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.