Friend of mine has been slightly ripped off when she bought a bessacarr cameo 550 gl a couple of weeks ago. It has a "part" water pump....one end has no electrical plug in fitting. It had no battery/ water carrier/hook up cable etc. We have managed to get the electrics working but we are struggling to work out the water/heating system. We know the model number but we have no clue of the year of manufacture. I think it is definitely pre 2000 and it has the tall boiler set up??? Does anyone have a user manual that we could use or can anyone suggest where we could get one. This girl is desperate to get her van up and running as she is going to live in it full time and needs it to be functional asap. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
------------- If I can tow a caravan then anyone can!
There are a lot of videos of this caravan on You
Tube if you just put it into the search there.
If you can find a mobile caravan engineer (look on-line search for mobile caravan engineer+your area), they might be able to get everything working for you, and it will be worth a small extra cost to have a gas and electric check done, and make sure it's safe to live in.
A lot of vans only have an electric plug or two at one end... I use an extension lead for plugging things in down at the the other end of mine.
If the caravan was built after 1992 there will be a 17 digit CRIS number etched on all the windows, the tenth digit will give you the year, there is an explanation of this at the beginning of the servicing and repairs forum.
If you Google the model number of the heating system you'll probably find the manuals and instructions.
If its the tall boiler this will certainly be pre 1998 at least, so will be a genuine Bessacarr and not a Swift branded version.
Interpret the CRIS / VIN:
http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/articles/view.asp?id=89
I don't think you friend was as ripped off as she fears. Leisure batteries are not supplied by the van manufacture when new, nor would there have been a water carrier, but the mains cable would be. Cables get retained or damaged, but you can usually get one of these thrown in with the van price if you ask.