Damp Check

Hi

I have recently moved from a big Moho to a Fairford Plus, we had two reasons to sell our beloved autotrail- Damp, was taking forever to fix and I wasn’t confident dealer got to the root cause and the more compact vehicle for Scottish roads

Recently put our AS fairford in to our AS dealer for annual inspection under the warranty requirement, no issues but inspection form stated “no damp check possible due to construction of the vehicle” 

Dealer assured me that this was correct anyone got advice - is the dealer correct?

I don’t think so. My annual Hab check has always supplied results of damp check. The readings were around the floor area.chances of damp in pvc are probably much lower than coach built but nice to know it’s ok. I am sure if there was damp from any source during warranty period it would become difficult if no check carried out.
A quick call to AS to confirm their requirments would give good ground to challenge your dealer if he is wrong.

The closeness of the metal sides of the van and floor can cause false readings in the damp detector

Our Kemerton XL failed its habitation a year after we bought it. A-S said that they would need the van for potentially several weeks. Back home I bought a professional damp meter like the one A-S use and set about ventilating the under floor area with a small compressor, a fan heater and hot air gun set to low temperature. Gradually the damp levels were lowered, it then rained and they went back up. We even had a stream of water running out from under the floorboards at the back of the van and onto the ground, I took a video..Our drive is on a slope.

With the damp meter I was able to find the place the water was getting in, a poorly sealed upper fridge vent. On the Kemerton XL the upper fridge vent is applied to a curved metal surface and needs a good gasket. I still wonder if there are other owners with water getting past poorly sealed fridge vents.

After another bout of floorboard ventilation and temporarily sealing off the upper fridge vent with black plastic and duck tape we were back in Willersey where the damp levels were now acceptable so we didn't have to leave our van with A-S for weeks, phew. They of course also fixed the vent gasket seal.

Good to know helpful info Relaxez-vous. Thanks for posting the detail. I am thinking about changing the Symbol for a Kemerton XL but on an auto box only.