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Old wiring? too close to gas pipes?

Well I've thought about that for a bit now and I've still not got a clue what their on about?! normally I can think of something but I'm at a complete loss??

Old on it's own is simply no reason to condemn anything, it has to be something wrong with it, that could quite possibly be related to age but that's not a reason?

As for gas pipes running to close to cables, every caravan fridge has mains wiring either very close, touching or even attached to gas pipes, so is every fridge in every caravan now unsafe???

Put another way and like being 'old', cables being 'too' close to gas pipes is not a safety issue in itself.

How old is this van?

Fife-bloke,

Wiring a caravan for mains is not difficult.You can get kits with sockets/cable and trip switch included.I did a rewire on an old Mayfly and it was straightforward.

You can test the system yourself with a tester or get a leccy to check your work.

As has been said you can use an electric cool box for a fridge and a camping gaz cooker to keep your holidays.

Mains kit complete £69.50 from Towsure

A set of 4 Gazebo Globe lights(mains) £35 Towsure or Frontier Lesiure

Terry

Quote: Originally posted by arc systems on 05/5/2009

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Old wiring? too close to gas pipes?

Well I've thought about that for a bit now and I've still not got a clue what their on about?! normally I can think of something but I'm at a complete loss??

Old on it's own is simply no reason to condemn anything, it has to be something wrong with it, that could quite possibly be related to age but that's not a reason?

As for gas pipes running to close to cables, every caravan fridge has mains wiring either very close, touching or even attached to gas pipes, so is every fridge in every caravan now unsafe???

Put another way and like being 'old', cables being 'too' close to gas pipes is not a safety issue in itself.

How old is this van?

 

 

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Quote: Originally posted by River-rat on 05/5/2009

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Hmmmm, was it a dealer with overpriced vans on the forecourt who condemned yer van?  All sounds a bit OTT to me. Good luck mate.

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Steady on people, what they say might be fact albeit over zealously applied perhaps?

As it's and old van, it's also quite possible the wiring could be some passed owners bodge which needs a lot of sorting out?

Well the penny might have dropped as far as the electricals are concerned, it seems new regulation is in force and as far as touring caravans are concerned it's in something of a muddle!

I don't know the full facts but roughly, since 17th edition electrical regs came out last year it's being applied to caravans, while up until then tourers have been 'outside the scope'

The muddle is nothing has been built or to some extent 'still is' built to comply fully, gas pipes close to wiring is one of these regs, as is 240v and 12v too close together and household type grey 240v cable is banned, but, no one bar Carlight has used that for years!

Effectively though it seems most vans won't pass!! I don't see how these rules can be applied retrospectively, they don't to my knowledge in houses?

you are going to have electric and gas close together but if the cabling is in good condition it will be okay ditto gas pipework. as for 12v and 240v cabling together, on my van all the electrics are in one control panel.

I would say get a qualified spark check out the cabling and all electrics, it could be previous owners have added/bodged bits

thought vans got condemmed due to damp, would have thought this would be fixable without too much cost

It is as I thought, a van can be inspected as part of a normal service and to 17th edition, however; provided nothing 'major' is required to be actually done which would need to have 17th edition fully applied, then the van is 'not to 17th edition, but, to manufactures specification of the time and therefore passes inspection.

well its not all doom and gloom as i first though.had a sparky out today who by sheer chance is a caravanner himself.hes thourghly checked the wiring and has found the following.

there is an issue with the 12v system which he is coming back to repair but its nothing drastic or dangerous.

the van could benefit from an rcb being fitted but this isnt essential.

the wiring running near the gas pipe in question doesnt need rerouted but a short length could do with being replaced as its got damage to the insulation.

fridge only works of 240 not of 12v or gas(but it works though)

the caravan control panel needs a couple of pins reflowed???

we need a new battery as the old one is leaking gases but to be fair we were replacing it anyway

thats it that was the dangerous wiring he found.total cost quoted to repair everything and supply and fit a circuit breaker?

£45

all i need now is to get the hob looked at or replaced and the gas regulator catch is a bit sticky as well so needs looked at and were home and dry.but end result is the holidays are back on.