Reich Caravan Weight Control

[sosij]

Ah....I can see that you're determined to have that air-con :lol:

We had roof mounted air-con (Coleman Mach) on an American camper that we owned. Bit of a waste in our case, as we seldom frequent sites with EHU's.....

It worked well enough, though - I remember on boiling hot day when I was tinkering around inside the camper, hooked up to the mains at home (via a step down transformer, of course) . I put it on at full blast and luxuriated in noisy refreshment :lol: Sadly, such days are few and far between, though.

In the US, air-con is considered essential (which is why our camper had it on) but, personally, I find that a good heater is more essential over here.

Watch who fits it, btw - that Nova had quite bad front end damp (PUAL construction, notwithstanding) which I'm certain resulted from an inferior air-con fitting job. Had Hymer installed it, I'm sure it would have been fine, but I'm afraid that many UK dealers don't have the same enthusiasm for sealing things - particularly so when it's up on the roof away from critical eyes.

 

[Surfer]

Ah....I can see that you're determined to have that air-con :lol:

We had roof mounted air-con (Coleman Mach) on an American camper that we owned. Bit of a waste in our case, as we seldom frequent sites with EHU's.....

It worked well enough, though - I remember on boiling hot day when I was tinkering around inside the camper, hooked up to the mains at home (via a step down transformer, of course) . I put it on at full blast and luxuriated in noisy refreshment :lol: Sadly, such days are few and far between, though.

In the US, air-con is considered essential (which is why our camper had it on) but, personally, I find that a good heater is more essential over here.

Watch who fits it, btw - that Nova had quite bad front end damp (PUAL construction, notwithstanding) which I'm certain resulted from an inferior air-con fitting job. Had Hymer installed it, I'm sure it would have been fine, but I'm afraid that many UK dealers don't have the same enthusiasm for sealing things - particularly so when it's up on the roof away from critical eyes.

Thanks. It is the wife that is more insistent on getting it as heat, high humidity and asthma do mix too well plus there is the dogs as last year they did not know where to get cool. Although we have never been overseas, we are hoping to do so either late this year or next year.
Even if we do not go overseas I am sure there will be days when we will need it. The bonus is that it can be used in the winter months. If we go ahead, it is a recommended and authorised Dometic engineer that will be fitting it.

PS I am still trying to convince myself about buying it as if we go ahead I save £300 on installation, but then will the unit eventually pay for itself although it can be transferred from caravan to caravan? :cheer:

 

[sosij]

Truthfully? - it's never going to pay for itself. It's a luxury item, and should be purchased on that basis; something nice to have, but not an investment.

We're going to buy a 'Fantastic Vent Endless Breeze' 12 volt box fan - just about the best 12 volt fan you can get (USA made) and which produces a very good airflow.

see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh8fUXjRoTc
available in the UK for £69 - http://www.fantasticvent.co.uk/product/FV1100WH/ENDLESS+BREEZE

 

[Surfer]

Seems a good idea however last year although we had two fans going in the caravan, the heat was still stifling and we are used to heat and not the humidity.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Surely part of the axle weight is transferred to the towing vehicle via the tow ball? I am just trying to get my head around this issue. Can you perhaps elaborate on thsi point as I have an interest in learning more about thsi aspect to help improve my limited knowledge.
As for your remarks regarding the MTPLM, a judge cannot take into consideration the MTPLM plate on a caravan at all as the MTPLM plate on a caravan is a guideline suggested by the caravan manufacturer based on certain criteria. Up to recently the chassis manufacture never issued a weight plate for a caravan or trailer chassis. One of the reasons why the police would never have a successful prosecution if they used the MTPLM plate. Easier to use a host of other laws, but as stated previously, do not exceed the MTPLM anyway whether the plate is legal or not.

Hello Surfer,

You identified the principle in your first post. As you stated you have a weighbridge result for your whole caravan (uncoupled) of 1860Kg.

What the weighbridge didn't tell you is how that weight was distributed between the road tyres and the jockey wheel, when the caravan was standing on the weighbridge.

So you subsequently found that you have 105Kg at the jockey wheel which means the weight carried by the road tyres was 1860-105 = 1755Kg on the weigh bridge.

Now that is not exactly the answer you're looking for, because the hitch is physically further away from the axles than the jockey wheel by about 0.5M and because of the levers effect the load at the hitch will be less than the load at the jockey wheel.

As a guesstimate on a 7M caravan the wheels will be roughly central to the body giving 3.5M of body plus 1 meter of tow hitch jockey wheel. that 4.5 Meters the jog wheel to axle will be about .5 M less so 4M

(4x105) / 4.5 = 93Kg at the hitch

So in towing configuration the main axles will be carrying about

1860 - 93 = 1767kg

It may also be apparent from the above that when you measure the jockey wheel load, the direction of the jockey wheel will also affect the readings

When caravanners are working well within the limits of car and caravans these differences are probably not going to make any practical or legal difference, but when you are working so close to the legal limits, you have to be extra careful to keep inside the limits and for that reason you need to have confidence in both the measurement devices and the way in which they are used to avoid getting erroneous readings.

This is another reason that accurate nose weight measurement is important.

 

[Surfer]

Thanks John for the explanation as it makes sense. Also as you point out the Reich CWC would be inaccurate on the nose weights due to the jockey being situated behind the actual hitch point. This is not mentioned in any of their literature and probably accounts for the nose weight reading 175kg instead of 105kg.
It now seems to be a lot less hassle and cheaper taking the caravan to the weigh bridge, paying the £6 and getting a fairly accurate weight. The gross train weigh of the combination was 4200kg indicating that vehicle weighed 2340kg. According to the specification of the vehicle its kerbweight is supposed to be between 2210 and 2345kg,