CL virgin

[Paul8]

This weekend is my first venture to a CL! Ahhh i'm going to have to use the van toilet for EVERYTHING! Will the battery hold up? Who knows- but a few days on a farm can't be bad and i'm looking forward to it!

Any tips on staying on a CL will be truly appreciated! The van is a 2004 Bailey so it's up to the job- but I am used to hook up, and the usual facilities. Should I do anything differently to preserve battery life?

Thanks!

 

[Moonstone1]

You'll be fine, we often go on CL's without electrics, in fact I sometimes prefer it as you get to pick a nicer pitch than being cramped together near the electric points. As for the toilet, don't you do 'everything' in your house toilet, its only the same bar emptying it. Just give it a good shake before you go over to the elsan point and it will all flow away!. Our battery holds up no problem, but then we run the hot water, fridge etc on gas and just use the 12v lights and pump with a black/white 12v tv for late evenings. I'm sure you'll have a great time and wonder what all the fuss was about.

Incidentally, which CL are you going to?

 

[Mike_5041089]

Paul - go for it! We always use CL's as they're far more spacious, the people are more friendly and they're much cheaper too. Using an 85 amp/hour leisure battery easily lasted us 2 weeks, although we didn't bother with a TV which gobble up the juice. You can recharge the battery in your car, and a lot of CL's offer a battery charging service. If you've got an inboard water tank try filling it up directly from the tap with a hosepipe as water is very heavy and the pumps use a lot of juice. As Janet says, use gas for everything you can & switch off all the lights when you're not using them.

 

[Dave_5040181]

We often caravan without mains. Using gas for water heating, fridge and cooker,we find that a full 85 amp battery will deliver sufficient for 4 to 5 nights use with little problem provided you are sensible. During the summer little is need for lighting, we manage 8 to 10 showers, have the radio/cd on for as long as we need and still have power to spare.

We don't bother with TV but use the opportunity to find other ways to entertain ourselves. ( You actually appreciate the TV more when you watch it less often, especially as you can be selective in what you watch having recorded it whilst away )

Caravaning teaches you to be more aware of what you use. If you fetch the water, you conserve it whilst showering...a 40 litre Aquaroll should manage 4 showers. Turn the taps off whilst lathering your hair etc. You may find the tap pressure needs re setting as the power changes from mains to battery and to be sure that the pump doesn't start running in your abscense turn it off at the panel. Likewise, make sure you have not left blown air still on, even on low, from a previous trip as this may deplete you power.Only leave the light on you need ... and don't forget to turn the awning light off when you come inside.

It's good fun being self sufficient and trying a more back to basic approach to life whilst living in a luxury caravan !Enjoy.... and resist any temptation to invest in a generator !!!!!

 

[Mike_5041089]

Paul - forgot to mention that it's a good idea to really charge up your battery with a suitable leisure battery charger, as van chargers never give the battery a full charge, to minimise gassing. Proper chargers take the battry up to 14.4 volts, van chargers only tend to push out 13 volts, so even if your van's permanently hooked up on your driveway to the mains it'll never have a fully charged battery. Halfords sell reasonably cheap dual chargers which will charge either car or leisure batts. You'll get a much longer duration from your leisure battery if you do this the day before you go.