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hi all

after our hols this year in our old tt we decided to upgrade to a fc. weve found one today and will pick up next week.  I have paid £2500 i think i have a reasonable deal (please confirm if you know) its a 2000 model 550 se  (i did not confirm the age but its burgandy and cream without gas struts. if this means anything) i helped the owner to put it up and its in almost new condition and clean.

one thing that  i do not understand is that i was expecting mains electric but it has none, only some 12v sockets below the wardrobe and a  lead with plug on a for the fridge. i assume this is standard spec on a model this old? however the owner stated that the 12v pump had never worked and was somthing that he could have had connected for a charge at the time of purchase. there are dual electrics to plug into the car but no apparent place for the lesure battery and the owner doesnt have an understanding  of how the electrics work as he has never needed them (used a standard hook up with rcd and socket). there is an inlet for the freash water to be piped to the unit and an outlet for the waste.

if you could please offer an explination i would be gratefull

We've had other people say that some sterlings don't have mains. The best thing is to buy a proper 240 volt tent hookup and attach to the plugs to either the end of the kitchen or a bed box. The lead can easily be fed out under the canvas.

Sterlings would not have had gas struts then. Battery boxes were an optional extra then so it would go either in the front box or in a cupboard.

Our 1999 does not have mains either.  We have an electric hook-up in the awning which we run a 4 socket adaptor off, 1 is on an extension which we store under the seat on the fridge side and we plug the fridge into that.  The other three in the awning we use for a light, TV, Free view box or any other electrical appliance in the awning such as a heater.  We obviously do not have everything on but this year we have had, fridge, LCD TV, Free view and a light all running together, no problems.  Our leisure battery is in the cupboard next to the fridge which powers the lighton the wardrobe and water pump.  We charge to and from sites via the car, again no prblems all season.

Andy

To check the age ask for the number on the a frame this will give you the age of the Sterling. I think you`ve got a very good deal. Have you got an awning included in the price?

We own a 98 sterling and love it. We don`t bother using  the battery but we store it in the cupboard under the cutlery draw. We have an electric hook up, we also keep an oil filled radiator in for the cooler nights.

Good luck you`ll never look back.

Ps the beds are really comfy.

thanks i will probably never use a battery but perhaps need a transformer for the 12v stuff.

yes it does have the full awning and as i say it looks good the body is a bit grubby on the outside but inside and the canvas are like new, it even smells new.

i already have a kettle, heater, toaster,george forman and lights from the tt (used in rotation of course) i might invest in a tv of some kind though. cant wait for next summer why did i not spend the money in april fool

Hope we get an Indian summer then you can have a trip or two out before the end of the season.

Quote: Originally posted by Jan P on 04/9/2007

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There are still two penine owners rallies this year!

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Hi Nelly,

We've a 2001 510 SE (blue one) , our sterling's only came with 12v as standard.  Mains electric was an optional extra we bit the bullet and paid to have it fitted, the 12v battery lived in a loose plastic box under the offside seat unless you had the factory fitted battery box which you got to through a door in the offside outer wall of the camper. Again this goes into the space under the offside seat. The whole thing would connect into a transformer also under the offside seat which facilitated the charging of the campers own battery from the car via the grey 12"S" plug up at the hitch. The fridge is both gas, 240v & 12v electric but without the factory fitted mains option it can only be used on gas or 12v car supply when the engine is running (otherwise it kills the battery), from our expereince it works very well on gas. It sounds like your seller never used it on gas, got an aftermarket 240v mains kit and did'nt get to use his sterling to its full potential. We often don't take a main hook up and get a week or more out of a leisure battery and a 4.5kg bottle of gas to drive the fridge and cooker.

 The water in all Sterlings is 12v pumped only not 240v so don't understand the sellers comments.  There should be a little black button adjacent to the left hand undersink cupboard door which operates the water pump. The pump itself is a 12v whale watermaster submersible pump. It should have a white square "plug" at one end of a blue twin hose and white cylindrical pump body at the other end.The square plug plugs into a square socket in front offside of the camper above the grey waste water outlet behind a small  white hatch while the pump goes into your water bottle. If you open the hatch you should see on opposite sides of the socket two flat copper electrical contacts. When the whale plug unit is inserted into the socket it picks up its power from these two contacts. Under the wardrobe by the door there should be a 3 way switch and possibly a little battery condition meter. Switch it to the caravan symbol to engage the campers internal battery or the car symbol to use the 12S supply from the car if your car has a 12s socket (beware this may not work with the igniton auxiliary off). If you have'nt a 12S car socket find where the campers internal battery would connect and connect one up (any 12v battery would do to check the circuit) Get a friend with a circuit tester to help check if there's power at these contacts when the button's pressed. If there is, but the pump still does'nt work when plugged in (don't run the pump dry) then its the submersible pump that's died. New one's about £30 off the shelf from most caravan dealers, just take the dead plug and pump along to be sure you get the right replacement. Also try connecting the copper contacts on the square pump socket directly to a battery for a second or two, if the pump motor is in working order you'll hear it running.  

You did'nt say if the seller had the manuals and booklets that came with the Sterling when new -  there's quite a bundle and they are all very detailed. Suggest u check with him and get them and read up if he still has them. If you are stuck i've still got mine and could scan in the relevant pages and mail them to you. You've not given your location but would also suggest nosing around a pennine dealer at the second hand sterlings on show to see how they are laid out. Might also be worth while considering getting the camper professionally serviced which would check and set up the campers chassis and brakes, also the fridge and electrics if you asked.