apprentice

fokesy · Member

apprentice

Dhutime · Senior Member

Hi Fokesy
welcome to this site you will find many on here willing to help you on the way .
Our van has a switch with a red light inside the van for the hot water system ,if it's going the light goes off .
Make sure the gas bottle is full and turned on with the valve facing the bottle you are using .

Regarding the loo there are many theories and I'm sure we all do it different but we have found that the most economical product is nappysan or a cheaper brand as long as it has Sodium Percarbonate 270-340 g/kg and we use normal toilet paper .
Our toot gets used for ones and two's no problems and no smells .
By the way emtying is not as bad as you may think we all do it and someone has to empty it you'll get used to it
Enjoy the planing and get out there and enjoy
Dhutime

fokesy · Member

Thanks Dhutime, I'll put all that into practice. Cheers.

Phil C · Guru

Hi fokesy welcome and please enjoy this great forum.

When we first started caravan living we had the same questions and many more, Im glad I had some smarter folks showing me the way.

LOO: We use woolies boost, use the loo as normal and no pongs or bad gremlins. We empty every 2 days and wash the beast twice after each empty. Dont forget to push the button at the top of the cassette to let the air in otherwise emptying will take forever.

Hot water, if you have a normal system there should be a switch in the van with a red light under it. Make sure the power switch on the HWS (hot water system) is off and there is plenty of gas as above.

Any other questions please feel free to ask the forum, dont let anyone tell you to search and there is no such thing as a dumb question.

Enjoy the life

Brenda and Alan · Guru

Hi Fokesy,
Regarding emptying the loo, we found that it was a good idea to carry a short hose (say no longer than 5 ft with the bit that connects to the tap) to wash out the cassette and the dump point, in case there is no hose provided. It's not very nice to come across a dump point that has no hose supplied and the last person did not have or did not bother to hose down the dump point to get rid of the nasty bits around the side. The hose can be curled up and placed inside the compartment where the cassette lives, ready for the next use. Brenda

aussietraveller · Guru

G'day Fokesy we have learned that weather you a wide variety of chemicals ot the more environmentally acceptable type it's important to empty the cassette very regularly we try to do it every second day and then thoroughly wash out we also use a few drops of eucalyptus oil and when returned to home wash out very thoroughly and leave the slide on cover open to let it dry out.

Dougwe · Chief one feather

Welcome to the gang Fokesy, enjoy here and out in the playground.

Mmmm, toilets, well as already said, we all have one and most do things their way. I do things my way and all works extremely well. I could go into details but won't confuse you here as others have had their input but PM's are great for futher discussions.

Bummer of a topic though.

Dougwe · Chief one feather

Phil C wrote:
Hi fokesy welcome and please enjoy this great forum.

When we first started caravan living we had the same questions and many more, Im glad I had some smarter folks showing me the way.

LOO: We use woolies boost, use the loo as normal and no pongs or bad gremlins. We empty every 2 days and wash the beast twice after each empty. Dont forget to push the button at the top of the cassette to let the air in otherwise emptying will take forever.

Hot water, if you have a normal system there should be a switch in the van with a red light under it. Make sure the power switch on the HWS (hot water system) is off and there is plenty of gas as above.

Any other questions please feel free to ask the forum, dont let anyone tell you to search and there is no such thing as a dumb question.

Enjoy the life

Phil, do your woolies need a boost or does your rear end mate? Just asking :)

PeterD · Guru

fokesy wrote:
G'day all, I'm very new to this caravaning lark and i'm just after a few tips, (1) how do you start / get your hot water service to start on gas? No manual came with the caravan, oh it's a retreat fraser.

The thing we really require its brand and model is the hot water system. You can attempt to download manuals for any thing like that by Google searching. Insert a test string with something like "handbook for XXX YYY" or "manual for XXX YYY" where the "XXX YYY" is the make and model of your appliance. This certainly works for Dometic fridges.

Bruce and Bev · Guru

make sure as someone has already suggested that you have a short length of ordinary garden hose to wash out your toilet cassette at a dump point. Incredible as it sounds, some people pinch them and shires get sick of replacing them. Carry plenty of hose connectors (I use the Nylex brand - the orange and grey ones) and carry stacks of them in the tool kit. Also make sure you have plenty of plastic tap screws to connect your drinking water hose to a water supply tap. Even in caravan parks they usually don't have them (again because people pinch these $2 items !!) and remember there are two sizes. I carry about 8 of each size. Sometimes you will drive off leaving this little grey connector still screwed to the tap. I also carry a roll of plumbers tape as often the taps leak in caravan parks and some plumbers tape is needed.

Its always a great idea to go stay in a busy caravan park (referred to on this site as a CP usually) and spend time wandering round looking at the various things people have done to enhance their RV living or chat to someone and tell them youre new to vanning - they will usually wear your ear out giving you all the good oil lol

Oh, and Dougwe - really -

"Bummer of a topic though."

You need to do better than this one or you will become the "butt" of all other jokers who "cracked" up with this "cra***" one liner hahaha

Dougwe · Chief one feather

Sorry Big B, I was tired and hot, waiting for the boats here at Greens Lake, Central VIC to finish so I could go out in the water to cool off mate. I will be more careful next time.

Finally got to go in water at 10pm, nice to.

fokesy · Member

Thanks Phil C, I have a neighbour who has done the lap but he has been away for a while and could'nt pick his brains, but he came home yesterday and i've got the hot water sorted. thanks mate all help is very appreciated. Fokesy.

fokesy · Member

Thanks Brenda & Allen, that's a great idea, i've got some spare hose hangin around in the shed, thanks for the tip!! Fokesy.

fokesy · Member

Aussietraveller, thanks for the tip, my wife does have eucalyptus oil hangin around the house so we will heed your advice. Fokesy

Phil C · Guru

Dougwe wrote:
Phil C wrote:
Hi fokesy welcome and please enjoy this great forum.

When we first started caravan living we had the same questions and many more, Im glad I had some smarter folks showing me the way.

LOO: We use woolies boost, use the loo as normal and no pongs or bad gremlins. We empty every 2 days and wash the beast twice after each empty. Dont forget to push the button at the top of the cassette to let the air in otherwise emptying will take forever.

Hot water, if you have a normal system there should be a switch in the van with a red light under it. Make sure the power switch on the HWS (hot water system) is off and there is plenty of gas as above.

Any other questions please feel free to ask the forum, dont let anyone tell you to search and there is no such thing as a dumb question.

Enjoy the life

Phil, do your woolies need a boost or does your rear end mate? Just asking :)

Yep, the woolies get a wine boost all the time... hope you are well and on topic mate... lol