Preparing your motorhome ready for spring after winter storage

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If you are about to put your motorhome into winter storage then you can get some tips here: https://wherenexthun.blogspot.com/2026/03/preparing-your-motorhome-for-winter.html

Exactly how do you prepare a motorhome for the forthcoming season?

Exactly how do you prepare your motorhome for the forthcoming new season after a long period of winter storage on an inaccessible storage site?

With the imminent lifting of the lock down on April 12^th, we are faced with this dilemma. We are so excited! We have only been away twice in her and we cannot wait to escape and do some travelling and spending in different local economies around the UK.

Bryony

However, after the winter debacle with the flattened batteries, we don’t want to inadvertently make any more mistakes in reawakening her, so this is our thinking thus far on how to wake her up gently.  We would welcome any input from more experienced motorhomers, so please do share any tips with us in the comment box at the end of this post. We are newbies to motorhoming after all.

Exterior checks:

Wheels and tyres:

Sounds obvious but is easy to forget, we will start with checking the tyre pressures using the handbook and door plate information. Because poor Bryony has been standing for what seems like an eon, a visual inspection of the inner and outer tyre walls, looking for cuts, cracks and flat spot bulging is critical. A LED torch shone at an acute angle across the sidewalls should show up any degradation easily. Tyre treads will be examined and any trapped stones removed. After checking the wheel rims for cracks and scrapes, we will test the torque of the wheel nuts and then make sure that the handbrake works correctly. We left it off over winter so we aren’t expecting the brake pads to have stuck to the brake drums. Legal minimum tyre tread is 1.6mm and most organisations recommend changing them at 3mm or every five years. The date of manufacture will be found on the sidewall somewhere but we are confident ours are within date.

Tow bar and ball hitch:

After spraying the tow ball with brake cleaner and giving it a rub clean with wet and dry paper, we will examine the inside of the tow ball cover for grease and clean it out. A last check on the torque of the nuts and bolts attaching the tow ball to its frame and then a quick crawl underneath to check the bolts holding the towbar frame to the chassis and that should be everything done in this area.  Steve will be grovelling around on his belly underneath for that job!

Copyright - ultimate towbars

This is similar to the tow bar system we have fitted on Bryony

Lights and electrical connections:

Rainwater found its way through our aerial socket on our first trip out due to a poor seal done at the factory. We were not impressed as we watched rivulets of water running down the side of the bathroom wardrobe! (It was all fixed under warranty by our dealer).  Thus, we will carefully check all lights work as they should and that there is no water evident behind any light covers due to any more failed seals or sealant.  If our lights don’t work, we will remove the cover, remove the bulb, clean the contacts and smear them with a little Vaseline (as recommended by the Camping and Caravan Club (CCC) and Dad) before reassembling everything. The towbar electrical socket will get a clean out and quick spray of WD-40.

External locks:

We checked the locks as part of the winterising of Bryony. They got sprayed with silicon lubricant, so there should be no problem with them. When the vehicle battery is installed, we will check that the alarm and central locking works properly as well.

Engine compartment:

Engine compartment checks will include the normal stuff – coolant, water and oil etc. We will visually inspect the engine bay to make sure there are no nesting mice, birds or resident spiders! Wiring will be checked for gnawing evidence! Steve can grovel around on the floor again checking for any evidence of leaking fluids.

External cleaning:

Bryony so needs a good exterior clean. She is covered with black streaks and there is mud still around the front wheel arches and back across the front doors where the next to useless front wheel mudflaps have failed to stop any road grime from splattering backwards!

We will probably bring her home and use a garden hose to wash her down before cleaning her with a Fenwick’s product of some form. We are dreading what state the roof is in. Green slime we suspect, so that will have to come off as well. The awning area and all sealant joints will need careful examination. Alongside cleaning goes a good visual inspection of the exterior, looking for damage, scratches, deterioration, cracking, loose bodywork etc. We search it all out now and fix it before getting back out on the road. We have learned our lesson from the aerial socket leak debacle!

 

Interior checks

Damp and leak check:

We know the horrors associated with discovering a leak so we will check around the skylights, windows and doors for signs of potential water ingress and the upholstery will be checked as well. We used plenty of the £1.00 dehumidifier blocks over winter and we managed to sneak down between lockdowns to change them over, so we are not expecting any unpleasant surprises.

Gas system:

Spiders, insects, mice! They seek inside shelter during winter! Our gas appliances will be individually switched on. They should burn with a clean blue flame. Yellow flames are not good. It means we will need to get that appliance checked out by a qualified gas appliance engineer. Hoses will be inspected for cracking and smoke and carbon monoxide alarms tested.

Water system:

We drained our water system completely but that doesn’t mean some residual water didn’t remain in the pipes. So, frost damage is a possibility along with bacterial growth. We used puriclean to freshen our water system and tanks in our old caravan and so will do the same on Bryony. We will then go for a long drive with the tanks and system full and on our return, we will flush it out. Although we are new to motorhomes, we have noticed many recommendations not to use Milton as it risks damaging the delicate stainless-steel fittings within our boiler system. Some people recommend descaling the pipes and water heater to eliminate limescale build up, using proprietary descalers.

We need to remind ourselves about many of the on-board systems, having only been out in the motorhome twice. Fresh water start-up procedures are one of those things we will need to remember. We’ll start by closing all taps, including the drain down valve, which we think we left open by mistake. The freshwater tank will be filled, puriclean added and then we will go for the drive. On our return we will make sure the 12v and pump switches are on and start the run through procedure.

The CCC recommend starting with the hot water tap furthest away from the water heater. When the water is running steadily and smooth flow has been achieved, the next hot water tap closer to the heater will be opened and so on. Then the procedure will be repeated with cold water taps. One of us will be looking in cupboards below sinks and crawling under the van to check that there are no leaks (we already know who is doing that job, don’t we!).

The water will be allowed to stand in the tanks, pipes and taps for several hours as recommended on the Puriclean tub before finally draining the system down again. Some websites recommend transferring the water into the waste tank and then letting it stand a further twelve hours before emptying and then draining down the entire system. When we had the caravan, we purged tanks three times with freshwater after this sterilisation process and we assume it is the same with the motorhome. Drain down will be with all taps open at their midway points.

Electrics system:

I guess we start with testing the RCD test button on our PSU when we hook up. We have learned the lesson of not following correct start up procedure. (Our Truma heating panel threw error codes at us for ages until we worked out why. We think it was because the dealer never followed the proper shut down procedures after disconnecting the EHU). Anyway, after that it is probably a case of going through the operation of each appliance working on 230v and 12v systems. We suspect trouble with the 12v system after our leisure battery fiasco over winter. The Truma heating panel will throw a multitude of error codes at us yet again. TV, fridge, all the plug sockets and internal lights will be tested. It sounds like overkill but we prefer to discover any surprises before we go off touring!

Internal cleaning:

The floors of all ground level lockers will be inspected for damp and rodent damage to floor, wiring and fabrics. We think that any fire damage as a result of chewed wiring will not be covered by our insurance!

Locker catches will be lubricated with silicon spray. We need to do this as we left them all open over winter to allow air circulation and they are a little stiff. Dusting and hoovering will be required even though we did it before putting Bryony into storage. Dead flies from the various door trims and upper roof window hatches will be found and cleared out. Carpets will get a clean. Rubber seals on all windows will be checked and windows opened to allow fresh air to circulate through. Another tip from the CCC is to use talcum powder on rubber seals which are sticking slightly. We will also carry out an inspection of the blinds.

We gave the kitchen area a good wash down before putting the motorhome away and so only a light clean will be needed. The fridge door and icebox door were left open so we aren’t expecting any mould in either of those. All modes of fridge operation will be checked, but not before we have removed the external winter fridge grills. That’s an easy one to forget!

The heating system:

We dread switching on the Truma panel. Ours throws hissy fits and error codes at us constantly! I guess we will just make sure that the blown air ducts are all clean and free of debris fluff and that any external flues are clear as well. We will re-read the handbook guidance about the heating system to make sure we haven’t missed anything.

The toilet bowl and toilet cassette:

Steve cleaned these thoroughly at the end of the season and also treated all the rubber seals with silicon spray. He left the cassette flap open. So, we aren’t expecting any nasty surprises in this area. A quick squirt of silicon spray is probably all that will be needed. We will need to fill up the flush tank and check its pump is working correctly. Our handbook suggests filling the tank with a weak solution of bleach in the water and leaving it stand for 24 hours. The tank should then be emptied via its drain pipe and flushed through with clean water again (excuse the pun there).

The cab area:

Windscreen inside cleaned – check. Cab mirrors cleaned? Yes. Reversing camera working as it should? Checked. Floor carpets are correctly fitted, pedal rubbers not worn and the dashboard been dusted? Yes, all done. Wiper blades outside will get a quick check as well.

Batteries:

Don’t get us started! Suffice to say, they have been charged up, fluid levels checked, terminals cleaned, Vaseline smeared and that’s it. We are sick of battery maintenance as previous posts will show.  However, it is crucial!

 

Other checks

It sounds silly but we will still just check that our insurance paperwork is still in order, along with our accident and breakdown cover. We are not due any annual habitation checks until august time. Servicing is critical; perishables will need replacing but given we only bought it in September and it went through a whole raft of PDI checks (or at least it should have) oils, brake fluids, rubber hoses, gaskets, rubber belts and filters should all be OK.

We will check the renewal on all our memberships and make sure we have the right guide books and apps and our National Trust membership cards.

Because we are new, we are probably somewhat paranoid. But, be as that may, we will still load Bryony up and take her back down the weigh station, just to check we haven’t overloaded her in any way. Spring is a good time to de-clutter, even if we have only been out in our motorhome twice! So a new weighbridge certificate showing the loads overall and on each axle as well.

We read somewhere a recommendation to check that all our security features are working. One website suggested driving the motorhome to a remote location and then phoning the tracker company to make sure that they could locate it correctly i.e., checking that our tracker subscription was still up and running and that the tracker was working. Our website tracker app seems to be working fine.

 

And there is our initial list of things to do. As we said at the start, if you have any thoughts about things we have missed, please do let us know. If you think we are being over conscientious and paranoid, say nothing and just humour us 😊.

In the meantime, stay safe, stay well, get your trips booked and remember when you start touring again, ‘take care out there’.

Steve and Maggie