I have just opened up my caravan for the season and have had a nasty shock. I discovered a lot of mould and rusty metal articles inside. The mattress was ruined with mould and rust marks around the outside. In the locker underneath a BBQ in a plastic bag had gone rusty and the bag contained quite a bit of water. Other articles and surfaces in the van were affected by mould to a greater or lesser degree. Some will have to be replaced.
The most surprising thing was that the fixed bed frame was full of water and when I raised it water poured out of the holes where the hinge brackets are fixed. I suspect the cause is something to do with using a caravan cover over the winter and not ventilating the van enough, and so condensation had formed on all metal surfaces. But I am surprised by the amount of water that had formed. I had even used water collecting crystals and left one roof light open.
Has anybody else experienced this problem with water forming inside the bed frame? I spoke to my dealer and he had not heard about anyone getting it.
The van is a Lunar Quaser 534, manufactured October 2008.
Hmmmm if there was THAT much water it wont be condensation _ I would be checking very carefully for leaks. Check around adjacent windows to make sure the seals havent perished
------------- 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
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The bed frame is sealed apart from where the hinge is riveted on. When I raised the frame the water only slowly dribbled out for a while. I cannot get the rest out without drilling some holes. So the water has been formed from within, not by an external leak in the van.
So far no-one on this site, at the manufacturers or the dealer has heard of this happening so it's still a mystery!
I'm no expert but I think that you may have been caught out by how warm the weather has been in the last few weeks. I uncovered our 'van in March & was surprised at how warm and moist the air in the 'van was.
Like you I use crystals & leave a roof vent open under the cover and haven't had any previous problems. I think I caught it just in time, more luck than judgement though!
can now reveal the make of the cover I used. It is a Dupont Tyvek Platinum caravan cover. The product description says no moisture can penetrate the Tyvek but it will allow air to eascape, which means the surface of the caravan will evapourate naturaly and not retain potentialy damaging moisture.
This was the second winter I have used the cover and had no problems the first time. However the second time I used bungy straps to tie the cover down in order to prevent it flapping about in the wind. This could have caused the problem as there was probably less air moving about under the cover. Also this second time the cover was still on when we had the unseasonally warm weather in the first half of April.
I am still puzzled about the water in the bed frame. I am off to the dealer next week to get his opinion.