Caravan holidays are so much fun. Putting up a camping fire near the caravan, setting up a grill out in the open, taking stops at some of the most beautiful spots, spending some quality time with your close ones and a lot more things that you get to experience while on a camping trip. However, there are certain things that you should know and familiarise yourself with for a safe camping trip.
A caravan may seem like a simple carrier that has all the essentials for your camping. But it can be a complete mine-field. if not setup and maintained correctly. You need to be prepared for potential problems which you may have to face during your camping trips. In this article, we will share some basic tips that every caravan owner should know.
Caravan Levelling Tips
Camping with a campervan or caravan feels amazing. The ability to drive across this beautiful country and stop in magical locations is priceless. Sometimes, you might come across a campsite that does not offer levelled parking. The unevenly parked caravan is not ideal for a good nights rest.
Therefore, you need to be prepared for situations like these. You should know how to level park your caravan. An evenly parked caravan ensures that the drainage keeps working properly. Here are the three steps from parking your camper evenly on uneven grounds:
Level your Caravan Axle
Levelling your caravan axle is also known as levelling the camper from right to left. You can use a spirit level to get the caravan levelled correctly. Put the spirit or water glass on the kitchen shelf. It would help if you carry a few levelling tools like a levelling ramps or wheel jack.
If you have a good budget, you can even buy an inflatable levelling bag system. Place the levelling bag in front of the camper and then slowly pull the caravan up. It is suggested to use a wheel jack better because you are free to choose the height raise of the camper.
Level the Caravan Across the Axel
After you are done levelling the caravan from right to left, you need to level it back to front. It would help if you used a caravan jockey wheel to lower or raise the camper. Use a glass or spirit level to ensure that you are tilting it on the right side. Make sure that you put the spirit or glass of water near the door sill.
Lower the Corner Steadies
The final step of levelling your caravan is to lower the corner steadies. It is a thumb rule that the steadies should only be lowered when you are sure that the camper is levelled. Lowering down the steadies ensures that the caravan stays stable till you plan to stay there.
This technique is useful regardless of how uneven the ground may be. For example, if the area is rainy and muddy, you can place bricks below the steadies to ensure they do not sink in further.
Keep your Caravan Awning clean
When you own a caravan, you tend to accessorize it with an awning for enhancing your camping experience. A caravan awning not only helps you create extra space to hang out near your camper but also keeps the camper warm. However, we all know that awning gets dirty quickly. So, here are some tips on cleaning your awning and the products that will help you.
- Open the awning completely so that you have access to the complete sheet. If you have open space in your garden, you can also choose to remove the awning and spread it on the ground over a plastic sheet to wash it. Cleaning the awning on the ground sure helps, but it is not ideal as it takes time to dry it later.
- Have a complete set of awning cleaning tools such as telescopic cleaning brushes, a bucket, awning cleaning agents, tap water, etc. You must use awning-specific cleaning agents to prevent any damage to the fabric of your awning. It is recommended to use only tap water for cleaning as not all the awning fabrics can bear hot water. The hot water cleans grime pretty well, but it can also remove the waterproofing agent from awning.
- Make sure that you remove the dirt and grime from the awning by using a pressure water pipe. Use the cleaning agents and the telescopic brushes to reach the areas that are away. Make sure you put in good pressure while cleaning the awning sheet with the telescopic brush.
- After you are done cleaning the awning, make it a point to check if the sheet needs reproofing or not. The simplest way to check this is to see if the water beads over the sheet or not. If the water does not bead, it means you need to add a reproofing layer to keep the awning waterproof.
- However, keep in mind that the material of your awning also plays a vital role in waterproofing. Natural awning swells up upon water exposure, thus closing the gaps on the surface. Synthetic acrylic fibre awning needs an additional layer of the waterproofing agent. Therefore, check the user manual of your awning before applying any reproofing agent to it.
- Ensure that the sheets are completely dried off before rolling them back. Therefore, choose a sunny and bright day to clean your awning.
- You should clean your awning at least once in a few months. However, it is recommended to wash it as early as possible as the dirt on the surface can damage the awning in the long run. Ideally, you should re-proof the awning once a year. However, if you are out on your caravan for longer periods (like a complete season), you should consider doing it often. The more the awning is exposed to extreme weather, the sooner it will need repair and reproofing.
Final Words
To summarize, we have covered important aspects of owning a caravan. The caravan levelling and awning cleaning can create a problem for the owners. Therefore, we have discussed the tips to familiarize yourself with the issues and have enough knowledge to get through them. Go campers!
