I've updated the guide,
If you just want to read the updates just read the first word of any paragraph that's marked UPDATE :-
I get asked a lot of questions about movers, both at work & on web sites, so I've put together this general guide that I hope will answer most peoples questions. If you just need help on a problem scroll to the bottom of the guide.

MAKES
There are 3 main players in the fixed mover stakes, Reich, Powrtouch & Truma.

Reich make a single axle mover, that is different to the other 2 manufacturers, in that the motors are fixed in a central position between the caravans chassis, The jockey wheels/rollers are engaged by pushing a lever made from a steel tube, onto a bar on the ends of the unit, then lifting a safety knob & levering the rollers onto the tyre, you have to do this to each tyre, it takes quite a bit of effort to do this.
The rollers look like the other makes at first glance but they are very different, as they are on the ends of 2 foot steel tubes coming from the motors swivel joints, as such I would think they are much more expensive to replace when they eventually wear the grit off the rollers.
They also make a comfort model this replaces the engagement device with a nut & it also engages both wheels at the same time from either side, you can use a corner steady brace of 19mm but you are best off using an electric drill because it takes ages to screw it in.
They can be fitted to vans with shock absorbers as the rollers are below the chassis, they are ideal for narrow chassis vans, I.E with a height less than 7 1/2 inches, but they are the lowest hanging of all the movers, so ground clearance problems have to be taken into consideration.
They are now producing a new twin wheel model with 4 motors, 2 in front & 2 behind the wheels, it uses 2 control boxes, the first (master box) is controlled by the handset, it then tells the second unit (slave box) what it has to do through an interconnect cable.
Note, the under slung spare wheel carrier has to be removed to get the rear set in, so you'll have to put the spare elsewhere.
This is the only unit that I have ever seen that will truly make a twin wheel caravan go round corners, it still wont turn 360 degrees like a single axle will, but it turns pretty quickly compared to standard twin movers. (You may get 90 degrees if you are lucky)
If you have a standard twin & you are happy enough with the turning circle, I don't think the price tag of £1800.00 will appeal very much.
But it is 2 complete units bar 1 handset remote.
It is also a comfort model as standard so you engage the front wheels as a pair then the rear as a pair, with your electric drill & your own 19mm socket, as it isn't supplied.
All models use an isolation switch typically mounted below the 240v input plug in the battery compartment, you have to turn this switch on to power up the units, always leave the door open so you can switch it off immediately if problems occur, never run it with 240v plugged in.

Power products powrtouch.
All models have the motors on the outside of the chassis in front of, or behind the wheels, in front of is the favoured position, as most vans now being produced have under slung spare wheel carriers & they have to be removed, to fit it behind.
It also uses an isolation switch in the same position as the Reich.
The standard mover places the motor to the inside of the wheel & the roller comes out of the side, you use a 19mm lever (supplied) to turn the nut which slides the motor & roller towards the tyre then compresses the tyre and locks into place.
It cannot be used on a euro van, i.e. one with shock absorbers, as they would hit the motor.
There is also a heavy duty version with reduced gearbox, so it’s slower but it can handle big heavy vans.
They can all move a van up an incline of 1 in 4 if the right model is fitted, & I've tried it & yes it did it easily, if not rather slowly.

There is also the euro mover & twin mover.
The euro is only different in that the motor is moved from the side of the tyre to a more central position directly in front of the tyre, with the roller offset in front of the motor, so that it clears the shock absorber, if I remember rightly its based on the more powerful geared down version, as shockered vans are usually heavier.
The twin is more or less the same as the euro but it releases and intermittently powers the non driving side every so often to take out wheel twist when turning, the twist looks pretty horrible on all makes but what can you do, it’s going to happen as the wheels try to oppose each other.
Turning circle is about the same as the Truma, it can help if you are prepared to give it a hand and push or pull on the hitch head etc to aid its turn, on its own it will really struggle to hit a 10 degree turn, apparently its more like 6 degrees.
Its best to go straight up bank & do your turns down bank, they really don't like going up bank on 1 motor.
There is a theory that if you mount it behind the wheels, then raise the front of the van as high as possible with the jockey wheel, it will turn better, I've never seen it done, but I have seen jockey wheels damaged going over obstacles & I can see the same thing happening if you try this method.
a twin wheeler turns into a single wheeler if you remove the 2 front or back wheels, that means it will turn as tight as one,

so if you are prepared to remove a set to get your van into a tight spot, it may help with your decision about how to fit it.

UPDATE: - They now do a 4 motor mover for twins & it works quite well, interestingly the 2 control panels aren't linked by a signal cable so there's no master & slave, the handset just runs both on the same frequency, I would have thought it may cause conflicts between the tyres I.e. running at different speeds, or 1 panel starting before the other but it doesn't seem to be a problem for it, as it seems to work as well as the reich 4 motor unit.
They also do a motorised engagement unit called a powractuator, I haven't seen one in the flesh yet.


Truma, formerly Carver movers.
Probably the big boy of the industry, I'll fit around 50 of these a year, probably lots more, I seem to be doing 1 to 3 a week at present.
Its all change for them this year, the new models are just excellent, if I’d been asked which unit I liked best up till now id have said the powrtouch as its reliable (as they all are) but they also give a no quibble guarantee for 5, yes 5 years,

the truma is 2 years extendable to 5 for a further £99. I think the reich might, as well.
They were almost identical to the powrtouches on all but the twin mover, it used an extra set of small signal wires from the control box to the motors to control the stepping motors when turning, but it was no better than the powrtouch, it just seemed to have a much more pronounced step, which made it look like the caravan was trying to imitate a duck, it waddled that much.
They did not use an isolation switch.

Now, you can have the standard mover, it still doesn't have an isolation switch, I'd recommend you have one fitted if you buy it.
It now comes as standard as a cross actuator model, that you engage the same as the powrtouch (p.s powrtouch is not a spelling mistake by the way) & I think with a new soft start control box, but because of the design of the new ones we're not really getting any orders for it & I cant be sure it is soft start, I'll check that out later.

UPDATE: - The standard unit now comes with new grey Truma S panel, but it doesn't yet have an isolation switch, so it’s constantly flashing a red light, even when not in use. I really don't like that idea & I would ask for an isolator switch to be fitted, it’s only going to drain your battery over long periods.
The new Bailey pageants & senators now come with shock absorbers, so standard trumas or powrtouchs will not fit in front of the wheels.
Bailey say its still the standard chassis from last year so the shockers can be removed to fit them, but a better option is to pay a bit more & go for a truma S MOVER, OR A powrtouch euro mover.
You could always fit behind the wheels but the spare wheel carrier will have to come off, it’s not a massive problem for the Baileys because they still have spare wheel space in the gas locker.

Now the new units: -
All models have: -
All new, life of the caravan alloy jockey wheels, new motor design & now fitted with isolator switch.
Truma S: - Cross actuating, manual engagement via large lever & redesigned cam angles so it engages both wheels from either side very very easily, which the older trumas & powrtouches do not.
It doesn't use a nut anymore, it’s a cross bar in the end of the lever pushed into a slotted bar on the mover.

The truma SE & TE: - SINGLE AXLE SE, TWIN AXLE TE.
The dream machines, incredible pieces of kit but you pay the price, over £1300.00 for the cheapest.
They engage the tyres by simply pressing and holding for 2 seconds, 2 small buttons on the handset, the motors slowly move into position power driven by themselves, if it startles the dog and it goes to stick its nose in while you are engaging it,

simply hit the out buttons and it reverses immediately.
It can't engage itself by accident, lets say while you are on the move, because you have to turn the isolator on first, then go to the front of the van and plug the 12n (black road lights plug) into a new socket mounted on the 'A' frame cover, then

switch the handset on with a sliding switch, the handset then starts to beep while the unit checks to see if all safety procedures are correct then allows the handset to bond with it.
If the 12n plug isn't in the safety socket the handset beeps until it shuts itself down, you then have to switch it off and start again.
Disengagement is by pressing 2 more buttons on the handset & out she comes.
But just in case you overdo it showing off & flatten the leisure battery so it can’t disengage, you are provided with a little socket T bar, you remove a small plug from the end of the motor, insert the T bar and screw the motors back manually.
If you go for these models I would highly recommend you to take the extended warranty as everything is new so longevity isn't known yet.

UPDATE :- I've fitted on average 2 a week of the new Truma S, SE & TE, I've not had a breakdown return in a year or so of fitting them, other than one or two units didn't work at fitting so they went straight back to Truma, I've had one posting from 1 guy asking for advice, who was getting signal loss after 6 months of use, of a Truma S.


OTHER MODELS :-

Purpleline enduro,I was so impressed with this make that I have become a distributor for them, the chassis is triple powder coated as opposed to the others painted units, this means a hose down & it looks like new, even after a couple of years, it can take a load of 1800 kgs as standard, but by a simple control panel swap it turns into a twin axle mover with stepping motors & can handle 2200kgs.
It has micro adjustable clutches on the engagement device so that you can fine tune the pressure exerted to each individual wheel despite being an either side engages both wheels model.

Simpark from Holland, is a galvanised unit rather that painted, looks very big & butch, but not seen one in the flesh, was invited to be a distributor for them, but I couldn't get the price down low enough as with the exchange rate at the moment they are about £200 dearer than the other base models.

I've done 1 swap mover from old to new van on a Rhyno mover, it seemed a decent piece of kit working well, pretty light to & it’s British, HAWAY THE LADS.

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Problems in general,
Movers are pretty reliable machines, but occasionally you may have a problem so I'll try to help on a few.
This doesn't include the new Trumas by the way, but most problems will probably affect them occasionally.

Stop starting: - you press the control, the unit either starts then stops, or runs then stops, then runs again, it does this continually, known as signal loss the control box is losing its signal from the handset then picking it up again, on a truma without the soft start it will make the movements jerky, on soft start units the motors can start singing to you but wont do anything else.
Absolutely the first thing to do with any electrical problem, is charge the battery, don't take it for granted that "oh its new so its got to be charged or the vans charger takes care of it, cos it won’t, it may well have got flattened by a light left on or the anti theft system using the power, Charge it fully with a proper car, or better still leisure battery charger.
If that doesn't cure it, disengage the wheels, switch it on if its isolated, go in the van, remove the seat cushions and try controlling it from there, right next to it, if you still get signal loss, 1 the batteries in the handset need replacing, 2 the leisure battery is u/s, 3 the control panel is u/s, 4 (very rarely) the handset is u/s.
If it seems a whole lot better or is cured, the signal is being interfered with by either the battery, the charger, some other caravan system, (although I've never heard of anything else) or it has coils of cable from motor to control box hidden in the van & they are causing a magnetic field.
When I first started fitting them we had to coil up the spare cable, tape it up & hide it under the battery box or in some corner, for 3 reasons, 1 the cables came with the fittings already on the ends, to fit to the control panel, 2 if the owner changed vans the cable would always be long enough for the changeover, 3 if they were the same length, in theory the motors would turn at the same speed so would drive in a straight line, of course with road cambers & bumps/potholes that doesn't truly work.
Now the manufacturers insist that all excess cable is removed to stop this happening, but I have seen cable zigzagged under the van to keep the lengths the same, this is ok as far as I can tell, but it would be better if both sides went to the middle of the van then went to the control panel together that way the cables are kept the same length & that's the way I fit all of my movers.
So you can move the control box away from the battery, charger etc to try & alleviate the problem, you could try mounting it higher, on a wall or furniture panel, but get it away from the battery & charger etc.

A ticking noise coming from a powrtouch, or more especially a Truma roller, this one there is nothing to worry about, its a little bit of play between the rollers end and the bearings it runs in, the end plate can be removed and a washer used as a spacer to remove the play, the ticking should then stop, but its not really any problem.

The mover works when not engaged but refuses to move the van when engaged. The battery is almost completely flat. It’s got enough in it to turn the lights on, but not enough for the up to 100 amps needed to run the mover.
If you absolutely know that the battery is charged & you've tried another battery, then it’s a relay on the circuit board, its overheating, you need a new control panel.

You can only get the van to move to the right (offside), when pressing the forward button.
Disengage the rollers (safety first) press the turn left button, if the motor runs engage only that wheel, try again, if the motor runs but the van doesn't move, the gearbox has broken, if the motor doesn't run, either Its a bad or dirty cable connection somewhere, (probably at motor, or if its been swapped from another van to this one, a joint could have been used to lengthen the cable).or unusually at the control box. if possible test for power at the motor but you could have power to it without the ampage for some reason and the only way to tell that is to make up a set of leads to run the motor directly

off a battery, if it still doesn't work the motor is u/s. if it does work its either still a bad connection or the control panel is u/s
Vice versa of course if it will only turn left.(nearside)

The mover will do none of the above, nothing happens at all.(providing the battery is charged):-
1 is the isolator switched on.
2 when either double pressing the handset truma/reich, or pressing the 2 red buttons on a powrtouch does the red light come on, on the handset, if not try new batteries. If that fails the handset is probably u/s I cant see it just being the bulb gone.
3 when pressing the handset to on, does the control panel make a clicking noise & do the little green lights come on and stay steady, if not count the sequence of flashes and pauses, there should be something on the panel & in your manual about sequences, in theory the panel should be telling you whets wrong. If it goes straight to red light when pressing the handset it’s usually a flat leisure battery.
4 is there power at the control panel input, if there is, is there power at the terminals on the control panel to the motor/s when the handset buttons are pressed, if not the control panel is u/s.or more rarely the handset is u/s.

When trying to engage the roller, it goes solid & wont engage, or goes very stiff but does engage with a struggle.
Usually on trumas the bar on the back end of the engagement nut has bent, a new end is needed. I think it could happen on powrtouches too, on reichs I've even had the bar snap off but that's a different system.

The roller engages & disengages but there's no clunk to it.
The spring behind the motors mounting has either come off or snapped.(reichs don't have one)

Powrtouch :- when trying to engage the roller the nut turns but the motor doesn't move, or moves slightly then comes back by itself.
It uses a pin, known as a mills pin or roll pin, to join the engagement nut to the cam system, directly behind the motor
mounting, its a bar of steel in a steel tube basically it has snapped, you will need to get the bars lined up correctly then drive out the pin before fitting a new one.

Gaps settings etc.
Reichs are set with a gapping tool(a block of wood) of 15mm between the roller & the tyre, directly behind the centre fin, the fin can either be directly in the centre of the tyre for wide tyres, but the end of the rollers protrude out of the side of the van too much if its only on thin tyres, so it can be set further in.

Powrtouch & trumas are set at 20mm for single wheel & 15mm for twin wheel movers, set in the centre of the tyre, again a block of wood is the easiest & most accurate method.

New Truma S, SE & TE movers are set at 20mm regardless, at the centre of the wheel.

UPDATE :- But there must also be a minimum 20mm gap between the inside side wall of the tyre & the mover, this usually means that the roller only comes across the tyre about 3/4 of the way, so it doesn't reach the outside edge but its not a problem,

if you see this it will probably still be fitted correctly.

That's the official line, but with big heavy single wheelers, some customers have problems with roller slip because they may have to drive over a small obstacle regularly, in that case in theory the gap could be reduced to the twins 15mm setting but I'd start at maybe 18mm first, & if it did slip at 15mm your asking too much of it.

Well that's all I can think of for now, if your problem is different to mine I may not have come across it yet.
Hope it was interesting reading.


UPDATE: - I've now taken a redundancy package from the new company owners after a takeover & I'm in the process of starting up
my own business supplying & fitting motor movers in the North East of England & possibly further a field.
At present I can supply & fit Trumas.
UPDATE: - As I said above I am now a registered distributor for Purpleline also, As well as Unipart leisure & marine, so if you need anything please feel free to send me an email, my advice is always free.

Thank you for your time,
Keith of N.E. Leisure products
neleisure@sky.com