Caravan yearly service
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Damian
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I know both Dometic and Thetford recommend the fridge is serviced annually, more often if more frequently used, and more often if Butane or refillable cylinders are used with Flo Gas or similar.
However, the fridge service does NOT form part of the caravan Annual Service, that just has a performance check made on the fridge to ensure it works on all 3 fuel sources.
It is the Owners responsibility to arrange the fridge service, and it is worth noting that a requirement of Thetford to maintain the warranty on their fridges is that the burner is removed and cleaned at LEAST annually.
As the full service involves a lot of gas work it must be done by a qualified fitter who is qualified by the manufacturer as well as being LPG qualified, and for this reason I am not prepared to go into more detail
However, the fridge service does NOT form part of the caravan Annual Service, that just has a performance check made on the fridge to ensure it works on all 3 fuel sources.
It is the Owners responsibility to arrange the fridge service, and it is worth noting that a requirement of Thetford to maintain the warranty on their fridges is that the burner is removed and cleaned at LEAST annually.
As the full service involves a lot of gas work it must be done by a qualified fitter who is qualified by the manufacturer as well as being LPG qualified, and for this reason I am not prepared to go into more detail
Thanks for your informative reply, Damian.
Our main dealer, who has carried out caravan annual servicing for us for many years, has never mentioned that it is a requirement of Thetford that the burner is removed and cleaned at least annually to maintain the warranty on the fridge and that this is not part of the Annual Caravan Service, but something we should pay extra to have done. Especially as we have bought our caravans from them brand new.
I expect this will come as a surprise to many forum members, as it was to us.
Our main dealer, who has carried out caravan annual servicing for us for many years, has never mentioned that it is a requirement of Thetford that the burner is removed and cleaned at least annually to maintain the warranty on the fridge and that this is not part of the Annual Caravan Service, but something we should pay extra to have done. Especially as we have bought our caravans from them brand new.
I expect this will come as a surprise to many forum members, as it was to us.
It's all part of the caravan servicing con trick and the sooner dealers are taken to task the better!
As we never use the gas for the fridge I don't worry about it. The warranty has a limited life anyway so does it matter ?
If you use the gas fire that should be serviced too, but again, we don't use it.
We use the cooker and hobs every day and to be honest I'm not too bothered about them.
My major concern is road worthiness so as long as the brakes and wheels are OK that's me happy.
If you use the gas fire that should be serviced too, but again, we don't use it.
We use the cooker and hobs every day and to be honest I'm not too bothered about them.
My major concern is road worthiness so as long as the brakes and wheels are OK that's me happy.
Damian
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It is precisely because of the lack of use of gas appliances that problems arise with them.
The air intakes and burner assemblies are perfect places for insects to live and not using the gas , and not using or moving the gas valves, causes them to seize up over time, and they are expensive to replace.
To keep gas appliances in good working order it is advisable to run them on gas for a while every time you use the van, and run them up every month over the winter time if in storage.
The air intakes and burner assemblies are perfect places for insects to live and not using the gas , and not using or moving the gas valves, causes them to seize up over time, and they are expensive to replace.
To keep gas appliances in good working order it is advisable to run them on gas for a while every time you use the van, and run them up every month over the winter time if in storage.
I have a Lunar Solar 462 which I bought new in 1997 had it serviced every year for 10 years and then decided to service it myself, the reason for this was that year 7 the van came back with a gas leak which they said must have happened after I left, year 8 the overrun brake didn't work when I phoned to ask how to test this I was told to push the hitch back and id should return I couldn't even push it back, so decided to buy a new damper and fix it myself, year 9 went to pick up van, payed for it went to the van which wouldn't move as the brakes were seized on fitter removed wheel and came and told me that the springs were rusted, why didn't he tell me this before I went for the van?. I then bought brake shoes from Western Towing fitted them myself no problem, I bought a Protimeter damp meter and I and since them have serviced the van myself, I am a bit mad at myself for going back for 3 years but I suppose it was because you always read that the torque figures for the hub nuts on the van are so high but I can get access to a torque wrench so thats fine.
I get the picture that the majority of services consist of spraying the van with water and changing the wheel nuts..... that'll be 225 pounds sir..... thank you very much!!!!
Damian
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Quote:"I get the picture that the majority of services consist of spraying the van with water and changing the wheel nuts..."
Dont know where you get your information from. but no water is sprayed on the van, and the wheel nuts are not changed.
One Shot Hub Nuts are , but not wheel nuts
Dont know where you get your information from. but no water is sprayed on the van, and the wheel nuts are not changed.
One Shot Hub Nuts are , but not wheel nuts
Well the last time I let a dealer near my van it had been sprayed with water and I was told that this was to find any leaks and as you correctly say the one shot hub nuts had been changed.
A vent panel had been disturbed and disappeared on the way home.
Woodwork was damaged inside.
The brakes needed re-adjusting after a few miles because the hubs had been disturbed. Why remove the hubs and nuts when its not called for in the ALKO service instructions?
Perhaps I was unlucky but even if the work had been carried out correctly I still cannot see how the £225 is justifyable.
I can get a car serviced with new filters, oil and plugs for less than £200.
The only parts cost for the van was two nuts!!
A vent panel had been disturbed and disappeared on the way home.
Woodwork was damaged inside.
The brakes needed re-adjusting after a few miles because the hubs had been disturbed. Why remove the hubs and nuts when its not called for in the ALKO service instructions?
Perhaps I was unlucky but even if the work had been carried out correctly I still cannot see how the £225 is justifyable.
I can get a car serviced with new filters, oil and plugs for less than £200.
The only parts cost for the van was two nuts!!
Damian
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- Mar 14, 2005
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With what you have just written I can understand your views.
Spraying with water will not find leaks, unless they are so obvious that water pours in.
A damp check finds leaks, and it is only by using a damp meter that water ingress can be traced.
Damage is not acceptable, nor is not refitting vent covers correctly.
As for brakes, the end users (owners) information on checking brakes is merely a very inaccurate way of seeing how thick the brake lining is on one part of one shoe, and assumes most owners do not have torque wrenches of suitable capacity to tighten the Hub Nuts.
The Al-Ko Service Centre brake service schedule is a lot more involved and includes checking every inch of the brake linings, springs,bearings, tensioners, adjusters and inner face of the drum, as well as lubricating the moving parts within the brake drum and cleaning out accumulations of dust.
You can get your van serviced for less than the price you stated by a qualified Mobile Mechanic, you do not have to go to a Dealer, where you are paying all his overheads as part of your service charge.
Lastly, it takes a lot less than 4 hours to service a car,and parts are generally cheaper.
Spraying with water will not find leaks, unless they are so obvious that water pours in.
A damp check finds leaks, and it is only by using a damp meter that water ingress can be traced.
Damage is not acceptable, nor is not refitting vent covers correctly.
As for brakes, the end users (owners) information on checking brakes is merely a very inaccurate way of seeing how thick the brake lining is on one part of one shoe, and assumes most owners do not have torque wrenches of suitable capacity to tighten the Hub Nuts.
The Al-Ko Service Centre brake service schedule is a lot more involved and includes checking every inch of the brake linings, springs,bearings, tensioners, adjusters and inner face of the drum, as well as lubricating the moving parts within the brake drum and cleaning out accumulations of dust.
You can get your van serviced for less than the price you stated by a qualified Mobile Mechanic, you do not have to go to a Dealer, where you are paying all his overheads as part of your service charge.
Lastly, it takes a lot less than 4 hours to service a car,and parts are generally cheaper.
Hi Danian.... Yes I'll admit that I got a raw deal and shouldn't assess the whole industry on my experiencies.
However I contacted AL-KO and the full service manual is actually on their web-site.
I do think however that the caravan industry is still operating in the 50/60's. What car manufacturer these days would expect the brakes to be dismantled at every service?? It is generally accepted that you leave well alone these days and none more so than the auto and aero industries. Most of the caravan running gear technology is derived from the car industry.
In my opinion the service should be directed at the very parts that you have highlighted which are not covered i.e. the fridge and cooker etc. along with the damp test and brake adjustment.
Then I think we would perhaps be getting more value for money and I would be quite happy to let someone else do the service at a reasonable cost.
Plus the restrictive practice of only recognising a service done by a specified dealer network in order to keep your warranty has to end as it was ended in the car industry.
However I contacted AL-KO and the full service manual is actually on their web-site.
I do think however that the caravan industry is still operating in the 50/60's. What car manufacturer these days would expect the brakes to be dismantled at every service?? It is generally accepted that you leave well alone these days and none more so than the auto and aero industries. Most of the caravan running gear technology is derived from the car industry.
In my opinion the service should be directed at the very parts that you have highlighted which are not covered i.e. the fridge and cooker etc. along with the damp test and brake adjustment.
Then I think we would perhaps be getting more value for money and I would be quite happy to let someone else do the service at a reasonable cost.
Plus the restrictive practice of only recognising a service done by a specified dealer network in order to keep your warranty has to end as it was ended in the car industry.
hi reg it certainly sounds like your service agent didnt have a clue what they were doing. being practical caravans dealer of the year i can say that this service is certainly not typical of other dealers. as part of the approved workshop scheme we need to adhere to the NCC servicing schedules and standards which obviously your service agent didnt. i know there are quite a few cowboy agents about who are generally ripping customers off left, right and centre and whose technicians should not be servicing caravans. but there are some very good ones as well.
as regards the servicing schedule, this is set by the NCC which all approved workshop members should follow and copies of which are supplied to the customer so they can see exactly what has been tested, checked or adjusted. this schedule does not include the servicing of the fridge, but to test and report. and at this point if there is anything wrong then the removal and repair/service of the fridge should be requested. to date i do not know of any warranty claim to thetford or dometic being rejected on the grounds of lack of servicing.
as regards the servicing schedule, this is set by the NCC which all approved workshop members should follow and copies of which are supplied to the customer so they can see exactly what has been tested, checked or adjusted. this schedule does not include the servicing of the fridge, but to test and report. and at this point if there is anything wrong then the removal and repair/service of the fridge should be requested. to date i do not know of any warranty claim to thetford or dometic being rejected on the grounds of lack of servicing.
regarding the servicing of any caravan still covered by a manufacturers warranty.
the caravan can be serviced by any of the manufacturers dealers or manufacturers service agents, plus they can be serviced by any member of the approved workshop scheme WITHOUT effecting the warranty. so there are a number of options for servicing.
the caravan can be serviced by any of the manufacturers dealers or manufacturers service agents, plus they can be serviced by any member of the approved workshop scheme WITHOUT effecting the warranty. so there are a number of options for servicing.
Many thanks Read Caravans for your reply. However I do find a discrepancies in the National Caravan Council document which can be read here
http://www.nationalcaravan.co.uk/images/news/Service%20Guidelines.pdf
and the manufacturers recommendations which can be found here
http://www.al-ko.co.uk/edit/files/support/CaravanChassisBook.pdf
In particular the removal of brake drums. This practice was common and necessary in the 50/60's when the brake lining material used was nowhwere as good as the material used today and tapered roller bearing were the norm and had to be washed and regreased and castelled nuts were in use.
Today the bearings are sealed for life and the brake lining materials are far superior and Alko, the manufacturers, rightly state that the linings should be inspected through the inspection hole.
I cannot think that removal of brake drums is included in any service for a modern car.
The National Caravan Council are still in the 50/60's with their recommendations.
Now regarding damp, If damp penetrates a caravan then I consider this to be a design fault. I should not be expected to pay for this to be checked.
So here we have the rediculous dilema. If I don't pay for the unnecessary removal of my hubs then I invalidate the warranty for the correction of a design fault i.e. water ingress.
Now imagine the furore if Mercedes cars leaked and the owners had to pay for an inspection!!!!
http://www.nationalcaravan.co.uk/images/news/Service%20Guidelines.pdf
and the manufacturers recommendations which can be found here
http://www.al-ko.co.uk/edit/files/support/CaravanChassisBook.pdf
In particular the removal of brake drums. This practice was common and necessary in the 50/60's when the brake lining material used was nowhwere as good as the material used today and tapered roller bearing were the norm and had to be washed and regreased and castelled nuts were in use.
Today the bearings are sealed for life and the brake lining materials are far superior and Alko, the manufacturers, rightly state that the linings should be inspected through the inspection hole.
I cannot think that removal of brake drums is included in any service for a modern car.
The National Caravan Council are still in the 50/60's with their recommendations.
Now regarding damp, If damp penetrates a caravan then I consider this to be a design fault. I should not be expected to pay for this to be checked.
So here we have the rediculous dilema. If I don't pay for the unnecessary removal of my hubs then I invalidate the warranty for the correction of a design fault i.e. water ingress.
Now imagine the furore if Mercedes cars leaked and the owners had to pay for an inspection!!!!
Damian
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Whilst I have some agreement with you Reg as regards what could be left off the service list, and what SHOULD be on it, which I will detail later I would like you to think about this.
Today I serviced a 2 year old caravan which has not been used very much, so taking that as a presumption(which I never do by the way)that everything should be in almost perfect condition, there would be little to do .
However, following NCC AWS rules, I removed the hubs to inspect the linings, and what did I find? both brakes, all 4 shoes, the linings were crazed not only horizontally but also vertically across and down the whole width of each in numerous places.
To say I was surprised is an understatement, to say the owner was shocked is also very understated.
With the greatest respect, that damage would be impossible to see through the very small, very hard to get at, inspection hole in the backplate.
It is for that reason hubs are removed, to inspect the bits you cannot see through the inspection hole.
Now, the bit which still annoys me is One Shot Nuts. Ok so sealed for life bearings are supposed to be the bees knees, but give me taper rollers and castellated nuts any day, at least all it costs is a new split pin and wear can be compensated for in setting the bearings correctly.
I may be way off the mark here, but I believe the introduction of One Shots and SFL bearings is because we now have a country of so called "engineers" who have not he faintest clue about how to set bearings and engineering as a whole.
We now have a culture of "fitters", who only know how to change a whole unit and have no idea why , just "that it works".
Now lets go to the service schedule.
One new addition is "Check noseweight",question is WHY????????? and for what use is it?
A van in for service is not loaded as per normal use, it is not attached to the towcar so what is the point?
Checking to see if blinds work,,,why,surely an owner knows this already and will say if there is a problem.
Then on to what really gets me, gas and electric checks.
As you are probably aware, the gas check involves a leak test, fair enough, then checking to see if te appliances light ok and then the stupid bit, to check the appliance is working and is in good order, just looking at the flame, where it can be seen, to see if it is a nice blue colour is all that is required.
What is so bloody stupid is that doing that gives absolutely NO information of any value.
The ONLY way of checking the efficiency of gas appliances is to carry out a Flue Gas Analysis (which is what I do on all vans).
It has been proven frequently that a flame may appear good,but the appliance is producing lethal amounts of Carbon Monoxide.
How many Dealers carry out that check, and give the owner a printed report from the gas analyser? None.
I am not going into the electric side of things as I will say far too much and probably be hung , drawn and quartered by certain individuals.
I will, however, say the subject of PIR's is a thorny issue with me,and many others.
Damp Checks,,,,,,,,IF manufacturers were to do their job properly and have Quality Control, damp would be thing of the past, as it should be in the 21st Century.
Sadly that is not happening,and a damp check takes time, which has to be paid for,,,,,,,sorry.
Today I serviced a 2 year old caravan which has not been used very much, so taking that as a presumption(which I never do by the way)that everything should be in almost perfect condition, there would be little to do .
However, following NCC AWS rules, I removed the hubs to inspect the linings, and what did I find? both brakes, all 4 shoes, the linings were crazed not only horizontally but also vertically across and down the whole width of each in numerous places.
To say I was surprised is an understatement, to say the owner was shocked is also very understated.
With the greatest respect, that damage would be impossible to see through the very small, very hard to get at, inspection hole in the backplate.
It is for that reason hubs are removed, to inspect the bits you cannot see through the inspection hole.
Now, the bit which still annoys me is One Shot Nuts. Ok so sealed for life bearings are supposed to be the bees knees, but give me taper rollers and castellated nuts any day, at least all it costs is a new split pin and wear can be compensated for in setting the bearings correctly.
I may be way off the mark here, but I believe the introduction of One Shots and SFL bearings is because we now have a country of so called "engineers" who have not he faintest clue about how to set bearings and engineering as a whole.
We now have a culture of "fitters", who only know how to change a whole unit and have no idea why , just "that it works".
Now lets go to the service schedule.
One new addition is "Check noseweight",question is WHY????????? and for what use is it?
A van in for service is not loaded as per normal use, it is not attached to the towcar so what is the point?
Checking to see if blinds work,,,why,surely an owner knows this already and will say if there is a problem.
Then on to what really gets me, gas and electric checks.
As you are probably aware, the gas check involves a leak test, fair enough, then checking to see if te appliances light ok and then the stupid bit, to check the appliance is working and is in good order, just looking at the flame, where it can be seen, to see if it is a nice blue colour is all that is required.
What is so bloody stupid is that doing that gives absolutely NO information of any value.
The ONLY way of checking the efficiency of gas appliances is to carry out a Flue Gas Analysis (which is what I do on all vans).
It has been proven frequently that a flame may appear good,but the appliance is producing lethal amounts of Carbon Monoxide.
How many Dealers carry out that check, and give the owner a printed report from the gas analyser? None.
I am not going into the electric side of things as I will say far too much and probably be hung , drawn and quartered by certain individuals.
I will, however, say the subject of PIR's is a thorny issue with me,and many others.
Damp Checks,,,,,,,,IF manufacturers were to do their job properly and have Quality Control, damp would be thing of the past, as it should be in the 21st Century.
Sadly that is not happening,and a damp check takes time, which has to be paid for,,,,,,,sorry.
Hi Damian
Obviously you are in the caravan trade and I think that is one of the most honest appraisals I have ever seen and I almost totally agree with what you are saying. Even your recent experience of brake linings is probably another example of lack of quality control. I do wonder why discs brakes have not appeared on production caravans yet?
I cannot agree with your desire to bring back tapered rollers as sealed bearings serve well on probably all cars these days. God knows what damage the grease monkeys who attacked my van would have done if they were confronted with them.
Perhaps if the manufacturers were made to compensate the dealers for the damp inspection check then the problem might be quickly be resolved.
I would love to be able to let a dealer service my van and do the things that really need to be done with full confidence. The industry and the governing bodies really need a reality check and realise which century we are in. Caravans are getting high technology and it's no place for dinosaurs otherwise it will go the same way as our car industry.
Regards
Reg
Obviously you are in the caravan trade and I think that is one of the most honest appraisals I have ever seen and I almost totally agree with what you are saying. Even your recent experience of brake linings is probably another example of lack of quality control. I do wonder why discs brakes have not appeared on production caravans yet?
I cannot agree with your desire to bring back tapered rollers as sealed bearings serve well on probably all cars these days. God knows what damage the grease monkeys who attacked my van would have done if they were confronted with them.
Perhaps if the manufacturers were made to compensate the dealers for the damp inspection check then the problem might be quickly be resolved.
I would love to be able to let a dealer service my van and do the things that really need to be done with full confidence. The industry and the governing bodies really need a reality check and realise which century we are in. Caravans are getting high technology and it's no place for dinosaurs otherwise it will go the same way as our car industry.
Regards
Reg
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