Asking for help

Online Forums and Social Media Groups

There is no shortage of places where you can find and ask for help online, and in general, Motorhomers are a helpful bunch.

Of course, some are more welcoming than others, and depending on their rules and moderators, some will be better at keeping trolls and other undesirable individuals out of the group than others. Some are general Motorhome groups, but there are groups for almost any niche category you might consider that you fit into, from groups for ladies camping on their own to groups dedicated to classic motorhomes by a particular maker.

Feel free to join as many as you like that are relevant to you. And also feel free to leave any where behaviour isn't well-moderated. Life's too short to subject yourself to that, and Motorhoming is supposed to be fun, after all.

Once you're a member, you'll be able to ask for help on a wide range of topics, but to get the best answers, you'll need to be as specific as you can.

There are many, MANY different types of Motorhomes in the world

... and they don't all work the same way.

Many people, especially those who are new to motorhoming, make the mistake of asking for help with something without giving any clues at all about their motorhome or the equipment that they need help with which would help others to give helpful (and correct) answers. You might ask about the control panel in your Motorhome, thinking that everybody has a Zig unit, because that's what you've got. And you might get an answer from somebody who's only ever had a Motorhome with a Sargent unit as their control panel, and doesn't know that any other type is available.

Unless you include all the relevant details, you may well get unhelpful or confusing advice that you can't follow at best; at worst it could be potentially dangerous if you're given incorrect advice for the equipment that you do have.

Van + Habitation conversion

Fundamentally, your Motorhome or Campervan usually has two separate components: the base vehicle and the habitation area. There are a few exceptions - some vehicle manufacturers also do some of their own campervan / motorhome conversions ... but it's relatively rare.

There are also a few people who convert their own (but not as many as YouTube would have you believe). However, I would be very wary of those as a newbie. There's a lot more to making a decent motorhome than meets the eye. And much of it is literally invisible in the finished vehicle, and may not necessarily meet the safety standards that professional converters must abide by (and everyone should abide by, but may not be aware of). The person who designed and built it may well have known what they were doing, but equally, they may just have thrown something together without having much of a clue. And the chances that they've documented it all well enough for somebody else to use are vanishingly small.

The base vehicle will be a standard make of van, such as Peugeot, Talbot, Fiat, Ford, Mercedes, VW, etc., and a specific model, such as Peugeot Boxer, Ford Transit, or Mercedes Sprinter. If you're not sure what you've got, the registration document should tell you.

The converter will be the company that did the conversion to make it habitable, including any of adding a high top or elevating roof for a day van or panel van conversion, removing all of the bodywork other than the cab for a coachbuilt, or completely replacing all the bodywork for an A-Class ... and then adding all the equipment (fridge, hob, grill, oven, sink, heater, hot water heater, windows, etc.), with each of the components themselves made by different manufacturers.

There are many more converters than base vehicles to choose from, such as Autosleeper, Autotrail, Eldiss, Hymer, etc., and they will all also have different model names and/or numbers and/or suffices to denote different types of conversion and/or layout. If there's no badge on yours to tell you who converted it, a couple of photos of the outside of the vehicle from opposite corners (e.g. rear left and front right) showing all of the vehicle, and perhaps another showing as much of the inside as you can get in one photo will usually help others to identify it - most converters have a recognisable style, and somebody should be able to identify what you've got.

Be specific

I cannot think of a single thing that is universal to every campervan or motorhome. Everything is subject to differences.

There is no single correct answer to questions about how you fill the water tank, how you open and close the windows, how the water heater works or where the flush water for your toilet comes from. If you assume nothing, and give as much detail as you can about your Motorhome, there will almost always be somebody knowledgeable out there who can help with any aspect of it. But with the best will in the world, they're not psychic. The speed, quality and accuracy of the advice you receive will depend on the quality and accuracy of the information that you give when you ask your question.

Information to include in your question

If you have a question about the engine or the chassis, or anything to do with driving the vehicle, you'll need to tell people as much information as you can about the base vehicle (manufacturer, model, year of registration, etc.) It's no good telling people you've got a Hymer if your windscreen washers don't work.

If you have a question about any aspect of the habitation equipment or conversion, the more specific you can be, the better. Give the brand and model number of the piece of equipment if you can find it, e.g. Thetford Fridge, model number xxxxxx in a 2003 Autosleeper Nuevo. If you can't find the manufacturer's information for the equipment itself (on a plate, or in the instructions that came with your Motorhome), the name of the converter and the model and year of manufacture will be a big help.

Include pictures

A picture is worth a thousand words, especially if you don't know or can't find the make and model of the thing you need help with.

For example, if you want to know how to use your 3-way fridge on each type of power, or why it's not working in one particular mode, but you can't find what kind of fridge it is, it's virtually no use to anybody to know that you have a Peugeot van. Instead, take a photo of the whole thing, and also take more detailed ones showing the controls more clearly, and say what type of conversion it is (e.g. a K-reg Autosleeper Talisman), and include those photos with your question. If somebody asks you a question about it, or asks you to add a photo, update the original question to include that information as well as replying to say you have done so. That way more people will see it, and the additional information will be included as part of the question where it's most relevant, rather than buried under somebody else's comments (or worse still, hidden altogether due to subsequent comments).

Netiquette - how and where to ask your question

It is both polite and more effective to create a post of your own to ask your own question, rather than asking it in somebody else's post. Conversely, it can be considered impolite to take somebody else's post off-topic. It's not a hard and fast rule, and if you just want to follow a post to see what answers the original question gets, that's just fine.

However, if you have a different but related question, it's almost always better for both you and the other poster to ask your question separately. That will also allow you to add your own pictures and detailed information, as described above.

If you ask your question on somebody else's post, not only may your question take the post off-topic, and muddy the waters for the original poster, but it is also likely to be a less effective way for you to get an answer for yourself. This is because fewer people are likely to see your question, especially as many social media platforms (e.g. Facebook) will routinely hide many of the comments on a post, once the number of comments reaches a certain limit, so you have the double whammy that people scrolling through the group probably won't ever see your question at all, and even those who have commented on the post so far may not see it either.

And don't forget that people use different platforms online. Some will be using a phone app; some will be using a laptop or desktop computer. The layout and precise details of where to find different aspects of a post or comments may vary by platform, and others may not be using the same platform as you.

Related articles

• Getting to know your Motorhome and your needs

• What else do I need?

• Adjustments for living with limited resources

• Terminology