Rocles
Free Member
All my own opinions....YMMV 
Spoke to several Motorhome newcomers this weekend at Chester. It occurred to me that maybe I should share some of what we have learned since starting ourselves in 2007.
SOLAR PANEL
A must have, for me. We had an 80watt panel fitted, and it works superbly. Been away this weekend from Thursday to Monady, and battery still at 13 volts, TV every night, blown air heating both at night and overnight for water, and some during the day...and TV/Sat running for 8 hours on Sunday (Touring cars on ITV etc, together with freezing winds outside
BATTERY
Having had three batteries fail (x2 Numax, x1 Elecsol) , I sought advice on the very best. Hands-down winner... a Banner 115aHr. After a long talk to Andy at Roadpro, bought one last year. See above...superb
PS...for multiple connections to your leisure battery and / or Inverter, look at some of the high-end gold connectors and fuses used for high wattage in-car audio...often superb quality, and capable of handling huge amounts of amps
GAS
We decided early on to fit Gaslow refillable....its proved a great choice. We are in the process of adding a second cylinder, but our single 6kg can last for 3 days / 4 nights running lots of heating, and cooking meal each day, plus brews, all for around 6 pounds per refill
INTERNET
We have a "3" MiFi on contract. I negotiated it down to 7 pounds a month, for 1gb of Data per month. It has always worked well, on the odd occasion with no signal, have used my phone (Galaxy S3) as a Hotspot...also now have a long-range WiFi antenna, so can access BT FON too
TOILET MATTERS
I have used the famed Tesco Bio Laundry liquid...works great, super cheap, BUT...the toilet smells very bad very quickly ! Now use One Chem...40-shot bottle, ten quid...nice measured dispenser, and smells (to me) really nice, dose the job and lasts well
TV / SATELLITE
We have a super 19" TV from Curries, 99 pounds...fantastic picture, USB slot, HDMI inputs for true HD.Fed with the Status 530 directional antenna, gets a picture within a couple of minutes in most places. Also had a Maxview crank-up sat dish...worked well, BUT...useless in anything more than a strong breeze. Opted for the RoadPro-branded auto-dome...one button press, locks on in 60 seconds. Wouldn't go back. Sat Receiver is a Zehnder Free-to-air...does the job very well. Also have the rare Pace 12 volt Skybox as a backup.
SLEEPING
1st van we had Duvalays...great quality, and lovely and warm. Now we have a fixed bed, gone for fitted Egyptian cotton sheets / mattress...super cosy
MOT
Worth seeking out your local Council Depot for MOT. Most do tests for the general public, with nothing to "sell" you, they have no axe to grind, so it works out much fairer than your usual "fast-fit" type place
Hope this is of use to some of you...i'm sure someone wiil disagree
Spoke to several Motorhome newcomers this weekend at Chester. It occurred to me that maybe I should share some of what we have learned since starting ourselves in 2007.
SOLAR PANEL
A must have, for me. We had an 80watt panel fitted, and it works superbly. Been away this weekend from Thursday to Monady, and battery still at 13 volts, TV every night, blown air heating both at night and overnight for water, and some during the day...and TV/Sat running for 8 hours on Sunday (Touring cars on ITV etc, together with freezing winds outside
BATTERY
Having had three batteries fail (x2 Numax, x1 Elecsol) , I sought advice on the very best. Hands-down winner... a Banner 115aHr. After a long talk to Andy at Roadpro, bought one last year. See above...superb
PS...for multiple connections to your leisure battery and / or Inverter, look at some of the high-end gold connectors and fuses used for high wattage in-car audio...often superb quality, and capable of handling huge amounts of amps
GAS
We decided early on to fit Gaslow refillable....its proved a great choice. We are in the process of adding a second cylinder, but our single 6kg can last for 3 days / 4 nights running lots of heating, and cooking meal each day, plus brews, all for around 6 pounds per refill
INTERNET
We have a "3" MiFi on contract. I negotiated it down to 7 pounds a month, for 1gb of Data per month. It has always worked well, on the odd occasion with no signal, have used my phone (Galaxy S3) as a Hotspot...also now have a long-range WiFi antenna, so can access BT FON too
TOILET MATTERS
I have used the famed Tesco Bio Laundry liquid...works great, super cheap, BUT...the toilet smells very bad very quickly ! Now use One Chem...40-shot bottle, ten quid...nice measured dispenser, and smells (to me) really nice, dose the job and lasts well
TV / SATELLITE
We have a super 19" TV from Curries, 99 pounds...fantastic picture, USB slot, HDMI inputs for true HD.Fed with the Status 530 directional antenna, gets a picture within a couple of minutes in most places. Also had a Maxview crank-up sat dish...worked well, BUT...useless in anything more than a strong breeze. Opted for the RoadPro-branded auto-dome...one button press, locks on in 60 seconds. Wouldn't go back. Sat Receiver is a Zehnder Free-to-air...does the job very well. Also have the rare Pace 12 volt Skybox as a backup.
SLEEPING
1st van we had Duvalays...great quality, and lovely and warm. Now we have a fixed bed, gone for fitted Egyptian cotton sheets / mattress...super cosy
MOT
Worth seeking out your local Council Depot for MOT. Most do tests for the general public, with nothing to "sell" you, they have no axe to grind, so it works out much fairer than your usual "fast-fit" type place
Hope this is of use to some of you...i'm sure someone wiil disagree
i think.
