I wonder if anyone can help me regarding these small vans, pros & otherwise.
I am myself & have no need of a larger van, it also suits my small vehicle due ro weight
Am on the brink of buying one , butnever had a caravan in my life.
I am having a mover fitted, due to location, wonder if a generator would do instead of leisure battery as i can also use at one at home, so would be dual purpose.
Obviously the jenny would not be used on a site!!
Excuse my ignorance of this, bur as i have already said , hardly a clue, except i can tow ,
Nice little lightweight caravans, don't usually leak as made of GRP.
A mover runs off a leisure battery, it won't run off a genny, although you could use the genny to charge the battery. Although there are electric alternatives!
You will have an EHU hook up lead (check that one is included in the sale), so if this will reach to your house, all you need is one of these below and a charger to charge up your leisure battery. (you may have an inbuilt charger, or you could buy a smart charger). If the lead won''t reach a plug socket in your house, you can always buy another and join them together.
This is the method I use for charging my leisure battery. Whilst away, I use EHU (Electric Hook Up) and it hardly touches the battery, which is still charged enough when I get home to move the caravan with the caravan mover as, like the one you're buying, is very lightweight. However, in the event that it wasn't, I have a spare charged up leisure battery at home that I can swap over if necessary to get the caravan back onto the drive using the mover.
If you have never had a caravan in your life, a good investment is to buy The Caravan Handbook, the caravan manual, or , as it explains how a caravan works.this one
Many thanks for your help, much appreciated indeed.
A lot of info & i will buy the book
Lucky enough i already have a car battery charger which i presume will do the same job? .
Genny idea now binned!!.
I would presume a night without charging the would not run a leisure battery down in any case?, as in a glen for the night, as hopefully it will continually charge if engine is run for an hour, or less.
All it would power would be LED lights & a fridge, basically
Once again many thansk for taking the time to reply, much appreciated
12v fridges will only run for about 3 hours on a leisure battery (or a car battery) before it's discharged completely - and not very well either. Car battery is not the same thing (although it would probably do for a spare), you would be better off getting a proper leisure battery, especially if you're going to need it when you get home to site your van using the motormover.
If you go down this route, get one the same size (height width and depth as the locker it is going into.
All you run on a 12v leisure battery system is the 12v lights and the water pump if you have one. A way to cut down on power is to not use the pump, but use water bottles/carriers instead, or fill these from the 12v pump + kettle all at the same time, so that you don't have to use it too often. And have a battery lights or torches rather than use the 12v lights. Or you can swap the bulbs for LEDs which use a fraction of the power.
Fridge - if just for one or two nights, get some freezer blocks or freeze some bottles of water and just use it as a freezer box - it will be fine without running. The 12v bit in a fridge is only for use when towing - and will only keep it at the temp it starts at, so you would still need to cool it down with freezer blocks/water bottles/EHU before you start off anyway.. When on site you need to use either gas or EHU. I use gas for the fridge when off grid - it doesn't use a lot if already cooled down as above.
Not sure if you can charge the battery by connecting and running the car engine, that really is only for when you are on the road and going somewhere. From what I've read, the loss of charge between car relay and battery is quite substantial, so you would need to be on the road for a good few hours to get a decent charge into the battery, the 12v charger/relay to a car is not much more than a top-up thing really.
I went off grid for a week with just a 75 amp leisure battery, which needed charging when I got home, but wasn't flat. I used the fridge on gas. Your fridge will almost certainly be a three way, so you will be able to use gas for the fridge, and the gas cooker for cooking, kettle and hot water.
If the one you're looking at is one of these then it comes with all the gubbins necessary, but it doesn't say if it has a leisure battery - you can always get one retrofitted. Post last edited on 31/05/2013 18:03:16
240v Mains Electrics & Transformer Charger, but no mention of a leisure battery, which could mean there is no leisure battery at all. Not sure - so need some more input from someone in the know here please!
Lights and pump won't work unless there is a leisure battery which is wired up to the electrics.
If it's what I think, it means you can only use the van on EHU, and the transformer 'transforms' the power from EHu to the 12v items. So do ask before you buy, particularly if you are wanting not to be on EHU all the time.
Personally I would call Freedom Caravans at stafford to clarify the situation regarding this model and whether it does or doesn't have a leisure battery wired into the system.
If a motormover is being fitted then it won't be fitted without a leisure battery & charger being fitted as well. European built caravans often have just a transformer fitted with leisure battery & charger as an option for around £400. Not quite sure what op means about generator, at home the caravan can be plugged into the mains. I think it is unwise to plug caravan ehu into a generator anyway due to possible power spike unless good quality genny like Honda.
Lovely little van - I had a look at one at a few weeks ago, but just be aware that the payload is very small - just 100kg.
There is no leisure battery included so you would need to budget for one and also this will come out of your payload: a leisure battery - 20kg a motor mover - 30kg Aqua roll and handle - 3.5kg waste water container - 1.5kg bedding/sleeping bag - 5kg LPG 7kg gas cylinder - 15kg caravan step - 4kg mains hook up lead - 5kg winding handle - 1.5kg
Obvioulsy all these weights are just approximate values but added up they already come to over 85kg and that is before you pack things like pots and pans, clothes, folding chair and table for using outside and possibly an awning which could weigh over 25kg and would then put you over your MTPLM. I realise that some of the things metioned could go in your tow car but this will also have a maximum weight!
For such a small and lightweight van I would not bother with a motor mover which will instantly save you over 30kg for things you will actually need!
Totally agree with Jax re the Caravan Handbook - it was my bible when I first got my caravan and I still refer to it.
Hi please read the other post on weights, Freedom caravans are great but be aware that some fittings are classed as accessories and therefore not included in the minimum weight of 650kg. I have a motor mover fitted as I am disabled, with the mover, gas bottle, spare tyre and battery the twin sport we have weighs in at 747kg, 3kg less than the maximum weight allowed.
If your car will tow the extra weight when buying a Freedom get the chassis weight plate changed to 850kg. I guess the low chassis weight is a selling point so small cars can tow the van, the chassis will take up 1000kg so 850kg keeps it safe it has made our Freedom easier to stay legal
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Topic: Freedom Jetstream Classic 2 Berth 2013
