Caravan Construction.

[Dustydog]

Now an old dog is confused.
I've looked at most new caravans available. None really seem any better than my 7 year old Wyoming. Yes. Style has improved. That's cosmetic .
It's what's underneath I'm interested in.
Alu -Tech . SoLiD. SMART High Tech.
But it seems they all leak. Being composites that doesn't matter I am told.They
wont rot?
Coachman? Are they traditional?

Seems to me it's all about the sealant not the construction.
Is there truly an advantage over the traditional construction of my Wyoming?

 

[Sproket]

Martin24 ( haven't seen him on for ages ) used to speak highly of them, as he had, had quite a few.

Have you thought about the continental one's
Hymer or Adria

 

[Dustydog]

I too wonder how Coachman Martin is. Maybe Parks can help.
My main point is that even doing away with timber framed construction doesn't guarantee a water proof caravan .Or does it??

 

[Sproket]

While ever you use a temporary work force that have no job security, unfortunately there will always be the Friday vans being built ( even on a Tuesday ) due to rushing things through so build numbers can be claimed at the end of the day. Could some of this be due to it being more of a seasonal type of job ??

So from what they now appear to be building won't rot :dry: but will they come with extra vent's / holes in the floor to let the moisture out

 

[Dustydog]

Well Sproket

I think it's all a bit of con ( tongue in cheek).
They all still leak!

 

[ProfJohnL]

As there are examples of most construction methods that have remained dry, the technology has been shown to work. The problem is the consistency of construction, why should one caravan be dry and the next one off the construction line leak like a sieve? the answer is poor (some say zero) Quality control.

Been there and discussed it at length else where.

 

[Dustydog]

As there are examples of most construction methods that have remained dry, the technology has been shown to work. The problem is the consistency of construction, why should one caravan be dry and the next one off the construction line leak like a sieve? the answer is poor (some say zero) Quality control.

Been there and discussed it at length else where.

So Prof
You agree we are no further forward over the last two decades say?
piecework and lack of QA/ QC strike again.

 

[Parksy]

I too wonder how Coachman Martin is. Maybe Parks can help.

Unfortunately the comprehensive database of membership contact details that I once had access to has changed with the forum upgrade and is no longer accessible to me DD.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Dusty,

I'm afraid I'm not in a position to pass total judgement with regards caravans using the most recent construction methods. Whilst you could argue that if any one of them leaked that the method must be inadequate, but in the context of the very poor water ingress of earlier construction methods, perhaps the new methods are less poor.

I don't know if that is the case, because the manufacturers do not publish failure rates. Such information is commercially very sensitive. We can only gather and estimate failure rates based on personal reports on forums and other media. The big problem with gathering information this way is we are only likely to see the worst cases and we don't get the balance of numbers of those that have been fine. Also we have a large pool of old designed caravans in the field, and a much smaller pool of new designs, but we don't have exact numbers so what proportion of those pools are failures, new and old.

There is also another aspect to these publicised reports, We usually only have one side of the issue and we have no way of knowing how accurate the reports are. It could well be a report is actually wrong in its assumptions and conclusions.

It is my perception we are seeing less ingress issues reported, but for the reasons above that view is highly fallible, but if my perception is right, then we may be moving in the right direction, but I am still certain the industry does need to look more closely at the causes of water ingress failures, and recognise the importance of working methods and incentives in the role of Quality assurance. They also still need to look at the fundamental construction methods to make them FOOL proof, so they get it right first time every time.