Caravan technician training

[Jamesi1983]

I was planning to wait until the course before buying but if I knew what the recommended testers were I could start picking them up now instead of forking out for them all in one go.

 

[Buckman]

this could be great way of getting some equipment, but you must ensure it meets the present day standards, otherwise professionally it's worthless.

I doubt if the MCEA will steer anyone in the wrong direction?

 

[ProfJohnL]

I doubt if the MCEA will steer anyone in the wrong direction?

I don't recall suggesting the MCEA or anyone would steer the OP in the wrong direction.

 

[Martin_E]

The Kewtech KT500 is a great entry level bit of kit for the RCD testing.

Protimeter Survey master is the go to damp meter

Kane do loads of excellent bits of kit, it just depends what you are looking for!

You can soon get into a lot of money to get up and running with testers, stock etc, I would guess by the time you do the coarse and buy the kit you could soon be £5k-£10K if a vehicle is involved could be a big number

 

[Buckman]

I don't recall suggesting the MCEA or anyone would steer the OP in the wrong direction.

You never did and I did not suggest as such. In the previous post #23 to which you had responded there was mention of MCEA supplying a list of suitable suppliers.

 

[Jamesi1983]

Hi all. Just an update and some giving off.lol

Ive finally booked to go on the mcea course.

I know the cost of everything was mentioned earlier which I didn’t really acknowledge but bloody hell, it adds up…and I’d only planned to do it part time so that’s quite a few services to recoup the investment. But you never know….it may take off more than im expecting which would be nice.

Just as an fyi for anyone considering it here’s what it’s going to cost me:

MCEA training £1400
Flights £100
Car hire £150
Hotel £250

Tools - protimeter, megger, gas analyser etc(some I have, some 2nd hand, some new) £1200-£1500. Probably closer to £3000 if buying the specialist test equipment new.

At this point I can start to service all-be-it not "in warranty" servicing.
Then to progress to "in warranty" I’ll be doing the ncc courses as follows:

NCC online electric courses £810

STGW gas £930
Flights £100 (estimated)
Car hire £150(estimated)
Hotel £250 (estimated)

Assessment for AWS certification £552
Flights £100 (estimated)
So that’s £4792 excluding tools.

This is actually the first time written this all down and added up and im shocked at the prices of these courses. Like £810 for 2 online courses! £1400 and £930 for 5 day courses for classes of 6 persons! Someone’s getting a good screw out of all this! Apologies for this rant but had to vent.

I have got a small training grant from the council for £500 which helps but it’s annoying when their willing to hand out grants up to £5000 of some old town twinning nonsense and others up to £1000 for health & wellness to name a few rather than invest in/help individuals but im grateful for their help.

So hopefully this helps someone thinking about the career.

 

[otherclive]

Hi all. Just an update and some giving off.lol

Ive finally booked to go on the mcea course.

I know the cost of everything was mentioned earlier which I didn’t really acknowledge but bloody hell, it adds up…and I’d only planned to do it part time so that’s quite a few services to recoup the investment. But you never know….it may take off more than im expecting which would be nice.

Just as an fyi for anyone considering it here’s what it’s going to cost me:

MCEA training £1400
Flights £100
Car hire £150
Hotel £250

Tools - protimeter, megger, gas analyser etc(some I have, some 2nd hand, some new) £1200-£1500. Probably closer to £3000 if buying the specialist test equipment new.

At this point I can start to service all-be-it not "in warranty" servicing.
Then to progress to "in warranty" I’ll be doing the ncc courses as follows:

NCC online electric courses £810

STGW gas £930
Flights £100 (estimated)
Car hire £150(estimated)
Hotel £250 (estimated)

Assessment for AWS certification £552
Flights £100 (estimated)
So that’s £4792 excluding tools.

This is actually the first time written this all down and added up and im shocked at the prices of these courses. Like £810 for 2 online courses! £1400 and £930 for 5 day courses for classes of 6 persons! Someone’s getting a good screw out of all this! Apologies for this rant but had to vent.

I have got a small training grant from the council for £500 which helps but it’s annoying when their willing to hand out grants up to £5000 of some old town twinning nonsense and others up to £1000 for health & wellness to name a few rather than invest in/help individuals but im grateful for their help.

So hopefully this helps someone thinking about the career.

That quite an investment but I’m sure once it’s under your belt you will enjoy the new occupation.

Just the course prices excluding the other costs aren’t bad value if you consider 1:1 dog training. £700 only gets you 2 -3hours 1:1 training, plus 1 hr online pre assessment and 1 hour online post assessment and 90 duration days online support. This is one of the cheaper ones too. So MCEA and NCC. are pretty fair pricing.

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[Hutch]

That quite an investment but I’m sure once it’s under your belt you will enjoy the new occupation.

Just the course prices excluding the other costs aren’t bad value if you consider 1:1 dog training. £700 only gets you 2 -3hours 1:1 training, plus 1 hr online pre assessment and 1 hour online post assessment and 90 duration days online support. This is one of the cheaper ones too. So MCEA and NCC. are pretty fair pricing.

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I. Hope it all goes well for you, keep positive,

 

[Jamesi1983]

That quite an investment but I’m sure once it’s under your belt you will enjoy the new occupation.

Just the course prices excluding the other costs aren’t bad value if you consider 1:1 dog training. £700 only gets you 2 -3hours 1:1 training, plus 1 hr online pre assessment and 1 hour online post assessment and 90 duration days online support. This is one of the cheaper ones too. So MCEA and NCC. are pretty fair pricing.

The Hidden K9 - Bespoke Behaviour Modification for Dogs

Let one of our skilled behaviourists help you to resolve unwanted behaviours. We can design a bespoke behaviour modification plan for you.

thehiddenk9.co.uk

Yes, perhaps. I did have a think about previous courses ive done over here in NI and the last one was a 4 day course for asbestos surveying and it was approx £900, nebosh construction 10 day was £1000 so there is a wide range of prices.

 

[Jamesi1983]

I. Hope it all goes well for you, keep positive,

I hope it does as a couple of family members have their reservations about wither it will succeed. I do expect business from it but as to the extent, im not sure.

Not sure if I said in an earlier post but my main driving force behind the endeavour is that one of the main mobile service techs over here is booked 3 months in advance; another is that there has been a few posts on the fb groups of owners wanting a mobile technician on the north coast so there is a demand of sorts.

 

[Hutch]

Over here on the big Island, my AWS is booked for almost 6 months ahead, , I use him every two years now, just to do the brakes, and for stamps in the book in case I want to sell the caravan.
As I said best of luck,

 

[Martin_E]

And then a vehicle possibly and stock and insurance etc etc etc

Good luck

 

[IanB1485]

@Jamesi1983
I hope it goes well, Based on my experience on the MCEA course you will get lots of practical hands on experience. One thing to consider is that you should register as self employed asap as in England you can only claim for training course against income tax once you have registered and can't claim for course done in previous years. You can claim for tools bought previously though , so keep the receipts and generate a spreadsheet, one tab for income and one for expenditure and different columns for different types , and the rows grouped into months.

 

[Adam427]

@Jamesi1983 hows it going with your venture? Just started reading your forum. I had actually booked the MCEA course around the time you had wrote this, for Jan but had to cancel it due to other comitments. Going to rebook for April here. Im also based in NI if you are going over for the April one i could give you a lift as im going to drive over. Also did you find any course based over here. Ive had a look north and south but no luck.

 

[natj80]

Hi guys - specifically Jamesi1983 and Adam427. I was wondering how you got on with the MCEA course/s? I am also from N.Ireland and looking into doing it to be a mobile motorhome/caravan technician. Are you doing the gas and electric courses also? And are you going for the NCC as well? Just wondering you experience so far with this as I am someone who is looking at following the same path - starting part time with a view to full self employment if possible later on. Many thanks! 🙂​

 

[Adam427]

Hi @natj80 i'm booked onto the course 13th April. Yeah eventually ill like to be ncc approved along with gas safe but we will see how this goes. Ill do this then ill start just doing the online course working towards ncc approval. Im a mechanical electrical engineer so i know the electrics and that just need to prove it really. Yeah thats my thought process aswell mobile technictian at the weekends and hopefully build on that. Ive space at home with a large garage which i will work towards having a workshop for repairs. Obviously this is just a plan and we all know how plans go lol.

 

[natj80]

Hi @natj80 i'm booked onto the course 13th April. Yeah eventually ill like to be ncc approved along with gas safe but we will see how this goes. Ill do this then ill start just doing the online course working towards ncc approval. Im a mechanical electrical engineer so i know the electrics and that just need to prove it really. Yeah thats my thought process aswell mobile technictian at the weekends and hopefully build on that. Ive space at home with a large garage which i will work towards having a workshop for repairs. Obviously this is just a plan and we all know how plans go lol.

Hi Adam, sounds great and I wish you all the best with the April course! I was looking at June possibly if I am going ahead with the MCEA one. Then doing the NCC electrical level 1 and 2 online. For the motorhomes/caravans you don't actually need to be Gas Safe certified as such, there is a 5 day gas course that NCC does which is perfect for leisure vehicles as far as I know. Yes I know how plans can go! lol. All the best!

 

[Adam427]

Hi Adam, sounds great and I wish you all the best with the April course! I was looking at June possibly if I am going ahead with the MCEA one. Then doing the NCC electrical level 1 and 2 online. For the motorhomes/caravans you don't actually need to be Gas Safe certified as such, there is a 5 day gas course that NCC does which is perfect for leisure vehicles as far as I know. Yes I know how plans can go! lol. All the best!

Yeah absoulutly dont need gas safe and it will probably be one of the last things i do. I rent a motorhome out and know you need it to be on the likes of camplify and that so would be getting it to advertise on there really (doing others gas safe certs so they can advertise on there). But yeah at the time ill weigh up the pros vs cost. Im hoping once im on the mcea cousre they can advise the best route to go. But ill keep ya updated and best of luck to you too 👍

 

[RogerL]

Yeah absoulutly dont need gas safe and it will probably be one of the last things i do. I rent a motorhome out and know you need it to be on the likes of camplify and that so would be getting it to advertise on there really (doing others gas safe certs so they can advertise on there). But yeah at the time ill weigh up the pros vs cost. Im hoping once im on the mcea cousre they can advise the best route to go. But ill keep ya updated and best of luck to you too 👍

Don't you need Gas Safe if you're doing the maintenance on your rented motorhome - regardless of where you advertise - simply because it's commercial not domestic?

 

[Adam427]

Yes you do. I cant do my own at the min i pay someone else. What i ment was if i get my gas save cert i can advertise my services on camplify and the like to complete other peoples gas safe certs

 

[kylemca1993]

Yes you do. I cant do my own at the min i pay someone else. What i ment was if i get my gas save cert i can advertise my services on camplify and the like to complete other peoples gas safe c

@Jamesi1983 hows it going with your venture? Just started reading your forum. I had actually booked the MCEA course around the time you had wrote this, for Jan but had to cancel it due to other comitments. Going to rebook for April here. Im also based in NI if you are going over for the April one i could give you a lift as im going to drive over. Also did you find any course based over here. Ive had a look north and south but no luck.

Hi Adam, I'm from Northern Ireland myself (Armagh) I'm also booked into the 13 April course.
Cheers Kyle

 

[toad a caravan]

You will ultimately also need for gas and electrics test gear which has to meet the requirements stipulated in the present day standards for testing. It must be maintained properly and for most gear it also needs to checked and calibrated by an approved test house each year. The same will apply for the damp meters.

Just in case you're not aware about what calibration is, it essential a test that is designed to confirm the piece of equipment is still operating within its designed accuracy. It should furnish you with a means of knowing its "uncertainty" Calibration does not readjust the equipment, and that is important becasue the calibration history builds up to establish the consistency of the measurement tool, and that builds confidence when using the equipment.

Just as an example, The company I worked for had a Fluke 8060A multimeter back in the mid 1970's. It was sent off for annual calibration, and over 15 years, it never needed any adjustment or repairs. It always held its accuracy to within one least significant digit. (LSD) . I was so impressed I bought an identical secondhand model for my own purposes and for about 8 years I was able to compare my meter to the calibrated company one and mine also never varied more than 1 LSD. I still have that meter and several others with even greater precision and the 8060 is is still an example of phenomenal consistency even at 40 years old. Unfortunately I cannot use it on profesional jobs as it no longer meets current safety standards.

Do you Remember the AVO in leather case and the wind up mega,s?,, they're all in one now more or less

 

[Adam427]

Ah happy days see you there.

Hi Adam, I'm from Northern Ireland myself (Armagh) I'm also booked into the 13 April course.
Cheers Kyle

Happy days. See your there.