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CAN I HAVE A PRE-OWNED MOTORHOME WINTERISED?
Q I intend to buy a motorhome in a few years and I’m planning to live permanently in it, so it needs to be fully insulated and winterised. Do you have to buy a motorhome from new in order to get it winterised, or can I buy a secondhand vehicle and then have it winterised afterwards? Sean Roberts
A Peter Baber replies… It is indeed possible, and relatively inexpensive, to retrofit winterisation to a motorhome (such as insulation for the pipes and exposed water tanks) – but only if you are going out for short trips in moderate climates.
However, it is a completely different matter if you are planning to live in the vehicle over the winter, full-time.
In that case, the shortcomings of some winterisation procedures will rapidly become all too apparent.
If that is your plan, we’d recommend going for a quality motorhome with thick insulation and no thermal bridges (points in the structure such as screws or bolts where damp and cold can get in), a double floor, and an onboard fresh-water tank that won’t freeze.
But you don’t have to buy a new ’van to find all that. There are plenty of used models out there with such spec. In fact, spec is above all what you should look for when you come to buy – not age.
CAN I CHARGE MY MOTORHOME WITH AN ADAPTED WALL BOX?
Q I own an electric car and we have a 7.4kW wall box with a tethered type-2 charger plug at home (1). Can I buy an adaptor to charge my ’van’s leisure battery via the wall box? Phillip Brown A Diamond Dave replies… A brief trawl online would suggest that no such adaptor is available, which doesn’t really surprise me. As far as I’m aware, when you plug the charging lead into your car, there is communication between charger and car before the charger will start to pass current.
Obviously this would be difficult to replicate, so it’s doubtful you will find anything to allow you to do what you propose. There should be minimal risk using an EV charger, as they still pass 240V (to the best of my knowledge), which is then stepped up in the car to the required charging voltage.
The question is, would there be any advantage? The answer is probably no, as the leisure
