Winter campers thread (1 Viewer)

[Wildbill]

Skiing for us this winter will be February!

Can't wait!!:coolthumb:

We are planning a couple of days at Les Rousses on Mt Jura and then the Funster's favourite of 6 days in Val Thorens, just to test the winterisation a tadge!

will get you to look at the winerisation on this van john but been rownd it today and it is mint think i wuld risk this one over thar but havent been on them pointy plank things for years
but jay would love it

 

[Wildbill]

Interesting that the subject of winter tyres has come up.

We are now on M+s tyres. The extra traction will be welcome on the slippery mountain roads. We aren't worried about the faster wear, we travel far more miles in the winter and they will perish before they wear out!

We carry chains as required by law in France, they have been out a couple of times in the Alps. The RWD Transit seems to have very good traction, I think they would have seen more use if we were FWD.

On the subject of batteries, although we have a large traction bank, I think the biggest consideration is your ability to quickly charge your battery, rather than its outright size. Two of our batteries froze last year, being mounted low in the garage. We were down to only one 115 Ah under the passenger seat. A half hour run of the engine was all that was required to recharge due to the Sterling Alternator to Battery charger that we have fitted.
I am not sure solar alone would be adequate for the job with the low sun and short days of winter.
Remember that a generator's ability to recharge your leisure battery is dictated by the output of your on-board charger, not the output of the genny!! The biggest genny in the world won't do any better than an Aldi 800W job if you only have a 16 Amp onboard charger. Chargers are upgradeable and and will speed up your battery charging, allowing us Sterling users a peaceful evening in!

thaught you would have had just a wee bit of heet in your garage or your batterys in a box with a small ducting runing in frome youre blown air to just keep it abuve frezing temp

 

[journeyman]

To paraphrase so far for us newbies with an average UK constructed van, who don't intend to winterise the underneath, but perhaps intend to continue using the van when temps are below freezing:

1. Leave the drain tap open on site....waste drains into a bucket.

2. Don't use the Water Heater/Pump. Ensure its pre-drained

3. Keep the heating on in the van, if on EHU use an oil fired heater or similar if required.

4. Draw any required water from a pre-filled jerrycan or similar, which should be kept in the van.

Is that it?

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[Wildbill]

So too paraphrase so far for us newbies with an average UK constructed van, who don't intend to winterise the underneath, but perhaps intend to continue using the van when temps are below freezing:


1. Leave the drain tap open on site....waste drains into a bucket.

2. Don't use the Water Heater/Pump. Ensure its pre-drained

3. Keep the heating on in the van, if on EHU use an oil fired heater or similar if required.

4. Draw any required water from a pre-filled jerrycan or similar, which should be kept in the van.

Is that it?

if i was on EHU i wuld use a fan heater in winter my shelf as it cerculates the hot air

 

[Lucky one]

if i was on EHU i wuld use a fan heater in winter my shelf as it cerculates the hot air

Fan heaters do the job but can be quite noisy and irritating especially if you are thinking of leaving it on through the night . I had to turn mine off as I couldn't get to sleep :Sad: Perhaps its old and worn out like me I have a gas fire but wouldn't be happy leaving that on all night so I shall be investing in a small oil filled radiator for the night time :thumb: any recommendations ?

 

[Welsh girl]

Move down to the Algarve for the winter...

Freezing problems disappear...

JJ :Cool:

Glad to see this post JJ cos that's where we are heading this winter, no more freezing pipes, we hope.

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[Armytwowheels]

Fan heaters do the job but can be quite noisy and irritating especially if you are thinking of leaving it on through the night . I had to turn mine off as I couldn't get to sleep :Sad: Perhaps its old and worn out like me I have a gas fire but wouldn't be happy leaving that on all night so I shall be investing in a small oil filled radiator for the night time :thumb: any recommendations ?

If away in the winter with EHU we have both a small fan heater and a small oil filled radiator. Fan heater to warm us up quick after being outside and the radiator for once the van is warm and through the night. Although if camping in really freezing conditions I think we would keep our van gas operated heating going, to protect the parts other heaters cannot reach.

Our oil radiator is a fairly cheap no name one, think it was a tenner from InStore.

 

[cmcardle75]

it may get cold arownd feet but think you will be ok in winter in uk :thumb:without blown air heting warm socks will do the job you gas may frezz on colder days

Should be OK. It runs off Autogas, which is almost entirely propane. Also, the huge gas tank is horizontal, so has lots of surface area to encourage evaporation. However, technically even if it was butane, it wouldn't freeze, it would just fail to evaporate.

 

[joner8888]

Move down to the Algarve for the winter...

Freezing problems disappear...

JJ :Cool:

Oh No, winter must be coming along soon, all the campers from down south of us, will be bleating on as we shiver and freeze in the rain--

"Too hot here,
Not rained here for months,
Never seen snow,
Another day under blue skies,
Look at our picture having a BBQ "

I will not be jealous this year.--

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[Wildbill]

Should be OK. It runs off Autogas, which is almost entirely propane. Also, the huge gas tank is horizontal, so has lots of surface area to encourage evaporation. However, technically even if it was butane, it wouldn't freeze, it would just fail to evaporate.

I do know that it does not freeze just a term that is used frozen gas ?
:thumb::thumb:

 

[jonandshell]

Should be OK. It runs off Autogas, which is almost entirely propane. Also, the huge gas tank is horizontal, so has lots of surface area to encourage evaporation. However, technically even if it was butane, it wouldn't freeze, it would just fail to evaporate.

No problems running off Autogas, even at altitude in the Alps!:thumb:

Our gaslow setup was just fine.

 

[jonandshell]

thaught you would have had just a wee bit of heet in your garage or your batterys in a box with a small ducting runing in frome youre blown air to just keep it abuve frezing temp

We have a heated garage Bill, but the batteries are BELOW the heater duct. Over several days, strata of frozen air settles below the duct, everything above is fine!

The cold layer is great for chilling drinks!

I will be modifying the ducting and raising the batteries slightly for this year!:thumb:

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[rangi]

. [HI]Spain by ferry in the winter from now on![/[/HI]QUOTE]




Oh Dearoh: Oh dearie dearie me:Sad: Now don't let this put you off:thumb:

BUT

:helpsos::helptitanic:
Crossing the Bay of Biscay one year, we spent a fortnight on one waveoh:

 

[jonandshell]

will get you to look at the winerisation on this van john but been rownd it today and it is mint think i wuld risk this one over thar but havent been on them pointy plank things for years
but jay would love it

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

The prospect of getting 'Drilled' in Val Thorens is too much to bear!!!!!!

I'll give you a heads-up of what to expect at Lincoln mate!!!!

 

[busby]

Winter camper’s arsenal
1 bucket
2 blow torch
3 duct tape
4 plastic sheets
5 Candles
6 snow shovel
7 matches or lighters
8 extra leisure battery

MY WINTER CAMPING LIST, sun tan lotion.
swimming trunks
fly swats
mossy repellant
sun glasses etc etc, dont do cold. Must be a whimp.

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[busby]

Fan heaters do the job but can be quite noisy and irritating especially if you are thinking of leaving it on through the night . I had to turn mine off as I couldn't get to sleep :Sad: Perhaps its old and worn out like me I have a gas fire but wouldn't be happy leaving that on all night so I shall be investing in a small oil filled radiator for the night time :thumb: any recommendations ?

Plenty of red wine before you go to bed, you wont hear the heater then. BUSBY

 

[jonandshell]

The sun's out!

You'll have to necropost and ressurect this thread in October Bill!!!

 

[Wildbill]

The sun's out!

You'll have to necropost and ressurect this thread in October Bill!!!

maybe even november

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[alfandM]

Driving through France, in January, it got down to -15C during the day! Had to pour warm water on the fuel lines, to get the van started one morning, and we lost water supply in the van. The water pump froze solid and died. Spain by ferry in the winter from now on!

Morning All, My Suggestion for all winter travelers, is re Anti freeze your cooling systems and use a 50/50 mixture, that will prepare your MH for a Hardy winter UK/Europe and will keep you and your MHling, in the coldest Mornings ,safe and Happy travels:thumb:

 

[Wildbill]

Morning All, My Suggestion for all winter travelers, is re Anti freeze your cooling systems and use a 50/50 mixture, that will prepare your MH for a Hardy winter UK/Europe and will keep you and your MHling, in the coldest Mornings ,safe and Happy travels:thumb:

Grate advice and have it checked regularly thanks
:thumb:

 

[tick59]

DON'T FORGET YOUR "ONESIES" AND YOUR HOT WATER BOTTLES.

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[Bailey58]

Fan heaters do the job but can be quite noisy and irritating especially if you are thinking of leaving it on through the night . I had to turn mine off as I couldn't get to sleep :Sad: Perhaps its old and worn out like me I have a gas fire but wouldn't be happy leaving that on all night so I shall be investing in a small oil filled radiator for the night time :thumb: any recommendations ?

We bought a cheapie 750 watt from Argos if I remember right, similar to this from . Keeps the chill off the van and we use it through the winter when the van sits on the drive.

 

[jonandshell]

Bump!

 

[Wildbill]

well according to the news winter is on it way so all us hardy winter campers can swap ideas its back my winter campers thread not for namby pamby's

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[jonandshell]

Super Cab Insulation

For the ultimate in cab insulation, consider this tip....

Get hold of 2 single sleeping bags, not the mummy type, and a strip of double sided sticky Velcro.
Attach one half of the Velcro strip to your head lining or door tops and windscreen top edge around the inside of your cab.
Zip the two open sleeping bags together and stick the other half of the Velcro strip to one of the longest edges of the sleeping bag `curtain`.
When you pitch, apply your silver screens as usual and attach the sleeping bags inside the cab to form an additional thermal barrier around the perimeter of your cab interior. The excess sleeping bag on the floor can seal off footwells and cover the cold cab floor.

We used this method whilst skiing last time round and it saved a lot of heat loss and made the swivel chairs in the cab area much more comfortable în the evenings whilst watching telly!:thumb:

 

[Philcott]

Snip ...... its back my winter campers thread not for namby pamby's

Yea rough, tuff and hardy that us!

says she as she hauls out extra duvets, sleeping bags, themal long johns (oh the joy in the mirror) woolly hats, gloves, scarves etc. and that's just for me! Not to sure what I can do to keep the dog warm!

 

[Wildbill]

well now that the van is fixed time to start thinking abut winter extra battery checking the carbon monoxide detectors the most important thing in the hab unit
next drinks cabinet
well don't know how this van will be in the freezing cold but were just about to find out

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