Winterising our Duetto

daisy mae wrote:I leave everything in my MH drain down leave taps open, I think some are putting the wind up the op, I have a DElonghi Bambino  oil heater, perfectly safe, leave on frost setting cheap to run. Best to use van all the year round, why lay it up?.it is better if it is used, even a run out for a few hours now and again. mine is used most days.

Some get a bit manic obsessive! Simple drain off everything and leave all taps open and you can't go wrong. One thing i do remove though is the shower head. Not that there will be any water there to freeze up in it but i did know someone who hadn't drained off properly and come summer he found his shower head had cracked.....and they are 'silly money'. Removed mine ever since as it's only a 30 second job.

Sorry forgot to say removed my shower head, it is in the kitchen sink laying on the non slip mat.

Haven`t had a problem in the two and half years I have had MH, neither in the thirty years of having a caravan.

I've had one oil filled rad leak onto a bedroom floor and one spray oil all over a wall. 2 very small ones failed electrically. I'd never use another one. The "black heat" tube or convector ones seem better. One with a frost setting would suit a camper over the winter. I did read one tip to leave the fresh air vents open to prevent mould. I use a trickle charger plugged in to the 240 v socket and the 12v socket to charge the domestic battery and periodically move it to the cab socket to charge the engine battery with the hookup connected on the drive. I've had to replace the boiler heat exchanger once when I didn't drain the boiler.

I use my MH most days as it is my only vehicle, so don`t need to lay up. I used my oil heater once and that was Tuesday night as I was taking friends out for the day Wednesday, so thought I would heat the MH up for them overnight , worked a treat,