Brecon

The only things that affect the value of a van is condition.

A few points to note: First is that the on board voltmeters are notoriously rubbish, you need a multimeter to get true reading of the battery state. Next is if as you say the van indicator dropped to below 10v then it is in need of a long charge, at least 48 hours, or it is passed its useful life. To check if your van charger is working, using a multimeter (which you have just been out to buy) check the battery voltage with no power on to the van. Then switch on the power and make sure the charger is ON, and check the battery voltage again. With power on, and the age of your van , it should be around 13.8v. Going back to charging the battery at home, when fully charged it should, if in good condition, read around the 12.8 to 13v mark, but do not check immediately after disconnecting the charger, leave it for a few hours to settle first. A battery at 12.5v is a flat battery.

With a 1998 van you will have the Carver Crystal inlet which has filter, as you say, above the water inlet. First thing to do is remove the actual filter from the cap (it just pulls off) and replace the cap .(Do Not overtighten) Just inside the van behind the inlet should be a pressure switch (looks like an oblong box with a knurled nut on the top and two wires connected to it). Try adjusting the setting, turning anticlockwise will reduce the pressure needed to operate the switch.. Do this with one cold tap open and see what happens. If the pump runs then shut the tap and see if the pump stops almost immediately, if not, adjust the pressure so that it does shut off as soon as the tap is closed. It will take some time to fill the hot water tank (probably a Carver Cascade). Once you get water running, run the hot tap until the water runs without spitting and BEFORE turning any water heating on. Let us know how things work out before going into more detail.

As long as the water is kept on the roof, and by looking at the amount of sealant you have used, it is, then that's fine, its not getting into the van and as soon as you move the van it will run off.

The same is happening here, the numbers of known infected is rising as is the death number. Having said that, there are a lot of idiots who think it will not get them and gather in all kinds of places, like in farmers fields, the local cemetery etc etc with their bottles and cans of booze and music players.

You do realise that you have replied to a post over 2 years old !!

I have only been working on caravans for about 30 years, so you can do as you please, but I know what I work on .

I know I am right. Having removed and resealed more than I care to think of, they do NOT have a herzim strip, regardless of what it "looks like".

The roof strap does not have a herzim strip.

Well done and congratulations on your efforts. The screws that did not tighten will be held by the Sikaflex once cured, so you will probably get away with any further problems. When you see how rippled the roof skin is under the strap, it is no wonder it is prone to leaking and tends to show the lack of care and expertise in the workmanship during build.

The BCA units are fitted to Bailey vans and others and have proven to be very unreliable and have a high failure rate, but it is the way they are fitted in the top of the main power distribution box which has very little ventilation. You may be lucky if you fit the unit where it has very good ventilation. Just a comment, buying cheap has its downfalls, it is not always the best idea.

Leisureshop Direct is one supplier that I use frequently. It must be noted however that no matter where you buy one from they are not very good quality, some last a long time, others much less, but there is no way of knowing what your purchase maybe like until it fails again.

What are you unsure of? With both the 12v and 230v elements there are only two wires for each, both the same colour and the Earth (green and white stripe) can be connected any way around, matching colours., to their respective switches. However, if just changing the element it is usual just to cut the wire to whichever element you are changing and use a crimp connection to join the wires, covered with a heat shrink sleeve which saves removing the fridge in the majority of cases.

Not accurate in as much as that statement gives the impression that anyone can do gas work on private caravans or motorhomes when in fact it is ONLY the owner of said caravan or motorhome who can ONLY work on his own vehicle without being qualified,if the vehicle is for his sole use only, but he must work to the current rules. Anyone working on another persons vehicle as part of a business, such as a caravan engineer, must be trained and certified to a minimum of STGW level. Many caravan engineers are qualified to STGW (or ACoPS as it was) and that only covers the servicing, repair and testing of specific items, it does not qualify to carry out new installation of a gas service, and is only valid for caravans and motorhomes which are privately owned and not rented out as part of a business , it does not cover what the OP is proposing.

The OP does not have a private tourer or motorhome, it is not type approved, it is classed as a Mobile Home, which DOES fall into the Gas Safe regulations and to suggest anything else is completely out of order ! Please do NOT try and tell me what is and what is not allowed, I work with the stuff every day.

Regarding the roof strap, what you are proposing is a waste of time, money and effort and materials. There is only one way to deal with the strap and that is to remove it, clean it thoroughly , and the van, apply new Soudall Fixall and refit , making sure the mastic squashes out along the strap length and paying special attention to the ends to ensure there are no gaps anywhere. Put a covering of mastic over each screw head when tightened. New mastic will not stick to old, and for the sake of undoing some screws and the time to clean everything up, it is a no brainer.

The very best person to Talk to is Paul at Apuljack Engineering. He will Talk you through some checks and then advise what to do. He specialise in caravan power supplies and can repair to better than new in most cases. Give him a ring. www.apuljackengineering.co.uk

The rubber strip should not need any as it is , or supposed to , seal on its own as the rail is tightened up. The mastic needs to be all along the centre, filling the whole distance between both rubber seals, which should be very clean and supple. You could use Sikaflex but it is not as easy to tool or work with as Soudall Fixall is. It uses a lot of mastic, but that is just how it is. I am not surprised by your comment about the Internet seeming to love W4,,,but not everything is the way it "seems", those who love it are not caravan engineers or have the inclination to find out how to do a job properly with long lasting effectiveness.

Emma, as you have found the need to ask about fitting a gas system to your project , it is obvious that you do not have the required knowledge to carry out such a job. As Lost in the Wilderness has said, there are a lot of regulations regarding the fitting and testing of gas and as such you MUST get a Gas Safe LPG engineer to do the work. It is NOT something you can do yourself. I am such a Gas Safe LPG registered engineer and must emphasise the danger you would put yourself in by not having an engineer do the work. Unlike a fault with electric where you may get a shock, or a fault with water where you may get wet, any fault with a gas installation WILL KILL YOU !!!!

The W4 mastic strip is probably the worst thing to use when reattaching the awning rail. Unless you drill each screw hole before inserting the screw , the screw will twist the W4 and leave gaps , also it does not expand, and lastly it provides nothing but a kind of seal, and not a very good one at that. Personally I would never use W4 for anything on a caravan. The best sealant and adhesive to use is Soudall Fixall, and a really good bead so that it extends outwards as the rail is screwed up, then tooled off to a smooth, angled finish to allow water to run off. As I understand things, you have the fridge on the side you are working on, which normally means that you would attach an awning to this rail so you want a strong attachment, not just relying on the screws, which is what will happen with W4. It has no adhesive strength.

From my experience of B&Q recently it will be the very last place I go to in the future. I ordered a fence panel and another item for Click and Collect, a week later , after contacting the B&Q customer services I got an Email saying the items were out of stock and I would be getting a refund. The fence panel was £48.00 Rang a local wood supplier, asked if they made fence panels, was asked what I wanted, explained, told it would be about a week as they had a backlog of orders but would be delivered as soon as made , and the cost £29.00. Within 24 hours the fence panel was on my drive, much better quality than B&Q offer. If I had wanted delivery from B&Q it would have added an extra £20.00 It is now two weeks since B&Q said they would refund me, but today I got an Email from them saying they understood that I wanted a refund and that it would take 2 weeks or so …………………. It only took them less than 2 seconds to take my money, yet over a month to refund.

Back in time the sealant used on rooflights was IDL99 which is a non setting mastic, but things have moved on and the IDL was found to be not very good as it dries out and falls away, leaving points of water ingress. Today , makers use a sealing mastic which adheres and partially sets but makes a much better seal , although it is very hard to remove once cured. The one I use mainly is Soudall Fixall which is an excellent sealer and mastic in one tube.

The only cable that is allowed to be used in a caravan is multicore flex. Standard Twin and Earth is NOT permitted

1.5 for lights and light power draw items. 2.5 for sockets and heavy power draw items. Use a micrometer to measure the cable core size.

You should have had the battery connected all the time. I think that Lunar used BCA power supplies, and I am guessing that you have damaged yours. You need to get a mobile engineer to look at it for you.