Help :( we've really bitten off more than we can chew (1 Viewer)

[Emp]

We're in switzerland and driving a 7.4m van for the first time in our lives AND it's in snow. We are from Australia and had no idea the roads would be SO small. Today i had one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. We ended up on a mountain road we couldn't turn around on so kept going forward because Google maps routed us through it to the other side. We hit a patch of snow though (my first time ever seeing snow) and we slid a little and i thought we were goingto go backwards down the mountain side. We stopped but couldn't go forward or back. now I'm curled up in the back of a police car on the side of a snowy mountain while they attempt to tow our hire van backwards. I know we were really really silly to get stuck there in the first place. I have been in total panic thinking we are going to fall off the mountain and i am beyond terrified to drive again. We went with the van instead of trains because i am disabled and use a wheelchair. We didn't know a way to transport myself and my partner around for our holiday on trains because i can't pull my own suitcase because I'm in the chair. Please can anyone tell us how to know which roads are wide and safe? We keep getting caught out with Google maps getting in scary places on tiny roads but today i thought i was going to die and this isn't really how my holiday is meant to be. I've not travelled since becoming disabled 6 years ago. We don't know how to manage when we can't predict the roads.

 

[Emp]

If the LPG is a permanent set up like Gaslow, as opposed to exchanging the empty gas cannisters for a full one, then there will be a filling point near the gas container. You then connect to the pump and fill up. The garage should be able to help with this. On our system we have a permanent fixture called Gaslow, with two gas containers and on each is a gauge showing how much gas is left. When filling up you just fill them until they are full - they have an automatic cut off at 80% full so they do not overfill.

Not sure quite what you mean by "open flame" or why you are leaving the the heating on with the door open to see how much is left? Can you look at the gas container (or containers if there are two) - are they under the van? If not they will be in a locker accessed from somewhere on the side of the van.

Could you ring the peolple you got the van from and ask them to advise?

I explained it very badly.

We had the gas locker open in a petrol station with the heating running. We found an article saying the heating is like having an open flame in the gas locker?

 

[Emp]

If the LPG is a permanent set up like Gaslow, as opposed to exchanging the empty gas cannisters for a full one, then there will be a filling point near the gas container. You then connect to the pump and fill up. The garage should be able to help with this. On our system we have a permanent fixture called Gaslow, with two gas containers and on each is a gauge showing how much gas is left. When filling up you just fill them until they are full - they have an automatic cut off at 80% full so they do not overfill.

Not sure quite what you mean by "open flame" or why you are leaving the the heating on with the door open to see how much is left? Can you look at the gas container (or containers if there are two) - are they under the van? If not they will be in a locker accessed from somewhere on the side of the van.

Could you ring the peolple you got the van from and ask them to advise?

The lpg has two bottles permanently mounted inside the gas locker. There doesn't seem to be any guage we can find. Do we need to close the valve in the locker before we drive and before we enter a petrol station? We can't find any other way to make sure the heater is off

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[DangerMousy]

A free alternative to CoPilot is Navmii - it has a truck setting and we have used it for a couple of years now (mostly) without issue. Like any sat nav though its only as good as the map data its based on....so if a road looks wrong or the road signs contradict then trust your instinct.

We can't find any other way to make sure the heater is off

Is there a user's handbook in the glovebox? I've never hired a motorhome, but whenever I've hired a boat or a car there's always been a handbook to check.

 

[Janine]

The lpg has two bottles permanently mounted inside the gas locker. There doesn't seem to be any guage we can find. Do we need to close the valve in the locker before we drive and before we enter a petrol station? We can't find any other way to make sure the heater is off

Could you give the hire company a call and ask their advice? They should know the van inside-out

 

[StephandJohn]

OK. I'm not sure what article it is but there should be no open flame in the gas locker. It is sealed with pipes leading to your fire, water heater and gas cooker.

There are two systems used for LPG in a motorhome. One is removable bottles. You just unscrew the connection to the bottle and give the empty one to a garage (or other supplier) and they give you a new one which you put back and connect (usually with a spanner).

The second system is a permanent fixture. This sounds like what you have. There should be a filling point near the bottles which will probably have a removable cap on it. You take off the cap to reveal the filling connection, usually brass in colour. If you hired the van in Switzerland, you should not need an adaptor - the connection at the end of the pump in the garage should fit onto it.

Is there a filling connection you can see?

Really, as I suggested before, you should ring whoever you hired it from and get them to talk it through.

Did the company not provide a handover when you picked it up to explain the fundamentals of using the van?

Regarding filling, if it's cold weather I would not worry about how empty it is - just go into a garage and fill them up or better still ask the garage attendant to fill them - our experience is they are always willing to help.

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[Popeye]

What version of CoPilot allows you to put in vehicle size or restrictions and does CoPilot include traffic and camera alerts. Are future updates included in the price or are they an extra cost.

It is called co-pilot Caravan and allows you to input all dimensions for your Motor-home. It includes ActiveTraffic info for one year and you can renew this for £9.99.

My motorhome is 3.3metres tall and I come up against bridges that don't deter the avaerage MoHo.
Since purchasing Co-Pilot Camper I get advance warning of low bridges in the area of my route not just on route.

Brilliant Sat Nav program and yes it alerts you to Cameras but more importanly beeps when you exceed the speed limit for any area you find yourself in.

All this for £49.99

 

[autorouter]

The only time I ever close the valve in the locker is on a ferry or going through the Channel Tunnel.

There should be a heating control somewhere to switch the heating off.

The fridge will automatically switch between 12 volt power, gas, and mains 230 volts. It switches to 12 volts when the engine is running. There is a delay of about 15 to 20 minutes between switching off the engine and switching on the fridge gas mode. This is specifically to avoid the gas flame when refuelling at a service station.

If there's no easy way to see the gas level, I would just fill up. If you have 10 days in the Alps to go, you'll probably use most of that.

 

[joka250]

A thought arising from O P and their further comments. A lot of people reading this forum do not yet have a motor home and may well hire in an effort to learn and understand requirements. I know from the handover of our new motor home in 2015 that it was almost all too much. Our previous experience was 30 years before and so much change. It would be good if as a community we could offer some form of guidance to newbies hiring. Something along the lines of @Jim buying advice but obviously shorter. Would be interested in others thoughts. Today's hires are tomorrows owners and members.

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[autorouter]

If you've not filled up a gas tank before, it's a little bit different to filling a fuel tank.

First you attach the filling hose. The filler latches on to the filler point to make a gas-tight seal. There is a little catch that you flick to stop it unlatching.

Once it's on, you walk over to the pump, and press and hold the button. Gas flows only while the button is pressed. It may take a few seconds, even a minute or two, for the gas to start flowing. Watch the litres indicator.

When full, it will stop automatically. When you release the filler, there will be a burst of gas fom the hose. It can be a bit of a surprise the first time you do it.

Ideally, watch someone else doing it first. You'll soon get the hang of it.

 

[DangerMousy]

The only time I ever close the valve in the locker is on a ferry or going through the Channel Tunnel.

We tend to turn ours off whilst driving, though as we do have a secumotion regulator I don't stress if we forget.

There should be a heating control somewhere to switch the heating off.

I'd suggest @Emp checks around the door area for some kind of control panel. If they post a photo on here someone can probably work out what system they have.

The fridge will automatically switch between 12 volt power, gas, and mains 230 volts. It switches to 12 volts when the engine is running. There is a delay of about 15 to 20 minutes between switching off the engine and switching on the fridge gas mode. This is specifically to avoid the gas flame when refuelling at a service station.

Not all fridges do this: our's doesn't and the Chausson my parents hired last year didn't either. We have to remember (or not!) to manually change it to the right power source

If there's no easy way to see the gas level, I would just fill up. If you have 10 days in the Alps to go, you'll probably use most of that.

I second this! Best to always top up when you can - especially if its cold.

 

[rickwiggans]

as already said a truck sat nav, even a cheap chinese one will route you avoiding unsuitable roads

Only if there is a mandated width restriction. If it's merely narrow, then as yet, the mapping isn't sophisticated enough to know. It helps, but it isn't failsafe, by any means

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[fairford rambler]

The OP's surprise at finding little roads and snow in winter in Switzerland reminded me of last summer when I had parked my motorbike and was sat outside a packed bar in around 30 degrees near the top of the Col de Tourmalet (c.2,500m). The rather well padded, sweaty and exhausted Lycra clad American lass at an adjacent table was giving her sinewy partner one heck of an ear-bashing for all to hear but I nearly spat my coffee out when she shouted hysterically at him: "Yes, you ass....le, but when I agreed to a cycling honeymoon in the f....ing(expletive omitted) Pyrenees you never f....ing told me that the f....ing hills would be so f....ing STEEP!
The tears rolled down my cheeks.

Glad the OP's safe now. As the old saying goes: 'All's well that ends'.

Obviously the air was very thick up there that day then... lol. I reckon a quickie divorce was on the cards there. I wonder how he got SADDLED with her

 

[pappajohn]

Not sure quite what you mean by "open flame" or why you are leaving the the heating on with the door open to see how much is left

The reference to 'open flame' is referring to the fridge, heating etc which when lit is venting to outside air.
Any combustible gas or liquid entering said vents could ignite from the open flame within the appliance.
Nothing to do with the gas locker door being open.

 

[Ridgeway]

We've decided to try to head to a campsite called attermenzen- we're hoping that going direct to a campsite today will only take us down safe roads? We went to a socar but they only had road maps of France so we're still looking for a truck map. Do you think the roads will be ok going from chillon to attermenzen?

Attermenzen is on the road to Täsch so it will be fine. From Chateau Chillon all the roads are clear.

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[DuxDeluxe]

After all this, I think we really hope that you return for another but slightly less stressful adventure. MHF are always here to help and to advise - you ever know......some of the advice may actually be useful (the banter is rather good .....)

Cheers

 

[Emp]

A thought arising from O P and their further comments. A lot of people reading this forum do not yet have a motor home and may well hire in an effort to learn and understand requirements. I know from the handover of our new motor home in 2015 that it was almost all too much. Our previous experience was 30 years before and so much change. It would be good if as a community we could offer some form of guidance to newbies hiring. Something along the lines of @Jim buying advice but obviously shorter. Would be interested in others thoughts. Today's hires are tomorrows owners and members.

We're actually talking about the idea of someday making a campervan our home based on how much we love the clever space design of the van. The downside at the moment for us is just that we are sooo out of our depth with everything. A part of the challenge is we don't speak the local language to ask for help or refer to the manuals- i downloaded an English manual i found online but it seems to miss a lot of the things we need to know. I don't know what we would have done without this forum

 

[Emp]

So today we had planned to drive from Randa (near zermatt) to interlaken, but it is currently snowing and the forecast says it will all day (and for many days). Is it ok to drive on the motorways in weather like this? Will they clear it at some point :/ we have snow chains for our front tires only, should we try to put them on?

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[Armytwowheels]

So today we had planned to drive from Randa (near zermatt) to interlaken, but it is currently snowing and the forecast says it will all day (and for many days). Is it ok to drive on the motorways in weather like this? Will they clear it at some point :/ we have snow chains for our front tires only, should we try to put them on?

Hello again EMP. I have just been catching up with your thread, so glad you decided to become a full member and you seem to have recovered from your ordeal on the mountain.

My advice re the snow chains is to only put them on when you reach an area where the snow is settling and is thick enough to cause you problems. When they are on, it is a very noisy, slow and uncomfortable (vibrations) ride if there isn't any snow under the wheels.

However, if you haven't done so already I would practice putting them on and off before you encounter the need to use them. Choose a flat bit of ground; as dry as possible for your own comfort; sacrifice a pair of gloves (as they will get filthy); read the instructions in the warm; take instructions outside with you but ensure they cannot blow away or end up as a soggy mess; get something to kneel on and go for it.

 

[Emp]

Also I've tried every option suggested to get the copilot caravan app, but whenever i get to the purchase page it tells me "this is not available in your area". I'm pretty convinced at this point I can't get it. Still trying to find a paper truck map as well

 

[mitzimad]

The OP's surprise at finding little roads and snow in winter in Switzerland reminded me of last summer when I had parked my motorbike and was sat outside a packed bar in around 30 degrees near the top of the Col de Tourmalet (c.2,500m). The rather well padded, sweaty and exhausted Lycra clad American lass at an adjacent table was giving her sinewy partner one heck of an ear-bashing for all to hear but I nearly spat my coffee out when she shouted hysterically at him: "Yes, you ass....le, but when I agreed to a cycling honeymoon in the f....ing(expletive omitted) Pyrenees you never f....ing told me that the f....ing hills would be so f....ing STEEP!
The tears rolled down my cheeks.

Glad the OP's safe now. As the old saying goes: 'All's well that ends'.

much like the two americans we met on a camp site in venice who were googling on their phone trying to find a small orthentic italian resturant

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[tacr2man]

@Emp The truck map will be an Atlas (book) but seeing where you are then you are not really going to be able to get that much from it . If you stay on main connecting roads you should be OK . With your lack of "snow" experience probably not the best area to visit during winter . Chains shouldn't really be needed if you stick with main routes .
If you get on a site try talking to traveler with similar van , to help with operational queries many speak english .

 

[Stonemags76]

I bet you’re on the Australian Apple site? Maybe co pilot is only available from the uk site? Anyone know if they can buy something from the uk site?

 

[ChrisL]

You might try using a vpn with a uk server, that should trick the apple store into believing you are in the uk, at the moment you probably have an Australian ip address so it thinks you are in Australia.

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[Puddleduck]

The motorways will probably be kept clear. If the motorways are shut you should not be driving!

 

[Hilewaychile]

I do sympathise with how very worrying [to put it mildly] it must have been at the time and I hope you are over that now. There has been loads of good advice about GPSs, maps and places to head for in the previous posts. What I want to urge you to do is research, research, research before you go anywhere else.

Here in UK, any travel article about taking a road trip in in the Aussie outback always majors on what to do and how to prepare, before you set off and how to cope if you break down in the middle of nowhere, in 45C heat.

I have had many a client from the US, on tours in Europe, who find it hard to believe how different things are in Europe from the US, from the width of roads to the width of bedrooms and the beds in them. I imagine Aussies have the same trouble - it's more like the US than it is UK.

A client from the US asked me, after a trip to Plumpton racecourse, in deepest Sussex "Chris, please can we go back via the highway?" I had to tell him that I had used every yard of the M23 'highway'. He assumed I'd taken the scenic route, not being able to believe that there were no 'highways' to everywhere, from London.

I am leaving Valencia tomorrow for Fumel, in Lot & Garonne, France. For some time now I have been monitoring the weather conditions around my overnight aire, in San Sebastian. The run in to San Sebastian goes thru' some pretty lumpy stuff, the western end of the Pyrenees. I don't want the sort of trouble you had, though in a self-build medium wheelbase Vauxhall Movano [aka Renault Master] I'm not likely to. And, having gone to school in the Lake District and lived in The Yorkshire Dales, I have some experience of snow.

Putting on my battlefield guide hat, as Aussies you might like to make your way across France to attend the wonderful dawn ceremony at the Australian National Memorial to 1914-18 at Villers-Bretonneaux. BUT, following the various terrorist atrocities in France and elsewhere, this is now a ticketed event. You have to register with your Dept Veterans' Affairs. As of 14th Feb, there were only 500 tickets left. That may sound a lot but in the occasion I took the photos below they had put out 3000 seats - but there were another 2000 standing.

However, even if not able to attend the ceremony at dawn on 25th April, you would still enjoy a trip to your WW1 memorial later in the day or soon after and the small French-Australian Museum in V-B village, nearby. The village school has a kangaroo weathervane. There is a bar called 'The Melbourne' which, despite the name, will be as French as can be.

After a trip to V-B with a couple of Aussie businessmen, one of them, in the school sportswear business, arranged to equip all the children of the school with sportswear, as a donation. V-B and the Memorial does have this effect on Australians, rightly so.

The Australian National Memorial in France to the Fallen in WW1. 05:30 25th April ANZAC Day 2009.

Nearby, at Fromelles, is the Australian Memorial statue 'Cobbers'. It features an Aussie bringing in one of his mates who called out, as the man was passing with another wounded man, "Don't forget me, cobber!" And he didn't.

'Cobbers' Memorial. Fromelles

And nearby
'The Red Baron' German flying ace, Baron von Richthoffen, brought down, believed to be by Australian small arms ground fire, in these fields.

And, at Fromelles, you will be very welcome at 'The Black Cat'

On the day, outside the bar, was a blackboard with the menu and "Every day is Summer at our bar". Bon voyage. Bien viaje.

 

[TerryL]

The Swiss, together with most other European countries with alpine regions (but notably excepting the UK!) are pretty good at clearing the roads after/during snow. I've driven coachloads of skiers direct to the resorts, by road, without ever having a snow-related problem and only ever once having to resort to snow chains - and that was only precautionary. If it isn't accessible, it's closed (as you unfortunately found out).

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[DBK]

So today we had planned to drive from Randa (near zermatt) to interlaken, but it is currently snowing and the forecast says it will all day (and for many days). Is it ok to drive on the motorways in weather like this? Will they clear it at some point :/ we have snow chains for our front tires only, should we try to put them on?

If you can't find a truck map I wouldn't worry about it. A normal map of Switzerland should be fine. Here's mine and if you look at the bottom of this post you can find out how to get a free copy.

And here's what it shows of your area:

Randa is on a yellow road and if you can head north from there you will reach main road at Visp which is coloured red. You can then stay on red roads all the way to Interlaken and I suggest you stay on red roads from then on.
If you have a good smartphone and ideally a tablet which you can connect to the internet you could download a copy of the map I have. I don't need it. Details are here:

https://www.swisstravelcenter.ch/hkf-maps

You will see there are two download sites, one for Android and one for the other phones.

If you click on my username you will should be able to find the link to "Start a Conversation". If you send me a message I will reply with the code you can use to download the map. I'm not sure how useable it will be but it should be better than nothing.

John

 

[DBK]

Belay what I said above about red roads. They aren't all open.
If you get to Visp you must turn west. You can't get get to Interlaken if you turn east as this will take you over the Grimsel Pass which is closed.
And it's a long way to Interlaken from where you are if you can't use the Grimsel.
BTW Google maps is brilliant for showing which roads are open.

 

[Spriddler]

A client from the US asked me, after a trip to Plumpton racecourse, in deepest Sussex "Chris, please can we go back via the highway?" I had to tell him that I had used every yard of the M23 'highway'. He assumed I'd taken the scenic route, not being able to believe that there were no 'highways' to everywhere, from London..

I don't want to clutter this serious post but my daughter in law is Australian, from Busselton, a very small town near Perth. I met her parents at Heathrow and as her mother got in the car she started laughing at my AA Road Atlas on the back seat and said "Do you really need maps to find your way around little ol' England?" I drove them to my son's house (only 6 miles from Plumpton racecourse!) unavoidably via the little villages. Whilst threading our way through rural lanes and medieval and Tudor High Streets her father exclaimed: "Jeez mate, whoy did thay build the houses so close to the road?" I had to explain that, 1. The U.K. is much more densely populated than Oz, and 2. When the houses were built hundreds of years ago the 'road' was merely a narrow cart track which has been widened many times to cope with modern traffic. They soon got used to it.

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[Ridgeway]

So today we had planned to drive from Randa (near zermatt) to interlaken, but it is currently snowing and the forecast says it will all day (and for many days). Is it ok to drive on the motorways in weather like this? Will they clear it at some point :/ we have snow chains for our front tires only, should we try to put them on?

A bit late, it's extremely unlikely that an autoroute will get closed, even with a good covering of snow most drivers will happily trundle along at 100kmh with trusty winter tyres.

Unless the snow is deep, I'd say 6" or more (on the road) then chains aren't too much help (assuming you have winter tires ?) and your speed is limited to 50kmh when using them.

Having them on the front driving wheels only is fine.