New Van Solar questions

"I don't understand is how can a brand new 2018 caravan suffer from damp?"

It shouldn't unless it leaks on panel a joint or around a seal on a window/door/hatch or something fitted on the roof   The internal mould comes about due to lack of air circulation inside the caravan from  being covered up. Some folk do cover without problem but having seen what had happened in our old Coachman I'd rather just have to deal with washing it down after its been standing and getting the black streaks and green algae off the paintwork .

Hi Milothedog

Understand fully what you are stating but this is meant to be a new Elldis 2018 with this new technology which they say works for 10 years on keeping out damp?So apart from a bad build then I n my humble opinion shouldn't it not leak at all! and if so I'm sure the guarantee should cover any problems in that order especially as the dealer has also added a life time guarantee to the 10 years providing they service it every year which we have no problem with?

Would using a cover on the van and keeping the roof vents open when its covered help or hinder the problem?we also thought about leaving 2 windows on lock vent if you know what I mean where the window is vented but still locked? mind you would that null in void your caravan insurance? perhaps someone out there reading this thread could clarify that position?

Threads such as these are helpful to all I'm sure so getting as many comments on the subject and as many thoughts we think is the way forward! Perhaps someone out there has brought a 2017 brand new van and is already in the same pickle?

await any comments

Assuming you have an alarm fitted then your battery will not last over the winter without recharging or solar panel. Manufacturers recommend once a month recharge. Even worse, unles you have a “smart charger” you should not rely on EHU to recharge a discharged battery, although it is fine for top-up. A standard Caravan charger does not give a high enough voltage for a full recharge although many caravans nowadays are fitted with Sargent systems and similar which are fine to recharge on EHU.

Concerning damp, of the four caravans we owned three had damp. The first eventually had to be written off, the last, a Bailey Unicorn, was a total disaster and had to go back to the factory twice. Long story. Of course only a small number of caravans are like that but once you’ve had the problem you tend to be a bit sensitive! I don’t think where or how you store the van makes much difference because it is usually a matter of poor construction, insufficient sealant etc.

Strange thing the Elddis damp guarantee, I don't know if its changed but in the documents for my 2013 SoLiD construction Avante it says 10 years, but as the second owner and although it has a supplying dealer service history. it gets reduced to 6 years on change of ownership.

When the van is uncovered the interior is vented so it can breath via the various points designed it to its construction. covering the whole caravan effectively puts another skin on it. Some covers claim to breathable ? are they really?  I have a classic car, in the classic car world, some owners go to the extent of keeping their pride and joy in cocoon type tents with circulation pumps and dehumidifiers for the same reason, to prevent mould and damp.  Also with a cover you run the risk of abrasion/rubbing damage if it is allowed to move on the painted surfaces and poly windows, in the wind for instance. Also what else is on your roof, Arial,Satellite dish. will they need to come off to fit a cover ?

My choice is no cover, but as I said other folk swear by them. Where my Caravan is stored about 50% are not under cover and many of the MH's have tailored covers on them. 

Just had a look in the hand book, it says if you use a cover it must be breathable and the caravan ventilated every 4-6 weeks.

Hi

Ok then if we were to leave a roof vent open then this must constitute a breathable space? As for other items on roof Yes there will be a aerial  and roof vents of course.

Have spoken to Specialist Covers they quoted us £414.00 for a purpose made Avantee 554 cover with even a perspex part to go over solar panel should we wish to get one?

As we are going to keep van and will be the first owners then the 10 years should stand for us, but the question is on a new van I'm not expecting to use or call it in to play one hopes..lol

The other point about charging batteries baffles us as we owned a perfectly pristine Avondale like just out the showroom and all the time we had it never once did our battery life drop! and that was using it and leaving it up to 5 weeks sometime before another trip out So why would a new vans battery act any different to one which was in a 15 year old van?

await any comments

5 -6 weeks or a little more from a good battery is quite normal. I can leave my 44 year old Triumph in the garage longer than that and it will still start. Longer periods of inactivity will see the battery start to sulphate and shorten its working life though.

Your new Caravan will have an alarm and if you use it, it will put a parasitic draw on the battery. your SP should compensate for that if you have it fitted. 

An open roof vent under a cover? cant see the point, if the cover sits flat on the roof then it makes no difference.

Modern alarms and particularly Trackers do put a continual drain on the battery. If you have a large leisure battery of 110 A-hr you can only use, say, 70 - 80 A-hrs as after that the voltage will start to get dangerously low. Anyway, the capacity depends on the discharge rate and is difficult to calculate. So if the current drain is a modest 200 milliamps (0.2 Amps) this gives a maximum life of around 400 hours (80 divide by 0.2). All these numbers are very approximate but you can see where the one month comes from.

Every van is different, every alarm has a different power requirement. The only way to really tell is to leave the van and check the battery voltage regularly. When it gets to 12.25 volts you need to do something.

Interesting indeed with many similarities to ourselves.  We took delivery of our first new caravan in 40-ish years just a month ago, complete with factory fitted solar panel.

Previously we've used storage sites and removed the battery for home charging.  However, for the time being the new van will be on our drive with the battery fitted and connected to a maintenance charger.   Back up batteries for alarms only last 3 months or so at most so need to be kept charged via the vans 12v circuit.  We were told that on our van the alarm battery is not maintained via the solar panel. Surely an oversight?   If we move the van back into storage we'll need to re-think. Possibilities include buying a more manageable small car or motorbike battery as extra alarm back up.

It is also possible to have solar panel windows in caravan covers and top range manufacturers supply them. Whether we can get a clear panel tailored in to our cover is another consideration.  Small, portable solar panels can help to maintain small motorbike batteries above 12v even on cloudy days so that is another consideration for secure storage.  Having tried top covers, all-over covers and (the majority of the time) no cover, this time we pulled the fuse on the solar panel (our first) and covered over for the winter. We washed and thoroughly dried the van before the cover went on.  We're hoping for protection from bird droppings and leaves from trees.  Our cover has vents in 4 places and zips on all 4 corners so we will lift it for a few hours during dry spells.  (Wishful thinking).  We've also put 2 "Aero" type dehumidifiers inside the van just to reduce humidity as much as possible.  Our handbook recommends such measures.

Regarding damp.  We were told that some of the damp meter readings in our 11 year old trade-in were lower than in the structure of most new vans when they leave the factory!  It's not just wood that has a moisture content but soft furnishings, cushions, carpets, bedding etc.  It's just not practical to remove it all and keep it at home so there'll always be material that holds moisture somewhere in the van. New caravans are well ventilated so they allow air to enter - including damp air. So all we can do is ventilate as best we can and take measures to reduce humidity.

To date (tempting fate) we've never had mould inside any of our vans. We had some on the exterior whilst in storage.  The van next to ours had turned green with algae and it spread to ours very quickly  (about 10 weeks whilst I was too ill to check the van) and caused mould in some areas too. Neither van had covers on. We spent a day cleaning and spraying our van with "wet and forget" and that worked well.  Then we asked for a different pitch.

So, yes damp is a worry. Mould is also a worry but can be managed more easily.  The jury will no doubt remain out regarding covers.

My suggestion would be to keep a watchful eye on things as best you can,  not to worry too much and above all enjoy you new van.  

Hi All

This business about changing batteries little confusing?If you change a battery out for a new one does this mean that Alarms,Trackers, or anything else electrical has to be reset? a bit like you used to disconnect a car radio from the battery and it then defaults and requires you to input new radio code etc?

As don't fancy humping and dumping a battery up to storage site after winter to do all that? would hope new battery that comes with van would at least get us through to beginning of new season ready to use van?

await everyone's comments?