Battery compartment damp

[RogerP]

I've been checking my van on a regular basis and touch wood everything is OK.

However I had to move it a few days ago and when I open the battery compartment there was evidence of damp in the form a black marking and what looks like mould.

Its literally on the covering on the door , no where else ,inside the van is fine.

What appears to be the problem is the hatch door is not fitting properly and water is getting in when it rains.

The dealer will be sorting it out but dues to timings I cant get it in yet so what should I do in the interim to make sure it doesn't get hold in the van? Would I clean off the hatch door and if so with what.

 

[paul_374410560]

this is a problem with the sealing of the panel in the battery door, it wont go into the van because the battery is totally sealed to the inside of the van,

its a small job for a good dealer 1.5hours max

 

[xtrailman]

Rodger

I had the same thing on my bailey. Its just another example of the rubbish thats fitted to caravans.

The dealer replaced the seal, it still leaked. In the end i put some door draught excluder on, the white rubber type from wilkinsons.

It still lets a little in if i go daft with the hose pipe, but as said, its not a big deal, let the door down and dry it out.

If you look at the door you should see some drain holes, so the door should drain, mine was pooling in the battery plastic tray, so i had to remove the heavy battery out to dry it properly.

 

[lee_374371794]

This could quite easily be a condensation problem. There will always be some evaporation from batteries, or some moist air trapped in the battery box. Ironically it is more likely to occur if the seal is perfect. I am in the buisiness of treating dampness oin buildings and the cold weather this winter has led to an explosion oin condensation problems

 

[caravanoracle]

very common problem on all makes of caravan. main cause is the rubber seal which dries out and then when you close the door it rubs on the frame and distorts the rubber, answer use olive oil on the rubber. other reason is the door is either warped or simply doesnt fit flush to the frame because its been fitted twisted. answer is either a new door or complete new battery box locker. for these reasons a few years ago i worked with bailey in the design of replacing the door infill which was aluminium outer skin and wallboard inner at the time. bailey had the same problem and was encountering a large amount of infill panels rotting and the main reason was they couldnt stop water from entering the infill. we came up with the answer of replacing the old style infills with the new plastic ones which are now fitted as standard to all the exterior locker doors. because the battery locker is a sealed unit, ie no water can get into the caravan, the battery box now is like a car door. water is allowed and expected to get in, but now no damage is done and drains out on its own.

 

[paul_374410560]

if your battery box door has a seperate infill panel to the frame, it leaks in between the infill panel and the outer frame of the door.

its not the seal

if you open the door has the door got screws on the inside holding the infill panel, this means the infill is removable on most vans, some cant be removed, if not it needs sealing on the outside of the door