It had taken some doing, but after a couple of months of scouring eBay, we finally found what we were after to begin the process of fixing the plumbing of our 1998 caravan.
The Bailey we’d bought off of Facebook Marketplace for £1,200 had left the factory with a combined shower mixer and basin tap unit. The typical version has a mixer unit with a showerhead emerging between the tap heads. These are common and easily found secondhand for around £50.
Ours, though, was the less common version – a smaller unit, taking up less space on the top – and the mixer runs up under the tap fitting.
The shower mixer head and basin tap head are one unit. These are available new for £120, but used versions are much harder to come by.
Complete units are tricky to find, so we looked for parts instead. But this too was very difficult. These are spare parts for a caravan that’s more than 20 years old, and the parts are still available new, so there’s really not much of a market for smaller components.
We could see our original unit had a snapped spindle. We managed to drill out the remains of the damaged spindle and these are available online for a tenner. Sadly, the other part that was done for was the long threaded sleeve that holds the tap body to the base plate. We presume ours was smashed by force, but replacements for it were not showing up anywhere. Our only option was to wait for a replacement to turn up.
Sourcing spare plumbing parts
It was on one of my daily trawls of eBay while sourcing spare parts for my Bailey caravan that an entire used unit appeared in a listing. When I spotted it, the price was £30, but it had a few days to go.
I was pretty confident there wouldn’t be much competition for it, but I had to go to £65 to win it. It came complete with a riser bar and showerhead that I didn’t need, but crucially, the whole mixer assembly was a straight swap for our damaged item. And £65 was a lot better than £120. It arrived about a week later and we set about swapping things out.
When it arrived, the parts were as described, but it’s not completely unexpected that parts from a caravan breaker might be a little bit grubby.
We didn’t want to fit grimy parts to the van, so everything went into the workshop first for a clean-up and a check.
Everything was in good shape. Given that it is all old plastic, we were careful when removing the tap heads and the spindles for cleaning.
A little washing-up liquid and an old paintbrush were used for removing the worst of the gunk from the surfaces. Persistent muck was loosened with a liberal application of WD-40 and more brushing.
Working the taps back and forth, it was evident that the cold tap was a lot more difficult to turn than the hot one.
I used a little squirt of white lithium grease down the spindle and around the tap body, and this eased the operation and ensured that the taps would turn equally easily.
Working in the caravan washroom
I have to admit, though, that working in a caravan washroom is generally no fun at all.
It is usually cramped, access to everything is awkward and in the case of older models like Penny, much of the plastic is brittle and easily damaged.
I’d already dismantled the mixer assembly when trying to get the caravan water system working, which was when I realised the reason the pump ran all the time was because the basin tap couldn’t be turned off.
This meant I had at least completed some of the horrible task a while before.
With the replacement tap in hand, I now had the relatively simple job of pulling the taps up through the basin surface and undoing the worm-drive clips, which attach all of the plumbing to the tap body.
Trying to hold the hose, keep the taps immobilised and use a screwdriver needed more hands than we had available at that point, but luckily my caravan tool kit included a 7mm socket for the clips, which made holding and undoing them far easier.
Once the clamps had been slackened, it was surprisingly easy to pull the hoses from the fittings and get the new fitting into place.
Positioning the new tap was another straightforward task, and then pushing the hoses into place (not forgetting the clamps first!) allowed an early trial fit for the new unit.
It all fitted, but the tap base didn’t want to sit flat on the counter. This was traced to the showerhead pipe being twisted, pushing up the whole unit base plate. But a bit of twisting and rerouting rewarded us with a nice flush fit and we were ready to screw things back down.
This was the point where the tap base plate was ready to be sealed with a bead of silicone, but looking around Penny’s washroom, something told me more work was going to
be needed to really spruce things up. Over the winter, there was a fair bit of mildew appearing on the walls, around the rooflight, and the basin unit itself has now taken on a rather grim yellow colour.
Most troubling, though, was the shower tray, which sadly had multiple cracks and splits. Luckily, given the popularity of Bailey caravans and Rangers in particular, it was very likely a replacement could be found.
We decided not to silicone the tap unit into place just yet, though, until we have worked out whether we will have to do some more dismantling before we can sign off the washroom.
We spent an hour cleaning off all the mildew and wiping down the whole room, but we need to decide what we want to do with the shower tray before running the silicone around.
Regardless of this, we now have a functioning cold water system for the first time.
With the cold water system running, we can see if the hot water supply works and check that everything is draining as it should.
An important part of keeping your tourer working as it should is getting your van serviced. If you’re not sure why this is a crucial task to get carried out annually, John Sootheran is on hand to explain the importance of caravan servicing.
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 and skill level. 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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