habitation check (1 Viewer)

poppys

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I have been quoted £115 to have this done,is it a good quote ; or should I buy a damp meter and do it myself. I have always done most of my own servicing/maintenance on my old air cooled VW`s but my wife thinks that as my present Eldis is a bit more complex and valuable that it should be done professionally. Your views most welcome. Chris
 
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We are having a habitation check done tomorrow by a mobile service engineer (£120 + vat) our MH is only 2 years old so a stamp in the book seems like a good idea when it comes to selling.
 

Terry

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I have been quoted £115 to have this done,is it a good quote ; or should I buy a damp meter and do it myself. I have always done most of my own servicing/maintenance on my old air cooled VW`s but my wife thinks that as my present Eldis is a bit more complex and valuable that it should be done professionally. Your views most welcome. Chris

If it is older and does not require one for G/TEE do your own :thumb:-IF you are unsure what needs to be done you can always watch what he does and do your own next yr :ROFLMAO::winky:
They basically check gas and water systems and that all windows doors and catches and things work :thumb:
Link Removed
see above check-list :thumb:
terry

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Squire

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If it is older and does not require one for G/TEE do your own :thumb:-IF you are unsure what needs to be done you can always watch what he does and do your own next yr :ROFLMAO::winky:
They basically check gas and water systems and that all windows doors and catches and things work :thumb:
Link Removed
see above check-list :thumb:
terry


Hmm ... not sure about that. OK if it's not a newish van and you're not likely to be selling it for a few years, but if I was offered a van with an owner's 'self certificate' I would discount it. I would want so see certificates from a professional and unbiased source.
 

Terry

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It is not a self certificate just to let Poppy know what is done :thumb:
By all means get a proper one (qualified engineer)if you think it will help sell your van :thumb::ROFLMAO:
terry
 

Welsh girl

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We are having a habitation check done tomorrow by a mobile service engineer (£120 + vat) our MH is only 2 years old so a stamp in the book seems like a good idea when it comes to selling.
Thats not to bad a price, we were quoted £220 plus VAT by our motorhome dealer last week, luckily we had it free this year as compensation as they messed us about so much last year when we got the van.
We had to have it done 10 months after getting the van though as it was registered too early and we didnt get it (the van)for 2 months after registration.

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paulmold

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Surely window catches and that sort of thing you can do yourself. The only items which should be done by a qualified engineer are maybe the water system and definitely the gas system and a damp check. Depends how much of a diy person you are and whether a van conversion or coachbuilt. Van conversions don't suffer from damp so much except around window frames. A mobile engineer in Cheshire advertises a habitation check for £115 or just a gas safety check for £35, I would assume other mobile engineers would do the same. The dealer I bought my MH from offered a special winter price of £175. I know who I would use.
 
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Just had mine done with local mobile motor home service.80 quid.:thumb:
 

C.L.S

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The average price for a mobile engineer to service your van seems to be £90.00 --£100.00, the one thing worth noting is if your van is still under manufacturers warranty make sure the engineer is either approved by the manufacturer or is an "Approved Workshop" which is run by the National Caravan Council if not they could invalidate any remaining warranty. :Sad:

These have engineers all over the Uk : www.mcea.co.uk

Mark

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Theonlysue

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Hi, Having my done by Ash at Newbury as I want to keep the warranty up, and I would rather use someone who knows what to check for.

Well worth the money!

S:thumb:
 

philw111

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While not actually specified as a requirement on the policy, I wonder if an insurance company would try to wriggle out of a claim for damage caused if a habitation check hadn't been carried out.

Anyone had experience of this?

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Terry

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While not actually specified as a requirement on the policy, I wonder if an insurance company would try to wriggle out of a claim for damage caused if a habitation check hadn't been carried out.

Anyone had experience of this?

No & why should it?
terry
 

philw111

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No & why should it?
terry
Just thinking worst case scenario. Say there was a fire and it was found to be caused by a malfunctioning gas heater, could you be classed as negligent if the system had not been checked for a long time?
 

Terry

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If it is older and does not require one for G/TEE do your own :thumb:-IF you are unsure what needs to be done you can always watch what he does and do your own next yr :ROFLMAO::winky:
They basically check gas and water systems and that all windows doors and catches and things work :thumb:
Link Removed
see above check-list :thumb:
terry

gives a good idea
terry
 

dave newell

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So do all of you who do your own hab inspections own all the apropriate equipment? I'm thinking gas system soundness control unit, damp meter, proper battery tester (rather than just a multimeter). Do you know where the most likely water ingress areas are and therefore where to check?

D.
 

Terry

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So do all of you who do your own hab inspections own all the apropriate equipment? I'm thinking gas system soundness control unit, damp meter, proper battery tester (rather than just a multimeter). Do you know where the most likely water ingress areas are and therefore where to check?

D.
Hi Dave
gas system soundness control unit is not a necessary bit of equipment- you only need to do a drop test- although it makes life easier.You can do that without any equipment:winky:.Damp meter, a £ 15 one will do the job, again not as posh as a £150 one, and battery tester yep I have a multi meter (never use it:ROFLMAO:) but my local spares shop will test the battery's free of charge (in the hope of getting a sale) on there posh £250 tester :thumb:
Not knocking the Habitation tests you do or the equipment you use but there are alternatives that do the same job :thumb:A bit like the £299 18v battery drill in my garage and the £30 18v battery drill I carry in the van.The expensive hd duty one does a great job day in day out but the £30 one does the exact same job on the odd occasion I need it :thumb:Where to test ? if you have a £15 meter you can stick it on every inch of the van :ROFLMAO:The rest is simply what I would call daily use maintenance :thumb:a squirt of silicon on anything that is feeling stiff or needs lubrication, if a light bulb or catch fails you change it.:thumb: None of it is rocket science
terry
 

Terry

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See att for a more complete habitation check-list
terry
 

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  • Recommended Annual Habitation Service Check.doc
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dave newell

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Hi Terry, would you like to explain a "drop test" please, for those who don't know what it is or how to carry it out:Smile:.

D.

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Terry

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Hi Terry, would you like to explain a "drop test" please, for those who don't know what it is or how to carry it out:Smile:.

D.

Certainly Dave (I have gauges for mine) but for anybody who does not a very simple test is to turn on your gas bottle for a few secs to fill the system then turn it off,wait 30 mins and then turn on a cooker knob listening for the gas escape :thumb:If you hear gas then your system is not leaking :thumb:no gas sound your system has a leak so either find it or go to such as yourself to fix it :winky:I know it is a very simple method but effective :thumb:eek:nly pressurising the system to the bottle pressure.
I have a gaslow gauge fitted to my bottle :thumb: This can be done every time you turn your gas on,very simple to see if it stays green or goes to red -- now Dave you can shhoot me down in flames by saying it needs a pressure test heehee
terry
 

W18BLA

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I am a EX Caravan engineer spent 5 years with Broad Lane Leisure and 4 years with Raymond James fully City & Guilds and ALKO Chassis Trained, I am having my Hab service done but i am begrudging paying the price for basically something i can do myself..... I have argued with the dealer about this but it is the warranty issue that makes it hard for me to do it myself... But at least i can fix anything that goes wrong without taking it on a 220mile round trip to fix anything they just send the part i fit it and send old back...

But i agree with alot of people it is terrible that what us engineers do is what you all do everytime your out in the Van apart from Gas pressure test and Damp check, Everything else is done every time you use the van.....

Oh and anyone on site when i am on site too needs any help i charge by the beer can lol.....Feed me beer and i will help you lol...

Craig
 

dave newell

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Certainly Dave (I have gauges for mine) but for anybody who does not a very simple test is to turn on your gas bottle for a few secs to fill the system then turn it off,wait 30 mins and then turn on a cooker knob listening for the gas escape :thumb:If you hear gas then your system is not leaking :thumb:no gas sound your system has a leak so either find it or go to such as yourself to fix it :winky:I know it is a very simple method but effective :thumb:eek:nly pressurising the system to the bottle pressure.
I have a gaslow gauge fitted to my bottle :thumb: This can be done every time you turn your gas on,very simple to see if it stays green or goes to red -- now Dave you can shhoot me down in flames by saying it needs a pressure test heehee
terry

As expected Terry you have misunderstood my motives:winky:, I have no interest in "shooting anyone down in flames" . Not everyone who owns a motorhome has the knowledge to do such checks, a drop test such as you describe, while being very basic is a good idea and all motorhome owners should carry this out as a matter of course. It doesn't quite replicate a proper soundness check though where the system is pressurised to five times its normal operating pressure and checked over a measured period of time. your simple test would certainly show up a significant leak but it wouldn't necessarily show up a minor leak.

A minor leak might not seem important but if the van is on site for a week and a gas drop vent is blocked (or not present) but the gas is turned on for the entirety then it could build up to a dangerous level, the tiniest spark could set it off and then the motorhome is no more.

D.

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Terry

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Hi Dave while what you are saying is right,once the system is pressurised from the bottle leaving it for half an hour will be long enough to show / let the smallest of leaks show by not getting the hiss.A Bourdon gauge (one in my garage somewhere::bigsmile:) is not a must have bit of equipment for a diy testing :thumb:(for £20the gaslow gadge is a good bit of kit to invest in purely to show up leaks rather than running out of gas )
I think you are scaremongering a little by suggesting that no gas drop vents are present or they are blocked.This could happen as soon as anyone used the van after testing-All you are stating is it was correct at the time of testing :Doh::thumb:-No bad thing :thumb:because I am sure you will have come across someone who has thrown a bit of carpet down to stop the bottles rattling/scratching:whatthe: blocking the drop holes:ROFLMAO:
Again you are correct - not everyone has the knowledge to do such checks and as such it is a good reason to have such as yourself to check things for them :thumb:
Most of the things done on the habitation checks are done with everyday use of the van :thumb: and even the bolting to the chassis is checked by the MOT or at least my MOT inspector lets me know if anything under there is not right even if it is not covered by the MOT :thumb::winky: My roof is checked every time I go up there.:thumb: and the water system checked every time the pump is turned on :ROFLMAO:
terry
 

JJ

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...but my wife thinks that as my present Eldis is a bit more complex and valuable that it should be done professionally.

IMO There lies the answer... surely drop tests, damp meters, window catches mean nothing here... if your wife wants it then it must be done... £115 is an insurance policy for you... don't have it done an then develop any sort of problem and it will be down to you. :ROFLMAO:

You know it makes sense...:winky:

JJ
 

Terry

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IMO There lies the answer... surely drop tests, damp meters, window catches mean nothing here... if your wife wants it then it must be done... £115 is an insurance policy for you... don't have it done an then develop any sort of problem and it will be down to you. :ROFLMAO:

You know it makes sense...:winky:

JJ

:ROFLMAO::thumb::thumb:

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poppys

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I think JJ has hit the nail on the head ,but it does seem expensive just for a bit of paper:roflmto:as I think that I'm fairly qualified to do the gas test having worked for British Gas for 12 years.Oh well I shall cough up and shut up.:RollEyes: Im surprised no one got round to mentioning that the barometric pressure can affect the gas test results:roflmto:
 

ShiftZZ

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You lot have caused me no end of probs. she is now demanding that I go through the 'drop test', I tried it under the duvet, but oh no...

She is not happy with my gas results....


Thanks a bunch.

ShiftZZ
 

dave newell

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I'm not trying to persuade anyone to have a hab inspection, if you can do your own properly then good on yer mate:winky:. BUT, for those who don't know how, are not physically capable, or just don't want to know about it I would say its money well spent.

Just one example of how a properly carried out hab inspection could save you lots of problems: Recently I had a motorhome in where all was apparently well, no damp and everything worked but......................with the gas soundness control unit(GSCU) connected I could see that the regulator was dying a slow death. Symptoms were none existent as everything worked OK, even with all gas appliances on full bore but the GSCU showed that while the reg could cope with some of the appliances and maintain pressure as soon as you put a high demand item such as the waiter boiler or space heater on the pressure dropped, with both on it dropped to 15mbar, half of what it should be. How can you detect such a failure without a GSCU?

Yesterday I serviced a caravan and while everything appeared ok the cooker obviously had a problem, any one of the rings would work fine but if you lit more than one the flames on each would diminish, by the time it was all lit there was hardly any flame at all on the rings, but the regulatoed pressure was fine. This one is a problem with the cooker not the regulator but without a GSCU how could you tell?

And to the person who said £115 is a lot for a piece of paper, its not the piece of paper you're paying for, its the time, skill and expertise of the person doing the inspection and the cost of the equipment used that MAY just save a life!

I feel that this should just about sum up my feelings on this matter and to avoid this becoming an unpleasant argument that is of no real use to anyone I shall now gracefully bow out.

Happy camping folks, D.

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