Leaking TV aerial
We have been finding some water in the wardrobe now and again over the last 2 years, but never been able to see where it was coming from. The suspects were the awning light fitting, which also doubles as a wardrobe light when you open the door, or the Status directional TV aerial mount.
Both have been checked twice at the annual services, as has the roof/wall joint, and no leaks found.
Today, while removing some stuff to ready the van to be used by our daughter, we found wet chair pads in the bottom of the wardrobe directly below the aerial position, so that must be where the water is getting in.
The seal on the roof is fine, so after some googling and u tube watching, I have concluded that it is the aerial itself that is leaking, either through or round the mast.
Has anyone had this problem and fixed it, or will we need to invest in a complete new aerial?
Comments
-
A few years ago there was a problem with those aerials.The seal between the two halves of the aerial head was allowing water into the unit which then travelled down the mast into the caravan.Remove the aerial and give it a shake you will probably hear the water.A fix I used on several units was to drill a couple of holes in the underside,drain the water and allow to dry.seal those holes with araldite or similar.Clean the seam between the two halves and run a bead of silicone into the joint.However a new ,updated aerial,is not too expensive (in my opinion)
1 -
£160 for a caravan tv aerial is 'too expensive' IMHO
3 -
It surely depends on your point of view regarding harmony in the household! (pun intended!)
0 -
I discovered that the aerial on my previous caravan was goosed. I split the cover to find a standard stand alone aerial inside like this plus electrickery. So I removed the electrickery from inside and fixed the coax to the aerial as though it was the basic aerial & fitted the amplifier to go with it. Harmony was again in balance but just for a few quid. 👍👍😉
0 -
The jury is still out on what to do, especially as the weather here is dire and I cannot do any work on the aerial.
We will need to cover it meantime to try to keep the rain out, and have something inside to catch any drips, as DD is borrowing the van next week, but after that I will be able to look more closely at the problem.
0 -
You should have got with the caravan paperwork a red plastic bung to replace the aerial mast in the mounting.This would save any drips into the caravan,and you would be able to examine the aerial whilst the caravan is away.It stopped blowing a gale and pouring with rain here in sw scotland so you should soon see a break in your location!
0 -
Hmm, the van is now 13 years old, so any memory of a red plastic bung has long gone, but I will take a look through my "caravan bits" boxes for it.
Meantime, the leak has apparently stopped. I have attached a plastic bag under the mast in the wardrobe to see if it catches any drips, but nothing as yet. It is nice today, but as we are getting the van ready for the holiday starting on Saturday, I have had to spend almost a whole day fixing (I hope!) the Alde heating, so the aerial will just have to wait.
Will report back how I get on later.......probably much later, as we have a lot on at home in the next few weeks.
Our son has a large agricultural shed at his place, so that would be somewhere under cover to work on the van if required.
0 -
Our vision plus arial rubber boot on the roof has failed as it has perished and they do not sell spares. Water can drip down the shaft if the internal locking nut for securing direction is not tight. Other aerial manufactures do sell this item to suit theirs and I see in other forums this is a common problem. I think I have now found a car rubber boot to suit.
0
