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We've an xplore 546 caravan, which has the door near the rear and only leaves 20cm before the rear panel. Most dealers (and Isabella!!) say a porch or lightweight awning cannot be fitted in this space which will allow the door to open fully.

Has anyone found a way to overcome this problem? We are trying to find an awning which is easy to put up / down on a regular basis, perhaps most weekends, and think a full awning will be too much trouble and just stay in the bag unless its a longer stay!

Thanks!

Shaun, hi did you manage to find anything to suit the rear door access... ive just purchased a 546...

I found something in my local supplier that looks like it will work... the dealer is going to let me have a play next week when i pick it up..

also are you still happy with your purchase... any hints on improvements you have made would be great..]

kind regards

Andy

Hi Andy

We looked briefly at the combi awnings which fit the rail to the rear and become a porch awning in reality, but found these expensive and not a "quick" solution.

I'd  be interested in the solution your local dealer provides. . .

We decided that the lightweight awning is not possible for the 546, (which must have been a design consideration for Explore given the way the door opens and the position of the dinette window), and opted for the Bradcot Classic full awning, which is currently heavily discounted on their "direct" website and also at several dealers - we paid £649 for the 990cm. I think this is due to the production moving abroad, but if you try the dealers you may find they still have UK stock at the reduced prices. Dickinsons in Bradford did a great job of pre-assembling and colour coding the poles for us at no extra cost.

Overall we are very happy with the 546.It suits our family very well and we had a great week in Cambridge recently. We did find condensation a problem in the rear bunks. As you'll know there are no windows nearby so when the beds are in use we open the rooflight and also the dinette window to improve circulation. The trick is to get the children to sleep with their curtains closed and then remembering to open them before we settle down later!

We've had a on-going problem with the water pump, which we've replaced twice now under warranty. The symptoms are difficult to describe, but the pump continues to operate long after closing the taps following drawing hot water. Adjusting the pressure has little effect, and the problem only occurs when on mains electric rather than battery. We've had to resort to switching on the pump "only when required" but we are progressing further inspection work to remedy the problem.

Hope you have as much fun as we have - 37 nights away in four months of use!

Shaun