Buy a Hymer, they said...
Discussion
You should be able to access the water tank on the hymer , under the seat
The service hatch will let you get an arm in to clean any nasties, but in all likelyhood itll look clean
the fill with water and white vinegar (although any will do) leave for a couple of hours
Run through all taps, it'll kill any bugs and is safe in seals etc
And safe to eat - just like your fish and chips
Rinse through, and depending on how well you do that your team may taste about funny for a couple of days
The service hatch will let you get an arm in to clean any nasties, but in all likelyhood itll look clean
the fill with water and white vinegar (although any will do) leave for a couple of hours
Run through all taps, it'll kill any bugs and is safe in seals etc
And safe to eat - just like your fish and chips
Rinse through, and depending on how well you do that your team may taste about funny for a couple of days
custardkid said:
Rinse through, and depending on how well you do that your team may taste about funny for a couple of days
Yep, tried all that. Rinsed it out then sterilised twice and still tastes odd. Filling with food grade hose too. Just bought a Britta filter jug as it's just the taste I'm looking to get rid of.kurt535 said:
Do you find the blown air system noisy at night? I think the Alde radiator system sounds good but far more complicated, etc
No, once it's going it's pretty quiet. It makes a racket when it's heating the place up, but if you want a stable temperature it's just idling when it's near the thermostat set point. I've never used the Alde system but I've no complaints about the Truma blown air (except not being able to run the heating on hookup like the UK spec Truma systems).UPDATE!
Well, not much of an update to be honest. We've been living in it for 3 weeks now, and really it's fine. It helps that we don't have lots of stuff, so there's quite a lot of space for things. We've not quite perfected the filing system and things are never quite where we think we've left them a lot of the time.
Heating's doing well. Even on these couple of really cold weeks where it's hovering around freezing, it's lovely and warm inside. Two 11kg LPG bottles are lasting about 10 days with little effort to save gas, and having around 21-22c inside. About 25 pounds to refill.
Our first big problem is that we've just spotted a big crack in the shower tray today. Looking into getting it repaired, but it couldn't happen at a worse time as everything is shut until new year and we're planing to leave in the 2nd week of January.
It seems fixable, either properly or a self-bodge if needed. I really don't want to have to replace the whole thing as it'll be easily a grand from Hymer plus having to take out most of the bathroom to do it.
We're still having to stop 3 times in the first half mile every time we go somewhere as we've forgotten to do a load of obvious things. Drove for about 10 miles with the rear skylight open the other week, and came home from the outlaws yesterday with the outside light on and the outside shower cover open, and left the fridge on 240v all day while out and about.
Must do a checklist.
Well, not much of an update to be honest. We've been living in it for 3 weeks now, and really it's fine. It helps that we don't have lots of stuff, so there's quite a lot of space for things. We've not quite perfected the filing system and things are never quite where we think we've left them a lot of the time.
Heating's doing well. Even on these couple of really cold weeks where it's hovering around freezing, it's lovely and warm inside. Two 11kg LPG bottles are lasting about 10 days with little effort to save gas, and having around 21-22c inside. About 25 pounds to refill.
Our first big problem is that we've just spotted a big crack in the shower tray today. Looking into getting it repaired, but it couldn't happen at a worse time as everything is shut until new year and we're planing to leave in the 2nd week of January.
It seems fixable, either properly or a self-bodge if needed. I really don't want to have to replace the whole thing as it'll be easily a grand from Hymer plus having to take out most of the bathroom to do it.
We're still having to stop 3 times in the first half mile every time we go somewhere as we've forgotten to do a load of obvious things. Drove for about 10 miles with the rear skylight open the other week, and came home from the outlaws yesterday with the outside light on and the outside shower cover open, and left the fridge on 240v all day while out and about.
Must do a checklist.
I'm not sure on where you're located, but I use MG Caravans in Royston for all my Hab work and they're brilliant. I spoke to them about the shower tray on my previous van - Harry and they indicated the easiest way was to cut out the damaged section (or whole lot) and rebuild one in with a reinforced floor section (which is the reason they crack in the first place) and then mould new fibreglass in over the top and paint the whole area to match it in. They quoted me about 450quid IIRC.
You're looking well over a grand for a tray out job.
You're looking well over a grand for a tray out job.
i've done the shower tray in our van, and it was a fiddly job. impossible without a garage or similar to store stuff.
whilst researching i read a bit about trying to open the crack, spraying behind with expanding foam, and then sealing the crack up again.
in our case the tray wasn't resting on the base by about 5mm where it cracked, i guess 25 years will cause it to give up in the end....
whilst researching i read a bit about trying to open the crack, spraying behind with expanding foam, and then sealing the crack up again.
in our case the tray wasn't resting on the base by about 5mm where it cracked, i guess 25 years will cause it to give up in the end....
Of course this happened in the week when 90% of small businesses are closed. Have done some research and have got a chap from Speedcoat coming out next week to fix it. They claim to fix the underlying problem, in this case an unsupported section of bathroom floor, bond the crack and then coat the whole thing in a resin spray. Dry within the day and fully usable in 36 hours. This is a fairly common thing with these hymers by all accounts. The two sections of floor are well supported but the centre join isn't.
I really didn't fancy replacing the whole thing, as I can see the floor alone being easily over a grand from Hymer based on other parts prices. This lot give a lifetime warranty, so I presume from that that the process is what they claim it is.
Only downside is that the shower (singular) facilities are a bit tired onsite here. Of course we booked in for a further two weeks the day before we discovered the cracked shower.
I really didn't fancy replacing the whole thing, as I can see the floor alone being easily over a grand from Hymer based on other parts prices. This lot give a lifetime warranty, so I presume from that that the process is what they claim it is.
Only downside is that the shower (singular) facilities are a bit tired onsite here. Of course we booked in for a further two weeks the day before we discovered the cracked shower.
As an aside, if anyone's thinking of getting a set of external silver screens. Just do it. They make a huge difference to both the temperature and condensation on cold days. Ours make the cab seats warm like the rest of the van without the cold breeze, and there's not a drop of condensation even when it's well below zero outside.
speedcoat look like the people to use in this particular situation. loads less faf too, as they do the repair in situ if im not mistaken?
where did you get your silver screens from? the other windows don't seem too bad, being plastic and double glazed, but the front of ours was freezing when we went away late in november, and the condensation in the morning....
where did you get your silver screens from? the other windows don't seem too bad, being plastic and double glazed, but the front of ours was freezing when we went away late in november, and the condensation in the morning....
Re: silver screens
There are 2 major players who are well thought of: 'Taylormade' and 'Silver Screens'.
I have used SS for the last 4 years but upon coming to replace them was going to try TM however they were out of stock early in Dec with delivery mid Jan (2012 Ducato). I therefore went with the SS again.
The TM were around 40 quid cheaper than the SS ones from memory.
Both are well regarded items/manufacturers
There are 2 major players who are well thought of: 'Taylormade' and 'Silver Screens'.
I have used SS for the last 4 years but upon coming to replace them was going to try TM however they were out of stock early in Dec with delivery mid Jan (2012 Ducato). I therefore went with the SS again.
The TM were around 40 quid cheaper than the SS ones from memory.
Both are well regarded items/manufacturers
No idea what make ours are, they came with the van. Personally I'd go for Silverscreens over TaylorMade, if only down to how TM seems to be run. They had a huge backlog of orders (months) through Autumn that they seemed unable to catch up with. They've also managed to break their website entirely and "might have it back online in a few months".
craigthecoupe said:
also, whilst your at it, do you have a plan or route in mind for your travels? if your using any software/route planning or particular sites/aires, sharing here would be helpful to us too.
cheers
craig
The plan is that there is no plan. We know roughly where we're going but will only plan a few days ahead. We're planning for mostly aires/free with 1 or 2 nights a week on proper sites, but that'll all depend on where we end up and what's available. We'll use the standard apps etc (campercontact, ACSI, searchforsites). Can't really recommend anything as yet. Once we've been going a while I might have something useful to add over what's already out there on blogs etc.cheers
craig
Seeing as we're now we'll into Spain, I thought it about time for an update.
The hymer is doing really well. The new shower lining is holding up nicely. Our only problems so far are a slightly binding caliper, and a really dimwitted solar regulator. Solar will be replaced in march when we're back in the UK, probably with either a proper schaudt regulator into the hymer charger or a victron unit direct to the batteries. It's a few months in UK and Scandinavia so we're going to need as much out of the solar as we can get, and slow grey days are the current sunworks unit's weak spot. It does ok with 10 hours of southern Spain full sunshine, but is really poor on cloudy days.
Pretty much got the hang of everything now, still not 100% success rate on filling the water tank tidily without it burping all over the floor though.
It likes to cruise at about 85kph. It'll gladly do 100kph but it's a bit noisy. Anything getting on for 110 or 70mph is a bit floaty and disconcerting.
It's crying out for a six speed box though. 3rd and 4th are miles apart and 5th is far to short for comfortable cruising. The drivetrain is the only thing that I'd change in this to make it perfect. 5cylinder or V6 with 6 speed box in an ideal world. But in the real world the layout sucks on all the mercedes based hymers I've seen, so it's a moot point.
It's been Aires all the way so far, about 60% of them free. We need to empty the loo every 2 days or so, which restricts us wilding a bit, much more than water or power. Will probably get a second casette when we're home.
Full time traveling takes a lot of getting used to. We've been away for almost 4 weeks so far and have found it really hard at times. I think in hindsight I would have started in September with a month or so in the UK first and then come down south for winter. That way you get used to travelling and living on the road without the culture shock and language barrier. We've felt really isolated at times, partly because everything is so different here and we've not really travelled that much outside the UK in the last decade or so.
Still, mostly having a great time and no regrets.
The hymer is doing really well. The new shower lining is holding up nicely. Our only problems so far are a slightly binding caliper, and a really dimwitted solar regulator. Solar will be replaced in march when we're back in the UK, probably with either a proper schaudt regulator into the hymer charger or a victron unit direct to the batteries. It's a few months in UK and Scandinavia so we're going to need as much out of the solar as we can get, and slow grey days are the current sunworks unit's weak spot. It does ok with 10 hours of southern Spain full sunshine, but is really poor on cloudy days.
Pretty much got the hang of everything now, still not 100% success rate on filling the water tank tidily without it burping all over the floor though.
It likes to cruise at about 85kph. It'll gladly do 100kph but it's a bit noisy. Anything getting on for 110 or 70mph is a bit floaty and disconcerting.
It's crying out for a six speed box though. 3rd and 4th are miles apart and 5th is far to short for comfortable cruising. The drivetrain is the only thing that I'd change in this to make it perfect. 5cylinder or V6 with 6 speed box in an ideal world. But in the real world the layout sucks on all the mercedes based hymers I've seen, so it's a moot point.
It's been Aires all the way so far, about 60% of them free. We need to empty the loo every 2 days or so, which restricts us wilding a bit, much more than water or power. Will probably get a second casette when we're home.
Full time traveling takes a lot of getting used to. We've been away for almost 4 weeks so far and have found it really hard at times. I think in hindsight I would have started in September with a month or so in the UK first and then come down south for winter. That way you get used to travelling and living on the road without the culture shock and language barrier. We've felt really isolated at times, partly because everything is so different here and we've not really travelled that much outside the UK in the last decade or so.
Still, mostly having a great time and no regrets.
Thanks for the update. Always interesting to read how you're getting on - both as a newbie to motorhoming and to fulltiming.
I know I have other things going on, but I also have my ups and downs living in the van fulltime. It's not always plain sailing being in both a confined space and also needing to keep an eye on your resources constantly. I do think you're right getting another toilet cassette. I've got two and even considering getting another since it really contributes to being relaxed about when you need to empty and gives you that additional time on the road. The toilet really is the major limitation to wild camping given the next most finite resource is water and can be eeked out to 5-7 days in my experience.
Interesting to hear about the cruising speed and as comparison as a Merc owners - 100kph in Harry was quite noisy but it felt good at that speed; sitting around 3k rpm. Carrie has the same gearing from the 5-spd auto slushbox and is far, far quieter (but that's a Concorde thing) but still feels slightly under geared. I have had both Harry and Carrie up to 120kph, Harry being very wayward at that speed but Carrie far better but that's down to the 6t chassis, which is both wider and obviously heavier. I cruise at 100kph on motorways and autoroutes but I guess with you having more time at your disposal, it makes sense to keep a lid on the speed as much to save fuel as anything else too.
Enjoy Spain and keep us posted. Hope you continue to get used to your living space and also the culture shock. All the best!
I know I have other things going on, but I also have my ups and downs living in the van fulltime. It's not always plain sailing being in both a confined space and also needing to keep an eye on your resources constantly. I do think you're right getting another toilet cassette. I've got two and even considering getting another since it really contributes to being relaxed about when you need to empty and gives you that additional time on the road. The toilet really is the major limitation to wild camping given the next most finite resource is water and can be eeked out to 5-7 days in my experience.
Interesting to hear about the cruising speed and as comparison as a Merc owners - 100kph in Harry was quite noisy but it felt good at that speed; sitting around 3k rpm. Carrie has the same gearing from the 5-spd auto slushbox and is far, far quieter (but that's a Concorde thing) but still feels slightly under geared. I have had both Harry and Carrie up to 120kph, Harry being very wayward at that speed but Carrie far better but that's down to the 6t chassis, which is both wider and obviously heavier. I cruise at 100kph on motorways and autoroutes but I guess with you having more time at your disposal, it makes sense to keep a lid on the speed as much to save fuel as anything else too.
Enjoy Spain and keep us posted. Hope you continue to get used to your living space and also the culture shock. All the best!
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