Newbie with an old project van.

[jonny201426]

Hi all,
I was given a caravan which is almost perfect apart from a patch of damp I found. I plan to rip the old board out from the inside, reseal and reboard is this the right way?
I just have a couple questions, I've never owned a caravan and know nothing about them so please bear with me.
1) there is only 1 lead to connect to the car, everything seems to work, is this normal
2) its a steel chassis I've wire brushed it and waxyolled it. Anything else I can do?
3) how do I check the breaks are in good working order
4) There's some croc clips for a battery I've hooked it up and the kitchen lights come on but nothing else is there a way of testing everything without having to go to a pitch and hook it up. To make sure it all works before I go travel with it and find it doesn't work.
5) the hitching unit that hooks to the tow ball I've noticed has gone to one side after towing but still firmly attached is it faulty?
Any other advice/ideas would be very much appreciated
Thanks
Jon

 

[Gagakev]

Hi all,
I was given a caravan which is almost perfect apart from a patch of damp I found. I plan to rip the old board out from the inside, reseal and reboard is this the right way?
I just have a couple questions, I've never owned a caravan and know nothing about them so please bear with me.
1) there is only 1 lead to connect to the car, everything seems to work, is this normal
2) its a steel chassis I've wire brushed it and waxyolled it. Anything else I can do?
3) how do I check the breaks are in good working order
4) There's some croc clips for a battery I've hooked it up and the kitchen lights come on but nothing else is there a way of testing everything without having to go to a pitch and hook it up. To make sure it all works before I go travel with it and find it doesn't work.
5) the hitching unit that hooks to the tow ball I've noticed has gone to one side after towing but still firmly attached is it faulty?
Any other advice/ideas would be very much appreciated
Thanks
Jon

Hi Jon, Welcome to the forum
Firstly it's no good repairing the damp area unless you have found the source of the leak and after taking the wall board off you may find it has gone further than you think. Will put a link on here tonight or search for Damp Repair on this forum.
1. Check the number of pins in the socket there will be either 13 or 7 then you will get some more anserw's
2. Not sure but seems ok
3.A mobile service engineer would be my first port of call to check everything including the brakes.
4. You can buy an adapter to go from the hook up lead to a household 13 amp socket
5. Deffinatley get this checked!
Can you post some pictures on here of some of the problems, how old is the van, what make is it?
others will be along to give you further and very good advice, keep asking question's and someone will now the anserw.

 

[Thingy]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Sounds like you are going to be busy.

A couple of points on what you say:

The brakes. If you arent sure how to do this, seriously consider leaving that to a mobile service engineer, getting that wrong can be catastrophic for both yourself and others. Caravan brakes are based on an over-run mechanism and the hitch head itself is part of the braking system. As the car decelerates, the caravan begins to catch it up, this compresses the over-run mechanism and applies the brakes. The following link will help you understand the basic operation:

http://caravanchronicles.com/guides/understanding-over-run-brake-systems/

The hitch. You dont say how old the caravan is. Some hitches, very definitely the older ones will rotate fully. The way you are describing the van sounds as if it may be from this era. The other more modern ones will rotate a few degrees either side to allow for uneven ground whilst towing. If the whole drawbar assembly is moving to one side, this could be physical damage and again, get the advice of an engineer. We had a complete failure on a brand new van, our last one.

For safety, also consider having the gas system serviced by a qualified engineer.

 

[LizziePope]

Welcome to the forum, Jon, and the very best of luck with your project.

 

[jonny201426]

Hi,
Thanks for your replys.
I'm not sure on the age of the van I would think mid to late 90's.
I'm a car mechanic but never seen caravan breaks so I may just get them checked over.
I was thinking of smearing a bit of copper grease on the tow ball for ease. Would this be the wrong or right thing to do?
Thanks

 

[xtrailman]

Hi,
Thanks for your replys.
I'm not sure on the age of the van I would think mid to late 90's.
I'm a car mechanic but never seen caravan breaks so I may just get them checked over.
I was thinking of smearing a bit of copper grease on the tow ball for ease. Would this be the wrong or right thing to do?
Thanks

Yes grease is ok with the old type hitches.
As already mentioned don't worry about the hitch head rotating to the side, my first caravan did that and I was concerned at the time.
To check the ball is held correctly after hitching up use the jockey wheel to lift the back of the car slightly, the hitch should stay attached.

 

[colin-yorkshire]

Hi all,
I was given a caravan which is almost perfect apart from a patch of damp I found. I plan to rip the old board out from the inside, reseal and reboard is this the right way?
I just have a couple questions, I've never owned a caravan and know nothing about them so please bear with me.
1) there is only 1 lead to connect to the car, everything seems to work, is this normal
2) its a steel chassis I've wire brushed it and waxyolled it. Anything else I can do?
3) how do I check the breaks are in good working order
4) There's some croc clips for a battery I've hooked it up and the kitchen lights come on but nothing else is there a way of testing everything without having to go to a pitch and hook it up. To make sure it all works before I go travel with it and find it doesn't work.
5) the hitching unit that hooks to the tow ball I've noticed has gone to one side after towing but still firmly attached is it faulty?
Any other advice/ideas would be very much appreciated
Thanks
Jon

hi Jon,welcome to the forum,
from the description above I suspect it is more likely a 80s van than a 90s one, although some pictures would help a great deal.
there are a few clues in there, 1. a single cable from the car, do as Kev suggests and look if the plug is 7pin or 13pin,
if it is a 7pin this means there is only a connection for the road running lights and none for the van. except possibly a blue aux wire for internal lights. this will not work on a modern car socket as the wiring has been changed several times over the years and the blue wire is now the fog light.
furthermore there will be no charge circuit or fridge line so the fridge could well be gas only.or gas + 230v if there is a EHU point [big blue 3pin plug] on the side, there may or may not be a charger, I suspect there is not one as the battery is connected by crocodile clips and not proper battery connectors.
if there is a EHU do you have a cable if so you can test the circuits by buying an adapter that converts a domestic plug into a EHU blue socket.
if you have done the chassis the next thing you should do is grease the steadies and draw bar but if you get a mobile engineer to service it while doing the brakes he will do this anyway.
one other point have a look at the draw bar and see if there is a lever on the top of the damper or a "C" shaped clip on the front of the hitch, either of these would suggest it is an older van without over run brakes, as these devices lock the damper in the out position for reversing, if this is the case then the brakes are just normal rod operated drum brakes [like on any old car] and nothing scary in there you must have done hundreds just like them.
and lastly dont worry because the ball hitch moves from side to side it is normal on this type of hitch as there are no friction shoes to hold the ball plus there should be grease in there and it's slippy stuff HA HA,
good luck with it and post some photos.

 

[SirRogerFFS]

If your a mechanic then there will not be too much problem for you on the brakes but if you do go into this yourself then check the brake drum as this is normally a what they call a one shot nut,only to be used once.You may find it will only be the kitchen lights that work from your 12 volt system and the rest from mains hook up.As suggested as this is your project maybe a good idea to get a mobile engineer to your very first check as things like the gas have to be checked not a job you can do ....I hope this helps
Sir Roger

 

[rosies]

Hello and welcome Jonny ,
You sound very enthusiastic and positive towards your caravan , believe me that it lasts and lasts with every caravan you have , now to your comments .
1) The lead will probably be a 7 pin plug with the blue wire to power inside 12v equipment when coupled for towing , the van road lighting is maybe pre rear fog lights that was in the 70s . a slight clue is in general , plastic windows post 1980 , glass windows pre 1980 or around that time . ( the blue wire on the car would have to go to a relay then to a fused spur off your car battery to do this , certainly not the best way of topping up your caravan battery with charge , off hand forget which pin number ) .
2) good job done waxoylling . Along with the chassis don't forget the wheel and tyre conditions , if you remove both wheels and take to a good tyre outlet they can check wheel trueness and tyre age and condition , tyres are recommended to be changed every 6-7 years no matter how good they look , remember to get them balanced .If the caravan has been stood for a longish period before you took it over then the tyres could be flat spotted and perished .
3) Brakes , I'm sure with you being a mechanic the brakes will be no problem , Rod activation on cams to shoe expanding brakes to drum , just clean and lubricate and check for warn components , It sounds something like a B&B chassis which had castlated nuts and not one shot for wheel bearings ,
4) Your caravan may only have 12V battery power internally and at present no 240v hook up , either way your 12v battery should be in a battery box vented to the outside to prevent dangerous hydrogen build up to the inside of the caravan , and yes I know the hydrogen is only usually produced when charging but better safe than sorry with your family . If you do have 240v system installed then you should find a Rcd unit somewhere within the caravan , maybe in the wardrobe with 240v sockets around the van .trace back to find the inlet for the EHU ( electric hook up ).
5) a B&B hitch will rotate 360 degrees but check for any wear along the damper and application bar to operating the rod brakes , a lithium grease will probably be better on the hitch head than copper slip as this tends to harden over time .

If you can possibly tell us all the make and model of the caravan I'm sure you will get several of us with stories and suggestions to help you . ( sometimes the chassis number can help you with the caravan manufacturer ) . Steve .