Which caravan cover?

[Billy3fish]

I am looking to but a cover for our 2007 / 2008 Conqueror 655 and am unsure whether to go for a Pro-Tec or one from Specialised Accessories. The samples of the material appear similar but the Pro-Tec a little more "breatheable". Any suggestions, comments or advice would be greatly appreciated please. Our van is on a seasonal pitch and not toured. Thank-you!!

 

[Reg]

My Pro-Tech disintegrated after one year.

I did get a full refund.

 

[Auvergne]

We had a Specialised Accessories cover and were delighted with it.

 

[Billy3fish]

We had a Specialised Accessories cover and were delighted with it.

Thanks Reg & Valerie - I'm swayed towards the Specialised Accessories so far!

 

[Chrissylizzie]

Hi William

We had a Protec on a previous van and had a bad reaction to the paintwork, which Protec didn't want to know about.

The Other point is that if you have a large van the cover will also be large and therefore heavy to handle. The Specialised Accessories seemed a good one when we looked at it and slightly lighter than a Protec but we now have a Speedwell Star which is made from tent material and is so easy to use, especially as we need to use it frequently as we are under trees. If you are only putting it on at the start of the winter and removing in spring, then I think the S A cover would be fine.

 

[Alison0207]

Hi William

We had a Protec on a previous van and had a bad reaction to the paintwork, which Protec didn't want to know about.

The Other point is that if you have a large van the cover will also be large and therefore heavy to handle. The Specialised Accessories seemed a good one when we looked at it and slightly lighter than a Protec but we now have a Speedwell Star which is made from tent material and is so easy to use, especially as we need to use it frequently as we are under trees. If you are only putting it on at the start of the winter and removing in spring, then I think the S A cover would be fine.

We are looking at covers-van stored under trees-where did you source speedwell?

Thanks

 

[Chrissylizzie]

Hi Alison

www.speedwellstar.co.uk. I think they have stopped doing the grey range and only do the blue cheaper ones which is the one we have. It has stood up to these winds although we did add extra straps, but it is so easy to put on as it is light and we reckon we could wash it and hang it on a line if needed.

They are not a 'fitted' cover but do the same job for a fraction of the price.

 

[Dave_374370664]

Hi all,

I'd just like to say that we have owned 2 Specialised Accesories and have been happy with the fit and quality of the product. The covers do get a little dirty over time and will obviously pick up any spec of dirt that is left on the van before you fit the cover - This is what I imagine causes the scratches and dull patches. The covers are large and quite heavy which means cleaning the cover thoughly is nigh on impossible unles of course you have access to a huge industrial washing machine!

My advice would be to try and minimise the build up of dirt as much as possible by fitting the cover as soon after washing the van as possible and more importantly avoid letting the inside of the cover come in contact with the ground when fitting or removing your cover!

From my own recent experience it does appear that you do get what your pay for! At the end of last year we changed our van and from our previous use of a cover all year round, I would not leave our van uncovered for security reasons as much as keeping the van clean. Having just forked out for the van, the covers offered by purpleline at about a third of the cost of the speacialised accesories equivelent looked very appealing.

However the van is still stored in the same location as always and the purple line product has already started breaking up and three large holes have appeared in the roof after less than 6 months use!!! Further searching on the net has revealed I'm not the only one so its not a one off.

As you can guess I am currently in discussions with the supplying dealer!

I hope this helps some of you avoid the same mistake I made and save yourselves some grief.

Dave

ps If you were wondering our last speacialised accesories cover was in use for over 4 years before it was sold with the old van.

 

[full timer]

we no longer use a cover as we caravan full time, I have used the specialised accessories one in the past and it was excellent,however it got to the point where we were using the van more and got sick of removing it ,washing the van when you get back and then refitting, that got me on to FENWICKS OVER WINTERING FLUID, wash the van rinse off etc then mix up and apply the over wintering fluid either by sponge or better still a garden sprayer, this leaves like a very thin waxy like layer coating on the van and is easily washed off again using the caravan cleaner at the beginning of the season. bonus here is the caravan can still be used at any time as the coating is bearly visible, I will still be appling a coat before winter to help keep the van clean and free from algea etc even though we are in it all the time, it's not a bad idea to leave a coating on the roof all the time to protect against tree sap, bird turd etc..... Mark