Checks before you leave site
do you all go round and check your caravan or motorhome before leaving the site ,when I was druving back from Blackshaw Moor at Easter a carvan passed me in the opp direction with a roof window wide open very dangerous as he was approaching a bridge ,I not
have this type of window but know they can get ripped off ,so folks check all round before you leave !!!!!
Comments
-
We do a few checks, electrics off, gas off, windows/skylights closed, all interior door/ lockers closed, grill and oven shelves stored elsewhere (rattles!), takes about 15 seconds to check!
You do see no end of skylights, large and small left open!
0 -
Two of us work as a team. We each have our set jobs and one of my last ones is to check that all windows/roof lights are firmly closed before setting off both from home or site.
I think if you've got a bad memory then why not make lists.
0 -
we also go round in pairs, and double check everything, one of us points and the otherone says check, so starting from the door working clockwise,
fridge shut - check, kitchen window - check, lounge windows -check, rooflight - check...You get the idea, sounds daft but it works, we do the same on the outside too.
0 -
I once saw a caravan leave site with its habitation door wide open. How can you miss that?
0 -
Same here Oneputt. What else can you do? We saw one on the motorway with his small offside locker door open. Heaven knows what was in there when he set off but it was empty when we saw it.
Maybe a case of everybody thought somebody would do it and, in the end,
nobody did it.
0 -
It's usually my job to do all final checks, OH gets me to do it, I think that way he can blame me if anything happens.
0 -
A caravanning friend travelled from Harrogate to Bath with no electrics connected! Imagine the comments from other drivers. We check all lights work every time as part of our routine like others.
They would however have had to have a very long mains cable for the electrics to be connected
0 -
We had a list but how do you remember to use the list?!
0 -
This is a little story about four people in a caravan named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.
There were important checks to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.
Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.
Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job.
Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.
It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done
0 -
We have our routines for setting up and packing up. when hitching before leaving storage everything we work as a team although I am inside sorting it all out, he is outside getting secure lock off and legs lifted. Caravan hitched on and lights checked
before pulling off, then check to see it level all by my goodself. On arrival he levels up and I set up inside. When leaving to come home jobs for packing up, I go round and sort everything inside and he double checks everything. So far it has worked and
no mishaps just hope we remember to keep doing it. When we first started I did have a list that we followed but that went by the wayside. However you are better to be safe than sorry would rather spend a couple of minutes double checking before taking off.
On our trip away for the BH weekend when we collected van from storage and heading towards the main road we saw caravan about to go on to the main road - it looked a strange angle - when we got there it turned out the caravan had become unhitched and the
cable had snapped off. This family were so lucky they did not unhitch on the main road and cause a very serious accident. When Brian went to help there was some confusion about it being hitched on. Thankfully we double check everything.0 -
I usually walk round and check evrything visible but have still left with the TV arial raised and check the pitch for anything on it but still missed the drain hose.
We now also check all the tyres to make sure they are inflated as a few years back as we left the warden pointed out a flat tyre which would have been a problem if he had not noticed it.
I suppose the answer is I should have gone to specsavers. Other opticians are available.
0 -
It would be a terrible shame not to check that a £20 note had not blown under the van while it was pitched!
0 -
We use a typed up check list which has been sealed in a laminated cover so things can be ticked off with a washable pen. It is all too easy to miss something such as not engaging the lock on a fridge door etc. Apart from the most common oversight you see
- sky lights left open, I have seen someone departing with the motor mover still engaged.0 -
Over the years I guess we have had our fair share of mishaps. Aerial not put down, skylight shut but not secured, wet locker closed but not locked (came open going round a roundabout contents on road) luckily the road was empty and we (me) managed to retrieve everything. We once pulled away from the house and the van fell of the towball, no damage done. In over 36 years of vanning not that many mishaps, we do have a system ish. OH does outside I do inside but sometimes we help each other out, that's when things go wrong
like leaving Englewaite hall a couple of weeks ago, a nice lady shouted 'AERIAL' 
OH had put TV away but forgot to put the aerial down, these are normally my jobs as he's usually busy outside.0 -
There's not much to check with a motorhome. We do a visual check - the missus does the inside, I do the outside. You can leave on the gas in most modern motorhomes if you are not going to fuel stations or through tunnels - or simialr restricted areas.
When we were caravanners, we did similar checks plus noseweight and caravan lights, and pulled over after 20 minutes or so driving to do another check. Don't see many caravanners doing these checks nowadays so I suppose they're no longer necessary.
0 -
With a motorhome you should still have a checklist - windows doors and hatches closed and locked, fridge door shut properly, aerial down etc and also you should check the pitch as you drive off to make sure nothing has been left behind and everything is
clean and tidy. Like most people we have our separate jobs - Mr H does outside and I do insiide. We (me) once left the hatch open in the shower room but luckily an eagle eyed caravanner shouted as we drove by. Also we (Mr H) forgot to lock one of the lockers
which came open but luckily a motorist overtook us and indicated that we should pull over. We now have a list which we check off as we go just to make sure. It is too easy to overlook something if you are chatting and saying goodbye to neighbours as your
are packing up.0 -
Last job inside is to check all windows and hatches, make sure fridge is switched to 12V, aerial down. Hook up and wife confirms lights all work. Finally a walk round checking all doors and hatches locked.
0 -
We are a bit less organised than most of you but so far so lucky - except for leaving a bottle of olive oil unsecured - we could hardly believe how such a small amount could cause such a mess
Im almost paranoid about ensuring van is properly attached to the car and check that about three times before we leave
0 -
We have a routine before we leave a site. This involves checking that all the windows are closed and secured, all sky lights are closed, aerial is down and the electric step is retracted. This only takes us a couple of minutes but it is good practice to ensure nothing goes wrong when on the road. Also most of the time I check the oil and water level in the engine of the motorhome on a regular basis
0 -
I always check the wheel nuts with a torque wrench before leaving home or site. As yet I have not found any loose wheel nuts, or have I seen anyone else checking their wheels. Is it not necessary anymore? We were advised to do this when there was a problem
with wheels coming loose on some Bailey caravans a while back.We do all the other checks that have been mentioned. Although the list is quite long ( I'm very pedantic ), what exactly do you mean by pedantic, it only takes a few minutes.For us ( me ) a list
is essential.0
