Manufacturers going backwards !!

[Dustydog]

Our Ed Alistair did a good review on the latest Bailey S3 Unicorn.
UNBELIEVABLY Bailey have abandoned the Omnivent extractor van above the cooker. But you do get a manually opening sky light .
I can't' recall being without an Omnivent in the last 15 / 20 years.
Maybe Bailey are going for the retro look
What else are we buyers being deprived of by manufacturers
Would you buy a car without ice or electric windows or a heater? Of course not!

 

[Martin24]

Our Coachman vans always had an omnivent and we always had it replaced before delivery with a mini heki. The reasons behind this were even simpler than me. More light allowed through the heki and we never used to have ehu so never used it.

What we have noticed creeping back in is the old four/five way frosted roof lights. They certainly give a retro feel and again I would change that for a mini heki.

 

[Mel]

Our Unicorn doesn't have an omnivent. I was surprised when we looked at it but can't say I've missed it. It has always astonished me that new Caravans don't come with a leisure battery and sometimes without a spare wheel.
Mel

 

[Hutch]

Mel, just on a rant I ddecided to take our Alko Wheel carrier off. its hard to usef. The Caravan people seem to think they are good, but try and remove the spare wheel if you hae a flat tyre. .
My spare is now under the bed, 6 kg lighter and easier to get to.

 

[otherclive]

Mel, just on a rant I ddecided to take our Alko Wheel carrier off. its hard to usef. The Caravan people seem to think they are good, but try and remove the spare wheel if you hae a flat tyre. .
My spare is now under the bed, 6 kg lighter and easier to get to.

I too removed my spare wheel from the carrier the first time that we went abroad. I didn't want to be having to extract the spare on the same side as the running traffic when overseas. And it never went back again on any of our vans. I carried it just aft of the axle on the floor within easy reach from the door. Didn't fancy having to go right into the van on safety grounds and fetch it out from the rear bed box. On site I just used to chain it under the van.

 

[RayS]

and at high speed too !
Windows instead of lockers, complicated controls on fridges and heaters, combi heaters where a simple fault deprives you of both heat and hot water in one go, 'high security' door locks for which you cannot easily get spare keys (but can easily remove the hinge pins from the doors), instruction books having so called wiring diagrams with no cable or connection identification, carpets which won't stand getting even slightly wet, etc.etc.

Now, since it's nearly Christmas, I must be fair an applaud LED lighting, better showers, some fixed beds and.....and that's about it.

 

[xtrailman]

I haven't had a roof fan since 2004, and frankly don't want one.
My new swift due has one as standard, but I wouldn't pay for one otherwise.

 

[Raywood]

We have only had one roof fan which was on our Eldiss but it was next to the toilet rather than the kitchen. The caravans bought since have not had one and we have not missed it. Each caravan we have bought has had more equipment on board other than that and so far nothing has been a major problem to use. My feeling is that the makers will need to get weight down and to me the heavy item that is vulnerable first is the oven. A microwave only might just be enough for many these days and aluminium chassis might make a comeback.

 

[travellerone]

Seems that caravan designers have never purchased a micro wave oven grill combi - £150 ish.
That and the gas/elec hob plus barbeque why not ditch the oven ?

 

[xtrailman]

We haven't used a caravan oven since 1997 when we took our children with us, its a just another cupboard for us, same with the hob we take a double electric hob and put that on top, this gives us more space for the kettle.

I have always found it strange that a four burner hob is fitted to top end caravans, why?

 

[mealsonwheels]

We're with you on this one, Dustydog. We use our Omnivent a lot and wouldn't be without one now. They can also be used to draw air into the caravan, for use as a cool fan over the cook when needed!

A few years ago, Swift stopped putting Omnivents in and later reinstated them as a new selling point!

A handy tip for newbies to quickly find out which function you've selected, is to briefly hold a piece of tissue over it. The tissue will be drawn to the mesh to tell you if you've selected the right button for the air to be drawn out.

 

[xtrailman]

If the roof fan is no quieter than our last one it will remain unused.

 

[Dustydog]

Thanks for all the replies.
We caravan all year and tend to cook inside during the winter. The Omnivent comes into its own in extracting cooking smells and dare I say even wet dogs! :woohoo:
As Meals says it also ads to keeping cool too.
At the very least I'd want the option to have one factory fitted and the manufacturing stage or the wiring installed for a self fit later.

 

[Martin24]

To us as a family of 5 we would not want to lose the oven as we use it a lot. We could get rid of the electric hob as we've never used it. Three gas burners would be enough for us.

DD your poor babies being publicly outed as smelly when wet. They'll be so ashamed now. Extra sausages tonight to make up for it.

 

[emmerson]

My 30 year-old camper van (I know, but don't tell anyone! It's just to keep Herself happy; I've still got my Royale) has a two-directional fan/airvent, so its obviously not something new.

 

[Gabsgrandad]

When I bought this van (2014) I/we had the choice of a roof mounted solar panel or an Omnivent, - Omnivent chosen, as after being 12 volt vanners for 30 years (having had my own portable solar panel for most of that) I could see no use for a panel, as no intention of going off mains again, and therefore reliant on the 'umbilical cord'. and yes it is noway near our first fan, and it does get used alot as cooking/catering in the van is all part of the vanning experience for us, and we do do best part of 6 months a year in the van. We did use the oven extensively when off mains but now we use a halogen mostly and a twin hob hot plate. unless we are barbecuing we very rarely turn the gas on. Even bbqing I prefer my coal one to the gas, yes we do have a cadac and all the trimmings.

 

[xtrailman]

I only barbi with charcoal, at home or when caravanning.
The external gas point on my caravans never gets used!

But from what I see on the sites I am a very small minority.

 

[chrisn7]

A handy tip for newbies to quickly find out which function you've selected, is to briefly hold a piece of tissue over it. The tissue will be drawn to the mesh to tell you if you've selected the right button for the air to be drawn out.

Neat tip, but it illustrates that the fan is pretty inefficient when you can't tell which way the fan is blowing, without an aid to do so.
If I had a choice I think I would be looking at one of these instead:
http://www.rainbow-conversions.co.uk/rooflights-vents/maxxair-maxxfan-deluxe-roof-vent-fan-with-remote-control.html

 

[Dustydog]

That's ace Chris.
Just the ticket for a DIT. 10 speeds :silly:
More than my tug
As long as the manufacturers install the hidden wiring for a DIY fit this one gets my vote

 

[Raywood]

We haven't used a caravan oven since 1997 when we took our children with us, its a just another cupboard for us, same with the hob we take a double electric hob and put that on top, this gives us more space for the kettle.

I have always found it strange that a four burner hob is fitted to top end caravans, why?

I think the four burner hob is there because it looks good but I cannot believe many use them all. We normally do not use more than two but might have used three once. Three would not bother me although for economy I do like having the electric one, but those who use the caravan off the grid would not worry if they did not have it. The oddity of it is that the two caravans we had at first without ovens had two burner hobs and we managed easily with them.

 

[Gagakev]

Whats all this about omnivent roof fans???

Whats wrong with opening a window or top half of door??

Or as we do open the Heki

Can you tell I've Never had one!!!!

 

[KeefySher]

We pay for the EHU in the pitch fee, so we use the electric ring for the kettle, and cooking with :evil: :evil: The oven gets used regularly. Friday night is curry night. Xmas dinner and Boxing Day pies are lovely done in the caravan oven, yum, yum

We have an omnivent, just wish the assemblers had thrown it together properly when they bodged our flagship caravan together. To be replaced in February, along with a host of other poor quality common parts thrown together the first time round.

I've said before, manufacturers would produce goods of quality, caravans are produced by assemblers of poor quality common parts, not manufacturers. They insult the manufacturing industry that created global wealth over the recent centuries.

 

[Dustydog]

Whats all this about omnivent roof fans???

Whats wrong with opening a window or top half of door??

Or as we do open the Heki

Can you tell I've Never had one!!!!

As you're all gas I can see why you don't have one

 

[Gabsgrandad]

Oooooooer !!!!!!