Hi everyone, new member here, great site and have found loads of useful advice already.
I am the proud owner of a Lunar Premiere GTS 516 L, 1996, bought from a trader as a trade in, needed a bit of work, mainly on the charging system and a little amount of damp which originated from a cracked vent near the door at the rear dining area which is my bedroom which stays up.
I am looking for a wiring diagram and preferably a manual or at least a copy, I intend to install some some fixed solar panels, an inverter and some extra batteries and do some serious off grid touring abroad, I have already fitted several 12v sockets and USB points to run my laptop and mobile off (I have 12v power supply for laptop) these are fitted through separate fuse boxes.
I am looking for around 300w in solar panels and hopefully will link up 3 leisure batteries to run inverter, main things off 240v will be microwave and maybe the electric heating element to save gas when I am completely off the beaten track.
You are very unlikely to have the payload for such a heavy system. Heating by solar electricity is a non starter as it consumes kilowatts, using gas is your most viable option.
Microwave use can be achieved but not whilst saving weight, something in short supply with most caravans.
Thanks for the speedy reply, yeah it was an optimistic wish, maybe ;-)', One of the reasons I went for this van, although it is 5.4m shipping length, it is only 830kg unladen with. 340kg allowable, so I have weight to spare.
Quote: Originally posted by Rob and Tina on 21/7/2016
I think you will find the shipping length is 6.4m not 5.4m.
Yes, you are correct, my typo.
Thanks for the replies everyone, I will probably upgrade my twin 6kg gas bottles to twin 13kg bottles, I have enough room in the front lock up for both and make a bracket to hold them, this should suffice if it get's chilly.
I will remove them an transport inside van when towing, everything in the van gets buckled down when towing over the wheel axle.
Might be worth considering refillable gas bottles that you can fill at a filling station with Autogas. A few years ago Autogas was the future, but it never caught on, probably because filling stations with a gas pump are hard to find, though it works out about half the price of calor gas, even with the road fuel duty on it.
I would certainly consider buying refillable bottles.
I have just bought a medium safefil bottle and as well as being lighter it will save you considerable money if you are off grid a lot.
Quote: Originally posted by Rob and Tina on 21/7/2016
I think you will find the shipping length is 6.4m not 5.4m.
Yes, you are correct, my typo.
Thanks for the replies everyone, I will probably upgrade my twin 6kg gas bottles to twin 13kg bottles, I have enough room in the front lock up for both and make a bracket to hold them, this should suffice if it get's chilly.
I will remove them an transport inside van when towing, everything in the van gets buckled down when towing over the wheel axle.
How long are you thinking of going away off-grid for? Two 6kg gas bottles would be enough for two months probably. A lot of caravans would take 6 months to get through that amount of gas. All depends on how much gas you will use, obviously, but I personally would try it out first, and see how much gas you will actually use before going to all that trouble or replacing them with 13kg bottles, and faffing about transporting them.
I've got a modified gas tank from a car in my gas locker. The modification is straightforward, you have to remove the pickup pipe from the tank and bend it up so that it takes the gas from the top of the tank rather than the liquid at the bottom. I also I ow someone who refills his own Calor bottles at the pump with an adapter from eBay. He has a chart that says how much can go in for the size of bottles. With an autogas tank, it automatically shuts off at 80% full so cannot be over filled.
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Topic: Off Grid Running
