Motorhome technology trends

Nabsim said:
When I used to smoke and had the XS1100 it did 100 miles before hitting reserve. That was ideal as I fuelled up and had a smoke before setting off again. Couldn't they adopt a similar strategy for recharging? Different pace of life
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He could Neil but he really wants the 4x4 but can't afford it until January so this is just a stopgap and an introduction to campervanning.

Knowing Alistair he will make a profit when he sells it!
 
Not short of a bob or two if he is looking at 4x4's. Make sure he checks the specs thoroughly Rob. That M A N Charlie bought had less than a tonne payload as a panel van. I think that was standard 4x4 as well not after he added every option you could ut in it.
 
Boris7 said:
I got home from Spain / Portugal this morning Rob (early due to a mates death) and spent a few hours trying to work out what had gone wrong with my inverter etc.

The OP is right, but I wonder if its all a little bit too early. (as you maybe mate)

I do have a waffle maker in my van mind :) I may even take it out of the box one day.
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Elaine has a revolutionary waffle maker that requires very little energy - she says she only has to wind me up and I'll waffle all day long ... :ROFLMAO:

Steve
 
Chasn said:
Over the years certain developments in technology have led to changes in motorhome systems. The availability of LED lighting has made a big difference in energy consumption. Modern inverters have enabled use of 240v AC equipment. This has put more load on the electrical system challenging the capabilities of deep cycle lead acid batteries. The change to LFP lithium batteries has now become economic. I recently converted to a 600Ah LFP system for less than £600. The only extras on top of that was to upgrade the mains charger and fit a Victron Orion charger to speed up charging on the move.
Having made this change 240v AC kitchen items such as air fryer, electric kettle and toaster are easy choices to make.
The reason for this thread is to highlight the benefits for those of us that wild camp and in particular to point out that the next logical step is to convert to a compressor fridge. These use about half the power consumption as a three way fridge when it is on electric and also is only working for about half of the time. With the capabilities of LFP batteries the need for gas power whilst wild camping has reduced sufficiently such that a compressor fridge has become the logical choice. It is now possible to buy compressor fridges for less than £250 so the turning point has now arrived to move away from the need for a gas operated fridge when wild camping. It is also a greener alternative and their reliability is much better. The three way fridge has always had variable reliability when running on gas. The performance of compressor fridges in hot weather is also much better. All these advantages made this upgrade compelling.
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Our current van has a thetford compressor fridge/freezer which is remarkabley spacious and runs very quietly, I've never had to run it on night mode. We run a single 300AH LFP battery and Victron chaging system with 350W of roof mounted solar panels.
 
Chasn said:
It is also a greener alternative and their reliability is much better.
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Perhaps if the 12v power comes from solar, it is greener, but not if it comes from diesel.

Chasn said:
The three way fridge has always had variable reliability when running on gas.
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I keep reading this, but many decades of personal experience tell me the opposite.
Admittedly, some three-way fridges are REALLY badly installed (I once had an Elddis motorhome with a fridge that seemed to be so badly installed that it was amazing it worked at all) but if they are properly installed (sealed to the outside, level and well ventilated) they work very well indeed.
Like any fridge of whatever sort, they work far, far better with a circulating fan inside the fridge, and in hot conditions they need external vent fans, but that's not even slightly difficult or expensive.
Even the one in the Elddis was fine after I fitted several 'cardboard and aluminium tape' ducts to make the vents work.
Yes, you need to spend five minutes cleaning the jet and the flue every two or three years, but that's less of a job than checking the tyre pressures.
 
Nabsim said:
When I used to smoke and had the XS1100 it did 100 miles before hitting reserve.
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Back in the late Seventies I worked in Don Goddens and later Vic Eastwoods Yamaha dealership in Kent, the RD LC series used to sell like hot cakes but occasionally we would get an order for an Xs1100.

The first one I uncrated and assembled gave me a bit of a surprise during the road test, it was the largest capacity and heaviest bike I had ever ridden at the time.

I used to wear a pair of bright yellow fireman’s leggings in wet weather. I didn’t account for the grunt the thing had and found myself sliding down the saddle, my feet came off the pegs and were flailing about and for what was only probably a split second felt like I was about to exit off the rear because the rearwards momentum was causing me to unconsciously continue opening the throttle.

Needless to say nothing horrible happened and I decided to invest in some more grippy leggings after that!

I had no idea the range was so bad on those, but I do seem to recall the fire blade was only good for about 90 miles on its tank.

My last bike was a BMW R1200ST which I bought specifically so I could do an entire weeks commute on one tank, about 240miles!
 
I like the idea of splitting systems . I used to fit out narrowboats and always advocated having back ups. For instance a diesel heating system and a solid fuel stove. A gas cooker and a microwave. So if one system goes down there is an alternative. For this reason I would not go fully electric on a MH.
Gas is so simple that I would not consider doing away with it
 
If you go all electric its handy to have a gas tabletop 2 ring cooker or a we gas oven that i have which runs on canisters.
van oven.jpg
 
I keep one of the camping stoves in the van as well.
I used it around 7 years ago one evening as the new chinese diesel heater failed (surprise surprise) so put that one for around 10 minutes to make a couple of drinks instead of using the induction hob to warm up the interior. (It just shows how inefficient gas hobs (and gas ovens) are compared to using electric when the wasted energy from boiling a kettle will warm a room up!).
I think the next time I used it was actually in the house when we were without electricity for a couple of days following Storm Arwen.
Always useful to have some kind of backup system, but it doesn't have to be a fully plumbed in system.
 
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Thistle said:
Back in the late Seventies I worked in Don Goddens and later Vic Eastwoods Yamaha dealership in Kent, the RD LC series used to sell like hot cakes but occasionally we would get an order for an Xs1100.

The first one I uncrated and assembled gave me a bit of a surprise during the road test, it was the largest capacity and heaviest bike I had ever ridden at the time.

I used to wear a pair of bright yellow fireman’s leggings in wet weather. I didn’t account for the grunt the thing had and found myself sliding down the saddle, my feet came off the pegs and were flailing about and for what was only probably a split second felt like I was about to exit off the rear because the rearwards momentum was causing me to unconsciously continue opening the throttle.

Needless to say nothing horrible happened and I decided to invest in some more grippy leggings after that!

I had no idea the range was so bad on those, but I do seem to recall the fire blade was only good for about 90 miles on its tank.

My last bike was a BMW R1200ST which I bought specifically so I could do an entire weeks commute on one tank, about 240miles!
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I had a Squire child/adult sidecar bolted on to the XS11 so mpg for me would be an other worse than a solo. I worked a the quarry when I had that outfit and used to put it on the weigh bridge every now and then. Loaded up with everything (except daughter) for a European trip it came in at 500Kgs. I rode it like a maniac as well so its probably the worst consumption of any CS11 ever lol.

XS11 was very top heavy, mate had one solo and he dropped it at slow speeds a couple of times and it was no easy feat getting it back upright. Saw a few of them set up for racing in France and they went like stink, they had removed the shaft drive and converted to chain though so would have had 15 to 20% more available power at the rear wheel, (I think that's what shaft drive saps). It was the forerunner of the FJ1100 then on to the FJ1200 I have now as well :)
 
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