Caravan and Motorhome Maintenance

It’s really important to keep your caravan and motorhome well maintained so that it doesn’t develop any problems, especially over winter. This includes routine checks of the tyres, electrical connections, appliances and water hoses. The investment you have made is worth protecting so you can get the most amount of time as possible using your tourer, which means more family holidays to Moss Wood Caravan Park! Before your embark on your first trip of the season or after any period when your caravan has been sat idle for an extended period of time, we highly recommend carrying out these maintenance checks.

Tyres

The first thing to check are the tyres on your caravan or motorhome, which can easily go down if not properly monitored. This is essential before any long journey, as no holidaymaker wants to have to pump up a deflated tyre on the hard shoulder, especially in a vehicle the size of a caravan or motorhome.

Along with ensuring the right tyre pressure in your caravan’s tyres (check the handbook or ask the seller for an accurate pressure), it is also best to adjust the pressure in your car rear tyres to compensate for the additional load. This generally means increasing the psi from 4 to 7, so it can adequately take a ‘fully laden’ pressure.

Electrical Connections

Electrical connections will differ between caravan and motor home, since there will be many more to consider with a caravan, which should be connected securely to the vehicle towing it. This external electrical connection can be easily tested by checking that the brake lights and turning signals are operational when connected to the towing vehicle.

Internal electrical connections on the other hand consist of lights, plug sockets and any other Appliances that utilise power inside the tourer. For lights make sure there aren’t any faulty bulbs and replace any fuses that may have gone.

Appliances

Generally, in a caravan or motorhome you will have a small selection of appliances to check alongside any electrical connections, including the gas hob, fridge, freezer and electric shower. It’s worth ensuring that all of these appliances are in perfect working order before setting out on the road, as the last thing you want is a faulty hob or a fridge that doesn’t work.

For the individual appliances you may have to check several different things. For the gas hob, simply make sure you don’t need to just refill the gas canister. For the fridge and freezer, make sure it doesn’t just need plugging in or it hasn’t been left open. If they are simply not working, then appliances may need expert maintenance instead.

 Water Hoses

Usually water is used for smaller jobs in a caravan or motorhome, such as washing the dishes, using the toilet or even taking a shower, if you have a large water tank. There might sometimes be excess oxygen in the pipe that might make the taps splutter, or it may not work at all, either way you will need to check that there isn’t a blockage or leak somewhere in the pipe.

Check all the taps are working, as well as the hot water, which will indicate if the water heater is working or not. If it isn’t, the water heater may need to be examined or replaced by an expert.

Make sure you get all of your maintenance jobs done before the summer holidays! To check our availability and book a pitch at Moss Wood, head over to our tariff page.