After an absence of 20+ years from the camping scene, I thought it would be a good idea to take it up again as I used the flexible working rules to drop down to a three day week giving me a 4 day weekend every week. Meant having to start from scratch again and buying all the ancillary kit. Since there are three of us who like space I bought an Outwell Hornet L with the awning and shopped around for all the other various needed bits and pieces - prices are remarkably good at this time of year.
Tent and Awning were delivered a few days ago. Decided to "test drive" it in the garden today. Laid the footprint, unravelled the tent did all the checks (per the video) - external valves closed, internal valves open etc. Tried the supplied manual pump - no impact on the thing whatsoever and really hard work. Switched to a 12v sidewinder pump which has proved reliable for boats and things and all looked good - air beams started to firm up nicely. Daughter popped inside and lifted the beams and the shape started to form. When she stopped lifting, parts of it folded and looked like a giant insect. This was the case even with the two of us lifting the beams while the pump was working. Then the pump failed. Stuck in another electric pump, excellent air flow into the intake but the tent wouldn't rise beyond half inflated. Some of the beams were rigid but the rear and centre just wouldn't lift even though it was clear that air was getting into those beams. Couldn't hear any leaking air sounds from any part. Decided to get another decent pump to replace the sidewinder so went to the local camping supplier and bought the Sevvylor 12v jobbie at £40 as it fits the bill. Returned home, plugged the pump in, LED display came on, set the pressure gauge, switched on and it just made a farting sound for less than a second and reset itself to zero. All power connections, fuses etc checked and OK but I can only get a fart from the thing even when tried on other inflatables. The sun was shining and it was a nice day but 5 hours later, I gave up and packed the tent back into its bag (that was actually the easiest bit of the whole exercise). I am wondering if all this a message from "above" to give up. I will be phoning the supplier in the morning and haven't a clue what happens now - It was bought online so a good distance is involved and cannot pop round with it to a local store (another lesson learned). I photographed the scenario and I will also have to go round to the camping shop to see about the pump but I suppose that is one of the benefits of having a Monday off. Has anybody had a similar experience? The good thing is that I didn't leave it until a visit to a camp site to discover the problems but I have already (and probably stupidly) booked and paid for a weekend at a site in a fortnight's time. As the title says, I'm gutted and I haven't even tested the awning yet).
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It sounds like you have pump issues and nothing wrong with the tent. Have you tried the hand pump which was supplied with the tent on a boat or airbed etc.
------------- Gary Cross - The masked camping guru.
Just as well you did the test pitch, as soon as you did, good luck with getting sorted, just a bit of bad luck, nothing to do with divine intervention.
Quote: Originally posted by Cross Camping on 05/10/2015
It sounds like you have pump issues and nothing wrong with the tent. Have you tried the hand pump which was supplied with the tent on a boat or airbed etc.
See second paragraph of op's comments, tried the hand pump first, then went on to try various electric pumps, but all without success. Is there a problem with the beams as opposed to the pumps.
Hope you have had some success with the retailer today, for both tent and pump.
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UPDATE:
Phoned tent supplier this morning and the immediate response was to offer me the 2016 Hornet 6SA as a replacement when it comes on stream in February. (The Hornet L is not available via Outwell now.) Accepted.
Pump issue was interesting. The Sevylor pump will not operate when connected to a 12v transformer - it has to be plugged into a direct 12v supply. This was discovered by the shop staff phoning Coleman when several pumps tried in the shop failed to operate via 12v transformer. I went out and plugged it into the car cigar socket and it worked perfectly. Now looking for another pump to use with my Euro Transformer on EHU if the car cannot be placed adjacent to the tent so I will search forums to find recommendations.
Just the aborted booking to sort out now.
Most mains transformers only deliver about 5amps at 12v which is ok for coolboxes but not for 12v electric pumps which need to be plugged into car cigar lighter socket which have higher current output, usually 15amp. You can get extention socket leads for car sockets. I doubt you will find a pump that uses only 5amps.
Poppy - The usual suspects are already committed with their tents but it was a good suggestion. Although I paid the £10 cancellation fee for the site which is a holiday park, the cover doesn't cater for this fiasco. I phoned them and they transferred all that I paid (including the cancellation fee) towards a "Gold" 6 berth static so we are still getting away for a break.
Henk - Many thanks for the info about the extension socket leads, that's saved me a trawl across the forums.
Re the Pump, check the current, my Ring compressor Pump sucks 144watt which is around 12amp and more like 15amp on startup, I have a Linear 10-14amp mains PSU which just about powers it, but it can struggle under load, it also works better of the car sockets.
Many cars only have 10amp supply to the sockets, although these days newer cars will be mostly 20amp, as many cars now don't carry a Spare Wheel, but have a Pump Compressor and a Tube of Gunk, which is suppose to sort out your flat tyre but rarely does.
Why not stick with the Pump you have, it is obviously a powerful one.
You can get hold of a decent linear transformer that will do 15amp, probably around £30, even a Switch Moder PSU would do, but they tend not to be as reliable as Linear.
If the Pump is going to be to much for the car sockets, although from what you have said that worked, you could always power the Pump directly of the car battery, or even invest in a Leiusure battery.
Thank you Francais - making me think!
My car is a year old and equipped with 3 x 12v 20Amp sockets. But, do you think this thing would be any good - it has the 12v sockets and is portable?
http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/garage-equipment/jump-leads/phaze-4-in-1-jump-starter
Phaze 4-in-1 Jump Starter Extra Info
• Suitable for vehicles with petrol or diesel engines up to 2000cc
• 2 x 12V DC power supply sockets
• USB power supply that’s suitable for MP3 players, phone chargers, games consoles etc.
• LED work lamp for clear visibility
• Easy to read charging/battery status
• Fully insulated battery clips with 600mm leads
• 17ah internal battery
• Manufactured to European Electrical Safety Standards
• Input: 230V AC (Charging Adapter)
• 350 Amp (intermittent recommended max)
Quote: Originally posted by HuiYuan on 08/10/2015
Thank you Francais - making me think!
My car is a year old and equipped with 3 x 12v 20Amp sockets. But, do you think this thing would be any good - it has the 12v sockets and is portable?
http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/garage-equipment/jump-leads/phaze-4-in-1-jump-starter
Phaze 4-in-1 Jump Starter Extra Info
• Suitable for vehicles with petrol or diesel engines up to 2000cc
• 2 x 12V DC power supply sockets
• USB power supply that’s suitable for MP3 players, phone chargers, games consoles etc.
• LED work lamp for clear visibility
• Easy to read charging/battery status
• Fully insulated battery clips with 600mm leads
• 17ah internal battery
• Manufactured to European Electrical Safety Standards
• Input: 230V AC (Charging Adapter)
• 350 Amp (intermittent recommended max)
Whether this would be any good depends on how much current your pump draws,and how long it would take to pump up your tent. In simple terms if your pump draws 17amps it would run theoretically for an hour, in practice probably slightly less.
I expressed myself very poorly with my last post - apologies. I will try to clarify what I should have asked:
The objective is to be able to use an electrically powered pump when the car cannot be located in proximity to the tent i.e. 12v car sockets are out of reach completely but assume that EHU facilities are present. The query I should have made clearer is that if there is EHU on site, would plugging in the jump starter to the EHU and then connecting the 12v pump to the 12v output of the jump starter while it remains connected to the EHU remove the issue of the unit's battery life mentioned above? Or, in other words, could it be used in practice like a large version of the Campingaz Euro Convertor? In any event, it looks like a handy bit of kit to have in the garage or back of the car anyway.
I think you will find The jump starter is basically a car battery with a charger in a box. If the battery is fully charged then it should run your pump more than long enough to inflate your tent, it does not need to be plugged into ehu at same time. The unit can be recharged at any time by plugging into ehu.
Thanks very much for the responses - very helpful.
As the tent should inflate in a relatively few minutes, the jump starter should be more than enough. However, a test when the tent eventually arrives should confirm/deny the theory.
The last part of the main saga was completed yesterday. The awning for the Hornet L, which has never come out of the bag, will not fit the Hornet 6SA according to Outwell. The customer service from both Camping World and Outwell has exceeded all my expectations and they now have me as an extremely satisfied and future repeat customer. Outwell are replacing the awning too, FOC. Both companies get 5 stars plus from me as their response has been a real consolation after last weekend's unfortunate and frustrating events. The helpful replies on this forum are "icing on the cake" and I am now an avid reader.
The retailer must have tested the tent then and agreed the tubes are faulty? Glad to hear you're getting it sorted without too much stress but, it raises questions about the quality control at Outwell. These aren't cheap tents!
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Topic: Gutted (and this is my first post)
