What questions should we try and answer? (2 Viewers)

[RubyOptics]

As some of you know (and it's fairly obvious from my signature!) my partner and I are working on a little You-Tube channel. We are planning on basing it around our van and our travels as a family...not too dissimilar to Kat and The Wandering Bird channel but with our our twist and personalities.
When we were beginning our journey to purchasing our first van, I must have asked hundreds of questions here and browsed hundreds more asked by scared noobies like myself and over the course of many, many months gained the confidence to go out and buy armed with some of the knowledge you kind people had been kind enough to share with us.
Short of telling people to go and subscribe to this forum (which I am MORE than happy to if Jim allows it!!), what beginner type questions do you think would be good to cover? If you were a new owner (try to think back all you hardened veterans!) what would you like to see shown to you in a clear, concise video format?

Thanks for any suggestions!

Joe

 

[RubyOptics]

I was thinking of maybe something like a pre-departure check-list? Or should more practical matters like filling / emptying tanks, connecting to EHU take priority in your opinion?

 

[Grummyb]

If your doing a video please don't show any one filling the loo tank

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[RubyOptics]

If your doing a video please don't show any one filling the loo tank

Well, I can't promise anything! It depends how desperate we get for subscribers and views!!!

 

[Richard n Ann]

Emptying grey water. I still never know where to take it after 6½ years

 

[RubyOptics]

Emptying grey water. I still never know where to take it after 6½ years

Yes, that was on our list. One tip is that certainly in Poland (as well as Czech Republic, Slovakia and Germany) the self-service Jet-wash type car washes are very popular. If you can get your van in (many will have a "lane" for larger vehicles) you can dump your grey whilst giving the van area a quick once over. By law here all the car washes have to drain into the main sewer system so we know our grey is going to the appropriate place!

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[Cliffdale]

First motorhome 3 years ago, so i'm still fresh into it! For starters.......
Starting off, I didn't know how to empty the loo.
Scared of driving with the large overhang.
Pay load mystery. Still not sure how to load rear axle in the boot overhang. How many Kgs can I put in the rear compartment? My van has around 750Kg payload but not sure how much of that I can put in the boot.


Is it worth having air suspension fitted? Also the EP levellers, are they worth the money.

I fitted Gaslow but now am finding it more difficult to find gas stations.

 

[RubyOptics]

Cliffdale The payload one is also on my list of "things to cover". The only thing is i need to make damn sure that I get my facts right before making a publicly viewable video about it. I'm pretty sure i DO know the facts, but will be re-reading everything first to make sure what I say is correct. I would also maybe ask for a couple of "proof-viewers" who know their stuff to look over it before we made anything public. Any volunteers?!

Loo is a good one that was also on the list. I must admit that I used to be really puzzled on watching videos about what the pressure-relief valve was - nobody ever mentioned it!

Overhang - yes. Only problem is my van doesn't really have one at 6.3 metres so I wouldn't be able to really demonstrate it unless a friendly local dealer lets me borrow a longer van for a few hours to do a shoot with it. Any ideas? And what specifically do you think people would want to know? Driving techniques? Defensive driving?

Levelling systems probably cost more than my van did, so sadly no idea!! Sound amazing though!

LPG - I hear that Morrisons isn't abandoning their LPG pumps, but not sure how serious the problem is in the UK as I don't live there. I can tell you that in Europe LPG seems to show no signs of disappearing!

 

[Jaws]

Well, I can't promise anything! It depends how desperate we get for subscribers and views!!!

Been a subscriber since you started.. So far I have watched both
Loved the first one,, full of energy !!!
But !
I do think it was a bit of an oops to post the out takes of your proposed 2nd offering before releasing the actual vid !

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[Snoopy]

As some of you know (and it's fairly obvious from my signature!) my partner and I are working on a little You-Tube channel. We are planning on basing it around our van and our travels as a family...not too dissimilar to Kat and The Wandering Bird channel but with our our twist and personalities.
When we were beginning our journey to purchasing our first van, I must have asked hundreds of questions here and browsed hundreds more asked by scared noobies like myself and over the course of many, many months gained the confidence to go out and buy armed with some of the knowledge you kind people had been kind enough to share with us.
Short of telling people to go and subscribe to this forum (which I am MORE than happy to if Jim allows it!!), what beginner type questions do you think would be good to cover? If you were a new owner (try to think back all you hardened veterans!) what would you like to see shown to you in a clear, concise video format?

Thanks for any suggestions!

Joe

my thought we're when we bought our van( zebedee) was asking the dealer to put the bed up, as sometimes the dinette are not long enough for adults, definitely Payload...we had no clue! Until I got reading about it, on this great site.good luck with your travels

 

[suavecarve]

Cliffdale The payload one is also on my list of "things to cover". The only thing is i need to make damn sure that I get my facts right before making a publicly viewable video about it. I'm pretty sure i DO know the facts, but will be re-reading everything first to make sure what I say is correct. I would also maybe ask for a couple of "proof-viewers" who know their stuff to look over it before we made anything public. Any volunteers?!

Loo is a good one that was also on the list. I must admit that I used to be really puzzled on watching videos about what the pressure-relief valve was - nobody ever mentioned it!

Overhang - yes. Only problem is my van doesn't really have one at 6.3 metres so I wouldn't be able to really demonstrate it unless a friendly local dealer lets me borrow a longer van for a few hours to do a shoot with it. Any ideas? And what specifically do you think people would want to know? Driving techniques? Defensive driving?

Levelling systems probably cost more than my van did, so sadly no idea!! Sound amazing though!

LPG - I hear that Morrisons isn't abandoning their LPG pumps, but not sure how serious the problem is in the UK as I don't live there. I can tell you that in Europe LPG seems to show no signs of disappearing!

When you have a sufficient following, contact Reich in Germany, explain what you do and send them your videos to peruse
Then ask them for a set of weighing scales for your van which you intend to use to show how the weight moves over the back axle the further back you put it and then you can work out how to store your wine.
Say that you did something similar with another company and there were xx sales or something like that who followed your link from your utube site.
You might get it for free if you say it is between them and another weighing machine manufacturer

 

[TheBig1]

over the many years of selling vans, quite a few were bought by first timers. Every time I offered basic advice on how things worked and explained that if you spend time on maintenance, it not only saves on some big bills, it teaches you a lot about how it all works. More than one thanked me if we met again, some when they upgraded to a newer or bigger van from me

A regular question used to be "is it hard to drive such a big van" even for what I would consider small ones. I would take purchasers for a test drive, talking them through the road position I was taking, the gears and braking. Then when I had got them away from traffic I would encourage them to drive, if they were insured. I even told a few to either get some professional lessons or hire a van to do a tip run for practice

I think a couple of videos covering those would be really appreciated. Some people are shy to mention how scared they are of anything bigger than a small car. Buying a motorhome may be a life long dream, but the reality can bite hard without advice

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[delta juliet]

Thinking back to when I was a newbie the toilet was a mystery to me too but I think winterising would be a good subject to cover. I threw myself in at the deep end and learned the hard way but I think some prior knowledge would be valuable to a lot of people so they can make wise decisions about how much of the year they could use their ‘vans or how to prepare them for hibernation. Obviously cover water systems but also the differences in using butane or propane gas.
Not everybody’s idea of fun I know, but when I very first got hold of a caravan it was the end of the season and as everybody else was putting their ‘vans to bed for the winter I hooked mine up and jumped on a ferry and towed it to Bavaria. On arrival at my pre-booked site they politely asked if I would mind waiting half an hour whilst they sent a man with a shovel to clear 12inches of snow off a pitch for me ! I learned a lot on that trip, not least because I had never towed before and I went alone, but hey I learned to ski too !

 

[RubyOptics]

Thank you all so much for your kind suggestions. We'll take them onboard and see what we can come up with.
Jaws Sorry about the lack of a winterising video, but the footage was zoomed in so far the I was out of frame completely half the time, although I remember from feedback on our first video that some may think that a good thing!!
New vid tomorrow which hopefully people will enjoy...stay tuned!!

 

[bigtree]

Don't swear in your videos.

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[Simon Meadwell]

How to empty the toilet
What security measures required
How to fill with gas if refillable system im still scared to death when i do it.
What extras you need tables chairs etc

 

[monzer]

I've seen a few people mention their signature on here. I know what they are but why can't I see them?

 

[chaser]

What does subscribe to these things mean, I watch YouTube and it always says, subscribe , why?
Do you have to pay or something?
What's the difference between being subscribed or not?
Do you get something extra or what?

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[chaser]

I've seen a few people mention their signature on here. I know what they are but why can't I see them?

I can't see them either but only use phone, used to see them when I used a laptop.

 

[ChrisSue]

Lots of You Tube covering France and Spain. We are planning a post retirement trip which will include Germany, Poland and Chechia so coverage of touring there would be great for us and might persuade others to try somewhere new.
Do you eat out? Perhaps something on local food too?

 

[Arnside037]

Doesn't matter how hard you try or who you ask, the answer to the ultimate question is still going to be 42.
Good luck.

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[carolyn]

Using the different LPG adapters when abroad. We have a refillable tank. You buy the adapters and suddenly think, do you attach them to the van or the pump, it’s enough of a problem in the UK. All the pumps are slightly different with their own little quirks! I did look at the youtube videos before we went abroad fortunately because it’s still the one job I hate.

 

[RubyOptics]

What does subscribe to these things mean, I watch YouTube and it always says, subscribe , why?
Do you have to pay or something?
What's the difference between being subscribed or not?
Do you get something extra or what?

Subscribe means to click on the red button normally located just under the video screen and to the right. It doesn't cost anything at all, it just means you are a follower of that channel. People ask you to do it if you enjoy their videos as it is how YouTube itself measures the success (or not) of a channel. You need a certain number of subscribers and view hours on your channel before you can monetize it. This monetisation isn't a particular priority for us, but wanted to be completely transparent.

Lots of You Tube covering France and Spain. We are planning a post retirement trip which will include Germany, Poland and Chechia so coverage of touring there would be great for us and might persuade others to try somewhere new.
Do you eat out? Perhaps something on local food too?

Yes, we are adding some more touring type videos and have more planned. Dominika is just making the thumbnail for a touring type video as i type this so it should be up soon detailing a couple of really nice spots we found using park4nights.

 

[RubyOptics]

Using the different LPG adapters when abroad. We have a refillable tank. You buy the adapters and suddenly think, do you attach them to the van or the pump, it’s enough of a problem in the UK. All the pumps are slightly different with their own little quirks! I did look at the youtube videos before we went abroad fortunately because it’s still the one job I hate.

Great idea, but unfortunately I don't have an LPG system fitted so it might be tricky.

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[RubyOptics]

I've seen a few people mention their signature on here. I know what they are but why can't I see them?

Where you have typed "Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. There was no one there." and it appears on every post you make. I have our various social media links and our YouTube channel link.

 

[chaser]

Where you have typed "Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. There was no one there." and it appears on every post you make. I have our various social media links and our YouTube channel link.

Not on my phone, it doesn't

 

[RubyOptics]

Don't swear in your videos.

I'll try not to. To be fair that was never meant to be in any video as it was part of the setup process. Unfortunately after we had spent all the time filming, the footage was mostly un-useable and so we just put together a silly bloopers reel type video to try and salvage what we could of the footage!

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[Jaws]

I've seen a few people mention their signature on here. I know what they are but why can't I see them?

What does subscribe to these things mean, I watch YouTube and it always says, subscribe , why?
Do you have to pay or something?
What's the difference between being subscribed or not?
Do you get something extra or what?

I can't see them either but only use phone, used to see them when I used a laptop.

You subscribe ( and click the bell too ) so that when a new video is posted you get a notification.. that way you do not miss owt

If you look in your preferences on here you have proly got signatures turned off so you do not see them

 

[RubyOptics]

Not on my phone, it doesn't

It will probably be how the mobile site has been coded, I would imagine to improve loading times and cut down on data usage on mobile devices. If you want to you can select "go to desktop site" using the options tab on the right hand side of the search bar, at least on Android devices. No idea on Apple products though, sorry.

 

[AndyPK]

For what it’s worth, I’d be telling prospective owners to consider the ‘van layout very carefully - this from a newbie back in 2015 who bought his third ‘van in 2019 and is pretty sure that the current layout is correct......!
Obviously people have differing priorities (how much beer/wine they can store; will the kids fit in that space; where will the dog sleep/travel, etc.), but the more thought you give it, the more confusing it gets! In the end, just emphasise that you won’t get the layout right first time - or second, or third possibly!!!

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