Which Extras Should You Fit??
Upgrades and Extra Equipment chosen by Full-Timers Russell & Shaneem
We decided to buy a Dethleffs Esprit 6844 with the Renault based 2.5 120bhp Engine because of its excellent build quality and the great Renault based front which we rate very highly having had the new Fiat X250 for a short while and found it to be lacking in design and forethought-[namely the many recalls and engine water ingress and the clutch judder, the latter being down to bad gearbox design.]
Our van came from Germany on a left hand Drive chassis with cruise control and Air con as standard and having already done 20,000 miles on a 2005 registration was in very good condition with a lot of upgrades already fitted. The base vehicle had the winter pack fitted being heated waste tank and traps and upgraded wall/roof/floor insulation , also it had extra ducting fitted in all the floor cupboards and cassette toilet area which is essential for long periods at sub zero temperatures.
It also had a roof mounted Camos dome which is excellent when windy [having previously used the roof mounted manual max view system ] to this we have a cupboard mounted 240v sky box and remote eye system so the box is hidden from view . This is powered by the 2000w mobitronic inverter under the side bench seating and has a dedicated separate switch and socket outlet and can be used either by the battery or mains when connected, this in turn is run from a 110amp AGM battery charged by a 150 watt Alden solar panel on the roof.
We have added a 11kg propane "Gas low" rechargeable system with dedicated refilling kit and also have a truma auto change over kit to use the barbeque gas bottle if required as emergency back up [in the uk we use calor gas and abroad a country specific bottle and adaptor] to this we have a quick release/connect barbeque connector to use the "cadac safari chef". We find after 10 refills the refill system saves you £15 a refill compared to uk calor gas and is very convenient abroad . For 12v supply we have a 250amp Agm battery under the bed linked to the vehicle charging system , this provides in excess of 10 days supply before a recharge, using the tv for about 4 hours a day and the heating as required . we have down graded all the interior lights from 20w to 10w to save power without any loss of brightness- these Dethleffs never were short of lights any way as we needed 20 bulbs , above the exterior door we have recently fitted a 15 led light from "labcraft" something which was missing from the factory and is low wattage.
Also fitted is a multi pivoting Tv bracket allowing viewing from the rear bed and front seats purchased from the excellent ergomounts company much cheaper and better than either Comet or Currys and under the sky box is a 240v dvd player. We use a 240v sony flat screen tv as it provides excellent sound and picture at a fraction of the 12v system price and comes with a 3 year warranty from "john lewis stores". In the bathroom we added a "mini Heiki" in place of the pop up roof vent as used in caravans a real let down from Dethleffs, this gives more light/ventilation and has both blackout and fly screen fitted . The only modification was a need to chamfer the top edge on the sliding door a small price for this brilliant cheap bit of kit!!!
Here are the web sites for the various manufacturers for further info.... the total price for the extras is around £3000 and is about all you would ever need, at least till they find a replacement for oil!!!!
Camos- www.roadpro.co.uk
Mobitronic- www.motorcaravaning.co.uk
Tv Bracket- www.ergomounts.co.uk
Alden- www.motorcaravaning.co.uk
Gas low- www.gaslow.co.uk
Agm Battery- www.powbat.co.uk
Paramount Performance- www.paramount-performance.com
We chose the above products because they offer good value and are tried and trusted products need we say more.
When fitting an inverter it must be near to the supply battery and have adequate cable to carry the load and be fused, while a 2000w is over kill for a tv etc it can also be used to dry hair and power a microwave, these we do not do as they would flatten a 110amp battery in 40mins but as we have a large battery its okay for the odd use, for recharging laptops, cameras and mobile phones a small 300w would be fine make your own choices. Basically all the inverter does is change 12v into 240v if you wish to run a laptop direct rather than recharge you MUST have a "pure sinewave" system as the electric wave length is different on the cheaper sinewave models we have.
The Agm is a new type of battery developed for deep discharge and rapid recharge unlike std gel batteries which take longer to recharge when down to 20% while they are expensive we believe they are better than std lead acid as they don`t need venting and can be discharged to 20% many times without damage, unlike lead acid which only has 50% before damage occurs. Another thing to remember with batteries is their total amperage is reduced when the temp drops like a car battery on a cold morning so either mount inside the van or allow for voltage drop when cold.
We chose Gaslow over the other systems available as we have used them for the last 4 years with no problems and the new style bottles incorporates a much better level gauge while still allowing for the important 80% max fill and expansion room as required on Euro Tunnel. we have filled these bottles all over Europe using the adaptors, Spain and Italy being the worst but its still possible just attach a sticker saying Autogas so they think your vehicle runs on gas not diesel.
We prefer Solar panels and big batteries to a generator as its silent and free energy and not antisocial but thats our opinion!!
Finally we also had the Renault engine ecu remapped to provide extra bhp and torque by "Paramount Performance" which has basically brought the 2005 model up to date with the new 150bhp 2008 model . we have noticed no drop in fuel consumption and get 30mpg at 60mph running 3500kg to 3700kg and it flies up hills without needing to change gear. They also do the old style fiat which is just as good and after nearly 20,000mls in our old van we had no problems, it just got better with time.