154 outandaboutlive.co.ukSeptember 2019
HOTTING UP
A Carver unit pr ovides mains or gas
hot wa ter, but does take some time
to heat up, so a boiled kettle often
suffices for washing up.A word of
warning: drain the heater water tank
in coldsnaps. On a bu siness trip away,
when temperatures plummeted andI
wasn’t around to do so, this resulted in
a soggy ca rpet fr om a split tank!
There’s pl enty of capacity for cold
water and waste wa ter in the tanks
below the ’van and a 12V pump seems
to keep everythingworking well.
There’s even a small bl own-airheater
running from the gas supply, which
helps duri ng cold snaps. We’ve also
added a small oil-filled radiatorfor
when mains hook-up is available.GETTINGYOUR HEADS DOWN
Whilst a 2+2bed arrangement is
possible intheory, it would only
be suitable forvery small children,
who cansleep on what can only be
described as a shelf upin the roof
space. Main s leep ing arrangements
are via pull-outs from the fo rward-
facing seat,together with the
extending side bench and cu shions
bridging the gaps tothe front seats.
It’s a littl e fiddly at first; however, it is
fairly straightforward andprovidesa
decent-sized doublebed. Access+seat inthe back. The passenger seat
easily swivels to provide additional
parked seating to the rear and four
adults can sit comfortably together in
the livingarea.
There a re two tables: a small one
sits between the swivelled passenger
seat andrear forward-facing seat,the
other larger one alongside the bench
seat.Space behind the table wa sn’t
great, so I’ve modified
this, so it sits offset
on the base andmore
central to the four
dining positions.
Towards the rear,
there is a sink and
drainingboard with a three-way fridge
beneath. Opposite is a two-burner
hob, oven and grill, with reasonable
worktop space and plenty of storage in
floor and head-hei ght lo ckers.
Auto-Sleepers did other models
with a rear washro om. However, on
ours,the room is incorporat ed ina
pod and therefore doesn’t encr oach on
the in ternal space. Housed here is an
electric flush ca ssette loo, shower tray
and fold-down sink, with a good-sized
wardrobe andgas storage below. On a
practical note, the cassette is accessed
thro ugh a small flap on the rear of the
pod outside, so easy to empty.
Space in the wa shro om is tight but,
bearing in mindthe overall size of
the vehicl e, it pr ovides a very useful
benefit to life on the road.
Electrics areprovide d by an under-
bonnetleisure battery topped up via a
split-char ge syst em and mains char ger
when connected. This has been one
of the few problems todate, with the
mains char ger failing and on the list of
‘to do’ jobs.There areplenty of mains
and 12Vlights , while the fridge runs
on mains, gas and 12V.
Whether ju st an
issue forolder un its
or not, b ut the fr idge
does benefit fr om
being chilled ri ght
down on mains prior
to being used on12V andstruggled in
very hot temperatures to keep cool on
battery alo ne.
Most ofthe in ternal trim has held
up well over the years, except for
the cu rtains and some of the ca rpet
fabric aroundthe windows, which
had suffered fr om sun damage. Fun
fabric with a travel theme seemedan
appropriate material toreplace the
curtains with, all lined to keep in the
warm andblock out the sun. Leftover
fabric provided some cushions forthe
bench se at and makes the inside more
personal and homely.
Tatty carpet area s were re placed
with a very good matchcourtesy of
eBay and has tidied thingsup nicely.Whywe bughtit
Whatwelove
How we ould changeit
Whenwebuy ur next ’an
Toenjoy freedom and escape fromday to
day life inthe UKand Europe as well as
last-minute trips to the beach or countryIt’s an old, heavy ’van and couldbenefit
from a bitmore power coupled together
with a sixth gearBeing able to jumpinand go on a spur- of-
the-minutetrip. The high-topprovides an
excellentfeeling of spaceAt themoment, we have no plans to replace
Ken. He ticks all the boxesatpresent, but
timewill tell“We’re lokingforard
to manymore
adventures to come”
The kitchen is prettywell equipped
TESTED 1994 Auto-SleeperTrophy