New to this

2»

Comments

  • Ourgetaway
    Ourgetaway Forum Participant Posts: 20
    edited June 2019 #32

    Well today was the day we picked up our caravan.must confess was a lil nervy towing it as I have never towed before lol .only went to where it being stored but gotta start somewhere I guess.may I just say again thank you all for the great advice it really did help.thanks again 

    Dean and Jeanette 

  • JayOutdoors
    JayOutdoors Forum Participant Posts: 572
    500 Comments
    edited June 2019 #33

    Not sure if it would be the same but this is what we used on our Compass 482 when we had it.  It was also on a BPW chassis. It's still somewhere in our garage (I think)    I would google it to get some details as to what may fit.  Good luck.

    Sold Secure Hitchlock for Winterhoff WS3000 

     

  • Ourgetaway
    Ourgetaway Forum Participant Posts: 20
    edited June 2019 #34

    Thank you jayoutdoors that's exactly what we bought lol all fitted on caravan .

  • Ourgetaway
    Ourgetaway Forum Participant Posts: 20
    edited June 2019 #35

    Update.

    Today was first trip out in new caravan .so far all ok,caravan all set up correct etc and towing wasn't as bad as I was expecting but must say felt weird when towing ,even when doing a steady 50mph it felt like caravan was juddering forwards and back a little.was expecting it to be a bit smoother if I'm honest but all good and something to get used to I guess .again thank you all so much for great advice .it been really helpful .Thank you 

  • derekcyril
    derekcyril Forum Participant Posts: 408
    100 Comments
    edited June 2019 #36

    Great  ,you will enjoy ,towing gets easier . Hope the rain stops for you .

  • Ourgetaway
    Ourgetaway Forum Participant Posts: 20
    edited June 2019 #37

    Been lucky so far .no rain ,touch wood, just a lovely sunny evening .weather's great so far lol 

  • Ourgetaway
    Ourgetaway Forum Participant Posts: 20
    edited June 2019 #38

    Okay so just had our first trip,thoroughly enjoyed and we handled it ok I think lol .couple of questions as not sure if we did everything right.The control panel inside caravan,i got what looks like main power switch then next to that I got power switch for water I think as it has a tap next to it,these both were turned on.under that we have a switch with a thermostat which we also turned on and under that is another switch which I believe has 3 settings for amps, can't remember exact numbers off top of head but I think 2000 was on top which we had it on.now is that all ok or did we not need all switches on as we was electric hook up and never used the heater inside as it was quite warm.also does the cowl cover for the water heater I think it is need to be taken off whenever we use the caravan.sorry if not describing it right but hope you can help .thanks

  • Takethedogalong
    Takethedogalong Forum Participant Posts: 17,040 ✭✭✭
    10,000 Likes 1000 Comments Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited June 2019 #39

    Did you not get a handbook for the space and water heating with your caravan, either Truma or Alde? If you did, it will explain how both the space heating, and the water heating works. If you didn’t, then Google is your friend. They are in essence very similar to your home requirements, on or off, with temperature gauges. The only thing you need to know then is the ampage of the hook up you are attached using. Lots nowadays are 16amps, but occasionally you might hook up to. 10 or even 6 amp, and this is where you need to be careful how high you set your temperature, otherwise you could trip the system.

    Your members handbook possibly has some guidance in there as well regards ampage. 

  • Ourgetaway
    Ourgetaway Forum Participant Posts: 20
    edited June 2019 #40

    We did get alot of handbooks I must confess but I left them at home when we went away oops but will look over them before our next trip but just thought I would get advice from here til I do in case I missed anything lol only time we tripped out was when wife went to use hairdryer.not a low amp one but now know she needs one for next time.learning curve I guess lol 

  • Takethedogalong
    Takethedogalong Forum Participant Posts: 17,040 ✭✭✭
    10,000 Likes 1000 Comments Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited June 2019 #41

    We’ve probably all tripped the bollard at some point Dean, it goes with the hobby!😁 Could be a good idea to find somewhere for essential information though, even after 35 years, and most of those with the same van, we always carry our handbooks. Could help solve a simple problem a lot cheaper than getting someone in. We use a few low amp Sites, it’s second nature now to turn off heating before boiling electric kettle, then turn it back on, but it’s all a learning curve, and the main thing is to have a good time👍😀

  • nelliethehooker
    nelliethehooker Club Member Posts: 13,636
    1000 Comments Name Dropper
    edited June 2019 #42

    The cowling need only be removed if you are going to use the heating on gas not if using electric. If you set the temperature on the control panel below the ambient temperature then the heating will not come on but you will be able to heat the water by ensuring that you switch the tap symbol to "on". Hope this makes sense.....it's a lot easier to demonstrate than describe in writing!! 

  • welshwafu
    welshwafu Forum Participant Posts: 26
    edited June 2019 #43

    good luck with all endeavours.

    If when towing as I think you described in your first trip the outfit seems to "wallow" or jerky, check out your nose weight, don't buy expensive gauges, use a bathroom scales and  piece of wood  or round metal tube and then read nose weight on scales, will help any snaking/wallowing that may be induced in travelling, I found that as we built up our stock of essentials !the total allowable weight soon became borderline , so a radical slimming exercise followed by regular nose weight checks got rid of the extra essentials and improved the handling. Plenty of videos on this on you tube etc. Enjoy.

  • Ourgetaway
    Ourgetaway Forum Participant Posts: 20
    edited June 2019 #44

    Thanks all for replies.with regards to nose weight etc when I wrote it was jerking It was when we just picked up caravan for first weekend away so was pretty empty but I found once I attached battery gas bottle etc and coming back it was behaving better.so as we not away for two weeks thanks to all your help I can now get the caravan and myself ready for next time so I'm better equipped lol thanks all again. It really is helping .