Holden Man's new van - Lotus Freelander

Bushman

Bushman

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Nov 9, 2010
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Holden_man said:
Signed Contracts today, and selected colours. Amazing doing the colour selection. Not something I have experienced before, we were given samples for the Wall colour, Floor Vinyl, Bench tops, Leather, cupboard doors, splash-backs, roman blinds.You actually get a choice......brilliant :)
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Yep that's the fun part! you can have this, this this and that but you can also have this one or that one but there's also this to pick from and each one of those can be mixed and matched with these. Did my head in doing ours :crazy: Lucky the young lady helping us was very good at her job.
 
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W

Where to next

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Aug 25, 2015
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Congrats with the new purchase. Looks awesome. With 3 solar panels and 3 batteries you will never need to see a caravan park again.:cool-19: With that much power at you could on sell it to those camping around.
 
Burnsy

Burnsy

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Mar 26, 2012
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I was only admiring one on the long weekend where we stayed....great looking van mate congrats. Hope you will still talk to us! :)
 
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JohngQld

JohngQld

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Jun 17, 2015
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Hi @Holden_man,
Congrats on your new purchase, they certainly look the goods and by reports, they are even better. Looking at the specs, they use the Swift oven, I think similar to what may have been responsible for your parents incident. Have you talked to the dealer regarding this or have you got another plan. While I'm here I would like to say thanks for raising the awareness you did regarding LPG leaks and what can happen. Top Effort.
Regards
John
 
Billrw136

Billrw136

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Jun 20, 2011
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Hi @Holden_man I for one have also appreciated your posts re your parents and the gas issues. This has prompted me to purchase the appropriate detector. So glad your mother was not badly injured. Excited to hear about your new van - enjoy!
Looking forward to photos etc.
Regards
Bill
 
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achjimmy

achjimmy

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Jan 24, 2011
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Holden_man said:
Thanks John,
Yes still using the swift, they are fully supported underneath now, and apparently using flexible connecting hoses to reduce stress on the oven connections. Lotus install a gas detector as standard now. This was certainly a point of discussion before we signed up. The issue appears to be units manufactured between April 2012- August 2013.
They assured me the issue was resolved.
I guess the main thing I learnt was to have a greater awareness now with gas safety as a result of mum and dads incident. There were certainly learnings from how my parents handled the initial gas leak. Even my dad acknowledges he would do things differently, if he had his time over. Smell gas, isolate bottles, let the van clear/vent. Don't use gas again until inspected and tested.
We also specced a compressor fridge, one less gas device, if we do detect a leak we will still have a fridge, I can connect the bottle direct to the weber, so we have set this van up to be a little less dependant on gas.
The other thing I learnt was rough roads can cause stress in gas lines/appliances no matter the manufacturer, so it pays to use caution, and have a quality detector. We did think long and hard about whether we would give the lotus a miss because of the incident, they really looked after the parents once the got home, and I have always really liked them. I am comfortable I can manage any gas risks now armed with more knowledge.
Thanks for your kind comments about raising awareness @JohngQld, it's an abloute pleasure, don't want to see anyone enjoying our great passion of enjoying our great outdoors getting hurt in a similar way. Knowledge is the key I guess.
Thx
Jas
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Great post Jas and as you said lotus did the right thing and that deserves reward imo. Additionally sounds like they were proactive with a lpg detector as well? I am sure they have learned from your parents disaster as well and are using it to better there product , What more can you ask of a manufacturer? They will certainly be on my shopping list next time around. Good luck with it looks great and hope you stay around for chats too, other than origin month, you can xxxx of then. :angel-87:
 
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Middo

Middo

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Apr 25, 2014
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Holden_man said:
Hi folks,I have a question regarding battery charging for the new van. The Van comes with a Anderson plug, which I am told is wired directly to the batteries. I am assuming this is only really a trickle charge, and given voltage drop probably won't fully charge the batteries. My question is should I ask for a DC-DC charger
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I think they may fight each other Jason. You can always use a relay interlocking system to control it all
Middo
 
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JohngQld

JohngQld

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Hi Jas,
Many Solar Regulators out there need the battery connected as it forms a reference for the unit. If you disconnect the battery with the solar panels attached and producing, chances are, you may fry the regulator. Safest bet would be to open circuit the panels. The regulator will happily sit across the battery even if the battery is being charged from another source, check the absolute maximum ratings for your regulator. Better still have Lotus do the lot, that way it's under warranty to them.
John
 
McKenzie

McKenzie

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Jul 15, 2015
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Nice floor plan....like the bath room and bunks. Correction i like it all. Fans......good addition. Jayco don't seem to offer this which i think is strange.
 
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