G
Geeteeeye
Hey folks,
Been looking through these forums the past few months during my campervan search and just back from my first test run and night in my '93 T4 California!
So thought I'd share a few first impressions of the experience!
We just decided to do a one nighter to get a feel for the experience and see what we would need to bring for a longer excursion in the future.
Firstly, the van itself is great - it's got more than a few km on the clock but all the major rust spots were treated and everything seems to work.
It definitely takes a bit of getting used to the space, the first cooking experience involved lots of moving the table back and forth as we tried to take out things we needed from the cupboards... Not to mention more than a few bumped heads!
Also, the spirit stove took some getting used to, it seemed to me to be quite fumey smelling? Am using bio-ethanol but even with windows open I found it to be quite strong. Have heard that adding some water helps a cleaner burn? Anyone have any experience with that?
Another issue we had was when we hooked up to power at the campsite - the display above the driver didn't seem to change to plug as I'd expected? However we were running the fridge all night and using lights etc & it didn't seem to affect the battery charge. Also, the sockets behind the driver seat were both working - I understood that these were only powered when operating from mains power? Is it possible that the mains could be working but the display just not showing it?
Overall, absolutely loved the experience. We traveled less than an hour from home but managed to travel up & down roads we'd never been on before. Its definitely all about the journey in these vans, no need to rush, just soak up the views! Planning the next trip already!
Been looking through these forums the past few months during my campervan search and just back from my first test run and night in my '93 T4 California!
So thought I'd share a few first impressions of the experience!
We just decided to do a one nighter to get a feel for the experience and see what we would need to bring for a longer excursion in the future.
Firstly, the van itself is great - it's got more than a few km on the clock but all the major rust spots were treated and everything seems to work.
It definitely takes a bit of getting used to the space, the first cooking experience involved lots of moving the table back and forth as we tried to take out things we needed from the cupboards... Not to mention more than a few bumped heads!
Also, the spirit stove took some getting used to, it seemed to me to be quite fumey smelling? Am using bio-ethanol but even with windows open I found it to be quite strong. Have heard that adding some water helps a cleaner burn? Anyone have any experience with that?
Another issue we had was when we hooked up to power at the campsite - the display above the driver didn't seem to change to plug as I'd expected? However we were running the fridge all night and using lights etc & it didn't seem to affect the battery charge. Also, the sockets behind the driver seat were both working - I understood that these were only powered when operating from mains power? Is it possible that the mains could be working but the display just not showing it?
Overall, absolutely loved the experience. We traveled less than an hour from home but managed to travel up & down roads we'd never been on before. Its definitely all about the journey in these vans, no need to rush, just soak up the views! Planning the next trip already!
