Gottit !! (1 Viewer)

[MikeandCarolyn]

We picked up our 1st M/Home on Fri. an LMC Liberty 582 Start-it drove brilliantly and after a few miles I was quite happy cruising at 60-70.
We have booked our 1st site for next Fri.-about 60 miles from home and with all facilities.
Today I've made up 2 hook-up leads,one 15mtrs and one 5 mtrs,also one hose at 15 mtrs and one at 5 mtrs-am I on the right lines doing this ?
We have a sattelite TV on board.what is the licensing situation-if any ?
Our hardstanding at home may not be ready for a couple of mths,so we are keeping 'Libby' on a secure site about 30 mins away-if we are not using her,how often should we go down and run the engine,and for how long ?
We found the Forum Checklists invaluable during the handover (I'm not sure that the guy who did the handover appreciated them as he tried to rush through it all-but it's our money !!!)
Now the learning curve begins,we are excited by the prospect-but a little nervous about the first trip,for me (Mike) the electrical side of things is the most challenging,but I guess that what we need now is experience.
I've read a few posts about Gennies-peeps seem to reccomend makes, but not models -how do I work out what Gennie would run our wagon ?
Looking fwd to your comments,Mike.

 

[Wildman]

Hi and welcome to the site, what kept you, hee hee. As long as you have a TV licence at home you are covered. Normal length of hookup cable is 25mtrs, depends where you are. As for hose that depends how you use the van if wildcamping a lot then longer hoses will be a must, don't forget an assortment of connector types.
Enjoy and keep the speed down after all you are on holiday.:thumb:

 

[geoff1947]

van visit

You should go down and sit in the van once a week otherwise you'll get home sick!! Mine is on my drive and I sit in it every day!! Good louck and enjoy the experience:thumb:

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[Hayleylulu]

hi and welcom

 

[6pm Cowboy]

Going and sitting in it every day is a good idea but you probably only need to run the engine every two or three weeks for a few minutes. Might as well move it back or forward a little to move the tyres round as well.

By the way. Welcome to the nuthouse

 

[Boo]

Hi and :welcome:

I personally run mine once a month untill it is warm (about 10 mins)

And yes it is a learning curve....................but thats the fun bit

Boo

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[Taran_Las]

Welcome.

I picked mine up on Wednesday. I'm starting the long curve myself - good luck!

Phil Owen

 

[old-mo]

Hi and welcome and congratulations on your new member of the family.. :thumb:

Regarding the TV,, your license from home (assuming you are good people and have one ) will cover you in a mobile caravan/Campervan/Motorhome,, but not a large mobile "Static" caravan,,,,, but by law or the powers to be at the TV licensing authority you are not permitted/allowed to use the one at home while you are away form the residence where the license is issued

So in other words yes you can use it when you are mobile but legally no one left at home should have the TV on..

Hope you can understand my ramblings

 

[wasp]

Helloooo and welcome
I start mine about once a fortnight and park it on ramps so the water runs off the roof:thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb:

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[JayDee]

Welcome to the diverse world of motohomes.
There are almost as many ways of doing any particular thing as there are people doing it.
Hook ups - We carry a 25 metre lead and a 7 metre (which I made up for my home hook-up). I'm thinking of making up a 10 metre one as we have only once needed more than 35 metres (so borrowed one from reception), but would have found a 10 metre length useful more than couple of times. Make up a reverse polarity section, only needs to be a few inches long with the live and neutral reversed on one end (doesn't matter which).
Water hose - we carry a total of 37 metres of water hose and don't often need to drive off to fill up. We also carry a water carrier and a clean funnel to top up on a daily basis, particularly when you you're not using the MH shower. Don't forget to collect as many different types of fitting as you can. Most sites either fit a hose lock type quick connector of have a screw fitting that will take yours.... but not all!!! Then it's back to the carrier and funnel.
Generators - there are many people on here that use them and quite a few that find them noisy and intrusive

. Many people use solar panels (which is great when the sun shines), but a lot of people don't have either and either double bank their leisure batteries, use hook-ups, or take care over their 12volt usage.
Other different strokes types of thing...
My wife uses the oven but hardly ever the grill; some are the other way around. A few people I've talked to use a "George Foreman" type of thing (not actually a GF as I believe they are a bit current hungry for the lower amperage hook-up).
A lot of folk use sleeping bags. We use a quilted mattress cover in a cut down duvet cover on the bottom and a regular duvet on the top.
.... and so it goes on.
There's always plenty of suggestions on this forum if you want a second (or third, fourth or two hundred and fifty sixth) opinion. All you need to do is ask.:thumb:

Good travelling

John

 

[tony morris]

hi good luck with your new m/h enjoy yourselfs and welcome to m/h fun

 

[DESCO]

Hi
You have now started the fun part, this is the time you need a good sence of humour cos things go wrong they always do, but you will look back and laugh at them (we always do) and you will think how on earth or why did I do that, but thats the fun part of learning.
After a few trips you will think why did we worry, you then soon become an old hand and everything will become second nature.

Best of luck just enjoy! and keep smileing.



Dave:thumb::thumb:

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[sedge]

Fellow 'quite newbies' here, we've had caravans in the past so shouldn't be stupid, BUT .....

1. Don't forget, should you have a Hozelok-type nozzle on the end of your water hose, to make sure it is fully secure before you poke it down the tank-spout and allow your partner to turn the tap on at full blast.

(In answer to your next question, yes we did 'eventually' but you need to be ingenious and have access to welding wire, because being double jointed or having thin ape-length arms doesn't help at all ...... can fill anyone in on the solution on a 'need to know' basis !)

2. You will be surprised at how frequently you need to empty the 'black' water cassette even with only 2 of you using the loo.

3. Make doubly, triply sure the slidy thing at the bottom of the pan which separates/isolates the bowl from the black water tank is FULLY open before anyone actually uses the loo. Always. Failing this you will make the discovery that the place where the cassette goes has far too many nooks and crannies for its own good. And parts of its assembly have truly amazingly long screws .........

4. Some - in fact quite a few - loo dump points do not have their own tap (we think this is insanitary and are quite disgusted by it, but there you go) therefore you need eg a 2litre empty pop bottle, to carry water from the drinking water tap with you to the dump point to wash out the cassette. Don't stick the pop bottle into the 'pipe' to the tank though - otherwise that will be as contaminated as the tank and you will have to rinse the tank a couple of times anyway each time.

5. Some people carry antiseptic wipes or spray stuff to clean the drinking water tap before they use it, on the basis that the law of averages says that not everyone is as fastidious as you. And I've actually seen a bloke (in July when we were tent-camping in the Brenne and I was on my way to the loo) wash his cassette out using the hot tap with the hose on, provided for the washing up sinks - and be most unconcerned when 6 Dutch and French washers-up turned on him en masse. There was a fully functional cold tap provided at the dump point too. Fortunately someone had some bleach which they fetched and used.

We don't carry bleach ourselves as have always understood it makes all the type of plastic used in caravan bathrooms etc to go brittle and fail.

Other things are pretty standard really, like making doubly sure the Luton bed ladder is 100% secure before you use it, cos that defo does lead to tears if you don't; remembering to shut the rooflights before moving, because it wreaks havoc with the closed blinds on em; checking that the screws are actually in the panel in the floor where you get to the water tank before driving down the wet main road; or that the lid on the cooker is fully upright before trying to light the gas ........

Enjoy !!!! :thumb:

 

[JayDee]

Welcome to the diverse world of motohomes.
There are almost as many ways of doing any particular thing as there are people doing it.
Hook ups - We carry a 25 metre lead and a 7 metre (which I made up for my home hook-up). I'm thinking of making up a 10 metre one as we have only once needed more than 35 metres (so borrowed one from reception), but would have found a 10 metre length useful more than couple of times. Make up a reverse polarity section, only needs to be a few inches long with the live and neutral reversed on one end (doesn't matter which).
Water hose - we carry a total of 37 metres of water hose and don't often need to drive off to fill up. We also carry a water carrier and a clean funnel to top up on a daily basis, particularly when you you're not using the MH shower. Don't forget to collect as many different types of fitting as you can. Most sites either fit a hose lock type quick connector of have a screw fitting that will take yours.... but not all!!! Then it's back to the carrier and funnel.
Generators - there are many people on here that use them and quite a few that find them noisy and intrusive

. Many people use solar panels (which is great when the sun shines), but a lot of people don't have either and either double bank their leisure batteries, use hook-ups, or take care over their 12volt usage.
Other different strokes types of thing...
My wife uses the oven but hardly ever the grill; some are the other way around. A few people I've talked to use a "George Foreman" type of thing (not actually a GF as I believe they are a bit current hungry for the lower amperage hook-up).
A lot of folk use sleeping bags. We use a quilted mattress cover in a cut down duvet cover on the bottom and a regular duvet on the top.
.... and so it goes on.
There's always plenty of suggestions on this forum if you want a second (or third, fourth or two hundred and fifty sixth) opinion. All you need to do is ask.:thumb:

Good travelling

John

Oh yes...
Don't forget to disconnect the hook-up before you drive off. Seen it done and something certainly broke oh: (more than likely on the van, thus making life quite challenging for the next stop).


John

 

[MikeandCarolyn]

Quite a few tips there,all from other people's experiences-guess that's what Forums are about

Hook-up leads:-I understand the principles behind not using an 'uncoiled' lead-but then I find myself wondering why do cable spools and extension leads have a socket in the centre ? This would tend to suggest that it is ok to just pull out the length you need and plug in ?

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[JayDee]

Quite a few tips there,all from other people's experiences-guess that's what Forums are about

Hook-up leads:-I understand the principles behind not using an 'uncoiled' lead-but then I find myself wondering why do cable spools and extension leads have a socket in the centre ? This would tend to suggest that it is ok to just pull out the length you need and plug in ?

From experience I know that when I was using a wind up cassette extension without unwinding the cable it got quite warm fairly quickly. Admittedly I was using it pretty close to its rated capacity. I suppose that it's a belt and braces thing. We always flake out the residual cable so that there is no coil but rather a spread of turns over a couple of feet. No heat problems there.

John