Hi Magnus,
A good set of questions - which you may find answers to if you do a forum search - or read the technical articles from the Caravan Club.
But in outline:
1. Wheels - first read your insurance document - it may be a requirement that the caravan is secured by means of a wheel clamp - in which case you can't remove the wheels and still comply with the insurance. Yes I know it's probably more difficult to steal a caravan with no wheels - but that's the insurance people for you.
If you need to keep the wheels on - then rotate them every month and check that the tyre pressure is correct (I'd probably inflate to maximum allowable pressure, then adjust before you use the van).
If you can remove the wheels - use either winter wheels or axle stands.
2. Wintering Fluids - we normally wax our Eriba with a quality wax and this year we also bought a "cheap" Towsure breathable cover. Wintering fluids do help keep the van clean, but you will still need to do a thorough external clean next year.
3. Battery charging - only keep the mains lead connected if you have an intelligent battery charger - one that automatically provides a trickle charge to replenish the 20 or 40 milliAmps that are lost by internal actions. That's between 0.5 and 1 AH a day - so a 100AH battery will be 1/2 charged between 100 and 50 days - which means charge once a month.
If your caravan has an internal "dumb" charger - then charge the battery once a month - just connect the mains lead for one day.
If you want to remove the battery and look after it in your shed - then fine - just remember to charge it once a month.
4. Damp - If the van doesn't leak (no sealant holes, gaps around the windows, that sort of thing) then the van interior should be fine.
You must make sure that air is free to flow around the interior - so the fridge door(s) are fully open, all the lockers are open, and the foam cushions have a good air gap all round.
On the coldest days you may consider running a very low wattage heater (100 or 200 watts - like an electrical greenhouse heater)
Using a dehumidifier is a bit self defeating - a caravan is not a sealed box and as soon as you start to dry the interior - more water vapour migrates in from the outside. People have reported collecting 10's of litres of water from a dehumidifier over winter - and all they have achieved is to slightly dry the air around the van. Nothing wrong with that, it's just a bit expensive on electricity.
5. Water, waste and toilet - empty all the water - and leave the taps open, allowing any water in the pipes to drain out.
The one thing you don't want is water trapped in a tap, or a tank, where it can freeze and split the plastic tap body (or tank)
Robert
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