Advice for beginners
Hi all, i recently bought my first caravan back in January and wanting some beginners advice, I used to caravan with my grand parents when I was young so always wanted my own. I know my questions might sound daft, but I suppose no question is daft if you don’t know the answer.
anyway.
1 - my caravan is in storage but want to keep the battery maintained, but there is no where to charge it, will plugging it into the car for an hour with the engine running do any difference? Or is there anything I can buy to attatch to the cars battery to give a more powerful charge than the rear towing port do?
2- how do I know if the battery is charging via the car? I pressed the voltage button and read 11.7volts, then plugged it into the towing port on the car and could get no read at all.
3 - what do I do in the event of a puncture? Will any tyre centre fit a tyre to a caravan if I can get it towed there?
4 - on a super pitch where the water is supplied at the pitch, I have an auto fill adapter for aqua roll, but the site says on the super pitch ( utilities shared with 1 other) is this electrics and drain or is it just electrics? If both caravans require the water how can I plug the auto fill adapter to the hose if it’s shared?
5- some sites have an arial booster, how can I plug the caravan into this keeping windows shut?
6- any towing / hitching tips? I had trouble the first time getting the alko hitch to sit on the tow ball. I have the correct licence as I am also a bus driver to took additional towing training on top of a catagory D and BE licence.
thanks in advance sorry to sound stupid.
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1. When my caravan is stood at home, it is away from the house. I installed a fused 12V car socket direct from the from the battery in the cupboard and use a small solar trickle charger (like this) that sits on a piece of MDF which in turn sits on the inner lip of the skylight - never had a flat battery. Charging from your car will be limited by the alternator and any electronic limiting devices sat between - not aware of anything you can get to charge it faster - for me, the better option is to keep them topped up via solar.
2.My display would show ~13v ish, yours obviously works differently, there are aftermarket meters you could install if you really need to know (any auto-parts store for a few pounds).
3....or just take the tyre if you are in a safe location and have a jack - my caravan has essentially van tyres, so would have no issues at just about any tyre place.
4.Super pitches vary greatly, especially outside of CAMC. If on a common bollard, there will be a tap either side, so you get your own. I always also install a valves splitter as I find it handy to have access to an additional "tap" for filling a drinking water bottle or filling the toilet flush etc. I have a selection of hoses, drain pipes and fittings so as to be as flexible as possible.
5. Many people run it through a window, it will fit through the seal easily enough and still allow you to shut the window. I installed a socket in the battery bay and ran a cable through the trunking inside the lockers to the entertainment cupboard where the booster, DVD, media player etc. are all located. The aerial wire comes in along side the power cable.
6. Might need some further info on what aspect you struggled with.
Hopefully there was at least something in that lot that might be of help!
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Dom, welcome. No questions are dumb, if I had asked more I probably would not have a loft full of stuff that I never use!
1. Plugging into the car will give you about 5 to 10A charge, your battery will need about a hundred amp hours so unless you intend to leave it there for 5 to 10 hours you wont have a good charge. There are two main practices in the remote storage situation, take the battery home and keep it on trickle charge, or as Chemical suggests use a small solar panel. I use a solar panel, battery always fully charged.
2. Get a cheap volt meter off ebay. Plug van into car and measure your caravan battery voltage, it should be about 12.3 to 12.8V ish. Get someone to start your car and rev it a little bit, the voltage should rise to about 13v to 14v.
3. Get brakedown insurance, they will sort it. Carry a spare and a jack but to be honest caravan jacking systems are a disgrace to the industry. I carry a 2T low entry trolley jack and a wedge ramp. Only ever jack the van with chocks in place and whilst attached to the car towball.
4. As chemical suggests, just get a tap splitter.
5. If you have a modernish van with a status antenna then you should have an aerial input. Get 10m or RG6 or WF100 cable and put an F connector on each end. Buy 2 F to female TV connectors, and two F to TV male connectors and you should be able to connect to any bollard.
6. Get a check list of things to do in sequence, it really helps. Just take your time you will get used to the hitching process. loads of video etc online. Make sure you have no paint on the ball and that the hitch handle and pressure handle are fully up. Engage until the ball meets the socket and drop it on it should all just snap into place.
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Hi there, thank you for your reply, it’s really helpful, I never thought of a tap splitter, I’m guessing they are on eBay.
with regards to a solar charger, I had thought of that, same with the arial boost, however I am reluctant to put holes ect in so I am trying to think how to install these.
thanks again
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Hi there, thank you for your reply, it’s really helpful, I never thought of a tap splitter, I’m guessing they are on eBay.
with regards to a solar charger, I had thought of that, same with the arial boost, however I am reluctant to put holes ect in so I am trying to think how to install these.
thanks again
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I got my splitter from Aldi, it cost almost next to nothing I recall. Garden centres. B&Q... usually have them too.
As for number 6, as CJ more details might help, what do you mean? I assume you were pulling the hitch pull handle/lever upwards or had clicked it in the open position upwards before lowering you hitch onto the towball?
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6- any towing / hitching tips? I had trouble the first time getting the alko hitch to sit on the tow ball. I have the correct licence as I am also a bus driver to took additional towing training on top of a catagory D and BE licence.
Assuming as CS mentions the small hitch lever is pulled up and has clicked open. It may be that the hitch isn't quite lined up with the ball. You don't say if you have a power mover. If you have, this can be used to move it about until it is precisely centred, so that when you lower the jockey wheel the handle will click shut. If no power mover, it will require a bit of person power. When I hitched by reversing back, rather than using the mover, it occasionally caught on the side of the ball as I lowered and the handle wouldn't cleanly click down. Just raise up, slightly reposition and try again.
Once you get a good click. Check the little green marker is showing. Then wind the jockey back down again. If the car moves fractionally on the suspension, you have a good hitch. You don't need to wind it much to see that, there is no need to overload it. Finally of course, raise the jockey into its traveling position put alko stabiliser handle down and if used, remember to disengage the power mover.
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Dom, Just a couple of things to add to the advice above:
1) Solar panels. Generally the panel will always keep the battery topped up but there are limitations as I found out to my cost earlier this year. We were away in January and used the mover a lot on the site and again on return at the storage site. In early March i decided to bring the van home for washing but the battery charge was insufficient to move the caravan far.It would appear that the winter sun is not high enough in the sky to recharge the battery. Something to bear in mind if you do get away next winter.
2) Service Pitches. Service pitches cost money and limit your choice. I'm surprised that someone presumably young and fit ( Oh those were the days!) is considering a service pitch. OK I do use them when they are free but a) would never pay for them, b) would never allow them to dictate either pitch or site.
3) Tow ball. Just make sure you have an Alko ball fitted to your car to match the Alko caravan hitch.
Good Luck in your travels this year and in the future
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Just a couple of things to add....
Serviced Pitches on CAMC Sites: Serviced pitches on Club sites are (with a few known exceptions) all hardstanding pitches, so as the Club will not allow folk to book specifically a hardstanding or grass pitch when to make the booking the only way to guarantee a hardstanding is to be ok a serviced pitch, or to book a site where there are 100% hardstandings..... otherwise its pot luck when you arrive at the site. However, the Club does tend to close down grass pitches over the winter months..... I always check I advance, before bobooking. Non-Club sites with usually allow you to book pitch surface type.
These days we tend to book almost exclusively serviced pitches. Partly because of the convenience, but what is more of an issue is weight. With a really tight weight user payload, we carry lots of stuff in the car. If we use a serviced pitch, the aquaroll and wastemaster stay at home and out Colapz Fresh-Mint kit, fold flat water connection hoses and 'telescopic-type' Colapz waste hoses go in the car and take up very little space.
External Aerial Connection If you have an caravan without an aerial/SAT point on the side of the 'van, then there's not really a convenient way of getting the coaxail cable into the caravan other than through a window (unless you can find a conveniently located air vent under one of the beds/seats or by installing an aerial point). If you have a caravan with a SAT point on the side, it is possible to adapt this easily so that an aerial/coaxial cable can be connected to the caravan. I can't give instructions at the moment, but if you have a SAT point, and want the instructions, just post below and I'll do them when I get home from shopping...
Best wishes
David
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.......on the other hand... I carry nothing extra on the basis that I'm not going to be changing the wheel!!
If I have a puncture or blowout, I'm going to be calling the Mayday/Greenflag. They always bring the equipment with them. I don't do wheels, tyre or anything that requires me to bend down too far... and my knee replacements won't allow me to kneel. I save the space and weight....David
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2) Service Pitches. Service pitches cost money and limit your choice. I'm surprised that someone presumably young and fit ( Oh those were the days!) is considering a service pitch. OK I do use them when they are free but a) would never pay for them, b) would never allow them to dictate either pitch or site.
What has being young and fit to do with wanting to use a SP? Nothing at all really, but it's really just a rehash of SP being for lazy people? It's bit like saying Burt that you shouldn't get your pies ready made if you were young and fit but make them from scratch? Even why have a caravan when young and fit when really you should be camping in afield next to a stream.
Using a SP is about convenience and enjoyment. People want SP to enjoy their holiday more, not worry about when the water's going to run out or the wastemaster needs emptying and more time to relax.
Wouldn't use anything else now or when I was younger.
Like DSB, I don't do tyre changing, well apart from on a bike and even then it's a new spare inner tube and CO2 inflator first.
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A lot of the CLs we have stayed on we have been requested to run our grey waste into their hedgerows. This often saves the use of a wastemaster. We also use ,when it’s not inconvenient to others, our fresh water hose to top up our aquaroll directly from the tap, disconnecting it immediately after and making sure no one else is inconvenienced.
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I don't carry a wastemaster abroad either because like you we use the facilities for showering. I enjoy wandering to the shower block in fine weather but I wouldn't on a day like today. Horses for courses springs to mind.
Medium size gorilla buckets are ideal for catching waste, washing clothes and carrying the washing up
I do carry one aquaroll when abroad, I could carry a small jerrican but then I would have to carry the water - I like to show the foreigners how clever we are!
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Well thanks for telling me but I never said during a shower, or is that the only time you think an aqua roll can run dry Burt? Also good post swerving the points I raised
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