Product Test – Window Vac for a Motorhome Windscreen

After several years of not being able to justify the cost of buying a window vac for our motorhome windscreen, as our squeegee and chamois leather did the job just fine, we finally took the plunge a few weeks ago. So, was it worth it?

What causes condensation in a motorhome?

Cooking inside your motorhome, boiling the kettle for a brew and just breathing all puts moisture in the air and in the winter, with the doors and windows closed, it starts to build up. That moist air touches something cold like such as the windows and it cools down quickly and can’t hold the moisture so it turns to liquid on the cold surface. For us it’s only a problem on the windscreen and cab side windows as they are single glazed and the coldest part of the van.

When your van’s sitting still for a few days it isn’t a massive issue, however when you want to drive somewhere (usually in a morning before the sun is strong enough to clear it), you can find yourselves having to wait or pull over until the engine warms up enough for the windscreen fans can clear it. In Zagan (our motorhome) this can take quite a while.

Why did we buy a window vac for our motorhome?

When I first found out about window vacuums they cost around £75. Lidl would occasionally have their own brand version in store at around £30, but that seemed to coincide with us being somewhere sunny and warm so condensation hadn’t been a problem for a while and I’d forget how annoying it was. In all I’ve been hanging my nose over one on and off for around five years.

When we did our tour of the NC500 in Scotland in November 2019, condensation on the windscreen was a big problem. Despite using our external thermal covers, which reduces the problem by warming the glass, as it was below zero most nights each morning the windscreen and two cab side windows were dripping wet – we even had ice form in the gutter of one of the sliding front windows. That was it for me. The price had come down, and we had just had a cold and soggy trip, so as soon as I got home I hit the internet and bought one.

Why didn’t we buy a Karcher Window Vac?

The yellow and black Karcher window vac is the premium brand and often recommended as THE best window vac for a motorhome among the Facebook groups and forums. It was certainly the first brand of window vacuum that I became aware of, and has been developed and refined for years. However, they do still cost quite a bit – around £65 for the current model, although you can pick up one of the old style ones for just over £30.

I like a bargain, so I did a bit of internet searching. I found a ‘Black Friday’ offer on a Beldray Window Vac which, including delivery, cost just under £18. That offer isn’t on any more, but you can still pick one up from Amazon for under £25 including delivery. That’s still quite a few quid less than the new Karcher, and the Beldray had a better specification than the old style Karcher.

Review of our Beldray Window Vac in a Motorhome

We have an A Class Hymer B544 motorhome and it has one big windscreen! None of the window vacs on the market are specifically targeted at motorhomes, so we were interested to see how it would work on our curved windscreen, where you couldn’t always use it upright.

The first thing I noticed when it arrived was it is a lot bigger than I thought it would be, and size isn’t always a good thing in a motorhome! Looking at the image of it on its own, I expected the handle to be about the size of a 500ml water bottle, but it’s quite a bit bigger than that. The actual dimensions are 28.8 cm (L) x 18 cm (W) x 31.5 cm (H). It weighs 921g and has a run time of 30 minutes between charges, so you can probably go a couple of weeks between charges.

It feels lightweight enough, even when used at arms length, and as I no longer have to hold the chamois leather on the bottom of the windscreen to catch the water from the squeegee, the actual process of clearing the screen seems much quicker and easier. If truth be told, we no longer have to pretend to be doing something important so the other person clears the windscreen before we set off, now we both want to do it as it’s quite a satisfying feeling.

Despite the instructions saying otherwise, we have used our window vac on its side. If you keep it upright, due to the size of its handle, you can’t clear the bottom half the screen. We found it worked fine except for when it started to get full of water, then the motor started to whirl, sounding like it was giving up. Once we’d emptied the collected water into the sink (take out a plastic bung and tip it to pour out the collected water), it worked just fine again.

The Beldray window vac has a 60ml capacity, which in Hymer A Class motorhome terms equates to about one reasonably wet windscreen. To stop any issues, we clear the side windows first (which can be done upright), then empty it before clearing the windscreen using it on its side. As for the curved edges of the A Class windscreen? It does a pretty good job, clearing most of the water. While it’s trickier to clear the whole windscreen, especially around the edges, it does a much better job of the main bit that you look through, with no streaks or water drips on the dashboard. For me, that more than makes up for the small patches you can’t get.

Top Tip: Once you vacuum the windscreen, if it’s cold outside it starts to fog up again pretty quickly. So make it one of the last things to do on your checklist before setting off.

Window Vac vs Squeegee and Chamois in a Motorhome

Since we have started to use it I can only think of a few minus points for the window vacuum when pitted against our old method of squeegee and chamois leather:

• The size of the window vac, it takes up quite a bit more storage space.
• The cost, it’s more expensive than the squeegee and chamois.
• Clearing the edges, as I said above you can’t always get edge-to-edge clear.
• It needs charging every couple of weeks or so, we’ve done this on hook up and using our inverter when off grid.

The plus points for the window vac are:

• It clears the areas it can reach (which is over 90% of the windscreen) much better, no streaks or water drips on the dashboard.
• No soggy chamois or towel hanging around drying and the water is gone from inside the van as the vac is easy to empty into the sink.
• You don’t have to lean is as far over the dashboard, so it is much easier and less strain on your back.
• It’s actually quite fun, seeing all the water getting sucked up – sad I know, but we both enjoy it!

Was it worth it?

In my view, yes. It makes the chore of clearing the windscreen so much easier and quicker. We had the space for it, and it didn’t cost the earth. In fact I’m a tad gutted I waited so long to buy one!

If you’re thinking of getting a window vac for your motorhome you can find a list of the ones available through Amazon UK here. This, and other links in this blog post are affiliate links, meaning we receive a small compensation if you buy something after clicking them (at no additional cost to you).

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