We have just bought a Bailey Senator Arizona and we were told by the previous owner of the caravan that he did not use the shower. He said he had a plate fitted which stopped the shower from being used and this meant he did not have any problems when 'wintering' the caravan. We would like to use the shower and we need to remove the plate. The previous owner had no idea where the plate was as it was fitted during the vans service. Can anyone help on this matter?
Is it just me or does this sound dodgy? Surely if the previous owner didn't want to use the shower he simply wouldn't use it.
Maybe it leaked or something. I would inspect the shower area thoroughly before using it. Also check for damp in the wall panels and floor around the shower.
Or maybe the previous owner just had an uncontrollable urge to turn the shower on and had to fit a plate to fight his shower addiction.
The only thing I can think of if the reason was to reduce overwintering problems would be to blank off the tees in the water pipes that go off to the shower/mixer tap. That would be one less thing to drain down.
In my van that would also stop the supply to the handbasin so that wouldn't be an option.
Thanks for your help guys - we have water to the hand basin though - but no water to the shower. The man we bought the van off said that each time he had it serviced he had to buy a part for the shower as he always forgot to drain the shower when overwintering. The service centre fixed the 'plate'. Does anyone know where the plate would be for us to remove it.
Could you find out which dealer serviced the van and fitted the plate and ask them where it is - this is quite an unusual thing to do so I'm sure they will remember doing it.
I agree with DaveB putting a blanking plate in the shower hose is the only realistic way to close off the shower without major work.It does sound a bit dodgy though - when I bought my last caravan the seller informed me that the shower had never been used....... good job he "hadnt" used it because the waste pipe from the shower tray was blocked up solid all the way through. Ok it wasnt a major job to replace it but Id rather he'd been honest in the first place
------------- hawk
"Laugh and the world laughs with you, snore and you sleep alone"
I have the body of a greek god - its in my freezer
Intriguing to say the least, I also have an Arizona and can't quite understand how you can forget to drain down the shower as the one drain tap serves the whole water system ??? Can only assume the water feed to the shower has been disconnected and the T joint capped. Not exactly rocket science to reinstate to origonal spec. I'd start by taking of the shower head and checking supply, if still nothing follow pipe back checking any joins or joints on route, tho don't really think there'll be any till you get to the T at the main inlet. Come to think of it they are mixer taps so would have 2 feeds, hot and cold, so any blanking device would be fitted on the outlet side of tap either at the outlet of the tap or where the shower head screws to the flexi hose.
For "winterising" , after draining down you should leave all the taps open, just in case any water is left inside them and it freezes and expands. If that happens it can split the tap, which is expensive.
Thanks - everyone - we did some investigations and only the shower is not working. The shower on the outside of the van is fine. We were unable to investigate any further but will start with the shower head and work our way back. Jennifer you were quite right he had had a split tap two years running thats why a plate was put in - we just need to locate the plate.