Best Motorhome / Campervan gadget?

Best Motorhome / Campervan gadget?

Author
Discussion

r3g

3,750 posts

32 months

Monday 26th February
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HarryW said:
Re compressor fridges, I have one in the van and it’s great, no need to level or worry about the gas igniting etc. I will say that they do use hab batteries a bit, mines a 90ltr and off grid parked up it will use between 30-45ah/day. That’s a big part of your useable particularly for AGM set ups. Obv if you’re driving it’s using your alternator (good time to turn the temp gauge right down whilst in transit.


Re finding the right size both Thetford and to a lesser extent Dometic do a fair range of 12v compressor fridges.
The good thing with fridge power is you have plenty available via solar when you need it the most. Same with aircon. If you're using the wan in winter time then you turn your fridge off and keep everything in a sealable plastic box under the van. Makes zero sense to have the diesel heater running to keep the van warm then right next to it having the fridge empty your batts trying to keep a pint of milk cold.

HarryW

15,286 posts

277 months

Tuesday 27th February
quotequote all
r3g said:
HarryW said:
Re compressor fridges, I have one in the van and it’s great, no need to level or worry about the gas igniting etc. I will say that they do use hab batteries a bit, mines a 90ltr and off grid parked up it will use between 30-45ah/day. That’s a big part of your useable particularly for AGM set ups. Obv if you’re driving it’s using your alternator (good time to turn the temp gauge right down whilst in transit.


Re finding the right size both Thetford and to a lesser extent Dometic do a fair range of 12v compressor fridges.
The good thing with fridge power is you have plenty available via solar when you need it the most. Same with aircon. If you're using the wan in winter time then you turn your fridge off and keep everything in a sealable plastic box under the van. Makes zero sense to have the diesel heater running to keep the van warm then right next to it having the fridge empty your batts trying to keep a pint of milk cold.
Not so sure emptying your fridge and switching it off is the answer tbh….

egor110

17,370 posts

211 months

Tuesday 27th February
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cptsideways said:
One other thing I detest in our van is the poxy three way fridge, what a god damn awful invention that is. Fine if you park up for months but we use our van lots and you forever swearing as one or both of us had forgotten to switch it over. It'll be getting replaced with a 12v compressor fridge when I can find one that fits in the hole (which I've had no luck with yet)

My previous van had two 110ah AGM batteries & solar that had lasted ten years and I never flattened once. That was with a compressor fridge and diesel heater etc
What size fridge are you after ?

cptsideways

13,655 posts

260 months

Wednesday 28th February
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egor110 said:
cptsideways said:
One other thing I detest in our van is the poxy three way fridge, what a god damn awful invention that is. Fine if you park up for months but we use our van lots and you forever swearing as one or both of us had forgotten to switch it over. It'll be getting replaced with a 12v compressor fridge when I can find one that fits in the hole (which I've had no luck with yet)

My previous van had two 110ah AGM batteries & solar that had lasted ten years and I never flattened once. That was with a compressor fridge and diesel heater etc
What size fridge are you after ?
I'll have to double check the measurements but the one we currently have is sort of normal house fridge size. We could fit a smaller one. Will do some measuring in the morning.

chappj

Original Poster:

338 posts

151 months

Wednesday 28th February
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What app/website(s) are you using to find friendly stop over points? Both for U.K. and Europe…

We collect the van in 2 weeks and then our first trip will be at Easter. We’re thinking Bologna/Florence/Pisa with a drop off at Chamonix or Annecy on way down/return. We need to find places to stop off!

RedWhiteMonkey

7,329 posts

190 months

Wednesday 28th February
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chappj said:
What app/website(s) are you using to find friendly stop over points? Both for U.K. and Europe…

We collect the van in 2 weeks and then our first trip will be at Easter. We’re thinking Bologna/Florence/Pisa with a drop off at Chamonix or Annecy on way down/return. We need to find places to stop off!
Park4night

egor110

17,370 posts

211 months

Wednesday 28th February
quotequote all
chappj said:
What app/website(s) are you using to find friendly stop over points? Both for U.K. and Europe…

We collect the van in 2 weeks and then our first trip will be at Easter. We’re thinking Bologna/Florence/Pisa with a drop off at Chamonix or Annecy on way down/return. We need to find places to stop off!
You could pop into the laika factory when your in Florence.

POIDH

1,076 posts

73 months

Wednesday 28th February
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Packing cube / bags to sort clothes into clean and dirty etc.
We (she!) made some bags and 'wraps' of cloth so that all our crockery etc does not bang and rattle around. The pots, mugs glasses etc all slide in and out - they are basically dividers.
Buy the plastic drawer liners - Ikea or Home Bargain - and put it in *every* cupboard - nothing slides then. I even glued some on bottom of the bin so it now stays put...
Proper tea and coffee facilities - we roll with a le Crueset kettle and a Bialetti which match the van colour, proper tea pot, nice matching mugs.
Beer and wine glasses too. smile
A pair of van slippers. And a pair of cheap fake crocs for wandering to showers etc.
Hook up cable and reverse polarity switcher - and a bag for it all to go in.
We packed a set of sealed containers with some basics like tea, coffee, rice, cous cous etc, and a few emergency tins of soup / beans etc

BrickCounter

164 posts

70 months

Saturday 2nd March
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Decent bottle opener and a bowl for your snacks.

Everything else is optional…

chappj

Original Poster:

338 posts

151 months

Saturday 2nd March
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BrickCounter said:
Decent bottle opener and a bowl for your snacks.

Everything else is optional…
This sounds very appealing!

Caddyshack

11,928 posts

214 months

Saturday 2nd March
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A water roller is very useful for getting water to the van. I made a Maglock connection on the outside for a 12v water pump to lift from the water roller to the water tank.

Actual

1,049 posts

114 months

Sunday 3rd March
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For our previous camper van we had hydraulic self levelling fitted which was fantastic and could easily be used even when making a short parking stop to make a cup of tea. It could also be used to tilt the van to make the grey water drain our properly.

We may get hydraulic self levelling for our new van but there are concerns about hydraulic jacks dropping whilst travelling and another problem is that the retracted jacks could be damaged when reversing up to high kerbs so that the rear overhang is over the grass behind when parking.




r3g

3,750 posts

32 months

Sunday 3rd March
quotequote all
Caddyshack said:
A water roller is very useful for getting water to the van. I made a Maglock connection on the outside for a 12v water pump to lift from the water roller to the water tank.
A what now?

agent006

12,058 posts

272 months

Sunday 3rd March
quotequote all
r3g said:
A what now?
https://aquaroll.com/shop

Standard equipment for caravans as they act as the water tank when connected. There's usually a steady procession of them being trundled round campsites 24/7.
I found a decent length of food grade hosepipe to be more useful in the motorhome.

r3g

3,750 posts

32 months

Sunday 3rd March
quotequote all
agent006 said:
https://aquaroll.com/shop

Standard equipment for caravans as they act as the water tank when connected. There's usually a steady procession of them being trundled round campsites 24/7.
I found a decent length of food grade hosepipe to be more useful in the motorhome.
Had never heard of them until yesterday. Seen them a couple of times but didn't have a clue what they were. Don't caravans have their own water tank in them then? Or is this basically a water container on wheels to get water from wherever the site tap is to your caravan for those sites that don't have a tap on the pitch itself?

agent006

12,058 posts

272 months

Sunday 3rd March
quotequote all
That's my assumption. Caravans always seem to have an aquaroll and accompanying wastemaster sat next to them, so I'm assuming no fresh or grey water tanks.
We had a wastemaster when we were on one site long term for a few months, so we didn't have to pack up and drive to the waste point every week, but the 30m of food grade hose took care of refilling without needing an aquaroll.

Poo cupboard seems universal across motorhomes and caravans though.

TwinKam

3,176 posts

103 months

Sunday 3rd March
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...minimises your travelling weight, negates the need to park next to the tap to fill up, ensures you're drawing fresh water...

GlenMH

5,281 posts

251 months

Sunday 3rd March
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External gas connection so you can run a Cadac etc from the bottles in the van. It means that you don't have to fry stuff inside with the associated clean up...

Caddyshack

11,928 posts

214 months

Sunday 3rd March
quotequote all
r3g said:
agent006 said:
https://aquaroll.com/shop

Standard equipment for caravans as they act as the water tank when connected. There's usually a steady procession of them being trundled round campsites 24/7.
I found a decent length of food grade hosepipe to be more useful in the motorhome.
Had never heard of them until yesterday. Seen them a couple of times but didn't have a clue what they were. Don't caravans have their own water tank in them then? Or is this basically a water container on wheels to get water from wherever the site tap is to your caravan for those sites that don't have a tap on the pitch itself?
Our 7.5t horse lorry carries 100litres of fresh water but that only lasts 1 day if we use the shower etc, I need the roller to refil it. It’s often another field away to get fresh water. I actually tow the water roller on my e bike.

oblio

5,457 posts

235 months

Monday 4th March
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A CADAC Carri Chef 2 with a paella pan.