Connecting up a static caravan basics!

[Amateur bob]

Good morning i have recent taken delivery of a static caravan which i got cheap from a relative, he is currently on holiday for 6 weeks and uncontactable i was wondering how i go about setting this up there is no handbook or anything its a 2009 Willerby Savoy 35 x 12 Static Caravan

 

i have a good level site for it near water and electric but looking underneath ive no idea what connects where

 

1.where does the water tend to connect? i see 4 tap like things underneath but after looking online it looks as if these are for draining it

 

2. at the back underneath there is a copper pipe with a connetion point on the end of it, the pipe looks to run along the inside of the chassi, i am unsure whether to connect water to here as it could also be for connecting the gas cylinder?

 

and help or pics of where to connect would be very helpful

 

thanks!

[Onoff]

16 minutes ago, Amateur bob said:

and help or pics of where to connect would be very helpful

 

It certainly would. Post some up of what you've got!

[ProDave]

I doubt you will find a "handbook"  It is a case of follow each pipe to where they end up.  But also consider doing a lot of re plumbing.  They are originally designed for summer use and little thought was given to freezing pipes, hence the drain valves to empty all the water in winter.  If you want to use it all year consider a complete re plumb with all pipes inside not under.

 

The gas typically connects to an automatic changeover valve and 2 hoses for 2 cylinders.

[Redoctober]

39 minutes ago, Amateur bob said:

Good morning i have recent taken delivery of a static caravan 

 

Well this sounds like some positive progress. Good luck, as I know from your previous posts during the past couple of years or so, building a family home as been at the fore front of your mind.

[Amateur bob]

2 hours ago, Onoff said:

 

It certainly would. Post some up of what you've got!

Ok ive been down having a look can anyone that knows let me know if ive got these right? Its strange as it looks like theres 2 water connection points,

 

the 2 pics where it shows either end of a copper pipe im presuming are for gas?

 

Thanks

[Amateur bob]

Gas?

[Amateur bob]

[Amateur bob]

2 hours ago, Redoctober said:

 

Well this sounds like some positive progress. Good luck, as I know from your previous posts during the past couple of years or so, building a family home as been at the fore front of your mind.

Thanks ive had to move out of my rented accomodation having sold my house so this now seems the cheaper option while building

[Amateur bob]

2 hours ago, ProDave said:

I doubt you will find a "handbook"  It is a case of follow each pipe to where they end up.  But also consider doing a lot of re plumbing.  They are originally designed for summer use and little thought was given to freezing pipes, hence the drain valves to empty all the water in winter.  If you want to use it all year consider a complete re plumb with all pipes inside not under.

 

The gas typically connects to an automatic changeover valve and 2 hoses for 2 cylinders.

Yes ive tried to follow them and only really see 2 connection points theyre tricky looking though as the supply comes in on a thicker blue pipe, lot of the pipes have been wrapped in insulation

[ProDave]

Seeing your pipes makes me shudder.  It is unbelievable where static caravan manufacturers source such horrible looking pipe fittings.  The reason I shudder, on the first build I connected the water, and then one by one over the next few days each of those cheap and nasty plastic fittings burst as they could not stand our high water pressure.  That van I completely re plumbed with all internal above floor pipes.

 

If you last picture is the water connection your first task is find a fitting to join onto that as they have not even left you the nut.  So more likely replace that tee.  Bit it should be easy to check where the pipe going up through the floor comes out above and what it connects to.  It is equally possible that is another drain off point.

 

Your first picture also has a similar connector, also missing it's nut.  You would not normally have two separate cold water feeds which makes me certain one is another drain off point.

 

The waste water as well as the small pipe for sink drains you will have the larger pipe for the WC waste.  A little waste water plumbing is needed here.

 

If that is your gas connector, I would get a gas safe engineer to check it out.  It looks like they had a hose from that to a regulator on a single bottle.

 

The washing machine tap won't be gas that could well be the water in, though it would be unconventional.

 

Do you know a friendly plumber, whoever disconnected it from the last site had no regard to anyone wanting to re connect it.

[Amateur bob]

34 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Seeing your pipes makes me shudder.  It is unbelievable where static caravan manufacturers source such horrible looking pipe fittings.  The reason I shudder, on the first build I connected the water, and then one by one over the next few days each of those cheap and nasty plastic fittings burst as they could not stand our high water pressure.  That van I completely re plumbed with all internal above floor pipes.

 

If you last picture is the water connection your first task is find a fitting to join onto that as they have not even left you the nut.  So more likely replace that tee.  Bit it should be easy to check where the pipe going up through the floor comes out above and what it connects to.  It is equally possible that is another drain off point.

 

Your first picture also has a similar connector, also missing it's nut.  You would not normally have two separate cold water feeds which makes me certain one is another drain off point.

 

The waste water as well as the small pipe for sink drains you will have the larger pipe for the WC waste.  A little waste water plumbing is needed here.

 

If that is your gas connector, I would get a gas safe engineer to check it out.  It looks like they had a hose from that to a regulator on a single bottle.

 

The washing machine tap won't be gas that could well be the water in, though it would be unconventional.

 

Do you know a friendly plumber, whoever disconnected it from the last site had no regard to anyone wanting to re connect it.

thanks for the feed back i have noted what you said about the water pressure and may put a tap on so i can slow it down slightly as the pressure is high where im connecting to

 

yes i found it odd that there appeared to be 2 water connection points, the last pic isbelow where the kitchen sink is and there is also a thicker plastic pipe which i assumed was waste water run off point

 

the connection point on the first pic is below the bathroom

 

yes i got given 1 almost empty gas can with a rubber tube on the end id assume this will connect to the copper pipe? i will get someone to check it once connected, id hoped to do it myself without a plumber but thought it was be a simple case of just connecting up

 

thanks

 

 

[ProDave]

A simple tap won't reduce the pressure, you need a pressure reducing valve for that.

[joe90]

It looks like someone has removed a couple of water pipes hence multiples. Yes 1/ = gas. 2/ = water connection (with a washing machine hose type conn. The other two might need blanks. Connect up and test it all works. The others are correct as you mark them.

[Amateur bob]

17 hours ago, joe90 said:

It looks like someone has removed a couple of water pipes hence multiples. Yes 1/ = gas. 2/ = water connection (with a washing machine hose type conn. The other two might need blanks. Connect up and test it all works. The others are correct as you mark them.

Thanks for the reply joe, Its strange that theres 2 access points for water though? Should i blank one off?

 

Another thing confusing me is that yes 1 appears to be gas and 2 looks like a water connection but midway along the caravan the 2 pipes joint together meaning surely they must both be water or both be gas?  Ill attach the pic of where they merge!

 

Thanks

[joe90]

Can you not follow the gas pipe from the boiler outwards? In my static the gas pipe was 10mm not 15mm (which that looks like. 
I would use one of these to reduce the water pressure. https://www.toolstation.com/made4trade-pressure-reducing-valve-and-gauge/p44160

 

[Amateur bob]

Yes it looks like the boiler connects onto that copper pipe coming from the back of caravan, i was just a bit confused by the washing machine type connector at the front as i wouldnt have thought this would be for gas, thanks ill order one!

[ProDave]

I say you definitely need a plumber to sort this out for you, you don't want to be making a mistake and connecting water to the boiler gas supply, or worse, gas to the cold taps.

 

There is probably a gas cooker as well.  Following the pipe from that should confirm which is gas.

 

If the WM tap is the gas pipe then the previous "plumber" is a cowboy.

[Amateur bob]

1 hour ago, ProDave said:

I say you definitely need a plumber to sort this out for you, you don't want to be making a mistake and connecting water to the boiler gas supply, or worse, gas to the cold taps.

 

There is probably a gas cooker as well.  Following the pipe from that should confirm which is gas.

 

If the WM tap is the gas pipe then the previous "plumber" is a cowboy.

ive followed all the pipes and the plastic ones are def water as they come up at the bathroom and kitchen sinks, the copper one comes up to both the boiler and the cooker

[joe90]

11 minutes ago, Amateur bob said:

ive followed all the pipes and the plastic ones are def water as they come up at the bathroom and kitchen sinks, the copper one comes up to both the boiler and the cooker

In that case @ProDave was right and the previous “person” was a cowboy putting a washing machine tap on a copper gas pipe, I would suggest you take it off and replace with a stop end.

https://www.toolstation.com/made4trade-compression-stop-end/p63232

[Amateur bob]

3 minutes ago, joe90 said:

In that case @ProDave was right and the previous “person” was a cowboy putting a washing machine tap on a copper gas pipe, I would suggest you take it off and replace with a stop end.

https://www.toolstation.com/made4trade-compression-stop-end/p63232

thanks for the advice, ive been thinking about the fact there is 2 water connection points, is it possible that both were connected up to the water supply so that the water pressure wasnt badly affected if someone was using the kitchen sink while someone was using the bathroom taps or shower?

 

the pipes under caravan look smaller than quarter inch is it normal for these to be 15mm pipes?

 

thanks

[joe90]

48 minutes ago, Amateur bob said:

the pipes under caravan look smaller than quarter inch is it normal for these to be 15mm pipes?

Difficult to tell from the photos but IMO they look like 15mm standard pipes but may be “micro bore “.

 

[Amateur bob]

On 14/09/2024 at 13:08, ProDave said:

A simple tap won't reduce the pressure, you need a pressure reducing valve for that.

if a tap was turned off slightly would this not do the same thing? just wondered if there was a difference before i order the valve?

 

thanks

[Amateur bob]

22 hours ago, joe90 said:

Difficult to tell from the photos but IMO they look like 15mm standard pipes but may be “micro bore “.

 

thanks ive measured and looks to be 15mm

[joe90]

38 minutes ago, Amateur bob said:

if a tap was turned off slightly would this not do the same thing? just wondered if there was a difference before i order the valve?

 

thanks

No, a tap will reduce flow but not pressure, I put one on my caravan as the plumbing was suspect and it worked well.

[ProDave]

1 hour ago, joe90 said:

No, a tap will reduce flow but not pressure, I put one on my caravan as the plumbing was suspect and it worked well.

Yes I too fitted a pressure reducing valve to protect the (not fit for purpose) lousy plastic pipes and fittings used on my 'van.