# New to this and clueless



## PaulBrash (Apr 15, 2018)

Hello folks,

Just bought a second hand motorhome so we can holiday with the pooch, however we are clueless - bought a 2005 Avondale Seascape elx seems nice, 30k on the clock - the Eberspächer Heater seems not to work - just a high fan speed- any advice on anything is appreciated -what to put in the toilet? How to get heater working, sterilise the water system everything really

Thanks,

Paul


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## runnach (Apr 15, 2018)

Eberspacher heaters are dependant upon a healthy voltage to fire up ( voltage sensitive) if you click the search button a few threads that will give ideas 

Channa


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## phillybarbour (Apr 15, 2018)

Hi and welcome along, we use bio washing tablets in the toilet usually from Aldi. There is an official blue chem fluid for the toilet available from any caravan outlet.


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## Nabsim (Apr 15, 2018)

Hi and welcome 

On the control for our Eberspacher the button on the right turns it on (press and wait, can be a little delay) and the button on the left seems to be just the fan. After pressing the top right button use the up/down arrows to make sure the target temp is higher than inside the van. If your battery's may be low run engine for a few minutes while you test.

On ours the control is the bottom one in this pic, on is the wiggles arrows under the green light, the fan can be seen on the left and there is an up and down to set temp on each side


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## runnach (Apr 15, 2018)

to clean the water tanks Puriclean is possibly best product a lot use Milton but can be corrosive to pipe work. First couple of trips stay local then if there are issues you have your bolt hole...early days invariably something catches you out part of the fun I am told doesn't seem that way at the time...

Channa


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## Nabsim (Apr 15, 2018)

I put the juice of a lemon in our clean water tank after seeing it on one of Diamond Dave's tips, he said vinegar or lemon would do the job. We have decided we aren't going to use water tank for drinks just washing etc. so a hint of lemon may be nice 

Caz picked up a tub of that Puriclean but after seeing some threads where folks were worried about the hot water side we never used it. They didn't mention puriclean though it was milton sterilising but no idea if it actually does anything bad


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## Minisorella (Apr 15, 2018)

Hello Paul and Christine and welcome to the forum :welcome:

We were all clueless when we started and probably asked pretty much all the same questions!   This is a terrific community and there are plenty of people here happy to help.

I don't know anything about Eberspachers, so can't help there but I do remember cleaning out the water system when we first got our van. You can buy special water system cleaning crystals/powder or use something like Milton or even soda crystals but I do recall we were advised not to run it through the boiler, ie put water and cleaning stuff in the fresh water tank, take the van for a drive to give it a good slosh about and then run a little through the cold water taps only, so that it doesn't go into the boiler. Personally, I'm not sure I'd even chance running anything other than proper system cleaner through the water pump or pipes.... just go for a drive and then dump the water straight out of the fresh water drain pipe. We had a pump fail on us in those early days and I always swore it was the cleaning solution that did it but it could have just been a coincidence.  Again, I could be wrong but I'd say the majority of us don't actually drink the water in the tank but instead carry a 10L container of fresh drinking water. I use the tank water just for washing/showering and washing up, etc, and even use the separate fresh water for the kettle... just my choice   A few bottles of the cheapest Coke-like stuff you can find will do the same job in the grey/waste water tank... again, have a drive round to slosh it about nicely before draining and flushing it out.

As for the toilet, it was always traditionally the blue stuff in the bottom tank and the pink stuff in the top flush tank but I've given up on both. Lots of us have switched to using any cheap and cheerful biological washing tablets or gel sachets... and get good results. Once there's been blue in the holding tank, it can take a few fills and empties for the bio properties of the laundry soap to win out over the chemical but once mine had settled, it was fine. I also use a drop of Zoflora to wipe round the toilet to keep it all smelling sweet. The pink stuff in the top flush tank caused quite a lot of black bits to build up, so I had to clean it all out with diluted bleach and now I just use plain water or I add a little Zoflora to the tank when I fill it. Some people use a bit of window wash in there too but I've never tried that.

Well, I've bored you long enough. Ask away and others far more knowledgeable than me will be along to help. Meanwhile, enjoy your lovely new (to you) van and I wish you all lots of happy adventures together :wave:


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## Old Git (Apr 15, 2018)

Hello enjoy :welcome::wave::wave:


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## PaulBrash (Apr 15, 2018)

*What is the second tap butto*

Still not worked out what the lower tap button is for - thanks for previous tips I’m sure more questions 

Paul


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## Pauljenny (Apr 15, 2018)

Do spend some time searching the motorhome knowledge forums.
Try putting, "  How to .. Xxxxx  " into the search box.
It's all in there, waiting for you.


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## Tes (Apr 16, 2018)

Hello :welcome:


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## angelaa (Apr 16, 2018)

Enjoy it and use it.  People on here are great for help.  Never be frightened to ask, we’ve all been new to it at some time.


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## Welsh will (Apr 16, 2018)

Hello and welcome
Few good threads with really interesting advice here. Stuff i hadnt really thought of, especially about toilets but have gained lots of helpfull tips now. 
As always this site is full of great advice. 
Enjoy


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## Silver sprinter (Apr 16, 2018)

Hi welcome and enjoy :welcome::camper::wave:


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## Tezza33 (Apr 17, 2018)

Welcome, don't worry about being clueless, I have been doing this since the 80's and if I had a clue now it would be lonely, things change and it doesn't matter how long you have been doing it you still learn and sometimes from inexperienced Campers, don't be frightened of asking questions


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