http://www.camc.comLETTERS YOUR VIEWS
58 September 2019 Caravan and Motorhome Club Magazine
You r cha nce to have you r s ay.
The writer of our star letter willreceive copies of our three-edition
overseas touring guidesWe h a v e j u s t r e t u r n e d f r o m
Troutbeck Club site where we were
pleasantly surprised to discover
that our neighbour was one of the
resident organists at the Blackpool
Tower Ballroom. All of us being
fans of the famous theatre
organist, Reginald Dixon, who
played the fantastic Wurlitzer that
our new on-site neighbour plays,
we had much in common.
This chance meeting reminded
m e o f a n o t h e r o n a C l u b s i t e b a c k
in the early 1970s. Our neighbour
back then was an entrepreneurand a very interesting character.
In those days we had to struggle
carrying our water to and from
the service points in large plastic
bottles, often on makeshift
trolleys. I remember this elderly
gentleman asked me why
I struggled with these heavy
old plastic bottles. I asked him
what was the alternative? At
t h i s p o i n t h e s h o w e d m e h i s
Aquaroll and Wastemaster and
I immediately asked him where
h e b o u g h t t h e m f r o m b e c a u s e
they were just brilliant.Then came the shock because
h e t o l d m e t h a t h e h a d i n v e n t e d
them. Yes the lovely elderly
gentleman I was speaking to was
Mr F L Hitchman, the inventor and
subsequent producer of these
great products we caravanners
know and love today.
You see it’s often worth saying
h e l l o t o y o u r n e i g h b o u r s o n s i t e
because you never know who they
might be and what fascinating
stories might be revealed.
Barry and Sheila Rogers,
GloucestershireOff-grid is great
Being a fan of recent technologies,
particularly those that can be applied
to caravanning, I would like to relate
our off-grid experience following your
practical article in the August issue.
Having made up our minds that we
wanted to be as independent as
possible a few years ago, we started
to look at the technologies that would
help us achieve that. In 2013 we fitted
our first solar panel (135W), a second
110Ah lead-acid battery and a 2k PSW
(pure sine wave) inverter. All was fine
for a couple of years but the batteries
started to fail due to the demands we
placed upon them. We were looking
at replacing both batteries but didn’t
w a nt to b e f a c e d w i t h h a v i n g to
replace them every three years.
The answer was a lithium battery!
Although more expensive than
a lead-acid battery at the outset,
a lithium battery is cheaper in the long
run – it weighs less too. So, we took
the plunge and had one fitted.
Some months later we purchased
a new Coachman and, as part of the
show offer, had a 300W solar panel
fitted. We then transferred our lithium
battery, electronics and inverter into
the new van – but could we use all the
on-board equipment in the Coachman,
such as LEDs and microwave oven,
while touring off-grid?
So far, our experience has been
amazing. The lithium battery has faroutperformed the lead-acid
c o u nte r p a r t s. We h a ve j u s t ret u r n e d
from a six-week stay in Wales where
we were able to operate our toaster,
microwave, blender and vacuum
cleaner all via the inverter. The TV was
s w i tc h e d o n d u r i n g re a l l y w et n i g ht s
for 2-3 hours at a time, while we werealso regularly using the usual lights
and pumps – and the state of charge of
the battery never dropped below
78%, and for the vast majority of the
stay was 95% or above.
These new technologies free the
caravanner from EHU without any
sense of ‘roughing it’ and the savings
o n s i te fe e s a re p a y i n g u s b a c k fo r t h e
initial investment. Just brilliant!
Merve Gaskin, via emailStorage solutions?
After three caravans, we have now
bought one with a fixed bed. I wonder
if other members have tips for using
the massive storage this provides.
Has anyone come up with innovative
ways of stopping what is stored from
sliding around?
Jonty Wild, via emailIt ’s goo d to ta l k
enquiries@
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Merve Gaskin’s solar panels and
p u r e s i n e w a v e i n v e r t e r