New Van Solar questions

If you are having the solar panel fitted and its not covered over allowing it to do its job then you have nothing to worry about, If you don't and the caravan sits for any length of time with an alarm and /or tracker drawing current from it, it will run down the battery if its not receiving any kind of charge. 

My alarm, so I assume yours will be? is quite happy if the battery is disconnected as it has its backup one in the unit inside the caravan. You may find though that a tracker, if you have one, will trigger an alert and you'll get a call from the monitoring company.

If you go to the Elddis web site, you can download a PDF of the hand book for your new caravan and have a read up on a lot of this stuff. It may answer a lot questions you have and help you to understand all the equipment in your new van before you even take delivery 

Link to Elddis Hand Books

Hi Milothedog

What a great idea! You see this is what these forums are for! will check out Elddis website and see if I can download the 2018 specification for our van although it will be a dealer special I'm sure the basics remain the same?

OK. lets get down to business. covers will only keep the van clean. they will not stop damp in a van and in my opinion will cause more damp than if left without. right, it rains one day and all the ground gets soaking wet and will be the same under the van, next the sun comes out and starts to dry the ground through evaporation, this moisture goes up and if a caravan has a cover on it this moisture will be trapped in the cover. years ago I tinkled with classic cars and was always advised to never put a car in a garage when it was wet but to let the wind and sun dry it first (unless there was heating in the garage to dry it) hence the car would rust quicker. cars and caravans nowadays are made to be left outside. galvanised chassis and plastic body panels etc etc. do they stop your garden furniture from rotting/rusting or going moldy. NO. that's my rant over. sorry. 

Valid pointers from milothedog.  Also, ask your dealer the make/model of the alarm and go on their website.  If it's a Sargeant you'll find their info. very helpful.

lornalou has some good pointers too and is correct about wet cars and garages.  The jury will always be out regarding covers.  Mine is a multi-ply, breathable one with vents but I'll still be lifting it on dry days and hoping for the best.

My earlier suggestion about a smaller, substitute battery was picked up from another forum. It would be good for me to try the idea if my van was covered and in storage because I can't lift or carry more than a few kg. I'm informed that personal alarm settings (e.g. loudness or sensitivity) need re-setting if the alarm battery is switched off or goes flat.  I hope all this helps

Useful info

Hi All

All good advice regarding both covers (which the jury is still out on?) and batteries!

Was out yesterday shopping came across and saw and read about this Unibond Humidifier for caravans boats etc £7.99 in The Range!

Question:Is there any mileage in installing a few of these in the new van instead of cover over the caravan its self to assist in removing what everyone is saying about new vans coming with damp?

Also downloaded and read hand book on new 2018 caravan only to find it telling me to take out all upholstery and materials which may become damp over winter?

So second question is: again does anyone else do this or do we just leave the brand new upholstery to do its thing inside the van? or do manufactures today coat or cover caravan upholstery with some kind of protection barrier?

Now the Avondale we had which was 15 years old had upholstery which looked and felt like new because the then owner took this out every winter and stored it in his home so it kept nice and dry! Now I have to admit that the upholstery was is mint condition for a van which was 15 years old so there must be some mileage in this if you are prepared to go that extra mile after paying thousands of pounds for your new van wouldn't you?

Also spoke to dealer yesterday about Solar panels found out they buy in and fit them from (http://www.solartechnology.co.uk/solar-panels/pv-logic-panels)would be very interested if anyone out there has either got or has used one of their panels? whats it like? how does it perform to date? any problems in general we should be aware about?, the dealer says they only fit 120 Watt product and normally this will be fitted on roof of new caravans before collection by new customer if required?(Option extra of course!)But they also added that any work and responsibility in fitting a solar panel to roof will be covered by them for the life of van providing that service new van every year?

Await everyone's comments on above

I have two 60watt PV Logic flexi panels on my MH roof. I've only had it for a month so unable to give a long term view but all seems OK at the moment. On a sunny day they are kicking out 20V before the controller does its stuff.

Hi Cyberyacht

Thanks for comments! What did you mean when you wrote "before the controller does its stuff" what stuff does it do?

Regulate the voltage and stop the battery feeding the solar panel at night.

regulators do what they are called-regulate. so a solar panel can output a lot more voltage than a battery needs or can take before being fried. batteries should need no more than approx. 14.5 volts to charge so a regulator downs the voltage/amps coming into it to protect the battery.  solar gives say 20v into regulator but only gives out 14.5 volts to maintain the charge. don't be put of by the figures as a fully charged new or well looked after battery will read about 13v even though it states its a 12v battery. if a leisure battery constantly drops below 12v then damage to the cells can happen.

Regarding upholstery I leave it in the caravan but stand the cushions and mattresses up so that air can circulate around them. I leave all cupboards open for the same reason. Window blinds are left down and curtains drawn and hanging free of the windows unrestrained. 

I have used the dehumidifying kits but found that the contained so little water at the end of the winter that I will not do so again.

Come Spring a couple of hours with the heating on will drive and damp out of the upholstery.