Putting my beloved van to bed over the winter warm.

[Big Vern]

Hi,

i have recently become the owner of a 1990 VW transporter hi top leisuredrive campervan which i have become very attached to in a short period of ownership.

I have no choice but to store it outside during the winter

i am also a new member fo this club and i think it is really cool loads of info.

does anyone have any tips on keeping the inside dry during winter?

i would appreciate any help.

many thanks

Big Vern.

[gdr77]

hi there iam in the same boat i have just got a cover for a caravan and put it over and disconnected the battery
[IMG:640:480]http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh20 ... CF0161.jpg[/img]

[Billiemaye]

Hi welcome to the club Big Vern,your best bet is to use it every now and again,whether for camping or just give it a run now and again,.

They dont like standing around ,we hook our camper up to the garage and have a fan heater on inside ,just to keep it dry.

Its great as somtimes if i come in late of a night out ,i nip in the van and kip ,rather than wake up the mrs and kids.

[SplendiferousII]

I intend to use mine all winter as my daily hack. yet I have been spraying her underneath and especialy around the arches with duck oil. Also the seems, door runners, the flat bit behind the front bumper, well all over really. will be vasalining the seems later today.

[jaylo264]

covers may not be the best thing apparently ( gdr77 , see my posting on highlanddubbers ?)
I would defo put one end up on ramps , at least , and let air flow as much as poss.
jaylo

[HarryMann]

covers may not be the best thing apparently ( gdr77 , see my posting on highlanddubbers ?)
I would defo put one end up on ramps , at least , and let air flow as much as poss.
jaylo

Often heard - probably true - covering up is a double edged sword, condensation that never dries out fully on a warm day.

If you prop it one end, make sure water doesn't drip into the rear louvre vents.. Dripping air-vent syndrome

Open the rear tailgate right up after heavy rainy periods to see if water drips out of the drains at the bottom... if so repeat every time it rains

If possible park it where the sun shines for some of the day, but block the windows from direct sunlight light somehow if stored for long periods in summer. Leave the handbrake off and chock it.

If you do get an unseasonably warm dry day and can't take it for a drive, then open the tailgate and slider for an hour or two at midday, shutting it up well before the dew comes down.


But best of all, just make a point of going touring in it every so often to get the engine fully warmed up and the interior well dried out, so choose a nice weekend every once in a while. Don't just take it around the block - very bad!!!


Make sure the coolant system has had it's 3 yearly coolant change and the anti-freeze is up to full strength (50/50) to prevent cooling system corrosion, which will get it if this has been neglected...

http://wiki.club8090.co.uk/index.php/Co ... ded_brands

Thanks for this question, now a topic in the Wikipedia... http://wiki.club8090.co.uk/index.php/Bo ... _-_Storage

[Big Vern]

Many thanks to all who replied, i really appreciate your advice.

Big Vern.

[chuckle-bus-tom]

http://www.frost.co.uk/item_Detail.asp?productID=9456

Thinking of getting a couple of these bad boys to help out over the winter for the interior.

As for the exterior I got a double wax layer on before the weather closed in and, like has already been said, try and do a good run up to temp whenever I can.

[kevtherev]

[img:268:170]http://www.frost.co.uk/images/product_i ... e/9456.jpg[/img]

I would think these de-humidifiers are on the a hiding in a draughty old van.

unless you can make a fairly tight seal to the outside world

[andisnewsyncro]

I like the fan heater idea from Billiemaye. What sort of power heater are you using? Do you leave it on all the time?

We have a small one (max 1200 watts I think from memory but it's too cold to go out and check) that we took to Europe last winter and thinking of putting it in the van, keeping it hooked up and just switching on the hook up connection for an hour or so daily and so warming the van with the heater.

Any advice as to whether doing this would cause any problems with the battery charging? (Obviously the charger would come on with the power so would that be bad for the battery being on and off daily for short times ?)

Or should I just keep hook up plugged in all the time so the charger runs in maintenance mode and physically switch the heater on in the van every so often?

Hope that makes sense to someone

Cheers for any help, not used to UK winters!!!

Andi

[Mocki]

i have never been one for letting these vans stand, it does more harm than using them..... however, if you must, i recon there is no way you are going to be able to seal them from the damp outside completely, so dont even think about a electric de-humidifyer, you'll never dry the whole world out!!

those crystal ones work really well, but are messy if forgotten....

the fan heater thing is fine but its going to be expensive! If i was going to have the fan heater it would be a glass house type, with a frost setting that would only switch on if the temp dropped below say +3 deg and yu really need to aloow air to flow through, so keeping the vent open in the dash and doors.

i also think a bag of cement is a better moisture trap than many, a plastic biscuit tin with holes drilled in the top , half filled with cement powder will keep things dyer than almost anything ..........

[andisnewsyncro]

Cheers for the wisdom Mocki
Our van is my daily driver but just a bit paranoid about cold UK evenings!!
I drive it every day but only about 10 miles round trip so just wondering about keeping it as dry as possible. Like I said, probably just being paranoid, we lived in it last winter in Spain so now, here at home does seem very cold an I'm just trying to make sure I do everything right
Cheers
Andi

[Tells1983]

Little bowls of SALT! Everywhere! Presses n all, Very cheap

[Martin]

use rice instaed of salt

[campervankatie]

SplendiferousII can you please give me some more info on spraying duck oil and using vaseline. Our van is used all year round but it does carry a bit of rust which is starting to be mot worry. I'd love to know more about your techniques as i have been told to spray used oil underneath the van to keep the rust off.
thanks katie