Australian CamperTrailers
national meet at Wellington
2012
monday
12volt,
batteries & solar panel workshop
Jamie Hazelden & Shane Adams of Jamie's
Touring Solutions are both camper trailer owners &
keen members of the Australian CamperTrailers Group. Shane
Adams presented
three workshops again this year,
the first on 12volt power, solar panels & batteries. This is a
topic which is discussed within the group & very often
misunderstood. To get hands on, face to face information from a
professional is a great asset to the group members.
Shane explained the
different types of batteries, their uses in off road vehicles &
camper trailers which can be very different to normal everyday
car batteries. The usual camping application is a high draw over
a number of days using a 12volt fridge, camp lights & perhaps a Cpap
& running or recharging accessories via an inverter.
Recharging 12volt
batteries can often be a problem when camping away from 240volt
power. Solar panels are becoming more common these days as a
means of recharging 12volt batteries in the bush. Shane showed
the different types of panels available, setting up a panel to
the optimum size for your requirements & how to include a
solar regulator into the system between the panel & battery. It was
pleasing to see most had a good grasp on the subject at the end
of the workshop.
craft & chat
Carol held a craft &
chat morning so the ladies around camp could meet each other over some
knitting, crocheting or just a cup of tea.
best
water filters
Colin Hopgood from Australian made BEST
Water Filters was invited to host a talk on his water filter system especially
designed for the RV market. First up he demonstrated the bacteria levels present
in tap water which would then go into your camper trailers water tank. The
filter is simply connected to the filler hose & removes chlorine & bacteria before it
goes into your tank.
Unlike other filters that need to be
replaced regularly because of bacterial contamination, BEST uses the SilverSafe
technology to keep the filter bacteria free, so there are no replacement filters
to buy. To flush you simply reverse the filter.
B.E.S.T. Water Filters are quickly
becoming the preferred method for people travelling in caravans, motorhomes &
camper trailers as well as becoming recognised by quality RV manufactures as the
water filter they install a standard equipment.
coloured sand in jars workshop for the kids
Nathan & Rachel Earsman held a
workshop for the kids where they added coloured sand to jars making patterns.
cobb
workshop
Jill Skinner showed how the popular Cobb Cooker can be used in camp as an
alternative for cooking a range of food traditionally cooked in the camp oven.
With the use of heat beads as a heat source the Cobb can be used as an oven, a
barbecue, a smoker or a stove.
Jill was cooking the evening dinner & went through the steps of what was
needed, lighting the heat beads, placing the chicken in the Cobb & placing the
lid on top.
lighting on the market
Shane Adams presented a LED lighting workshop
showing the different types of lighting available,
the beam they threw & also the intensity of light produced. In recent times there has been huge advancements in
LED lighting technology which is even better for us
camper trailer owners as the price has also fallen. Shane showed what was
now available from LED flexible strips with self
adhesive backs to those on adjustable velcro backing
which can be placed anywhere. Of interest was the
green LED strip light used when insects were a
problem at night. The benefit of
LED lighting is they draw little power from the
battery.
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