help

[diana-kay13]

Hello every one
Now I shall begin with the fact that I am a female and brand new to the world of caravans so please be patient if I make no sense ?

We have had a eldis shamal gt sitting in our field for nearl ten years used only as storage and as myself and my husband attend a lot of festivals we decided to embark on operation restore ! To our delight she towed out from amongst the weeds beautiful and when hooked up everything worked !!! Except that is the plug sockets and water heater ! The water call out the taps fine just cold ?? Also the fridge but we haven't connected gas yet ??
Now we think that the fuses under the sink may need to be replaced and then the plugs will work ?? But will the water heater run of the 12v or 240v or gas ??
Please try to not reply with anything to technical as afore said I am a female but any clues will be greatly received x
Also is there.anywhere that a manual can be downloaded ? Long shot as van is.so.old

Thanks in advance

 

[RogerL]

Welcome to Practical Caravan forum.

If you know the age, exact or approximate, that'll help a little.

The fridge, room heater and water heater will probably all be multi-fueled - that's gas or 230v mains electric plus 12v from the tow car for the fridge. The gas circuits in each will probably need a full service because the corrosion and insect invasion in a decade's non use will have rendered them inoperative - in addition, their gas ignition systems may need new dry cell batteries and/or 12v supply from a leisure battery.

 

[Parksy]

Hello and welcome to the forum Diana
You will need to connect a gas bottle and a leisure battery for the water heater to work, the 240v sockets need mains electricity via an electric hook up lead. The caravan will definitely need new tyres before it can be safely towed.
Your best bet would probably to ask a mobile caravan engineer to give the gas and 240v electrics a check over before connecting things up, it wouldn't cost much and it's best to be safe.
Click Here to find a mobile engineer in your area.
I moved your query to this Technical message board because it will be seen by more forumites and will get more replies

 

[diana-kay13]

Thanks so much

 

[diana-kay13]

And there is an engineer literally up the road. !!! Although all the lights worked first attempt so we are hopeful

 

[gary]

I we could guess all day at the various solutions to a 10yr unused van, not least the state of the tyres?!
I then would fully agree with others, in that the best way forward is the van first under goes a service by someone fully experienced in matters