The Top 10 MISTAKES (+2) That New Campervan & Motorhome Owners Make 

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Thank you so much, I am about to buy my first moto home after 50 years of bicking. Your information was great THANK YOU 😊

good video, especially for someone like me who has yet to get his motorhome but has plans to soon...so cheers!

Think we have figured where our water went to in our first trip away 😂 - the blue tap!

I agree about 25m of cable and making sure that it is unravelled. I would also remind newbies that they should connect to the van first and then to the electric so they are not walking round with a live wire and vice versa. Take care Gill

Picking up my first motorhome on Sunday, need all the instructional videos I can get!

Thanks for the tips Great vid keep them coming.

Great points thank you. We haven’t even collected our Motorhome yet and there are point that I had never even considered. Thank you. New followers here. 😃👍🏼

Excellent information…….Thank you so much🙏….just what I’ve been looking for…..Very realistic and helpful information and I’ll be checking out the rest of your videos…….love your straightforward,objective and balanced approach🙏

I’m going to follow thanks mate

Some great advice, new to motorhome having just purchased mine a few weeks ago thanks for sharing

Thank you, really helpful and importantly useful

Wish we had listen to the video before we took my sisters to Harlech in north Wales for the 1st time, a week ago. Great video👍

useful tips as I'm thinking of quitting expensive bricks and mortar life and living van life around the whole of the uk for a couple years . Your top ten tips remind me of a saying I always use " experience is something you get 10 minutes after you need it " feel free to use that licence free anytime you like :) and thankyou for trying to give newbies the experience BEFORE they need it ! .

Another fantastic video, with great information. Now I have found your channel, I will watch all your videos, you are excellent at this and long may you continue. Many thanks for your time and effort.

Great little video didn't realise how much there is to take in to motor home thanks

Enjoyed the informative video and your dry sense of humour :-). Just retired, my wife and I are seriously considering buying a motor home. We recently sold our caravan to make the leap to a motorhome. Your video has eased my worried mind and confirmed this is a real option and there is a wealth of support out there to help us along the way. Thank you.

Another great advice video 👍🏻. In the early days we drove off with various bits still switched on and spent the first part of our next stay trying to get rid of a red warning light. 25m cable perfect, never had an issue. Reels are useful for some but we never had or needed one and it packs flatter (important now in the smaller van). The amount of cables you see partially out on reels or just hanging tangled though! I’ve obviously been well trained! 😇 Have a good weekend.

Thinking about buying a motorhome been watching your videos can honestly say I think they have helped learn a little bit more about what I should look for things to do 👏👏👏👍

A great advice video. I enjoyed it. Very informative. Thank you.

Excellent advice, thanks.

Very useful information,tips etc.Thankyou.

Just got out van, been on one trip. Thought I knew it all until I was like, 🤔 on points 1-3. So I watched it all. Thanks 👍🤣

Well said regarding the unwinding of the cable reel. A lot ot people don't realise that this also applies to ANY electrical extension cable. All of these will have 2 ratings- one for when it's coiled and one for when it is fully unwond

Very helpful. Many thanks. Love from Scotland, X.

I am a to be newbie from Birmingham and will be picking up my new motorhome in 2 weeks time I am really excited and I appreciate all of ur tips

again a great video, i'm retired and thinking of a new adventure in a camper van and this was very useful thx

Thank you

Thank you, loved the video. We are newbies. Went on first drive out took tea bags etc but couldn’t make anything work so had a mug of cold water & then I hit a bus side mirror with our left side mirror, SUCH FUN. Also didn’t know there was an open & close on the toilet. Will be doing the Shake Down Test on our drive now! We got our Motorhome as we wanted to make memories so your “Memory Maker”, hope I got that right as it made me feel right at home with you. My husband Jack is walking our beloved Labrador I can’t wait to tell him that I found your site. Happy Travels 🙂🫶🏼 Julie & Jack

❤Great advice❤

I don’t own a camper van, I’m not even looking to buy one and yet somehow I ended up watching this video. I thought it was really interesting, informative and now I know all about the blue tap 😂

Thanks for the video. We’re looking to hire a motor home next year for our first trip. The motor home will be the same model as yours so both this video and the others on your channel have given us a very good introduction to this vehicle. We were also thinking about how best to pack clothes as until we actually get to the motor home we won’t really know how things will fit so we were pleased to see your tip on packing separately. Thanks again.

Can't believe you mentioned the blue tap! Last night whilst getting the moho ready for a trip I wanted to test the water works. As you said, water running from under the van. After much worry, reading manuals, looking on forums I accidently came across the blue switch. Wish I'd watched your video earlier.

Great video enjoy looking forward to watching your others. A new MotorHome owner.

We are just about to buy our first memory maker…so we’re about as newbie as newbies can get, although I’ve got quite a bit of camping experience. Videos like yours are going to be invaluable to keep our memories being more good than bad! Agree on the 25m cable… extension leads can never be too long! Happily subscribed and following for more… we want to be welcome in the community! See you around!

Thank you! Great and useful info…

Thankyou I needed all of those tips

Thank you! This was great!

I’m new to this, and 25 m does the job, last campsite I needed 25 m. Thanks for your advice👏

hi.... I'm a new newby without even my first moblle home...yet!...I love your videos...keep em' coming...I'm listening to your every word!...and making a lot of notes! - :)

Very Helpful. Thank you.

Excellent detailed video 10/10

Brilliant tips thank you

as a motohomer for past 4 years , we've made most of them ;)

What a great video we've had out van almost a year and had the same problem with the water when we first went out this year , solved it but had no idea how as just pressed buttons near the tank and it stopped. Spent our life savings on this van after my partner was so unwell and in hospital for 5 months , decided to live life and camping no longer an option, thank you I have subscribed a d will continue to watch 🙂

Useful info thank you😊

Sage advice for motorhomers old and new. Great vid have a new sub 😉👍🏼👌

Filled up the fresh water tank and did the blue tap thing ! Wrote OPEN on the handle when it is OPEN . . . Thanx for your video . Still learning .

Some good tips in here. Notes have been made :)

Top video...wise words, informative & humourous...As a newbie MH owner, there's so much to learn & remember! Got to my first site last Saturday...a CCC temp holiday site at Durham...First mistake was not taking a fresh water hose pipe tap attachment...(Ups). Special thanks to Paul (& Ken) at Durham DA who save the day by lending us a tap & hose adaptors. Really friendly & knowledgeable guys...recommend their well organised sites.

Thank goodness I found this video and now subscribed to your channel. Completely new to MH and will take delivery of our Rollerteam on the 3rd March. Great tips to create a checklist. Will certainly look at the 25 mt. Also. Still trying to understand the Blue Tap. Really nervous just now as there just seems to be so much to learn!.

Lovely chap, lovely voice. So useful and interesting - and I haven't even got a camper van!

Thanks.Learned a lot.(Love the dialect).

Great video. Totally agree about the shake-down trip. We’d been campervanning in a T5 for 10 years before getting a 6m van, but there was still lots to learn. One thing I’d add about the cassette loo: always make sure the flap is shut before you try to remove it to empty it, or the flap will get dislocated by the removal process. If the cassette offers any resistance when you try to remove it, stop and check! I didn’t and it took me two hours of Googling and fiddling to fix it.

Thanks for the video, I am very much a newbie (hiring a Swift Select 122 in Sept for a week prior to a campervan purchase, to make sure it's the life for us!). I hadn't appreciated that even though a fridge can run off 12v, it won't run directly off the leisure battery with the engine off! I understood the battery couldn't keep the fridge going for too long directly off a battery but didn't reaslise it's just not possible anyway. Think I was OK on all the other points though (apart from the blue tap 😉 )

Great Video, moving up from a Toyota Alphard to an Autosleepers Stratford soon with hot waer and heating (all new to me) so appreciate the tips!

Thanks for the tips 👍 I’m thinking of buying a motor home.

Excellent stuff. I will try and remember all of this when we eventually get our motorhome. It's a shame I didn't know you were there on the prom at Morecambe as you would have been about 400yds away. A water topup would have been easy :). Ian

good info 👍👍

Hi again,did you see my question about the drop down bed.thanks again.

Glad we bought an old Moho with analogue systems, we have heard some horrendous stories about faulty digital control systems in Mh's and the price of repairing them especially Sargeant systems, most have to go back to manufacturer for repair at astronomical cost.

Excellent. Liked. Subbed.

loved all the coments and a great video

Hi Paul (Worro kid) great video thanks and we followed the great advice and done a shakedown at a very local CL site. Best advice I can give to fellow newbies is buy a 12v cooler as fridges a d freezer take a few hours to get to temp. Quick question if can, Power pack to use our coffee machine or inverter as we've got a 100w Solor panel ?

Excellent video and advice - realise I have already bought the wrong cable as 1.5mm not 2.5mm. Will it survive with low usage? Probably a low volt kettle is the most I'll use!

I watched it all the way even though I’m not new. Just because it’s you. You’re welcome 🏴‍☠️

Great info, thanks! We are collecting ours next week. Can I ask you what's your advice on a cover? Or mainly a roof cover as there are lots of birds by us who leave deposits !

Quite helpful! thanks a lot. EDIT: fixed a typo

Hi Paul Can you advise, we are finally purchasing our first motorhome and will be putting in storage, my question is about the fridge please. We thought we would be able to but our groceries from the supermarket before we left on a trip and put in the fridge, however as the motorhome will be in storage the fridge will not be switched on until we start driving it so will not be cold enough to put our groceries in. What do you do, we thought about putting them in a cool bag whilst the fridge is getting to temperature which may help. Thank you for your video’s they have been a great help to give me the confidence to purchase our motorhome and start enjoying the way of life you do.

Hi we both to waite 5 years untill we can retire. Loving the pilote 650c ..just dreaming of the day but untill then I will have to make do watching everyone else out enjoying there trips lol 😂

Bostin useful Vid our kid! Up the Brums!

Hi paul,very informative as always,and entertaining,i’m not sure how to ask you questions without tagging them here,even though it’s not specifically about things you covered here.As you’re aware we met at searles site Hunstanton,i’ve since purchased my 2021 Tline 590 and have been on two trips totalling 22 days,we use the drop down bed in the fully down position,there is a little sideways movement,by that i mean the bracket moves in the tracking slightly,when we move about in it,the bracket makes a slight knocking noise as it hits the tracking.Is this normal,does your bed do the same.?,i’m asking as i don’t want to damage the brackets and have to make a lengthy trip to the dealership.

100% agree 25 metre cable for all the reasons you mention. Being a bit OCD I make sure it is in straight lines as well. I have a two metre cable for plugging the van in at home (with a handy little sign reminding me on the dash - learnt by my mistake!).

Big one to bear in mind... Regardless of the body width, it is the width across the mirrors that determines the clearance on tight roads... Ducato wide mirrors fitted to many coachbuilt models are over 10 inches wider in total than the standard van versions, a huge amount less clearance. Many models wearing these *could* be wearing the 4" narrower medium mirrors or even van mirrors with a perfectly good view, expecially considering they all now seem to have a reversing cam. Having driven a lot of miles in both panel vans and 7.5tonners, and having recently hired a fairly narrow Ducato motorhome wearing wide mirrors, I am sure that a "slimline" model with standard mirrors would be hugely more pleasant to drive in our national parks than anything with the wide mirrors.

Thank you so much really helpful. I cannot find the link for the weight/dimension stickers. Must be doing something wrong sorry. Please could you let me know what it is?

So as far as electrics inside the motor home are concerned, can you run sockets of a large portable battery? And if so is there any you would recommend?

Are you sure that the fridge cannot work on leisure battery when not hooked up? What about solar?

The Blue Tap - Newbie comment here but how do you stop the blue tap opening when you're sub 4 degrees when you're actually using the van?

Hi, in my Ducato Adria Coral the boot USB isn't working... any videos on that or thoughts...

am a newbie here and appreciate your tick list, should get it on pdf so that every newbie can download and perhaps buying you a coffee for the effort - thanks - paul in sunny bournemouth

Remove the outside covers on the fridge and boiler.

Do you have any security or anti theft devices, what do you use or recommend. We are new to campervans and there is such a big range of products we don't know what to go for

A few comments. Not all fridges are created equal. Our Dreamer D60 Fun has a HUGE (149L) fridge freezer that runs off 12V... I'm not sure if it uses 240 when we are on shore power but it definitely keeps working off 12V when we camp wild (and the freezer keeps making ice etc.). This is driven by the fact that the van has a small (3.9Kg) propane bottle - for the 2 burner hob - and a Truma Combi 6D - electric or diesel - hot water and heating. This is a setup that I am delighted with (and it was happenstance rather than a conscious choice as it's our first van). Did over 40 nights last year and I swapped the gas bottle for the first time at the start of this season and I reckon it was empty - so 40 + days of a 3.9Kg bottle. Heating and hot water (when wild) straight from the vehicles diesel tank. Now another mystery Truma control panel code... I guess this also applies to gas powered Truma systems. One of our side windows has a mystery black box (well it was a mystery). Turns out it is a sensor to detect if the window - which is above the Truma exhaust - is open. If it is you get some weird code (EH264?) and your hot water and heating won't work off diesel. It's a mistake you only make a couple of times. Power cables. Yeah we went with a 15m one. Second trip first stop (a C&M site) cable not long enough ended up buying a 25 or 30m cable in the site shop. We carry both mainly is I don't have to fully unwind 30m of cable when the EHU is 10m away. Joining cables together? Technically you can but MANY site wardens will not allow it.Ohh the blue tap. Yeah went through that learning experience and another one. I winterised our van - emptied everything, bought food grade antifreeze and flushed the system with it and left the in the shower, tap, toilet flush lines. Then I took it for a habitation check... and the chap helpfully threw away £20 worth of food grade antifreeze.

Can I just add that even if you can tolerate staying in a van which is not level, the chances are your fridge will not ! Always make sure your van is more or less level !

Which motorhome do you guys recommend I'm looking to buy an old school one maybe that needs to be renovated I'm on a very tight budget :/ looking for an inexpensive one

How do I get rid of my waste water tap is open but nothing coming out thanks

Bostin owa kid👍

Brilliant wow I had to get my note pad and pause it 😂😂 I am new to motor home ownership just bought my first one only last week don’t collect it until July gotta have habitation check mot and service first I put a figure in my head when I was looking thinking of getting an older one so had £20,000 in my head thinking that’s plenty well I went to a show room to look at some and I saw that many some that ticked most of my boxes but wasn’t fully ticked so looked at more which confused me even more so after 5 hours plus I think we chose the right one double and more of what I was thinking but it’s an amazing motor home and I am excited for the delivery now I ain’t the most patient of people when was told first week in July I nearly cried 😂😂but I am still excited to wake I settled for a 2015 Fiat ducato Swift I am a newbie so please don’t criticise me for my choice or tell me any horror stories please 😂😂it’s my first motor home and when I get another one I will have the knowledge to make more choices in what I really want hopefully next time it will be brand new but was quite surprised when I done my checks while was there £165 year tax as it’s classed as cat c licence and ulez exempt so am happy living so close to London if there’s any sites where I will have to go into London I would be happy to take it thanks for posting this has it has really made me think especially about the checks to do before we go away fir very first time and I now have a list of questions for when I collect it all jotted down and ready to fire at the sales rep 😂😂thanks again and look forward to watching some of your others very informative 👍🏽👍🏽😁

Don’t buy less the 25m first time away mine was to short grrrr

I agree with the cable, would rather have too long than not long enough, and more risk of faults if adding extensions

My fridge is powered by the Leisure battery

What the hell does water pumps have to do with blue tack

Why do you turn of gas.in 12 months of full time living I only turn mine of when filling with lpg,then turn on again.and leave on.

My tip is not to buy British.Poorly constructed .

Thank you