Damp- so what??

[Michael_374375466]

I did a deal to trade in my 1997 Elddis EX300 Cyclone for a new Bailey Pageant Bordeaux priced at £11250 - with NO delivery on top. I was offered £2.2K subject to inspection for damp! I have had the Elddis only for a couple of years and have had no problems with damp as far as I am concerned. The guy came round with his metre on a wet and windy morning and reported to me that the Elddis was falling apart with rot just about everywhere through damp and everything was de-laminating and the best I could hope for was about £1000 - although he agreed it all looked good inside. I pulled out of the deal because I had been there before!! I had just spent two and a half weeks in the French Alps with rain like stair rods most of the time so I was aware that there might be a little more wet around than normal, but, with a winter cover and some occasional storage heating I'll bet that the 'van will pass any damp test in April 2009 and probably last me another five years, which as I am almost 70, is about as far as I will go anyway! In 1986 I tugged an old Ace Globetrotter through 2 days of storms from the West Coast of France in September back to the UK and the bottom front corners of the van were sodden when we got home - but they dried out by the following spring - with NO long term problems! We traded it in for a 1983 Cavalier Carlton which, five years later, I traded in for a new Elddis Hurricane XL. I got what I paid for the Cavalier - £3600 to start with - but this was knocked back by £150 'because of damp'! I accepted the drop as it was my 'first' time! I traded the Hurricane in when it was four years old for a new Elddis Tornado Vogue in 1998. When I tried to trade this in in 2006 for a new Lunar Chateau, I was offered £5000 subject to inspection, which was knocked back to £4000 because of damp! I pulled out of that deal, and discovered that there really was a torrent getting into the front offside corner through a faulty window strip which had rotted the front inner sill. I took the front of the van off, and was disgusted by the shoddy workmanship of the wooden framework - it looked as if someone had knocked it together from firewood! I replace the sill with a good quality marine ply one made by a local joinery firm, rebuilt the front and resealed it, and sold it privately. I still get e-mails 2 years later telling me how happy the guy is who bought it!The repair probably cost me £120 a most!

I may or may not buy another caravan during my lifetime, but one thing is for sure, I certainly will NOT be selling through a dealer if I can help it!

 

[cheryl.mark@yahoo.co.uk]

Hi Michael

I read an article in one of the back issues of Practical Caravan regarding this matter. I think you did the right thing backing out of the deal, these dealers are out to make as much money as possible and that means swqueezing every last penny out of you when the deal is ready to be done! I would sell it prviately if I was you then you have more bargaining power when you want to buy another van. Damp is horrible and my 6 month old Bailey Senator Indiana suffered damp on the window and front panel so even if you buy new it doesnt mean problem free vans. My next van wont be a Bailey because I have had lots of faults with my wyoming and to be honest with you it has put me off Bailey so maybe you have had a lucky escape. I already know what my next van will be but I need a lottery win for it! I would like a Fleetwood Heritage next time round but this one will have to last us years as we cannot afford to change it now. Look at the general posts on this forum about problems with Baileys and you willbe pleased you didnt buy it, as nice as they are the build quality isnt brill and they are not built to last like the older ones where! Happy caravanning, I hope I am still enjoying my hobby when i am 70.

 

[CameronBurns]

damp meters give false readings on wet days as the walls outside are wet ind vice-versa on hot days.

a tip is to leave an electric heater (not gas as it is dangerous if the caravan is un-attended)on for a week before you sell your caravan, and it dries out most traces of damp if there is any. we have tried it and it works well!!!

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello George.

You claim that leaving the gas heater on would be dangerous, implying that an electric heater is less dangerous.

Can you explain your reasoning for this please.

 

[caravanoracle]

leaving a heater will NOT have a major impact on completing a damp test, as long as the test is done correctly. the reason for this is because when you are using the meter you penetrate the vinyl coating on the wall to test the wood beneath otherwise you are testing and moisture on the surface. this is not a water ingress test. you must test the wood beneath to establish whether water is in the construction of the wall.

 

[mark_374368910]

Here is a thought for you. My friend had a 1950 (ish) bus for some 20 years. It was made from aluminium outer panels, wood battens and a wood based board on the inside. When he sold it it had over 400k on the clock!!!

Apart from a small problem with rot around the inside of one ofthe rear wheel arches it was a dry as a bone. It carried thousands and thousands of people in it's life (and as far as I know still does "nostalgic" trips).

Now that contruction does not differ much from caravans, and indeed as we all know, most vans were based on coachworks anyway. So WHY do caravans -especially modern one with all the modern techniques and materials available - suffer from damp and rot???

In my opinion much of it can only be cost/corner cutting and very poor inspection /finishing. There are rubber compounds that can strecth 100% and sealents that will with stand 20% movement or more.

I do wish Bailey/ Swift/ Lunar etc would come on here and start a sensible debate and explain why we still suffer from damp to the extent we do in modern vans. Or are they scared of the "Dandy" syndrome that by making a unit that will last for 20 years or more they will go out of business???

Surely we could expect at least 15 years rot free?

woody

 

[cheryl.mark@yahoo.co.uk]

Hi Mark

I think you have hit the nail on the head with these big companies, they would be putting themselves out of business if they build vans to last! I bought a new van thinking it would be problem free, after reading these forums which i didnt know anything about before I bought a van I would have reconsidered my decision and probably saved alot of money. Dont get me wrong we do love our Wyoming, however, as I said before im not sure if I would buy another Bailey due to all the problems we have had. I have found inside storage now so hopefully our van will last us years, but probably when the warranty runs out it will fall to pieces bit by bit!!!

 

[CameronBurns]

Hello George.

You claim that leaving the gas heater on would be dangerous, implying that an electric heater is less dangerous.

Can you explain your reasoning for this please.

well, someone published an article a few years back, stating that they bought a caravan and they were trying out all the appliances. they tried the gas heater and after a few minutes of use, the caravan cought fire and was reduced to ash thanks to a dodgy gas system. an electric one is safer as if something does go wrong it will most likely trip at the switch. also we have an oil filled electric heater which there isn't anything to go wrong on it, unlike gas, which if there is a tiny fault, it will blow up.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello George

Yes it is always wise to be careful about leaving any appliance turned on, but I fear that your concerns about gas verses electric are misguided.

Please consider that the caravan you refer to that caught fire, it was lucky it was not occupied. If it was a genuine fault then exactly the same could have happened if the owners had been in the caravan - a real calamity.

Whilst you do not say what make/model of caravan as involved or what age, if it were a heater of current design, then the fault that caused the fire was almost certainly not the heater its self but some other system fault, such as a poorly made connection or physical damage. Obviously I cannot be certain about that.

However, the reliability and safety of modern gas heaters in caravans is excellent, and provided the appliances are regularly checked and serviced, the likelihood of the failure you describe is remarkably low.

By comparison, Government figures show that there are far more fires caused by faulty electrical appliances and wiring than gas. So there is danger whichever system you use.

Contrary to popular opinion, electric heaters should also be checked regularly, even the oil filled units. Admittedly the checks can be easily carried out and may only need to be vacuumed to remove excess dust, or looking to evidence of rusting or blisters on the oil panel, but without these checks, fan heaters can ignite dust and expel it where it can set fire to combustible materials nearby.

Now I do not discounts the use of electric heaters for warming a caravan, They have some clear advantages, mainly that they can be controlled by a relatively simple thermostat which causes them to turn on off at a pre determined temperature. This is good for frost watching etc, But for a sustained period of heating, the gas heater is a perfectly acceptable alternative, and in fact is ecologically better than using electricity.

The best efficiency the power generators can achieve is about 40%, whilst your gas heater must be at least 70% efficient before it can be sold.

May I ask you to reconsider your disapproval of using a gas heater, or at least to use the same diligence before simply plugging in your electric heater.

Happy caravanning