The Camping Thread

[kinksta]

Originally Posted by sgt_doofey

For all of our talk earlier on in the year about Halls Gap, I saw on Facebook that the Lakeside Tourist Park have now renovated the bottom amenities block.
That was probably the only shoddy looking thing at the park when we were there in April.

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Are you serious! I literally just booked that park haha!

[prydey]

Originally Posted by kinksta

Are you serious! I literally just booked that park haha!

ahh, good. look forward to your feedback. We were booked in there for xmas of 2016 I think but then my daughter got sick so had to cancel.

as above, would like to revisit halls gap.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by sgt_doofey

For all of our talk earlier on in the year about Halls Gap, I saw on Facebook that the Lakeside Tourist Park have now renovated the bottom amenities block.
That was probably the only shoddy looking thing at the park when we were there in April.

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I really want to go back to the Grampians as we really enjoyed it when we were there a couple of years ago. We camped in the national park back then, but the long drop toilets left a bit of a lasting impression. Not really that keen on camping in caravan parks, but there isn't really many other options if you want a flushing toilet.

Lakeside is certainly very well reviewed, and very popular. Thinking of going over after easter next year... I believe you've stayed at the one near the swimming pool as well?? Do you think Lakeside is worth the premium over other caravan parks?

[stefcio007]

Maybe not so much camping but 7 years ago we did the drive up to Coober Pedy from Melbourne in the Territory.

[kinksta]

Oh yea it was you sorry! Does the car battery last??

[sgt_doofey]

Originally Posted by kinksta

Oh yea it was you sorry! Does the car battery last??

It's not a car battery, just a small deep cell one. Most of the power packs you buy have 100Ah batteries. The one I have is only 7Ah.
It never went flat when we were in Halls Gap but we were only running LED strip lighting off it. That's all I need it for so only got a small battery.

Have used the same setup in my garden shed at home as well to light that up. Never had the battery go flat and the solar panel charges it OK.

I could connect a larger battery if I wanted to as it just has alligator clips on it if I were to run something a bit more substantial.

The box itself is very simple. It only has the on/off switch, a volt meter, a USB plug and a car cigarette lighter plug. There is also an simple push button which operates the volt meter to see how much charge is left in the battery.

All up, the box cost me a little over $50. Half of that cost was the actual box itself. That was $25 from Jaycar. Everything else was cheap from ebay. The plugs and volt meter was $15 though.
Solar panel and battery were about $20 each, so all up was about $90 in total.

If you wanted to run a fridge off it, you'd have to buy a bigger capacity battery and solar panel.

[kinksta]

No no no. Wrong lakeside haha. We are headed to Lakeside Camping Ground on the Murray haha.

[prydey]

just checked booking for halls gap lakeside for week after easter next year and powered and unpowered sites already sold out.

[sgt_doofey]

Originally Posted by prydey

just checked booking for halls gap lakeside for week after easter next year and powered and unpowered sites already sold out.

They were sold out in April when we were there as I asked about it then. It's easter week and vic school holidays too.

It's definitely worth the extra over the Halls Gap Caravan Park. Much nicer amenities and the heated pool to boot. Fires can also be had in your campsite there whereas the caravan park has designated spots that generally aren't on your site.

We'll definitely go back there over the Caravan Park. I don't think it's that much more expensive and I reckon it was actually cheaper than the Big4 park too. We were there for I think 7 nights and for the 4 of us, it was $270. Youngest child is 3 so he was free though.

[kinksta]

Lakeside Camping Ground. Just getting away for the night. Ribs for dinner!

[prydey]

I like how simple your setup is.

Any facilities there?

[kinksta]

Originally Posted by prydey

I like how simple your setup is.

Any facilities there?

Yea one night means fresh jocks, socks and dinner is all we need haha

Yea there are toilets and showers about 300m away if needed otherwise just a drop dunny 50m away. We are the only ones here tonight but they were packed over the long weekend.

[kinksta]

Prydey the facilities are 1000% nothing to write home about.. more if you had to clean the smell of Murray mud off of you or if you ate a bad curry etc.

Pretty poor tbh, but the spot outweighs it.

[Trevor 57]

Camping this weekend at a place where there is a car race on, Bathurst I think the camp spot is called

[sgt_doofey]

Just a question on solar for camping, anyone taken a solar panel from a house and used that to power their site?
My brother will be demolishing his house and I could probably get a panel from his house to use.
Any ideas on what to do to use it?

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by sgt_doofey

Just a question on solar for camping, anyone taken a solar panel from a house and used that to power their site?
My brother will be demolishing his house and I could probably get a panel from his house to use.
Any ideas on what to do to use it?

Check the specs on the back to see what max voltage and amps it puts out. You'll need a solar controller (Jaycar electrics) of the same voltage and more than enough input to handle the panels amp output, wired (with appropriate size cables) from the Pos and Neg terminals to the controller.
From there wire the controller to a deep cycle battery(s) for storage.
I use Century "truck and farm" They are technically NOT deep cycle but are built with heavier, wider plates than standard similar to deep cycle marine.

[stefcio007]

Originally Posted by sgt_doofey

Just a question on solar for camping, anyone taken a solar panel from a house and used that to power their site?
My brother will be demolishing his house and I could probably get a panel from his house to use.
Any ideas on what to do to use it?

The solar panels on houses are 48V each so you'll need to find a charge controller capable of handling voltages that high.

[Stazza_Brendan]

Picked up a soft floor camper trailer. Aussie made, built in 2006 but since it was my partners parents we knew it had been well looked after and had been in the shed since they upgraded to a huge caravan.

Before we bought it we took it for a test run up to Eungella Dam.


We were happy with it so bought it. It was in serious need of modernization though. Flouro lights and specific fittings instead of more universal anderson plugs.

Interior flouro replaced with LED strips on dimmer switch.

to


Kitchen flouro to rotatable LED

to


Changed the front storage compartment to LED.




Changed the power socket in the front compartment from Engel to Anderson.


Changed the rear Engel plug to an anderson plug.

Theres already 4x 12v cig sockets, volt meter, 500w inverter mounted there.



Then became time to update the electrics in the battery box. This old transformer style 240 - 12v charger had to go to make room. Kickass charger was much smaller and more advanced.


I then made a plate in the battery compartment to fit isolator, 240/12v charger, Intervolt DC/DC charger to charge from the car, fuse blocks and 2x 100AH deep cycle batteries.


The display of the charger still able to be read from the window from the previous charger.




Then put a 3x USB dock in the bed area. Good for charging phones, tablets etc when in bed. Glamping i know.


Changed the standard lights to LED.




3x 50L HD plastic boxes fit perfect side by side in the back with enough room for camping chairs to fit behind them. I also put an LED strip under the lift up section so you can see in there at night.


Camper is pretty well equipped. Fully galvanised frame with alloy body and a high quality tent. It has electric brakes, pull out table, Gas cooker, extra gas bottle, 80L water tank, 2 x taps, can be charged from car/powered site/solar, large storage compartment on the front, Boat loader and Treg hitch with rock tamers.





Have used it a few times since finishing the mods. With a little one on the way it will be used much more in the future as cheap family get aways. Ive got my Triton set up to tow it with dual batteries and anderson plug run to the rear to trickle charge the trailer batteries while driving. Next will be to set up the Missus Prado with a second battery and anderson plug in the rear for longer trips. 155kg ball weight ready to go with rear water tank full and extra 20l of water on the passenger side.

[sgt_doofey]

Just ordered one of the Adventure Kings 60L Fridges for myself for Christmas/birthday present to myself.
Anyone got one and what do they think of it?

Friends that we camped with in Halls Gap this year had one and were quite happy with it.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by sgt_doofey

Just ordered one of the Adventure Kings 60L Fridges for myself for Christmas/birthday present to myself.
Anyone got one and what do they think of it?

Friends that we camped with in Halls Gap this year had one and were quite happy with it.

Sounds good.

I've got the Companion 60l which i've had for a little over 12 months now, my original one was stolen and replaced under insurance.
I use it solely as a fridge and hasn't missed a beat and its done a few trips.
I've also got a Waeco 18l which i use as a freezer, same story.

From what i've been told, many of the lesser known branded fridges run superceeded Engel or Waeco hardware, so if thats whats in yours it would be fair to say its tried and proven albeit older technology.

It would be something like the older CF series from Waeco.

[prydey]

Maybe it's my own ego or pride, but I refuse to shop on 4x4supacentre...

Nothing against those that do though.

[sgt_doofey]

Originally Posted by prydey

Maybe it's my own ego or pride, but I refuse to shop on 4x4supacentre...

Nothing against those that do though.

Curious as to why Rob?

This is my second purchase from them now, first one being a 6x3 gazebo. The gazebo was a lot cheaper than other brands with better features. Have only used it once so far so can't really comment on the longevity of it but it seems to be of good quality.

Have seen the AK fridge in the flesh and the person who owned it was really happy with it.

If they were of crap quality then I'd steer away from them but the seem to be reasonable. You do see a lot of their stuff around the place these days.

[sgt_doofey]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

It would be something like the older CF series from Waeco.

Just googled the Waeco CF60 and it bares an uncanny resemblance to the AK one, handles, lid to the internal layout and everything so you might be right on that one!

[stefcio007]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Sounds good.

I've got the Companion 60l which i've had for a little over 12 months now, my original one was stolen and replaced under insurance.
I use it solely as a fridge and hasn't missed a beat and its done a few trips.
I've also got a Waeco 18l which i use as a freezer, same story.

From what i've been told, many of the lesser known branded fridges run superceeded Engel or Waeco hardware, so if thats whats in yours it would be fair to say its tried and proven albeit older technology.

It would be something like the older CF series from Waeco.

I was just looking at the Companion fridges. How's yours doing?

The current price difference between the 45L and 60L is $100, but I'm guessing the smaller one would cool faster? Is it a good first fridge? Looking to get one when going away and have a powered site.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by stefcio007

I was just looking at the Companion fridges. How's yours doing?

The current price difference between the 45L and 60L is $100, but I'm guessing the smaller one would cool faster? Is it a good first fridge? Looking to get one when going away and have a powered site.

Does the job perfectly to be honest, my original did a few trips without fault and the replacement has been faultless too.
I run it on 240v @2*C overnight at home before i head off and it stays within 2* continuously.

It might not be as pretty as the Waeco's or Engel's, but it does the job at a fracton of the price for the capacity you get.
Mine came with the insulated cover and remote gauge which plugs into your cigarette lighter and allows you to monitor and adjust the unit from the drivers seat.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Sounds good.

From what i've been told, many of the lesser known branded fridges run superceeded Engel or Waeco hardware, so if thats whats in yours it would be fair to say its tried and proven albeit older technology.

It would be something like the older CF series from Waeco.

Maybe not so bad for part time camping but.....a word of warning about cheap (and even expensive) frigs is look for a CE approval stamp on them near the specs plate. I was stupid enough to buy not one but two upright Engel frigs (back when I was a motorhome greenhorn) which do NOT have that approval.
CE is an approval guaranty that said item will not cause electrical interference with other devices.

So what you may say, well I later found these and ones that are not CE approved can interfere with other 12V (and even some 240v appliances) some when you want to use radio, laptop or TV for example, when the frig kicks in you have a buzzing background sound and display which is near impossible to stop and can damage sensitive electronic components. Not to mention drive you nuts.
The second Engel I had was on board a yacht and caused no end of trouble using a depth sounder and marine radio. I even had complaints from boats either side on a marina where we lived and had to make significant modifications to the electrical sheathing on the back of the frig using faraday wire loops along its length.
I later found Engel and some other frigs were banned for marine use in Europe as the interference was dangerous to navigation and coms equipment
To this day a lot of Engel stuff does not have the CE mark, unlike Waeco (being EU made) or even Dometic.

On the good quality VS cheapo camping frigs it will depend on power usage... ie cheapo might use upto 7amp per hour (cycling 15hrs out of 24) where as a quality one might use 3amps ph (cycling say for 2 minutes every 20 mins) which is a big deal to your battery storage capabilities.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by roKWiz

On the good quality VS cheapo camping frigs it will depend on power usage... ie cheapo might use upto 7amp per hour (cycling 15hrs out of 24) where as a quality one might use 3amps ph (cycling say for 2 minutes every 20 mins) which is a big deal to your battery storage capabilities.

When on site i run the fridge from my Arkpak which contains a 130ah AGM battery.
Even when daytime temps nudge low 30's and barley drop below 20 at night it will use little more than 20% overnight from fully charged until the sun is high enough the following day for the 180w solar to return surplus charge with the compressor active.
This also includes running other accessories such as phone or tablet chargers and my 12v LED strip lighting setup.

So long as you have enough battery capacity to get you through the non productive hours whilst maintaining at least 50% in reserve, the key to maintaining ongoing performance is having enough solar generation to get whatever you're using back to peak in the shortest possible time the following day.
Even when running my 60l companion as a fridge on 2* and my Waeco 18l as a freezer i've not seen my setup drop below 65% and is always at 100% by lunchtime the following day unless its overcast or im in and out and not capturing max available due to shadow or direction.

[BENT_8]

Currently in Barmera camping around the north shore of Lake Bonney, arrived Thursday evening and was supposed to be here all week but with forecast temps reaching early 40s from boxing day we're heading home earlier.

[stefcio007]

I ended up picking up the 40L Companion Fridge/Freezer from Bunnings. Weirdly they don’t stock the Bluetooth version (not a deal breaker). The only downside so far is it doesn’t fit in the boot but does fit in the back so I lose 1 seat. Managed to get down to 4°C after initial temp very quickly (nothing inside though).

We’ll see how it performs out in the field.

[sgt_doofey]

Thought that I'd give a bit of feedback with my Adventure Kings 60L Fridge/Freezer...

Have used it a few times now, once as a freezer when moving house and a few times as a fridge.
I've been quite impressed with it. It has worked well without any problems so far.
The time I used it as a freezer, set the temperature on -16 and it kept things at that temperature. Have also used it as a drinks fridge whilst away on a little holiday. Kept drinks cold (not ice cold) and it was quite good. Have mainly run it off of the 240V adapter most of the time with a few trips in the car. The time I did leave it in the car on 30+ degree day for an hour or so, it only got up to 6 degrees from 3 or 4 when turned off, so it keeps it's cool pretty good.

As it's a 60L fridge, you can fit a fair bit in there too, so quite happy with that. For the $600 price tag (which included a thermal cover), it'll work quite well for what we'll use it for.

As an aside, I reckon the temperature these fridges report is the temperature of the fridge walls and not the air temperature. Opening the lid for an extended period of times doesn't see the temperature change, so it's not reading the air temperature IMO.

Will have to experiment a bit more to get things like drinks and beers nice and cold (ice cold) from the fridge. Have basically had it set a 4 degrees but that doesn't chill the drinks just quite enough.


I've also gone and put a new tent on layby. It's my birthday next month so have asked the family to get me some BCF vouchers to pay for it.
Link to BCF page...

Looking forward to this one. Nice big one with two rooms, one for the wife and I and one for the kids.