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 Topic: Gas and electric advice
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09/3/2020 at 11:49am
Location: Merseyside
Outfit: None Entered
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Joined: 09/3/2020 Standard Member
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Hi all about to get a fixer upper. Not too sure of the model/year, it looks to my eye to be from the late 80s. It says Swift Ruby on the outside, but I'll have to check the VIN. We are only paying £200 for it though.
Never owned a caravan before, so we are complete beginners. The van has been stored, unused for 4 years, and although there is no damp smells within, and no watermarks anywhere, there are still a fair few soft panels notably in the corners.
We will be leaving it static for at least the next few years, and on private land in North Wales, not on a site. It will be there all year round. For the next month while it is at our house, we plan on tackling the damp, replacing the struts and boards as much as we can manage, and resealing the windows and rails, budget allowing!
So we're paying £200 for the van, and hope to complete all the immediate repairs for around £100. It is a small 4 berth van so there aren't too many walls to be fair, I think most of this cost will be eaten by the plethora of glues and sealants it looks like we will need!
I know this is tight! But this is just somewhere to go to on the occasional weekend, it is not going to be a tourer, at least not for the next few years. (if it lasts that long!) We have camping gear to go around with to anywhere else. So we don't want to sink a load of money into it, we just want to get it sealed back up and dry.
I'm posting this in the repairs/maintenance section because I'd love to know what to check for regarding the gas and electrics. We are very comfortable with the wood side of things, but are less than novices at gas and electrics. The appliances are in good condition by sight but haven't been used in 4 years, and we don't want to switch them on without checking them out. Any advice or links would be appreciated.
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09/3/2020 at 1:48pm
Location: East Herts
Outfit: 1992 Elddis Wisp 450CT + X Trail
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Well to start with the worst, always assume that any damp issues are at least 10 times worse than they appear. You start with a little bit of rot in one corner and find that the entire structure that end needs to be replaced. That said, on to the issues you raised.
With mains electricity unless you know what you are doing, it is best to call in someone who does. The same really goes for the gas. However, saying that there is nothing complicated about a caravan. If the gas appliance look ok, they probably are, but I would take a look at any pipe joints. Unless they show signs of having been tampered with they are probably fine, but if you are at all unsure a drop of diluted washing up liquid brushed round them will show up any leaks when the gas is turned on. I would replace the gas hose that connects the bottle to the van as a matter of course, along with any other flexible pipes.
£100 goes nowhere, believe me, and I would be surprised if you got away with 3 times that and that doesn't include the tyres. The recommended life of a caravan tyre is 5 years and you say the caravan has been standing around for 4. That is the worst thing for a tyre. Caravan tyres very rarely wear out, they rot, crack, and perish, particularly when standing around without being moved. I would not even move that caravan until you have replaced them, as a blow-out could cause a very nasty accident.
Good luck with your project. I know I sound a bit doom and gloom, but you need to be practical. There is nothing that can't be tackled and there is plenty of advice available on here you only have to ask. If you come across a problem, just ask on here and someone will have encountered it before.
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Best Regards,
Colin
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09/3/2020 at 2:31pm
Location: Merseyside
Outfit: None Entered
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Thanks for responding Colin.
Yes a bit doom and gloom, but you're not wrong and doom and gloom is always a possibility. I am expecting a lot more damp than I see for sure. Seeing how other people's fixes ended up, I definitely don't think it's going to be a weekend job.
Definitely will change tyres before moving it. It's about 15 minutes from our house at the moment, and a little bumpy. We don't have the B+E licence so we won't be towing it, my in-laws will be and they're keen caravanners so I'm sure they will know what they're doing and if it's unsafe. which like you said, probably is the case. I imagine once it is parked up where it's going to live, we will use stands or bricks or something, and remove the tyres.
"There is nothing that can't be tackled"
This is how we feel! I'm surprised as to how basic the structure of old caravans are. I didn't think there would be so much DIY.
Thanks for the advice about the gas though. A lot of people we know have just said "it'll be allright. Just get your £200 worth of use out of it" and we agree to a degree but also want it to be safe, so we'll have to bite the bullet and get it checked out.
I think we will just see where £100 gets us. Hopefully it will see us through the damp bits. We will just be painting the inside, once done, so no need for the plastic-coated wall stuff. If we have spend more then I think I'd be okay with it, since we're not shelling out loads to start. If we'd have paid £500 to £1k for it, it'd be a different story.
Thanks again.
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