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[romany]

Here are two more; Autosleeper and Autocruise which may tickle your fancy. I reckon in both cases you could get £3K off the price:


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...............and the Autocruise:


View attachment 289314

Thanks Andrew

 

[Minxy]

If you go for a slightly older Globecar you would be able to get one with a 3-way fridge as they didn't start fitting electric only ones until 2017 I believe (possibly late 2016).

 

[GPW]

I noticed a pattern which may or may not be correct, but that a high fridge (one mounted at worktop level) tended to be smaller compressor - whereas the floor level fridges seemed to be bigger absorption ones.

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[Minxy]

I noticed a pattern which may or may not be correct, but that a high fridge (one mounted at worktop level) tended to be smaller compressor - whereas the floor level fridges seemed to be bigger absorption ones.

Not true I'm afraid, in our previous Globecar FamilyScout L the fridge was mounted above a cupboard and was a 3-way 80L one, in our current Globecar Campscout the fridge is in a similar position and is a compressor 90L one designed specifically for a PVC to allow for the curve of the top of the side wall.

What is happening now though is that it's quite rare to get a 3-way in a van conversion due to the ease and cheaper cost of compressor fridges. It probably won't be long before they are also fitted to coachbuilts as standard too.

 

[Grianan]

If you fit solar and 2 batteries the fridge may be ok. Maybe put specific post up as a lot of pvc owners with the electric fridges seem to wild camp.
We’ve only done a couple of nights at a time as still new to all of this but fine over winter with solar and 2 batteries in Scotland

 

[romany]

If you fit solar and 2 batteries the fridge may be ok. Maybe put specific post up as a lot of pvc owners with the electric fridges seem to wild camp.
We’ve only done a couple of nights at a time as still new to all of this but fine over winter with solar and 2 batteries in Scotland

I have only experienced a compressor fridge on a narrow boat holiday a few years ago and it failed to keep the temp down at night without the engine charging the batteries now it may have been an old style fridge but because of my meds a proper working fridge is important

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[Minxy]

If you fit solar and 2 batteries the fridge may be ok. Maybe put specific post up as a lot of pvc owners with the electric fridges seem to wild camp. We’ve only done a couple of nights at a time as still new to all of this but fine over winter with solar and 2 batteries in Scotland

I have only experienced a compressor fridge on a narrow boat holiday a few years ago and it failed to keep the temp down at night without the engine charging the batteries now it may have been an old style fridge but because of my meds a proper working fridge is important

It really depends on your usage and the solar input as to whether solar and batteries will be sufficient to keep a compressor fridge running. We had difficulties with ours when away in France/Portugal/Spain for 2 months (Nov-Jan) but we do wild camp all the time, no sites, no EHU, and had been staying put in one spot for a while ... it also didn't help that the solar panels were being badly shaded by the ruddy raised Heki ... once we realised we made sure they weren't but until then ...! We've now bought a generator to supplement our electrical input if needs be as we intend to do even longer trips away over the winter months and don't want to worry about running out of power (can't do without my ice-cream!).

Modern compressor fridges are more efficient than the older versions but IMV they will never beat a 3-way.

 

[GPW]

Interesting info. I'll have to see what arrives in mine as it may differ in detail from the German spec.
During my 'playing with a solar panel' experiment I noticed that even a hand covering a single cell (not even completely) caused the power output to collapse and that the angle to the sun was very important.

 

[Minxy]

If you go for a PVC it is less likely to leak. It's also a bit easier to drive around IMO.
The (german) Globescout Plus I ordered at the show was cheaper than another other comparable PVC and has (the german spec says, I didn't look as I don't care) an absorption fridge.

If you want to be really cool you could order the big white VW Beluga Whale they had at the show...

It certainly looks like a 3-way fridge from the pictures both inside and outside:

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[GPW]

Great stuff - thanks for finding a pic!
Love that woodwork, that's what sold it really..

 

[buttons]

Give your lovely wife the cheque book and let her make the decision. Be sure, get it in writing though that the purchase was 100% by her choosing.....

 

[138go]

Give your lovely wife the cheque book and let her make the decision. Be sure, get it in writing though that the purchase was 100% by her choosing.....

Are you a 1950’s husband?

Mrs QFour

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[Ivory55]

Are you a 1950’s husband?

Mrs QFour

His name is Jerry and his wife is called margo. Haha

 

[GPW]

BTW I have a question about fridges and levelling:

With a 3-way fridge does one have to level the van at all / much / perfectly?

 

[Minxy]

BTW I have a question about fridges and levelling:

With a 3-way fridge does one have to level the van at all / much / perfectly?

The older ones were very picky, newer ones need a bit more 'care' than a condensing one but so long as you're not on the side of Mount Everest you should be okay.

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[romany]

Give your lovely wife the cheque book and let her make the decision. Be sure, get it in writing though that the purchase was 100% by her choosing.....

I have a dodgy ticker and you want me to give the wife my cheque book, how much is she paying you

 

[GPW]

The older ones were very picky, newer ones need a bit more 'care' than a condensing one but so long as you're not on the side of Mount Everest you should be okay.

Thanks for the info, I'll have to see how it goes, I have found a nice bubble level app for the phone now!
If I get tired of levelling or it conks out it looks about 500mm wide so I can always pop it out and put a compressor table-top fridge in there on a shelf and beef up the 230V off-grid electrics.

Another trick for travelling may be to keep it running nice and cold while driving: and if the level isn't great at a stop to just switch it off for the night so it doesn't struggle. Anything to prevent having to mess with ramps in the rain . The sledgehammer method would be levelling suspension (air?) or hydraulic jacks - but these seem quite heavy and expensive..

 

[romany]

Are you a 1950’s husband?

Mrs QFour

I am very much a 60's /70's make love not war or stick a flower in it

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[138go]

I am very much a 60's /70's make love not war or stick a flower in it

Okay, it was the “give your wife the cheque book” and “let your wife” comments, that made me wonder.

 

[romany]

Okay, it was the “give your wife the cheque book” and “let your wife” comments, that made me wonder.

I think you will find that was Buttons comment

 

[138go]

I think you will find that was Buttons comment

I should have gone to Specsavers

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[Puddleduck]

BTW I have a question about fridges and levelling:

With a 3-way fridge does one have to level the van at all / much / perfectly?

The older ones were very picky, newer ones need a bit more 'care' than a condensing one but so long as you're not on the side of Mount Everest you should be okay.

What Minxy Girl said

I'm not sure if this idea would be of use to you but if we are not using all of the freezer compartment I fill all the spaces around the food with plastic bags containing ice cubes (and a small air gap) or freezer blocks. If it is very hot or I need the freezer space I move the ice blocks / bags to the salad drawer of the fridge (remove the salad first!) This does keep the fridge temperature down quite a bit. I do the same at home when we have a planned power outage. Also make sure you open the fridge as little and for as short a time as possible. We also have one of the electric cool boxes which will run from 12v and that keeps stuff that is not too fussy about being super cold about 10 or 12 C below ambient, with ice in the bottom (tea towels in plastic bag between food and ice blocks) it gets colder than that of course.

I would not want a compressor fridge but always go for the three way as with using CPAP and other medical stuff overnight we would soon flatten the batteries should the fridge also need more than minor amounts of power. At present we can go up to 3 nights without solar or moving the van and off grid, I doubt we could do that with an all electric fridge.

 

[bfb]

Bought my Hymer 7years ago. Mercedes 2.9 5 cylinder. Pulls like a train. Only time it let me down was in Holland. Alternator went but 1/2 an hour in nice Dutch garage sat in said vehicle eating coffee and bagette whilst on ramps and mechanic replacing the alternator. Paid and was on my way. He complemented me on a nice motorhome. He took a note of the mileage for warranty and said he would not expect to see the engine until it had done 1000000 k. He was a fan of Mercs. Only drawback is the MPG. 24-27 mpg max. but I prefer to put money in the tank than hefty repair bills.

 

[BILL 875]

VW or Mercedes is all I can say Fiat are poor in my opinion. Bill

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[GPW]

A few more thoughts on van choice....

I don't think there is a stand-out reliable van these days, most are shared between a number of manufacturers with differences.

VW has never been known for reliability, in the 1990s when VW were advertising how reliable they were I had two workmates with Polos that never ran right and I had a Jetta (Golf) that had chronic running issues (caused later I discovered by fuel pumps breaking up inside, but no VW garage ever seemed to know about that). VW only cured it by eventually switching to EFI due to a different pump and a big filter.

Today those faults are cured to be replaced with a number of other faults, e.g:
https://www.t6forum.com/#vw-t6-discussions.18
Would you spend £65k on a VW based van to be stranded with coolant in your No.2 cylinder?

Mercedes appear to have the mechanicals well sorted but the bodywork appears to dissolve and the paint seems about as tough as interior house paint. They also have an enormous price that may instead be better spent on a decent four star hotel.

I've also had Honda and Toyota cars with various faults - some design faults, and older BMW and Peugeot that appear to work just as well as the 'top' brands for reliabiity.

Small VW vans are everywhere, but why would anyone pay more than the superior Renault Trafic (apart from the California for resale value reasons)?
Bigger VW vans / Mercedes Sprinters are too narrow for a motorhome so I don't see any benefit there unless you really want 4wd for the 3 times per century it may be useful.

That leaves the only van of the right size and shape as the Ducato Fiat/Citroen/Peugeot series. The 5.4m of those looks better but sadly there's less choice in those, there's a Catch-22 for 5.4m. There's many more 6m available so everyone buys the 6m: so the firms don't spend much resource on the 'less popular' 5.4m models, despite the better looks, lighter weight and better driving and parking.
I know this as I really wanted a 5.4m but ended up buying a 6m one LOL.

As for vans themselves I'd stick with a PVC as in my view there is less to go wrong and they are smaller. If you really want a huge space to stay at the other end perhaps an airstream (the cheapest caravan based on (cost - resale)) and a decent tow car may be easier, at least there's no need to tow a small car then either.

 

[fullfat]

@romany with your luck I’d be steering clear of any mobile home,be it caravan or moho.... have you considered a tent ?