ABI Marauder 520 ET
In the beginning.......... |
The
all too familiar phrase of 'Buyer beware' was as usual, not
taken much notice of. That advice is what we give others,
not what we do. The 10 year old ABI Marauder seemed like
a bargain at just over £4000 including awning plus
a load of extras. No bvious signs of damage. No musty smells
and an assurance by the private seller that it had been serviced
last year and there was no problem with damp. (I did ask).
To our untrained and overly eager eyes it was well worth
spending all of our savings money.
My Wife's dream of a caravan realised. Arrangements
were made for storage (our drive's too small), the cash handed over and away
we went. Further scrutiny when we got it back revealed nothing bad.
It was the following weekend that we ventured out
with it. Everything worked as it should. Water, gas and electrical units as per
text book. Awning was in great condition with no tears or really bad staining.
All in all a great first time caravanning. |
| |
| Oh woe is me!!!!! |
I went to the storage compound a
day or two after we'd parked it back there, to put some
of our essentials in the Van. (The stuff we forgot on our
first time out). It had been raining quite heavily the
previous day but it didn't cause concern as it had rained
when we were out in it and there were no obvious signs
of water ingress or damp. With our own limited experience
of the caravan and believing what the seller had told us,
there was no reason for the thought to enter my head.
I was rummaging around inside the front external
locker when I first spotted the signs; crumbs of rotted wood beneath the front
down spar. Closer inspection revealed a not insignificant missing section of
wood beneath the aluminium sheet that covered it. The edges of the wood I could
feel were sodden and crumbling away. That area below the panel had been cleaned
up so no telltale signs were present at the time of sale to betray a problem
without very close scrutiny (or to someone with more sense). 55 years of age
and still getting stitched up!
First thoughts: We're stuffed! How big is the problem? How much
will it cost to repair? Can it be repaired? Should I hire a hitman?
In short, total panic. Numerous hours of searching the net produced
scary results. Professional repairs are not cheap and because
of the nature of the beast, you cannot be given a proper estimate
until the caravan has been completely checked from stem to stern.
Could be something, won't be nothing. Big money we do not have. |
| It
rears its head.... |
 |
 |
| The sheet peeled back reveals
the rotting and sodden timber in the nearside bulkhead. |
 |
| The naughty spot was in
the lower corner of the bulkhead compartment. In the shadow. |
| |
NOW WHAT
|
| Off
to see the Wizard,,,,,,, |
Much
whingeing, worrying and discussion between my Wife and
I followed the next few days and to be perfectly honest
I didn't have a clue where to start. That was until I
came across the forum section of the website 'caravaning4u'. The section titled 'Caravan repairs and
maintenance' is a mine of information and like all the
other sections of the site, is full of people only too
glad to freely give their advice and experience.
It was via one of the 'Damp' topics that I got
in touch with Wizard and his website here. Part of the 'Fixed it' members group of 'UK Camp Site' who have taken the time and trouble to
document their work for all to see. And I thought I had problems???
After reading and seeing how others had overcome real problems I
got in touch with the main man, the Wizard. With his advice by Email (He did
offer to come and look at it but I am too far away from him. Great bloke) and
using the links to the sites of the others who have detailed their repairs I
quickly realised that my 'end of the World scenario' was a trifle overstated.
Ours, hopefully, was a minor problem in comparison of the others and with the
help available we could sort it out without any major outlay of money or too
much work.
I had to uncover the true extent of the problem
before I could start to repair and remedy the situation. The problem area seemed
to be confined to this first spot I had found. The opposite side of the bulkhead
was sound and free from damp. Also there were no signs of heavy damp or water
ingress inside the van. I did get low readings on the damp meter from the inside
the van in the area immediately behind the bulkhead section. That is the lower
corner of the nearside through the wall panel.
The aluminium sheet covering the known damp area
in the bulkhead was first to be removed. |
 |
| You
can see the top layer of timber covering the insulation
has discoloured with damp. Thankfully it started to harden
out as it got higher. The damp (water) appears to have
collected in the lower section and began its rot from the
end upwards. The section 18" or so from the floor is reasonably
sound. Likewise as it enters the main framework of the
van. |
| |
| WHAT
NEXT |
The advice from
the Wizard and others was to check the usual suspects,
that is: Any damage to the external bodywork of the caravan
itself - Window seals - Doors - in fact any exposed joint
or seal. Nothing obvious there, move onto our prime suspects,
the rails. Awning rail (numero uno) and the rails covering
the other panel joints on the exterior.
From the photos I sent the Wizard he was fairly
certain the awning rail was the problem. Wizard then gave me detailed instructions
on how to start.
No easy way to do this. From the location of the
damp it was almost certain as Wizard had said, that the water was coming in from
under the awning rail. It had to come off. (Fears of tackling such a job can
be allayed by checking out the work the others have completed using the links at
the bottom of this page).
The caravan had to be brought home, tight driveway
or not. Too much work to be carried out at the storage yard and I needed the
electricity for my tools. It was a squeeze and the van had to be manually pushed
in A frame first so I could have access to the suspected side.
Before starting work: The essential list of items
I would need to eventually replace the front awning rail section which would
be the first point to check. These included 1 tube of 'Seamseal', a non-drying
sealant (really messy stuff). A 5 metre length of 32mm Caravan Mastic strip.
2 tubes of 'Sikaflex' sealant and a box of screws ('Spax' 3.5X30mm from B&Q).
Rolls of 2" duct tape, Ronseal Wood Hardener and White Spirit. Cost: just over £20
in total.
The awning rail is in two sections on our caravan
and I was hoping that by removing the front piece I could find and fix the immediate
problem without taking the whole thing off.
First off the plastic piping covering the screws
of the rail was eased out as far as the awning rail joint, mid-way along the
top side. |
 |
Removal
was easier than I expected thanks to the fact that the
screws were not too badly corroded and came away without
damage. The rail came cleanly away without problem. Note:This
a definitely a two person job. All too easy to bend the
rail if you try and do it alone.
The slap-dash way the mastic had been originally
applied to the point where the rail curves down toward the front was apparent
as you can see in the photo. Gaps everywhere! |
 |
|
| The rust
stains from the staples can be seen forward of the first
lean area indicating the start of the water ingress. |
|
| UNVEILED |
| Awning rail removed, the true
extent of the problem is revealed. This is the section just
back from the start of the downward curve. Again, rusty staples
below the patchy mastic betray the water entry points. |
 |
| The bottom front
section. |
 |
The cleaning
of the old mastic and sealant wasn't as much of a problem
as I thought it was going to be (the way it was originally
applied helped a bit;>). Using a paint scraper first and
then wiping the area down with a rag soaked in White Spirit
had the area clear in a couple of hours.
Note on White Spirit: Never knew why they
called it that, being a clear liquid. Clear that is until it dries out. White
patches all over the van where I'd put my mitts! Windows, walls and anything
else I touched. It's the same with me cooking, more mess than the worth of it.
Anyway, the muck removed I could see obvious areas
where water could get in. Sickening to think that the lack of attention to detail
by the makers of the caravan during the original build. You can see from the
photos below the 'hide it and be damned' mindset. In theory, very little if any,
sealant should be needed on the joint between side panel and roof due to the
fact that the roof panel folds over the side and water doesn't defy gravity.
Problems with this caravan stem from the fact that
the side sheet was cut short in places and does not go under the folded over
roof sheet, leaving a gap. Another manufacturing blunder you can see is where
the roof panel curves over toward the front. The sheet pleated on the bend and
no attempt to flatten it out or God forbid, cut it properly had been made. The
result was that the high rise of the pleats made channels 3/16" deep for water
to run into the joint section. |
 |
|
| The photo below shows
another 'cut short' area where the side sheet is completely
missed by the screws through the awning rail where it meets
with the GRP front locker. |
 |
| Nice and clean? |
 |
|
| CLEAN AND DRY |
| Using 'Seamseal', the gaps and
uncovered areas were sealed, the lumpy bits flattened down
and the caravan was now better than it was when first bodged
in manufacture. |
 |
| The muck removed, the
next step could be taken, drying it out. It has to be done
so that you can see how much wood has to be replaced and
what can be saved or patched. To safeguard against the
weather while all the joints were exposed, duct tape was
run along the joints to seal. |
 |
|
| LAST
LAP |
I didn't fancy risking
an unattended radiant heater in the van and we don't have a
convector heater so we compromised. The weather forecast was
for dry and sunny so the outside temperature would help.
Drying from the inside out would be by using the
'Carver Hot Air' system in the van. Slow but effective. I disconnected the heater
air pipe and repositioned it so it was aimed at the problem area and the heat
kept in place by replacing the seating. We left it on during the next two or
three nights. I also used the Gas stove and our Halogen heater a number of times
when I had the time to sit and keep an eye on it. The term 'Sweatshop' springs
to mind. |
 |
It took a week for
us to be sure it had dried out enough to start repairs. Readings
from the damp meter showed very little signs of damp inside
where previously they had. Apologies for the lack of photos
from here on; To be continued.
The timber in the front locker dried out effectively
and so I was able to start work. The rotten section of timber spar that was under
the aluminium sheet was cut out and replaced. We were fortunate in the fact that
only about 18" or so of the spar was damaged beyond repair. As I said earlier,
the rot was working back from the water's journey's end in the front locker and
had not reached into the main structure of the van or indeed far up the main
framework.
The inside panels will be removed at some future
date (If she lets me) but there seems to be no reason at the moment to think
that there is a problem.
One short length of 2" x 1" batten cut and mitred
to fit was used to replace the removed section and glued and fitted together
to the existing piece. Ronseal wood hardener was then applied to the sound but
'at risk' higher section and the whole lot painted with a preservative paint.
An off-cut of plyboard replaced the damaged sheet and was glued on using 'Hard
as Nails'. The aluminium sheet was replaced complete with its rubber edging and
stapled into position.
Not quite perfection to look at but a great deal
better than before and we now know that underneath it's solid.
Sure that this section was now adequately repaired
we moved onto the final part of the rebuild. Mastic strip was applied to the
awning rail and together we offered it up to its old home. (Don't even think
about trying to do it alone unless you've got three arms at least 6' long). I
had pushed in and snapped off a few wooden toothpicks in the screw holes that
looked a bit stretched to give added grip to the replacement screws. I did not
make any new holes in the rail at this time. Maybe in the future.
The rail lined up, I lightly screwed the rail back
on at a few points as my Wife held the rail level. Easier than expected and looking
good.
Before tightening the screws along the whole of
its length I ran a decent sized bead of 'Sikaflex' along the top and bottom edges
of the rail. I also put a squirt of 'Seamseal' around the screws before the final
tightening. Doesn't hurt and it adds to the protection. One thing I did find
was that the screws cannot be unscrewed even if lightly biting inside the holes
without pulling at the mastic. Even with the advisory 'spit' lubrication, they
stilled tugged. Nothing that a spot of 'Seamseal' or other non-setting sealant
can't fix before the final tightening but it would have been nice to have avoided
the problem. One for the diary to be used in 'Part 2'.
After the reinstallation of all the bits and pieces
and satisfied, that for the moment (fingers crossed) the van would be watertight
(from the outside) the rubber piping that covers the screws was replaced and
the whole area cleaned up. Ok, so it's not exactly showroom condition (I was
a bit messy with the sealant) but we do know that this particular area will not
be a problem for a while. The rest of the caravan with the other sections of
rails, window seals, door seals etc, will, in due course, be taken apart and
checked. Can you blame us for losing faith in the original builders? I think
not.
Latest: The repaired section appears to be holding
and there is no water ingress to the repaired section in the bulkhead but,,,,,,,there
is damp still being detected on the interior at the original point. Thoughts?
It seems to be coming in via the front windows. Next job(s): Remove, reseal and
refit the external rail above the windows. Check the window seals and all surrounding
areas. To be continued.. |
| |
| HEROES |
| Make no mistake, without these
people listed below, we would still be bemoaning our luck and
scratching our heads as to where to start and what to do if
we did start on repairing the caravan. The fact that the caravan
is now as dry as a cork, even after weeks of rain is down purely
and simply to the advice and the sharing of knowledge by these
members of the 'Fixed it Club' of 'UK
Camp Site'. My Wife and I owe them big time especially
the 'Wizard'. |
| Ray
and Ruth |
| UKCampsite.co.uk fxed it Club Members |
Alan parkers web site
Barney's website
Papa Pip's website
Caradad's website
Cosy's website
Kev and Debi's website
Leanne
and Mark's website
Paul and Wendy's website |
Grub's website
Kanno's website
Lawrence's website
Zen's website ( dpr206 )
Luke's website
Dug's website
Gaz's webpage
Kirsty and Andie's website |
| |
 |
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Re-produced by kind pemision
of Ray & Ruth Davies, who now have a first class caravan! |
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a PDF file |
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