Wednesday 27 February 2019

Caravan Water Systems

A bit of background…..

Most caravanners will recognise the submersible pump that sits inside an external water container, like an Aquaroll and pump the water on board. They use a small 12-volt motor to drive the water through a pipe and into your caravan.

Traditionally, water pumps would be turned on and off by a switch built into each tap. Alternatively, pressure switching can be used – when turning a tap off, the pressure rises, causing the switch to operate and turn the pump off.

Heating water in a touring caravan can be done using mains electricity of LPG, or sometimes both. Water heaters sometimes heat water alone, but combination units are available which also provide space heating. Common heater brands include Truma, Whale and Alde.
caravan water systems
Image via www.outandaboutlive.co.uk


You’ll need to sterilise your water system to make sure the water you’ll be using is safe, and to ensure grease and deposits are reduced.

Here’s how:
  • Close all the taps and valves.
  • Add a cleaning agent to your fresh water tank, then fill with water.
  • Turn on taps starting with the one furthest away from your water tank. As the water runs through you’ll start to smell the cleaning solution.
  • When this happens, turn off the taps and leave for up to 12 hours to properly sterilise the pipes.
  • After 12 hours turn on the water again to run fresh water into the grey water (used water) tank.
  • Repeat this step until you can no longer smell the cleaning fluid.
  • Empty the grey water tank.
  • You may also want to change your filters.

It’s also worthwhile cleaning your Aquaroll to ensure it lasts as long as possible. To do this, add 4tbsp of bicarbonate of soda and fill with water. After gently rolling it on its side, leave for 24 hours before rinsing thoroughly.

Another way to prolong your water tank’s life is to clean your toilet cassette regularly – around 2-3 times per year. You should always check manufacturers guidelines before performing any maintenance, but as a guide you’ll need to do the following:
  • Pour 300ml of specialist cleaner to the toilet cassette, adding 5 litres of lukewarm water.
  • Shake the tank back and forth several times then leave for at least 16 hours then empty.
  • Rinse with fresh water.

Whilst your caravan is in storage, it’s really important that you properly maintain your leisure battery, to ensure it’s ready for your next trip out.

Caravan Battery Maintenance

Despite what you might think, you shouldn’t just forget about your caravan battery once it’s fitted – it’ll require some attention to make sure it doesn’t slowly discharge and deteriorate. So, if you’ve invested in a good quality battery, and take good care of it, there’s no reason why you’ll need to fork out for a new one next season.

  • Check if your battery is charged by taking a voltmeter reading monthly. Avoid doing this immediately after use – leave it to settle for a few hours. You can buy a voltmeter for around £20. Always remove the negative terminal first when disconnecting a battery.
  •  A fully charged 12V battery would show a voltmeter reading of 12.7V. 75% charged would read 12.5V, 50% would read 12.4V and a reading of under 12V would be fully discharged.
  • If you’re putting your caravan into storage for the winter, your leisure battery should be fully charged.
  • If you store your caravan at home, you’ll be able to plug it into the mains supply and recharge that way.
  • For periods when your caravan is in storage, you can buy a maintenance charger to keep the battery fully charged.
  • Mains operated maintenance chargers provide a low trickle charge for keeping batteries fully charged. However, new technology uses circuits that are reactive to the battery and deliver tailored charging patterns – e.g. when the battery reaches full capacity, the charger will switch off.
    Caravan Battery Maintenance
  • When in storage, you may want to remove your leisure battery from the caravan so that you can attend to it more easily at home. However, removing the battery may disable an alarm or tracker which may invalidate your caravan insurance and leave your tourer vulnerable.
  • For maintenance, caravan batteries should be recharged as soon as they fall short of 50% charged. This should be done as soon as you return home or to storage from a weekend or holiday.
  • Turn off small electrical items in your caravan which could drain your battery.
  • Use high quality clamps and ensure their contact areas don’t rust.
  • Letting a battery lose all charge will make it pretty much impossible to fully charge again. Leaving a battery discharged will result in white deposits forming on the battery plates. When this happens, the battery can’t be used again.
  • If you’ve got a ‘wet’ battery, you’ll need to check the battery regularly to see whether the electrolyte liquid is covering the top of the lead plates inside. If it’s not, add de-ionised water to top up the level.
  • There are a range of battery chargers on the market – most battery manufacturers recommend that lead-acid batteries charge best when given a 14.4V input. 
Caravan Battery Maintenance


Always remember – Please read individual manufacturer guidelines prior to any maintenance work, and do not attempt in the vicinity of naked flames or cigarettes. 

How to buy a Caravan at a Show

There are a number of caravan and motorhome shows throughout the year, taking place at locations across the country. These events see new model launches, great offers and the opportunity to view a huge range of caravans and motorhome all in one place.
If you’re looking for a new caravan, one of the shows could be an ideal time to make your purchase. Here are our tips for getting the most out of a show, and hopefully making the right purchase for you.

Make a shortlist of caravans you want to see.
Do some research prior to visiting the show, so you’ve got an idea of which types of caravans or motorhomes you’re looking for, and which brands and dealers you want to visit. Exhibitor information will be available on the event websites prior to the show, so you can 
plan your day.

Don’t forget to check that your car can safely tow the caravans on your shortlist. Use an online caravan and tow car match tool to find out and make sure you won’t have to buy a new car too!

Dealer Specials


At shows, dealers will often offer a number of special edition versions of standard caravans. 

These special editions will be more expensive than standard models, but the value of the extras will represent excellent value for money, then it’s worth considering these.

Caravan Magazine have an handy comparison list printable to help you compare caravans when you’re at a show.

Special Offers

Dealers will be competing for your business at shows so there should be some excellent deals to be had. However, the best price for your ideal caravan may be from a dealer based miles away from your home. You’ll need to consider that if there is an issue, how easy will it be to tow your caravan to the dealership to get it repaired under warranty? This could also be the case for annual servicing.

Remember that you don’t have make a purchase there and then, unless it’s the last day of theshow and a show only offer. Take a coffee break to mull over your options, or better still, sleep on it.

Finance options should be available at the shows, but it’s worth considering this in advance, if you’re planning to make a credit purchase.

Insurance & Storage

Before you make the final decision, don’t forget to consider how much it will cost you to insure, and where you will store your new tourer – you may not be able to park it on your driveway. CaSSOA has over 400 secure storage locations across the country.