M C E A engineer (1 Viewer)

camocam1

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Anyone know anything about mobile caravan engineers association as they run courses so that you can train to be a mobile engineer.Not cheap but just wondered if anyone has heard of them ??
 

DBK

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Look on their website under Find an Engineer. There are just 9 listed. I've also never heard of them so wouldn't use them to find someone to do some work.
However, if they are a good trade association they will be sharing information amongst themselves and setting standards. If that is what they do then it may well be worth joining but be cautious. It might be just a money maker for the people who own it.
 
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camocam1

camocam1

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Have had a look on the website and was a bit concerned at lack of engineers hence the question. Thinking about early retirement and thought may be worth it so could check my own van and maybe a few others for beer money but at£900 + vat plus £400 for tools so may be a non starter

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haganap

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Yes, I know a fair bit about them.

I looked in to doing it a few years back because everytime I went somewhere like a meet I seemed to be getting my hands dirty and though if I had the qualifications I could charge a few quid. However I never went ahead.

I know two registered who are also members of this site. I have used both to do odd jobs on my Van and watched one go through the process of getting the qualifications so know they are genuine. :Smile:
 

Scout

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my son-in-law uses one over lancashire way to service his caravan, he allways seems to do a good job

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zaskar

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.................................... Thinking about early retirement and thought may be worth it so could check my own van and maybe a few others for beer money but at£900 + vat plus £400 for tools so may be a non starter

Toyed with this myself for exactly the same reasons after 30 years in aircraft engineering.
Came to the conclusion that it's simply not worth it for a one man band any more.
'Vans are now so complex, in terms of both equipment and build structure, that the specialized tools and certificates needed to work on them legally as a buisness make it pretty much financially unviable for a one man op'.
The big boys have got it stitched up now really.
 

haganap

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Toyed with this myself for exactly the same reasons after 30 years in aircraft engineering.
Came to the conclusion that it's simply not worth it for a one man band any more.
'Vans are now so complex, in terms of both equipment and build structure, that the specialized tools and certificates needed to work on them legally as a buisness make it pretty much financially unviable for a one man op'.
The big boys have got it stitched up now really.

I have to disagree.

I know one chap on here CLS who does it full time and makes a decent living. If you put the effort in you can succeed...Many if not most people would rather not have to trail around to the big boys for their work to be carried out.

Only real problems come when your having to repair massive damp problems. Van's are not that technical they are simple bits of equipment with some technical bits bolted on. :Smile:


Lots of people use CLS because he does a fair job for the right price and competes well with the big boys.. although he is quite a big boy himself :winky:
 

Snowbird

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When you consider how many motorhomes and caravans are in somewhere like Benidorm and the nearest dealer/service centre is miles away in Alicante. Anyone who had the knowledge and qualifications could earn a very good living here and live in the sun. Its almost impossible to get hold of basic parts for fridges, heaters etc. With all the campsites here there must be thousands of vans at any time of the year, and with the appliances being in constant use for months on end, there is always something going wrong. There is only one mobile fitter here that I know of and he charges an arm and a leg to do basic repairs. Anything remotely difficult and he wont come out.

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Yes, I know a fair bit about them.

I looked in to doing it a few years back because everytime I went somewhere like a meet I seemed to be getting my hands dirty and though if I had the qualifications I could charge a few quid. However I never went ahead.

[HI]I know two registered who are also members of this site[/HI]. I have used both to do odd jobs on my Van and watched one go through the process of getting the qualifications so know they are genuine. :Smile:

Could you say who they are please?
 
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I know the 2 funster MCEA members have a good reputation. However, I used another one local to me for a hab check and I was not very impressed! He charged quite a lot, got me to order a new and expensive part for my water heater without telling me about a company which reconditioned them at a much lower cost. On the other hand I used another MCEA one while travelling who was impressive. Simply having the qualification doesn't necessarily mean they are good value!

Catherine
 

camcondor

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I have to disagree.

I know one chap on here CLS who does it full time and makes a decent living. If you put the effort in you can succeed...Many if not most people would rather not have to trail around to the big boys for their work to be carried out.

Only real problems come when your having to repair massive damp problems. Van's are not that technical they are simple bits of equipment with some technical bits bolted on. :Smile:


Lots of people use CLS because he does a fair job for the right price and competes well with the big boys.. although he is quite a big boy himself :winky:


We used CLS right from the early days when he started out on his own - very thorough and genuine with his work - he is booked to do more on van in a few weeks. Much better than "the big guys" - was extremely unimpressed by the habitation service from Leisure Kingdom, for instance. Plus the prices the big companies charge for less than expert work is crazy :Eeek: A decent small company interested in the service they deliver is better every time.

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wasp

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I got in touch with them regarding becoming a caravan engineer they wanted about a grand for the coursei, I said I was Gas Safe Registered for residential and leisure accommodation vehicles. The chap says you don`t have to be Gas Safe registered. Gas Safe say if you work on gas appliances you must be registered with Gas Safe. So I didn`t bother.:whatthe::whatthe:
 
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camocam1

camocam1

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Did see that on the info which bothered me as son in law is gas registered and was not impressed

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I got in touch with them regarding becoming a caravan engineer they wanted about a grand for the coursei, I said I was Gas Safe Registered for residential and leisure accommodation vehicles. The chap says you don`t have to be Gas Safe registered. Gas Safe say if you work on gas appliances you must be registered with Gas Safe. So I didn`t bother.:whatthe::whatthe:
If they are saying that i wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. :Smile:
 

wasp

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I am currently looking at Manufacturers course for the products I am interested in, same as the boiler manufacturers they have training days:thumb::thumb:
 

ubuntu1

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The advice on Gas Safe was right. In the leisure vehicle industry you have to prove competence and this is usually achieved via something called ACOPS which MCEA engineers have to go through. This is additional and expensive training over and above the one week foundation course.

What you want is an engineer that knows what to do with lpg in a lesiure vehicle, most Gas Safe engineers haven't even been in a motorhome! You can do a Gas Safe or ACS lpg certification and engineers wanting to work on static vans or vans for hire have to have this qualification.

Its a complicated area but the advice that Gas Safe isn't required is correct.

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Pammy

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Let's nip this in the bud

I've been working on the Gas qualification side of things for the last 15 years for a college in Mansfield

Mostly taking applications for the training and assessments of the ACS qualifications for the Gas Safe Registered Engineers.

We also cover the ACOP gas training courses for people who like the majority of people here want to be able to undertake work on their own vehicles.

The ACOP also allows you to undertake work on other peoples motorhomes provided that motorhome is not hired out in the course of a business. If it is then it has to be safety checked by an ACS certificated and Gas Safe Registered Engineer.

Companies such as Lowdham Leisure, Camper UK for example offer motorhomes hired out so their engineers have to be ACS qualified and Gas Safe Registered. I know both of these companies well and would recommend either of their engineers:winky:

An ACOP qualification is not a stepping stone to the ACS qualification. If you undertake an ACOP and then want to progress to the ACS standard you have to seek on site training with a gas safe registered company or engineer and build a portfolio of evidence to back the on site training up. Evidence of 140 days would be the norm. So you would be looking at 80 days to cover the core competence (Core Gas Safety) and then 60 further days to cover the appliances (20 for cookers, 20 for fires, 20 for boilers and water heaters).

The ACOP is done at our college over a full week period
Day 1 - Health and Safety - training followed by theory assessment
Day 2 Continuation of Health and Safety follwed by Gas Safe Legislation - training followed by theory assessment
Day 3 - Ventilation, combustion - training and theory assessments
Day 4 - Flueing Standards, & LPG - training and theory and practical assessment
Day 5 - Appliances - Cookers, Fires, Boilers, Water heaters, - theory and practical assessments

The cost £595.00 all inclusive (VAT exempt as it's a college)

The training and assessment is carried out by a fully qualified and experienced gas engineer who has worked on motorhomes and in domestic premises.

This is not meant to be an advert (even though it seems to be coming across that way) but some of the post previous indicate that this course is a non starter at high costs and unachievable outcomes. Anyone can do an ACOP so get on with it - I would recommend anyone to do it. I've been waging war with Gas Safe and Corgi for years to get this qualifcation scrapped and to get all caravans and motorhomes included within the Gas Safety Regulations.

If you ever have the chance to stand on a motorhome roof at a show (say Peterborough) and look at the 1000's of motorhomes parked up, one of these days there's going to be a fire and when one goes they'll all go - I hope I'm not around to see it and I certainly hope my RV isn't there either. There are too many people tinkering with appliances in motorhomes and caravans that haven't a clue what they're doing. I read some posts of this forum and it makes me cringe and shout 'DON'T DO IT'.

PLEASE, PLEASE FOR THE SAKE OF A FEW QUID GET THE QUALFICATION AND KEEP SAFE:thumb:.

I rest my case 'Your Honour' :ROFLMAO:

Pammy
 

Pammy

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What you want is an engineer that knows what to do with lpg in a lesiure vehicle, most Gas Safe engineers haven't even been in a motorhome! You can do a Gas Safe or ACS lpg certification and engineers wanting to work on static vans or vans for hire have to have this qualification.

Almost right
If anyone wants to find a Gas Safe Registered Engineer with LPG qualifications look on the Gas Safe Website, key in your area and do a search.

Your looking for someone with the following quals

CCN1 Core Domestic Gas Safety
CKR1 CKR1 Domestic
HTR1 Fires/Heaters Domestic
CENWAt Boilers/Water heater Domestic

CoNGLP1 Changeover from Domestic Gas to LPG Gas
PD LPG Permanent Dwellings (Brick buildings)
RPH LPG Residential Park Homes (Statics)
LAV LPG Leisure Accomodation Vehicles

WATLP2 LPG Caravan Water heaters
HTRLP2 LPG Caravan Fires (Widney Leisure type for Statics)
HTRLP3 LPG Caravan Closed Flue fires
REFLPS LPG Refrigerators

Any engineer with all those qualifications above will be certificated and registered to work on domestic premises including the appliances, and LPG premises including motorhomes and caravans.

Some engineers may only want qualifications to work on LPG because that is mainly the fuel where they live so they may have the following qualfications

CCLP1 LPG Core Gas Safety

plus
CKRLP1 Cookers
HTRLP1 Fires
WATLP1 Boilers/water heaters

HTRLP2 As above
HTRLP3 As above
WATLP2 As above
REFLP2 As above

Hope this helps a little

Pammy

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Pammy

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I got in touch with them regarding becoming a caravan engineer they wanted about a grand for the coursei, I said I was Gas Safe Registered for residential and leisure accommodation vehicles. The chap says you don`t have to be Gas Safe registered. Gas Safe say if you work on gas appliances you must be registered with Gas Safe. So I didn`t bother.:whatthe::whatthe:

If you've still got your ACS Robert, all you need to do is your LPG conversation and LPG appliances. (CoNGLP1 LAV, HTRLP3, WATLP2, REFLP2) CKR1 will convert automaticallyas soon as you have the changeover.

cheap as chips for you and certainly nothing like a grand either. 2 days training, 1 days assessment for the changeover, 1 days training plus 1 day assessment for the appliances. :thumb:
 

Pammy

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Oh and one more thing

There is no need to be a part of any association.

You only need to show a certificate to show you achieved the qualifcation

Large caravan and motorhome companies will join the association and some mobile caravan and motorhome repairers may also feel they want to join associations as it shows credibility when putting the stickers on their mobile workshops but individuals just wanting to be competent and safe whilst working on their motorhomes don't need to be.

Hope this helps too
 

wasp

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If you've still got your ACS Robert, all you need to do is your LPG conversation and LPG appliances. (CoNGLP1 LAV, HTRLP3, WATLP2, REFLP2) CKR1 will convert automaticallyas soon as you have the changeover.

cheap as chips for you and certainly nothing like a grand either. 2 days training, 1 days assessment for the changeover, 1 days training plus 1 day assessment for the appliances. :thumb:
Thanks for that Pam, But I have got the LPG upgrade for Residentials and leisure accommodation vehicles I am just looking now at what the manufacturers are offering.:thumb:

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