We all know how enjoyable owning a caravan is. The freedom it provides to get away whenever you want to a destination of your choosing is pretty unbeatable. However, errors can be part and parcel of being a newcomer to the world of touring and towing a caravan – and you learn by experience. However, technical mistakes can occur to even the most experienced caravan owners – and I, as the Editor of Practical Caravan, hold my hands up to a few below.
That’s what’s prompted me and the rest of the Practical Caravan expert team, including Reviews editor Peter Baber, Consulting editor John Sootheran and former Practical Caravan editor Nigel Donnelly, to compile a list of some of the technical errors that can commonly occur when you’re away in your caravan – and they’re all the type of problem you’ll want to avoid. If you are new to touring as well, don’t miss our caravanning for beginners guide, where we talk you through the basics you need to know about too.
1. Emptying your loo in the wrong place
We all know the importance of having the best caravan toilet chemical for keeping your van’s facilities in tip-top condition. Another crucial part of the process will be making sure you are emptying the loo at the right location too. It’s not always easy to find the chemical-disposal point on site, or perhaps you forgot to empty your cassette before you left to drive home – but it’s crucial to empty it at a dedicated facility. Never empty a cassette anywhere else: it’s unhygienic, bad for the environment and really antisocial, too.
2. Overloading your hookup
I was guilty of this one on a wonderful tour to Italy a few years ago – accidentally using the water heater on electric and a hairdryer at the same time tripped the hook-up bollard, which I then couldn’t open to reset. The result was an embarrassing walk to reception… Always check the capabilities of your hook-up, to prevent overloading, both for safety reasons and to avoid that walk of shame.
3. Driving solo with towing mirrors
The best caravan towing mirrors will help you stay safe and legal when you’re pulling a tourer to your destination. However, once you’re pitched up, it’s important to remember to take them off.
Peter Baber says: “Given how fiddly it can be to attach towing mirrors, it’s surprising how easy it is to forget about them once you are on site, and drive off in the car on its own while they are still in place. Don’t do this. Quite apart from the fact that it looks a bit silly, you might well get stopped by the boys in blue – driving in such a condition is an offence.”
5. Not taking out insurance cover
Caravan insurance isn’t a legal requirement, but we would highly recommend it. Thousands of caravans are stolen annually, and while of course, nothing could ever replace your pride and joy, it makes sense to invest in an appropriate policy. Be sure to read all of the terms and conditions carefully before signing up – for example, you may need to fit certain caravan security locks to your tourer to keep the policy valid.
6. Using a pressure washer on your caravan’s bodywork
Opinion does vary on this one, but we’d recommend never using a pressure washer on your tourer’s bodywork when you’re cleaning a caravan, unless you can set it at a very low, gentle rate of flow. Water ingress is an expensive and tricky problem to fix, and pressure washers can make it a far more likely occurrence if they damage the seals and force moisture inside.
7. Failing to stick to your warranty schedule
This one may seem easy, but get it wrong and it could cost you big money. If you’ve got a new or pre-owned caravan with a warranty on it, you’ll need to stick to servicing schedules, which could be tight – there isn’t always any leeway on when (or where) your services need to take place. Read the small print carefully and be sure to make all of the necessary servicing arrangements at the appropriate times.
8. Not using a weighbridge
Keeping your caravan safe and legal on the road is crucial, and one of the best ways to do this is to visit a weighbridge, to check that your van doesn’t weigh any more than you think it does. When you visit, ensure that your van is loaded with all of the kit that you’d normally take with you on tour.
9. Not making a note of your vehicle’s dimensions
Do you know exactly how long, wide and tall your outfit is, in both metric and imperial? Every caravanner should know – it can make the difference between sailing underneath a low bridge and losing your satellite dish! One handy tip is to keep a note on your dashboard of your outfit’s full dimensions, for easy reference while you’re on the road.
10. Not checking your tyres
Your caravan tyres are the only contact between your outfit and the road, so it’s crucial to keep an eye on their condition. There should be 1.6mm of tread remaining on the mid three-quarters of the tread, around the circumference of the whole tyre, and we would recommend replacing them after five year
11. Using a heater in your awning
True, it gets chilly in an awning in the off-season. You might be tempted, but you shouldn’t use a heater in this space. It’s bad for the environment and could potentially be a fire risk, too – we’d suggest using a low-wattage heated blanket over your knees to keep yourself warm and comfortable!
12. Not resetting the Truma boiler Anti-Frost
Over the winter months, many of us will be storing a caravan, but there are some important checks to do before you consider embarking on a spring tour. Truma’s device comes on if the outside temperature gets even close to freezing – even if you forgot to drain off the caravan. So when you start touring again, make sure the blue button is pushed in, with the diamond-shaped valve in line with the piping, before you turn on your water pump. Otherwise, any water you have added will gush out. This has happened to me, and can lead to a swimming pool under your van – and irate site owners.
13. Forgetting to check tyres after layup
Another touring error that can occur after the winter layup involves checking the tyres. Peter explains: “Caravan tyres are not magic. If you leave them stationary for a long period, with a very heavy weight (the van) on top of them, they are bound to start losing pressure. Leave them for a really long time and you could even find they begin to get misshaped. So remember to check your tyre pressures and condition as soon as possible once you start touring again. Unless you want a blowout.”
14. Overloading your caravan
It’s tempting just to throw everything you need into your van, but taking too much – or loading it in the wrong place – can make your tourer unstable and unsafe on the road. As a result, make sure you know how to load a caravan safely to ensure you stay safe when towing.
15. Not fastening your mirrors tightly enough
You always remember the first time your towing mirrors fall off. Peter says: “It was just as I was pulling out onto the M3. There they went, one after the other, sailing by, narrowly missing the caravan I was towing. Then followed a hairy journey to find a towing mirror shop that was open. So always fasten your mirrors as tightly as possible. And then tighten them again.” It also saves you from having to think about choosing towing mirrors again too.
16. Not attaching the spare number plate
Lights? Checked. Electrics? Checked. Mirrors? Checked. Ready to move a? No. Peter warns: “Always remember to attach your spare numberplate to the back of your caravan, on the outside where it can be seen. Failure to do so will almost certainly get you stopped. If you share the van with others, don’t forget to take the plate off at the end of the trip. Not doing that once led me to have to drive an extra 100 miles at the end of a very long touring day.”
17. Not checking your Al-Ko hitch
This one from John Sootheran is quite simple: “Make sure the ‘Green’ indicator on your Al-Ko hitch has popped up before towing”.
18. Letting your battery go too low
Your leisure battery should be 12V or less, right? Nope – if your battery is reading 12V, it’s almost flat. Letting it get to that stage can cause it to malfunction or result in permanent damage. Keep it topped up, particularly when you’re not planning to use your van for a while – we talk you through this in our guide to caravan leisure batteries.
19. Neglecting noseweight
Noseweight – the amount of weight the van exerts on the hitch – is one of those things that some caravanners ignore, but they really shouldn’t, for the sake of safe, stable towing. To work out your noseweight you need a few vital figures, as well as a gauge – see our guide to caravan weights for more on how to do this.
20. Not draining a water system in cold weather
It’s crucial to fully drain the caravan water system and the boiler in colder weather, even if you are planning to take the van out again soon – frozen water expands and can cause very expensive damage to your tourer. Don’t take the risk!
21. Plugging in your motor mover
We all know what a difference the best caravan mover can have, making pitching up and manoeuvring your tourer a much more straightforward business, However, one thing you will want to avoid doing, John Sootheran says, is “plugging your motor mover into the mains to move the caravan on your drive. This is because it’s highly likely to blow your electrics.”
22. Preparing a new towball
If you have a new tow car, this tip from Nigel Donnelly is going to be for you: “Sand the paint from the towball and clean the hitch with brake cleaner before hitting the road, to avoid groaning sounds from the contaminated stabiliser pads as they scrape the paint off for you.”
23. Not using the cassette’s air-release button
This is one of those things that you might not know unless you carefully read the owner’s handbook, but when emptying your toilet cassette, always press the circular air-release button – if you don’t, unpleasant splashback could be the result…
One thing many caravanners will want access to when they’re on tour is WiFi, whether it’s for streaming shows or sending videos. If you’re after ways to improve your setup, check out our guide to connecting to the internet in a caravan.
Written with contributions from John Sootheran, Peter Baber and Nigel Donnelly.
Future Publishing Limited, the publisher of Practical Caravan, provides the information in this article in good faith and makes no representation as to its completeness or accuracy. Individuals carrying out the instructions do so at their own risk and must exercise their independent judgement in determining the appropriateness of the advice to their circumstances. Individuals should take appropriate safety precautions and be aware of the risk of electrocution when dealing with electrical products. To the fullest extent permitted by law, neither Future nor its employees or agents shall have any liability in connection with the use of this information. You should check that any van warranty will not be affected before proceeding with DIY projects.
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