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Post by viv on Apr 20, 2007 21:23:32 GMT
We are just back from Stourport camping and we were freezing on Monday night. I never, ever feel the cold but believe me it was cold, there was a gale blowing up through the seats. The heating did not work and we have to sort this out now we are back. We had hook up but were too cold to leave our beds to put the radiator on.
I have now ordered two sunncamp wildfire sleeping bags with fleece liners. It was so hot in the day, the other nights were fine just Monday was so cold.
The campsite at Lickhill in Stourport has to be the best we have ever stayed on, and only £10 per night with hook up. Lakes and river and ducks, geese and swans. a 20 min stroll to Stourport along the Severn. Like staying in a beautiful park, hot showers and immaculately clean facilities.
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Post by wendy on Apr 21, 2007 8:25:41 GMT
Sorry to hear that you were so cold.  The new sleeping bags sound like they should keep you snug. Was it your Eberspacher that wasn't working, as we find ours is fantastic even in the coldest weather? The campsite sounds good, maybe one to mark down for a future meet? |
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Post by viv on Apr 21, 2007 11:44:19 GMT
Hi Wendy
It was the Eberspacher. Not sure if it is the programmer or the heater. To test it a while ago we just pressed the little heat indicator on programmer and re-pressed to turn it off when warm enough and it was fine. I don't think we would ever need the timer.
Well this trip it worked once and then we could not get it to even come on again. We checked the fuel and all OK, a little later we tried again and it came on but was blowing stone cold, and next time it would not come on at all and then next time it came on but started blowing cold after about 20 mins.
We have contacted Freeborne but missed their return call so will follow up on Monday. Probably cost us a fortune!
The sleeping bags are essential anyway as it makes storage easier and better than making up beds and they are blue to match the van!!
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Post by wendy on Apr 21, 2007 12:22:40 GMT
I hope that is not too expensive to sort out, Viv. Our heater doesn't have a timer, just on/off and temperature control. It does mean that someone has to get out of bed to turn it on in the morning.
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Post by lunnie on Apr 22, 2007 14:02:58 GMT
Hi All, I too just back from Stouport, been there since Friday to Sunday, lovely warm weather daytime and evening it was ok, I never had to put my heater on and my grandson was ok in the awning as well.
I have a small oil filled radiator and this does the trick, will stand in between the seats daytime or in the well at night, about £15 B&Q.
Yes it is a lovely site, and perhaps would suit a meet, we actually paid £7 per night with EHU. I went with the 365 club.
Hope to see you all soon.
Joan
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Post by viv on Apr 22, 2007 17:56:23 GMT
Hi Lunnie
what a coincidence, we arrived on Monday afternoon and stayed until Wednesday. We were only cold on the Monday night the others were fine.
Another coincidence, the lady in the nearest pitch to us went to the same school as me in London area, she lives in Yorkshire now! We reminisced a bit about our teachers, one of whom I still see regularly and who is now in her seventies and just back from backpacking in Bolivia.
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Post by romingtim on Apr 22, 2007 20:43:00 GMT
Hi Viv,
Not good to hear that you were cold on your trip.We suffered a bit of that in Devizes, but a car rug infront of the big grille under the back door and a little oil rad, like Lunnie has, and we were all sorted.
Our oil rad is a 600w heater and is more physically compact than most of the ones I have seen. It came from Superdrug of all places, a couple of years ago.
Brilliant while you have hook up but obviously no use without it. Have you read the comment from Ant about heaters and low battery voltage, I just wondered if that might explain some of your problems.
Tim
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Post by viv on Apr 22, 2007 22:09:33 GMT
Hi Tim
After our escapade with the fan heater we are being really careful and we had bought a mini oil filled radiator from Halfords after our last trip but it was so cold that neither of us could be bothered to get out of our beds and get it out of the box and plugged in. We will try it next time. We did read the comment from Ant but our battery should have been fine as we tried the heater just after a long journey. anyway we are going to phone the dealer tomorrow for advice and will go from there. Never thought about covering the grille and sounds sensible as it was draughty rather than cold. See you in Summer when heating should not be a problem!
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Post by Pauline on Apr 28, 2007 14:01:14 GMT
Hope you get it all sorted Viv.
I like the sound of the oil filled radiators, do they give out enough heat for it to circulate around the van or do you get cold spots?
We use an electric heater with fan which sends the air around nicely but we don't feel safe to leave it on while asleep.
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Post by wendy on Apr 28, 2007 15:27:12 GMT
We use an electric heater with fan which sends the air around nicely but we don't feel safe to leave it on while asleep. Why do you need it on when asleep? We've camped in very cold weather and never needed the heater on overnight. Just make sure it is handy for turning on in the morning. First one needing the toilet has to turn the heater on, although I can usually reach the heater switch without getting out of bed. I do appreciate that Terry needs to keep warm overnight and so needs heat on all the time. |
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Post by Pauline on Apr 28, 2007 15:37:08 GMT
I didn't mean to actually have it on during the night, more like you say that we put it on in the early morning when it gets chilly, but I worry that we might fall back to sleep when it gets nice and warm in the van  |
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Post by wendy on Apr 28, 2007 18:53:33 GMT
You'll have to find something to do to make sure that you stay awake.  |
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Post by lunnie on Apr 28, 2007 20:34:56 GMT
I find that it is warm enough for me, though my van is smaller than yours. But I dont have it on full power.
I believe that you are now able to buy plug sockets that work with a remote control, so you could use this to switch on/off without getting out of bed. Or plug it into a timer so that it comes on then the air changes usually about 4am that is when it affects my son with his asthma.
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Post by romingtim on Apr 28, 2007 20:49:09 GMT
Hi Pauline,
We found that our oil filled rad worked fine, but it had to be in the back footwell. We originally had it in on the passenger seat (with the back of the seat in the folded down position) and found that the air didn't circulate at all!
When we moved it to the footwell we didn't even need it on more than about quarter way round the dial for it to keep nice and cosy.
Tim
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Post by viv on May 8, 2007 16:58:29 GMT
Just took the van to New Forest and heater worked fine. Were booked in to Eberspacher agent in that area for Tuesday morning and he checked the heater and of course it worked perfectly again. However he did say his monitor indicated it had had an overheat problem on one occasion. He left it running for a good half hour or so and it was working fine. the diagnostic machine he had was spot on, it tells him exactly how it has been used and any faults. He has set our record to default so if we have any more problems he will be able to tell immediately what went wrong. He was very helpful and did not charge us at all. We will probably take it in for a service in June just before the 5 year extended warranty expires but I am sure it will be fine now - just a glitch at Devizes.
When it works, boy is it good!!!!!!!
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Post by Pauline on May 9, 2007 7:30:59 GMT
That's good news Viv, sounds like a nice chap and very helpful. Let's hope it continues to work well.  |
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