Caravan covers

[LMH]

Hi

What are people's opinions on caravan covers? For anyone who has one, is it true that their lifespan is only about three years?

How do you measure your caravan, bearing in mind the status ariel?

Can anyone recommend a good company? Looking at the designs, I would prefer one which has a 'door'.

Thanks.

Lisa

 

[TrevorM]

Hi Lisa,

I have a ProTec breathable cover which has been used for six winters. It is showing signs of ageing, such as discolouration and a couple of small holes where it has caught on the sharp(ish) lower ends of the awning channels, but I hope it will last a little longer - perhaps two more winters.

I have not had any problems (as some have suggested might happen) with scratched windows, but I do make sure the caravan is clean before fitting the cover. The nice thing is that once uncovered again, there is not much work to do in preparing for the first trip of the year.

For measurements, ProTec sent instructions on how to do this; the necessary information, if I remember correctly was then sent with the order.

Enjoy your holidays,

Trevor M

 

[Bazz1]

Nice idea but try and get one altered to fit larger new c/van and p/tec are not interested. Sell you a new one all right, but will not doo any alterations to cover. This cover was bought new

 

[rob_jax]

Lisa,

We store our caravan at the bottom of our garden - and there are several mature trees waiting to drop crud on anything shiny.

So we had a Protec "custom fit" cover for our first Eriba, and it did protect the surface, but was showing signs of wearing out - I think this was because the cover was in green - it started to fade quite soon after purchase. And I'd guess it would have a life expectancy of between 5 and 10 years.

We then changed the small Eriba Puck for the larger Eriba Triton, sold the Protect with the Puck, and bought a generic Towsure caravan cover for under

 

[vernon]

I've used Protec covers on my last two caravans withno problems.

It's not realy practical to alter a cover to fit a different caravan, the way they are made, it would cost as much to modify one as to make a new one, and you would have stitch marks in the wrong places.

I'm more than satisfied with mine.

 

[Grace_374302713]

If its of any interest, I see Tesco Direct are doing covers - around

 

[Mick_374321374]

Hi

The protech caravan covers from what i have seen are great but a little expensive compared to other covers on the market, i found a company www.proppa-caravan-covers.co.uk for my dad who has purchased one and was very happy.

 

[Oldfogey]

I have an elderly pop-top, which means lots of nooks and crannies that get full of leaves, mould, moss and general dirt if not cleaned regularly.

A caravan cover seemed the answer, but a Protec one would have cost more than I paid for the van!

With some patience, I was lucky enopugh to pick up a nearly new "no brand" on ebay for

 

[RayS]

I had a Specialised Accessories cover on a Coachman - I told them the model and it fitted perfcectly, including door access. I used it for 3 years and then changed the van. Although excellent it was a bit of a handful to put on in anything other than flat calm and you need to be reasonably fit. So for the new van i have settled for just covering the roof, back and a few inches down the sides - it was the roof which collected all the falling trees and other stuff. I've made mine from an ex-motor van cover fitting new eyelets down one long side. Not as elegant but very much easier to fit and store.

 

[Dustydog]

The caravan Show was repeated on Sky tv last night.

Their chief presenter Alex Reilley showed how to attach a cover to a caravan. He said "cling film attached to the perspex windows will stop scratching by the cover".

Personally I have no faith in covers, what do they really do? All the advice from my dealer and on the internet says clingfilm attache dto the windows will cause crazing / cracks to appear.

I just thoroughly clean my caravan with Fenwicks wash and once dry give a good polish with Autoglym. So why waste your money on something that in the long run may do more harm than good. Have you ever noticed how the covers blow about in the wind battering the windows and paintwork????

Cheers

Alan

 

[RogerP]

Good thread ,

I'm looking at a roof only type of cover mainly because where I park the van in near to some trees and I'm fed up of looking out the bedroom window and seeing the crud thats built up.

Plus one of the trees produces a red berry that stains like hell and its very difficult to remove even from paintwork.