# 30% dampness in one year old Motorhome



## johnc (May 1, 2005)

After considerable deliberation I decided to have my one year old van checked out in regard to the annual habitation inspection. To be honest, I think this is a bit of a con however as we have more than our fair share of problems with both the van and the Peugeot base unit, I decided to have it carried out by a registered dealer other than the one I bought the van from.

Guess what, I have 30% dampness behind the nearside wheel arch. I checked the findings of the dealer with my home made unit (two very sharp needles and a multimeter) and got the same results. 

Moral of the story, get a dampness test done if nothing else.

John C


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## rowley (May 14, 2005)

Just a thought, I wonder if it is due to the holes in the wheel arch? I was going to seal mine and will do it now while I remember. 
Edit
Silly me, You are referring to the rear wheel arch, sorry. I was thinking of the holes in the front wheel arch.


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Dampness*

Hi

I know this sounds silly....

How "bad" is 30% damp? Is it a disaster or is it "run of the mill"?

What is the resolution?

Russell


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

I have a couple of clocks in our 10 month old 'van, one in the cab and the other over the rear bed.

They have temperature and relative humidity displays on them.

This evening they are both showing 47%.


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## johnc (May 1, 2005)

*Thanks for the thought*



rowley said:


> Just a thought, I wonder if it is due to the holes in the wheel arch? I was going to seal mine and will do it now while I remember.
> Edit
> Silly me, You are referring to the rear wheel arch, sorry. I was thinking of the holes in the front wheel arch.


No worry, problem seems to be where the side wall is sealed to the wheel arch.

reagrds

John C


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## johnc (May 1, 2005)

*Re: Dampness*



Rapide561 said:


> Hi
> 
> I know this sounds silly....
> 
> ...


As far as I know the magic number of 14% is acceptable. However I know that 30% is way over the top for a new van.

In order to find out a bit more about my van I used my own Moisture meter made up as follows.

I fixed two very sharp needles into an old kettle type plug by casting araldite round the two needles. Then soldered two wire to the needles and connected the wires to a multimeter.

A piece of kitchen roll soaked in water and then rung out reads about 3 Megohm on my meter. My vans reads about 1 Megohm in the worst area. The lower the resistance the worse the problem is. Problem is that the resistively of the panel is dependent on any chemicals in the water however the actual reading I obtained in my new van was very much worse that I had in my 16 year old Holdsworth.

Bottom line 30% is a NO NO for a new van IMHO. Big complaint going to Motorhome Builder tomorrow.

Regards

John C


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## jonandshell (Mar 12, 2009)

*Damp Elddis!*

Hi all

We had a water ingress problem on our 1 year old van. The warranty claim and work was a shambles, but thats another story.
Anyway, how bad is 30% damp? Well ours had a reading of 50% in the wettest place. It was totally sodden and wet to the touch. So on the scale of wetness, a dampmeter will read 50% when fully immersed!

A relative humidity of 50% in the air seems pretty much normal for an occupied 'van, we use a dehumudifier in ours periodically especially after long trips in the winter and during periods of storage.

It makes the bathroom door less sticky after a 24 hr run!


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## johnc (May 1, 2005)

*Re: Damp Elddis!*



jonandshell said:


> Hi all
> 
> We had a water ingress problem on our 1 year old van. The warranty claim and work was a shambles, but thats another story.
> Anyway, how bad is 30% damp? Well ours had a reading of 50% in the wettest place. It was totally sodden and wet to the touch. So on the scale of wetness, a dampmeter will read 50% when fully immersed!
> ...


Where was the dampness, ours was just behind the rear wheelarch on the kerbside of the van. We also had a small lower reading on the Drivers side. The fix by the dealer was to reseal the outside with Silicon which has since gone mouldy.

Have to say that the van we bought new in 2007 has been a mess from begining to end and we consider it to be our worst ever purchase and a poor advert for Explorer Group products. Van is going in for it habiation check soon so will let you know how it fairs.

John C


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## GerryD (Sep 20, 2007)

Just had major water ingress work on our 18 month old MH. Damp reading was in excess of 50 on both sides just behind where the body fits to the cab. Excellent treatment from manufacturer (CI) and brilliant repairer. MH was stripped right back and rebuilt, you cannot see the repair.
Gerry


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## jonandshell (Mar 12, 2009)

*Damp Autocirrus*

Ours leaked where the overcab moulding meets the roof. Our van is parked on a slope so all the water cascaded down the front left corner of the body.


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## joedenise (Jul 20, 2007)

*dampness*

a couple of years ago had brand new twin axle caravan, after 3 months we used it in the rain , had a wonderful water feature in the bathroom !!!

Fortunately we were staying at a site not far from the dealer, went in to see them and they arranged for their workshop manager to come to the site to measure the damp - it was off the scale! We rejected the caravan there and then but were told we'd have to sort out with the Managing Director.

He was very good and arranged for it to be replaced, we refused a repair. Got a new caravan (I checked the CRIS number to make sure it was a different one) after a couple of months. Trouble was we were constantly looking for faults so after another couple of months traded it in and bought a MH. Just wish we'd done that in the first place.

Joe


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## RichardandMary (May 9, 2005)

Hi Gerry

Could you be a bit more specific as to where you had the water ingress problem as we have just purchased a 705 after owning a Carioca 22 for the past trouble free 6 years & would like to keep a watch in case we have the same problem.

Regards
Richard


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## CLS (Jul 25, 2005)

Any reading over 20% would concern me and warrant further investigation.

Mark


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## GerryD (Sep 20, 2007)

RichardandMary said:


> Hi Gerry
> 
> Could you be a bit more specific as to where you had the water ingress problem as we have just purchased a 705 after owning a Carioca 22 for the past trouble free 6 years & would like to keep a watch in case we have the same problem.
> 
> ...


Richard,
The ingress was from the moulding along the bottom of the luton and the corner piece that it joins that is hidden below the vertical ABS trim of the B post.
Gerry


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## dcummin (Jan 21, 2008)

GerryD said:


> RichardandMary said:
> 
> 
> > Hi Gerry
> ...


Hi Gerry - where did you get the work carried out?

thanks

David


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## GerryD (Sep 20, 2007)

David,

These people, they are recommended by insurance companies and manufacturers. Very small but dedicated.
http://www.motorhome.co.uk/

Gerry


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## mikel (Oct 11, 2005)

*Carioca 705 dampness.*




GerryD said:


> Just had major water ingress work on our 18 month old MH. Damp reading was in excess of 50 on both sides just behind where the body fits to the cab. Excellent treatment from manufacturer (CI) and brilliant repairer. MH was stripped right back and rebuilt, you cannot see the repair.
> Gerry


Had a similar problem in identical location show up in habitation check but dealer claims no known problem with this model. As I have a long journey to take it back to them would be very pleased to have moe details of your problem, dealer contact, and any names in manufacturers which i might get help from. We now have absolutely no dealers in our area and a trip back to the manufacturer or to Dealer in Doncaster is daunting, but we too need to solve this problem which shows over 90 percent on meter just behind cab on nearside only at present. How long did it take to get the actual repairs done by the way. Thanks for any help in anticipation, Regards
Mike


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## GerryD (Sep 20, 2007)

*Re: Carioca 705 dampness.*



mikel said:


> GerryD said:
> 
> 
> > Just had major water ingress work on our 18 month old MH. Damp reading was in excess of 50 on both sides just behind where the body fits to the cab. Excellent treatment from manufacturer (CI) and brilliant repairer. MH was stripped right back and rebuilt, you cannot see the repair.
> ...


Mike,
Give these guys a ring if you don't have anyone in your area:
http://www.motorhome.co.uk/

Other option as you are in Sussex is to speak to Johns Cross Motorhomes to see if they can recommend anyone more local.
Gerry


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