Bringing your caravan out of winter storage, and making it ready for your first outing of the season.
Check your water system and clean it, by reconnecting the pipes and closing all the taps. Fill the tank with fresh water and run this through the system, while checking for leaks. Should you find a leak, then replace the pipe, washer or cracked joints, then recheck the system making sure it's leak free.
Once the water has drained, refill with a solution like Puriclean, leave this for twelve hours before flushing the water system through with fresh water. Replace your old water filter with a new one, check how often you should change your water filter, as some need replacing monthly, although some new ones will last you through the season.
If you removed your leisure battery when you placed your vehicle in storage, check it is fully charged. Clean the contacts on the leads and battery terminals with a contact cleaner. Reconnect the battery ensuring you connect it correctly. Test by turning on your 12v lights and the water pump. Should your battery be completely flat, it may not hold a charge at all and will need replacing.
Hitch and brakes should be checked, hopefully you left the hitch covered and brakes off whilst in storage to prevent them from seizing. Grease the hitch, hand brake and brake override. Should you find that your brakes have seized, you should use a qualified caravan service engineer.
Check your wheels and tyres, checking you have at least 1.6mm of tread over 75% of the tread section all round the tyre. Look for splits and cracks in the tyre side walls, replacing any defective tyres. Check the tyre pressures are correct as per the vehicles handbook.
Check your exterior lights are all working, check your plugs for corrosion on the pins. Connect your caravan to your car, have someone to help you check that the lights are working when you are in the car depress the brake pedal, use indicators etc. Should you experience some flickering on your lights this is a sign of a possible earthing problems.
With your gas you can check that your pipes are in good condition and that they are in date. You should use a qualified gas engineer to check and service your gas system and appliances, this is usually carried out during your annual service.
An annual service should be carried out by a certified engineer, and should consist of the following:-
Habitation Checks
Water System Checks
Electrical System
Chassis and running gear
Gas System and appliance checks
Bodywork and interior
Buy doing all your checks and having your caravan fully serviced each year should mean that you will enjoy your camping holidays. A good idea is also have a check list of all the items you need to take on holiday i.e any medication, hair brush etc.