Another member moves to the dark side....

[Dobbie]

Our new van has finally arrived with a gestation period of over seven months. I know some of you fret with a wait time of a couple of months but try seven!,,,

Anyway...it a Golf Savannah Maxxi 501... In essence a Jayco Expanda 16-49-3...but with a few adaptions important to us.

• External kitchen with stove, sink and Waeco drawer fridge
• Weber BBq on slide out
• Separate shower
• Separate toilet
• Roof air

And me so on...I won't bore you with the list...I'd sound like a salesperson.

Overall impression is good..finish, standard options, flat bed bases, but we're still trying to get a good look at all the bits and pieces so some things I can't comment on as yet.

It's too hot here today to do much with it except put a thermometer inside and check to see if we'll need 12v fans in this sort of weather.

 

[bigcol]

Noice


very noice

 

[dagree]

Nice one @Dobbie ... Now for the trip reports and pics to commence

 

[WHHEMI]

This thread definatly needs more pics.

 

[Bellbirdweb]

Nice to finally see it @Dobbie, congratulations, looks nice

 

[Scrounger]

Nice one
The wife loved the 501 but I wanted duals 535 so we ended up with a 18.58.2 ob
I have kept an eye on the golf forums as I imagine you have the only comment I have noted is Check how they have wired your fridge some vans 12v was coming from your house batt's.
That OS kitchen n fridge just has an edge.

 

[Drover]

and about bluddy time too, could have got a better colour..........................now what about a decent tow vehicle ??????


..................................................

 

[davemc]

nice yes more pictures please.

You slept in it yet how do the beds compare to the Expanda?

 

[bigcol]

now what about a decent tow vehicle ??????

yeah, like a TD42 Patrol instead of the 3L

 

[Dobbie]

Nice one
The wife loved the 501 but I wanted duals 535 so we ended up with a 18.58.2 ob
I have kept an eye on the golf forums as I imagine you have the only comment I have noted is Check how they have wired your fridge some vans 12v was coming from your house batt's.
That OS kitchen n fridge just has an edge.

Yep. We were aware of the inconsistent fridge wiring possibility and pestered the dealer, the auto electrician and Thetford till we were happy with the setup.

Thetford is wired to the batteries and the panel uses 0.7 amps but will take charge from the car to override it and the usual solar charge.....all as per Thetford installation requirements. I think the Golf fridge installers have lifted their game as it now appears to be consistent.....they trained at Jayco, it seems.

I haven't tested the fridge yet ...checking other things first and the van isn't exactly level and won't be till we get the optitech bracket on and move it to the shed.

Just trying to fit in the fiddly testing / checking around other things in life!


and @davemc ...not slept in it yet!

and there will be more photos soon....just been busy.

 

[Bluey]

nice yes more pictures please.

You slept in it yet how do the beds compare to the Expanda?

What he said more info and more pics

 

[Dobbie]

please....pretty please?

I'm not as tech savvy ....or tech interested ....as you lot.....and don't want to be so I do things the old and slow way!

I use a real camera to take the photos....I use a real computer to download said photos from the sd card.....I have to convince myself to use the computer.....and I monitor and upload stuff to this forum on an iPad. It's not as easy as you lot seem to do it and I refuse to use my phone for any internet access....so it's the old and slow method or nothing!

but I will try....even in the 38 deg we have today.

Seriously....we've tested, checked all the stuff that's most important to us....the battery system is fine on the solar and the gauges only show a huge discrepancy in battery charge....the Camec gauge show 12.4 and the Projecta shows 13.5. I know which one I'd trust but will check with voltmeter ....carefully.

Other stuff ....no 240 v access at the moment....tv reception is fine so far...different antenna but ok, I think.

Waeco drawer fridge cooled down very quickly and copes well with today's heat.

And it looks like we'll have enough payload to be very comfortable and self sufficient....been over the weightbridge...twice.

That's enough for now before I attack a few more things later this afternoon.

 

[Bushman]

Look'n good, waiting for those extra pics
Drove past a Golf dealer the other day on our way home from the coast they look pretty good.

My fridge is wired to the house battery, pain in the butt, draws to much power, may have to look at second battery and increase the solar

 

[Drover]

Told you before, throw the I Pad Apple rubbish in the bin and your problems will be solved.........................................lets get some more pics, youvé been enticing us for over 4 months and all we get is one pick of it in the paddock, we all thought you would be at some nice beach by now, didn't you line up holidays for this momentous occasion ???????? All this time organising things and when it came to the crunch you blew it...!!!!!!!!!

Or are you waiting for the Colorado to turn up at the dealers ??? So you can tow it in style.........:biggrin-26:

 

[davemc]

You know most iPads have a camera

glad your happy with it.

 

[BigSkiddy]

That pic looks like an oil painting, you still painting another angle @Dobbie?

Interesting awning setup on it...looks like an extra wide awning.

 

[Dobbie]

That pic looks like an oil painting, you still painting another angle @Dobbie?

Interesting awning setup on it...looks like an extra wide awning.

Interesting only in that it was bright sunshine, 37 deg, and we'd just opened it out for the first time and had it at an extreme sun prevention angle...it won't be like that all the time! And it will be level as soon as we can move it to its shed home.

Oil painting? Used lots of creosote and dump oil on the old sleepers we've used....but there's not an artistic bone in my body.

 

[Dobbie]

Another photo....I did say I was slow....and have problems resizing photos but will see if this works.

It didn't...back to the iPad camera...later.

Look'n good, waiting for those extra pics
Drove past a Golf dealer the other day on our way home from the coast they look pretty good.

My fridge is wired to the house battery, pain in the butt, draws to much power, may have to look at second battery and increase the solar

Yep.. Totally agree about that ...and, as said before, it took a lot of convincing for us to get the constant 12v from the battery. Our issue was also the extra fridge which is standard on these vans...the Waeco drawer fridge. We thought it was unnecessary and totally over the top as the onboard fridge is the Thetford 185....more than enough for two people, even though both tend to get used lots when away from home.

and we're very surprised by the convenience of the Waeco.

If interested....we've pinned some of the details for 12v use if anyone wants the info...the Thetford 185 draws 4.3 /24 hours so the panel itself uses 15amps a day, in normal conditions.
The second Waeco drawer fridge draws 24 amps but it's only 12v and daily power required ...off grid...probably cooling for 10 hours a day.

So, before we even started, we were looking at 39 amps for both fridges...the Waeco can always be turned off if we want to be careful.

Hence, we did our calculations, hummed and Haaed, and ordered two 120amp AGMs....

For interest sake, the van has been off 240 since Monday, we're deliberately running chargers, pump, everything except the Thetford fridge and our 120 roof solar with the portable 120 solar ...with the two 120 AGMs ...is holding over 13 volts easily.

The AGMs seem to be performing as well as we hoped. Ideal charging conditions though.

 

[Drover]

Hey Dobs, get a programme called Irfanview, www.irfanview.com/ it's a freeby and will resize, crop and all the basic photo stuff, simply and with minimal hassle, have been using it for probably 20 yrs with the usually updates and found it quite efficient.

 

[Dobbie]

Thanks. Have minima but that's on the ipaf and the photos are now on the pc!

I've really got to do things more efficiently.....and it's interfering with my play time.

Guess which one won?