When we bought our Sterckeman in Germany ... it was six months old ... had been used for four months ... the dealer/company that sold it also rented caravans and MH's for summer holidays ... said their philosophy was to buy new vans, rent for the summer season, then sell.
We got a great deal, and a van that was spotless and looked like new ... never had any problems (except a fridge replacement under warranty, as the coolant line had been pierced in the freezer box ... not noticed by us or the dealer when we bought ... they replaced the entire fridge with a new one) ... the replacement was done in France by a Sterckeman agent ... brilliant service!
Quote: Originally posted by blueexpo97 on 23/10/2020
Our big issue was the fridge, this mainly won't effect you as you don't go abroad.
The fridge does not cool down properly in high temperatures, even with external fridge vent covers removed. Of course you might be lucky and get some really hot days in this country, we first noticed it in Kent prior to going to France.
You cannot have the caravan door open to allow a through breeze for cooling purposes.
I wrote to Coachman and had a number of very snidey replies which basically boiled down to we have your £26k and don't really care what issues you have. Terrible customer service.
Why could you not have the caravan door open?
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The fridge in the caravan we have doesn't cool down enough in high temperatures either. The caravan we are buying has air conditioning, but I would be interested to know abut the door.
A fridge in a caravan relies on the air passing over the fins to cool down. This means that the fridge needs to be sealed in correctly. Unfortunately this doesnot happen which is why people fit 12v fans to help the air pass ove the fins.
Alternatively get the dealer to remove and reseal the fridge at their own expense as your contract is with the dealer and not the manufacturer!
This 'not cooling enough in high temps'. What high temps are we talking, and to what level do they only cool? The fridges only take themselves down so far below ambient, so are going to act differently in different climates.
Blueexpo97 was having problems with the fridge in Southern France during the summer, so the ambient temp inside a caravan could be quite high, probably upwards of +40 Deg C.
If the fridge was being run from electric and not gas, then the fridge would perform even worse.
Even as a tent camper I would not entertain a 3 Way fridge, they are just rubbish imho compared to a compressor fridge.
Having said that, we only go camping to the South of France during the summer.
I have recently been looking at Caravelair caravans, even there entry level model the Alba gives the option of compressor fridge over a 3 Way, to me that would be a no brainer, compressor fridge every day of the week.
Quote: Originally posted by blueexpo97 on 23/10/2020
Our big issue was the fridge, this mainly won't effect you as you don't go abroad.
The fridge does not cool down properly in high temperatures, even with external fridge vent covers removed. Of course you might be lucky and get some really hot days in this country, we first noticed it in Kent prior to going to France.
You cannot have the caravan door open to allow a through breeze for cooling purposes.
I wrote to Coachman and had a number of very snidey replies which basically boiled down to we have your £26k and don't really care what issues you have. Terrible customer service.
Why could you not have the caravan door open?
Because it covers the fridge vents and hinders any airflow.
------------- XVI yes?
As well is two words!
How does a sage know everything about everything? or does he? or does he just think he does?
Remember, if you buy something you bought it, not brought it.
For our trips to France we purchased a separate compressor fridge. In the 40 degree heat last year we swapped all the perishables into it and kept the van fridge for keeping the beer and white wine cool instead.
Dave.
------------- Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day,
Teach a man to fish and you can get rid of him for a whole weekend.
Quote: Originally posted by blueexpo97 on 25/10/2020
Quote: Originally posted by bofs on 23/10/2020
Quote: Originally posted by blueexpo97 on 23/10/2020
Our big issue was the fridge, this mainly won't effect you as you don't go abroad.
The fridge does not cool down properly in high temperatures, even with external fridge vent covers removed. Of course you might be lucky and get some really hot days in this country, we first noticed it in Kent prior to going to France.
You cannot have the caravan door open to allow a through breeze for cooling purposes.
I wrote to Coachman and had a number of very snidey replies which basically boiled down to we have your £26k and don't really care what issues you have. Terrible customer service.
Why could you not have the caravan door open?
Because it covers the fridge vents and hinders any airflow.
If your fridge is struggling in very high temps ie 30plus degC then put the drink cans in the freezer that keeps them ice cold without freezing. I was suprised how well fridge in my new Caravelair did work in 30plus temps this summer. Fridge is Trigano own make. A compressor fridge was an option but I stuck with 3way as I do use non electric sites.
If you only ever stop on sites with ehu then If compressor fridge is available as option then I would have thought that would be better bet. I presume caravans with compressor fridges fitted can run them off leisure battery for at least a couple of days? I don’t know if a solar panel would keep leisure battery topped up enough to run a compressor fridge permanently? Does anybody know?
In this modern age, you would think that all caravans would come with a compressor fridge, LiFeP04 battery and a Solar Panel with charge controller, if not as standard but as an option in fact maybe some do already.
Quote: I don’t know if a solar panel would keep leisure battery topped up enough to run a compressor fridge permanently? Does anybody know?
We've not used ehu in our van yet even though it's been an option (I must test it works!). We went with solar backed leisure battery & compressor fridge as we're normally off grid. Most I've had so far is 3 days before moving on again. So far for short trips, even in winter, the combo of 150w solar & charge from driving keeps up going. We don't use a lot of electric though - apart from fridge, occasional use of water pump to tap, diesel heater, led lights & some usb charging (which we try to remember to do when driving). No invertor. I guess if we used hair dryer, electric kettle, microwaves, vacuum cleaners etc etc it would be a different story.
Found a pretty decent new caravan, only issue would be I would need to move house as it would be a bit neat going up the drive.
Don't think I would like to put it in storage.
Some might think it's expensive, I'm not so sure.
------------- XVI yes?
As well is two words!
How does a sage know everything about everything? or does he? or does he just think he does?
Remember, if you buy something you bought it, not brought it.