standing on roof of adria

Nov 11, 2009
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Parksy

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Nov 12, 2009
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Personally I wouldn't stand on the roof of any caravan no matter how robust it appears to be.
How do you know that your weight wouldn't damage any insulation that may be there, and even slightly dented roof panels will cause water to pool on the roof.
An extendable car washing brush, a spray bottle containing a proprietary brand of caravan cleaner and a garden hose will easily enable you to clean the roof from a ladder leaning against the sides without causing any damage if you use old towels or similar to protect the awning rails where the ladder is resting.
 
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Jan 3, 2012
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i would not stand on the roof we have a ladder it extends rest it on the side of caravan awning rail and use a long extending brush i find this does the job :)
 
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Jun 16, 2020
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In the past I have worked on many a building roof and without the H&S quite rightly required today. What I did in he interest of keeping a job was ridiculous in the extreme. But I was fine with heights.

I have washed my previous Unicorn by standing on the roof. The roof was strong enough and felt so. But the problems were, getting up there and down again safely. And the slippyness. Never again. Having tried it, I advise against it.

If you can arrange a ladder with sufficient height, you can do the job perfectly well.

Some good advice here. But not completely realistic as they have better equipment available. If you could borrow some decent staging life would be so much easier. This is what I did when I fitted my solar panels.


John
 
Jan 3, 2012
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In the past I have worked on many a building roof and without the H&S quite rightly required today. What I did in he interest of keeping a job was ridiculous in the extreme. But I was fine with heights.

I have washed my previous Unicorn by standing on the roof. The roof was strong enough and felt so. But the problems were, getting up there and down again safely. And the slippyness. Never again. Having tried it, I advise against it.

If you can arrange a ladder with sufficient height, you can do the job perfectly well.

Some good advice here. But not completely realistic as they have better equipment available. If you could borrow some decent staging life would be so much easier. This is what I did when I fitted my solar panels.


John
Hi John you sound like a very handy person fitting solar panels do you save a lot on electric? well done .
 
Jun 16, 2020
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Not a penny!

We used to use CL‘s with no hook up a lot. But since fitting the 120 watt panels we have never been off hook up. A sign of the times. I would without a problem, but she worries about drying her hair! What can I do. It does keep the battery at about 14.4 all year. And the battery is now in its 7th year. So I am happy with that.

I started with a 20 watt semi rigid, which would be enough for the battery top up alone. But then added a 100 watt flexible. All is going well 6 years on.

The cheap (£8 including shipping) controller was sold to me from Hong Kong as an MPPT. but I think they may have lied to me because I now think it’s a PWM. I won’t complain as it does the job.


This is how I did it.

NB The links in the article are out of date so probably won’t work.

John
 
Jun 14, 2021
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thanks for your input. thing is I have no access to a hose.i have been up there and found it fine. the roof is supposed to handle several feet of snow!! I was hoping someone had emperor knowledge of adrias.
 
Nov 11, 2009
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thanks for your input. thing is I have no access to a hose.i have been up there and found it fine. the roof is supposed to handle several feet of snow!! I was hoping someone had emperor knowledge of adrias.
Snow is totally different to a person walking or kneeling where their weight is more concentrated. You could try the Adria owners club, or ask Adria technical. “ No access to a hose” Do you mean no mains water supply?

This came from Burstner around 2011.

Dear Sir,


The flat sections of the roof of your caravan are rated to 75kg per square metre. (Incidentally the equivalent of 2m of snow!)


Please avoid standing on the curved parts as these are not laminated and will buckle.


Regards,


Burstner UK


PO Box 164,


Bishop Auckland.


County Durham,


DL13 1WZ
 
Jun 20, 2005
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IMO standing on the caravan roof is both dangerous to your own health and that of the caravan. A secure ladder or platform will give good access for cleaning with a little leaning. There is a firm who sell a special kit to stop the ladder slipping. Can’t find the link tonight
 
Nov 16, 2015
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yep, no mains supply. just carrying buckets of water up a field !!
Hi Jeza, Welcome to the forum, I have been on the roof of our Coachman ( Once) I am used to working at heights, but on a slippery roof ,never again, I would rather wait for a good rainfall and get out with a ladder and long brush, or an Aqua roll and some sort of portable water pump.
 
Jan 3, 2012
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Not a penny!

We used to use CL‘s with no hook up a lot. But since fitting the 120 watt panels we have never been off hook up. A sign of the times. I would without a problem, but she worries about drying her hair! What can I do. It does keep the battery at about 14.4 all year. And the battery is now in its 7th year. So I am happy with that.

I started with a 20 watt semi rigid, which would be enough for the battery top up alone. But then added a 100 watt flexible. All is going well 6 years on.

The cheap (£8 including shipping) controller was sold to me from Hong Kong as an MPPT. but I think they may have lied to me because I now think it’s a PWM. I won’t complain as it does the job.


This is how I did it.

NB The links in the article are out of date so probably won’t work.

John
Hi John we have already booked three sites with C/Ls next season so far my new battery in its second year if it gets to 7 years that good value for the money :)
 
May 7, 2012
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I would not stand on the roof and no caravan maker would recommend it. Firstly you risk a fall of something like 8 ft and that alone could be fatal, secondly your weight is concentrated in two small areas and is beyond what the roof is designed to take. You risk damage, particularly damp, if you damage the seals if you stand on it.
Without access to a hose I would get a long handled wash brush and just keep dipping that in warm water, it is a bit lomger time wise but works.
 
Jul 18, 2017
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I would not stand on the roof and no caravan maker would recommend it. Firstly you risk a fall of something like 8 ft and that alone could be fatal, secondly your weight is concentrated in two small areas and is beyond what the roof is designed to take. You risk damage, particularly damp, if you damage the seals if you stand on it.
Without access to a hose I would get a long handled wash brush and just keep dipping that in warm water, it is a bit lomger time wise but works.
Didn't Bailey do a stunt where they lowered a car onto the roof of one of their caravans? Obviously the weight was really spread out.
 
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