc if you see what im saying?
ok we couldnt get our caravan any where near our house because its just was to long to even get it in our road, but no chance of us ever bringing it home as i look at it as advertising the house is going to be empty for a good few days
Thanks for the replies. Marg6 - I hear you and our discussion this evening has included that topic. We’ve agreed to compromise - we’re going to take the storage space but while it’s so cold keep it on the drive to heat it (and use it). Once the weather picks up we’ll move it (once we’ve added the steel mesh) so we can ensure we keep the space and would be burglars don’t know if we’re home or not.
We’ve spent a pleasant couple of hours in there this evening - so excited to take it on its first outing!!
Clair
Quote: Originally posted by marg6 on 14/1/2022
just to point something out ok, when the caravan is normally parked at home its clear that someone is likely to be around, but when its not......... well its not unheard of for things to happen.
having your caravan stored is much safer as they dont know if your just at the shops or work etc if you see what im saying?
ok we couldnt get our caravan any where near our house because its just was to long to even get it in our road, but no chance of us ever bringing it home as i look at it as advertising the house is going to be empty for a good few days
Yes that is a point that has occurred to us as we keep ours at home. However, there are steps you can take to make the house look occupied, and any potential burglars don't know how many people live in the house or how many have gone away with the caravan. They also don't know whether you may have got rid of it.
Is there a Neighbourhood Watch scheme in the area where you live, Clair? If not, do you have any nice neighbours who will keep a look out on your property whilst you're away in your caravan?
------------- Life without dogs? I don't think so!
Yes - neighbourhood watch and we live on a small cul-de-sac where we all look out for each other 😊 not too concerned about it. If someone wants to burgle us they’ll find a way regardless.
That's great Clair, all you need to do then is to persuade hubby to keep the caravan on the drive. So much less hassle, IMHO, than putting it into storage after each outing. Oh, and worth mentioning that thefts occur from storage facilities as well! As you have said yourself, a determined thief will pinch it regardless. However I do appreciate that for some people there is no other option. I suppose if a caravan is stolen from a compound, the owner of the compound pays for the loss? I'm guessing here.....
I'm so glad to welcome a new convert to caravanning. It gets in your blood! Very envious of your Elddis, I love the marque. Enjoy your forthcoming outings!
------------- Life without dogs? I don't think so!
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Advice for (sort of ) newbie please .....
via mobile 14/1/2022 at 10:36pm
