Alan and Robyn Tesch - Page 2 - AROUND-OZ MOTORHOMES

The battery isolators shown above again shows the ever present attention to detail. So many commercial rigs just don't have these rudimentary low cost items fitted. In the event of electrical fire, you just have no chance of controlling it until the batteries fully discharge. Oddly there are no design rules on this subject at all. We have owned three Winnebagos for instance, the undisputed market leaders volume wise, and NONE has had an isolator fitted or even a fusible link. We find this really odd as a switch can be had for $30.00.

The use of "electrical posts" considerably reduces wiring runs and makes usage monitoring just so much easier and more accurate as it makes fitting shunts a breeze. Lots of info on the technique is detailed in the electrical books by Collyn Rivers. Most coaches run on 24 volts, so these gadgets are an essential bit of kit. The photo,below right, is another good example of attention foremost to safety. This clearly explains to anyone how to operate generally or more importantly, shut down in an emergency. We recently witnessed an horrific example of this in a bush camp. The chap started the coach motor to "pump up" the airbags and popped outside to get something. He then tried to race the door closing and, of course, got caught. He was lucky not to lose an arm as nobody knew where the outside kill switches were. It's absolute madness having them inside LOCKED compartments! Ask Ronnie Penfold as he did survive!

We mentioned Alan's many fail safe and disaster plans at the start of the electrical section. Well shown below is a great example. Here we have a low cost inverter simply dedicated to driving the instantaneous Bosch hot water service. For owner builders, it's well worth while remembering that instantaneous gas hot water systems are TOTALLY BANNED from the interior of Australian RVs. Alans is 100% legal as it is contained in a compartment vented 100% to the outside - overall, a beautiful text book installation. Very practical too, but more on this in the Bathroom section. Interestingly it's hard to find fault with any of Alan's decisions. This inverter, although playing a minute role, was double isolated, meaning that in a catastropic failure you cannot get 240 volts momentarily flowing back into the 12 or 24 volt circuits. Rather sadly at present there are no standards on this despite it being a potentially lethal situation. We experienced this problem first hand and alerted Collyn Rivers and he contacted the largest supplier Jaycar and brought it too their attention. What a wonderful company - they stopped selling the ordinary units and now only stock electrically isolated models, so you can safely buy from them. Again, Collyn covers this in his books and we cover it extensively in the inverter section on this site.

Instrumention
Ever since going to a seminar by Ronnie Penfold at the CMCA Toowoomba Rally in 2004, we have always looked far more closely at instrumentation. Ronnie calls this being a "power perv" - you need to closely monitor voltages so you get a feel for exactly where your system is at. Alan has done an excellent job in this critical area - shown with the panel open. Here you can get at all the fuses without stooping and monitor all levels.

Hydraulics - Levelling - Slide Outs
Another very strong point in this motorhome was the hydraulics. Completely self levelling, so you always park and sleep in comfort no matter what the terrain, yet you can override the automatics if you so wish. We didn't get to check if you could change a wheel using the system as you can on the bigger Dryden 5th Wheelers, however once Alan gets it all operational, we will certainly see if it does perform. We know for a fact that the chassis will certainly withstand this type of heavy loading.

This was a dual slideout model (bedroom and lounge) and all hydraulically operated. Controlled by just one cylinder per slide, this did solve the problem of two getting out of sync and jamming and also reduced valving requirements. Alan used ball race tracks to guide each end and to keep things square at all times. We did get to fiddle with this and it worked exceptionally smoothly. We failed to check how it interlocked safety wise though! (too busy tucking into the great BBQ!!!)

Communications
As can be seen by a plethora of aerials by those with a keen eye for detail, this rig is well set up for communication on the road including mobiles. Tyre pressures can be monitored audibly or visually via an onscreen display Doran system. Even the temperature of each individual wheel can be accurately measured so that potential problems can be anticipated and acted upon well before becoming critical. The A-frame towed Honda CRV was also monitored. A Garmin Street Pilot takes care of navigation via an external antenna. The rack on the driver's right, holding four hand-held UHF radios, is very practical. Many overlook the usefullness of these small and cheap devices. Even if you have a reversing camera there is absolutely no substitute for the "little lady" standing out the back with a hand held telling you what to do! Also wonderful when shopping and great for safety if you take walks or exercise separately, as unlike mobile phones they work anywhere in Australia.

Of course, a Codan HF radio takes pride of place up there on the dash with the aerial mounted on the external rear. Great idea amounting it near the fixed rear ladder for easy servicing. Many don't realise that there is a small electric motor inside an HF aerial and yes it does need to be looked at every now and again. If you are interested in learning about the advantages of HF radio we do the Website for the HF Radio Club Inc. Well worth a visit and a wonderful safety tool. If you want more information, check out www.hfradioclub.com.au.

Mobile Office
This is very practical and a feature we are coming across more and more in modern RVs. An extremely strong lift up table can be positioned in front of the co-pilot, handy to the built-in scanner and printer under the dash. This creates the perfect set up for working/navigating as you drive along, as Robyn likes to write poetry on the road and is a prolific contributor to the Poets Breakfast segment at motorhome rallies - a very popular presenter. When parked the table folds down against the wall and the chair swivels for dining or entertaining. Just about a perfect set up, yet Alan has ideas for improving it even further, so keep watching this space. We took the picture below from floor level to illustrate the massive hinge holding this table up! Pretty impressive. Chrissy has already set this is the "must have's" for our next motorhomes!

Entertainment
Are three TV's enough for you? Two of these are the newer style Super Vision that drop down from the ceiling - simply perfect for motorhome use. There is satellite TV via a self-seeking Oyster dish. Terrestrial digital TV is via a Media Star set top box. DVD and stereo finishes off the package and is duplicated in the dash and in the bedroom with a very well thought out distribution system. One 17" screen can be moved into the BBQ area when needed. This is cleverly stored away in a foam-lined box when not in use. We loved the nest of remotes shown below, a truly practical idea!

All outputs were also routed outside into the BBQ area making for endless sound/video possibilities. Great if a mate wants to plug the day's video taping into your machine. Alan has certainly covered all the bases here. The Super Vision roof mounted screens fold up completely flat when not in use. Choice of the Saturn antenna instead of the normal industry standard Winegard was, in our view, a smart choice. Organising seminars at the last two rallies we have got to know the inventor of the Saturn (Peter) very well and can say that this is one aerial that really works. Some manufacturers out there make totally unrealistic claims about suitability for RV use. Please don't confuse this aerial with "Dome" style units - there is absolutely no comparison with the Saturn. Peter just moves from strength to strength. He now has a wind up mechanism that, we think, works more smoothly than the well proven Winegard. He has a kit for those moving up from a Winegard that allows you to plonk a Saturn straight onto the existing Winegard raising mechanism. Watch this space - we tip this will be a runaway best seller and eventually become the market leader. For those not in the "know" your Winegard just won't function adequately in areas with vertical polarisation. The Saturn addresses this serious shortcoming and also receives excellent digital pictures. We know all this for an actual fact as we have seen it perform in the flesh so to speak.

Plumbing & Water
Attention to detail in this area is again right up there with the best of them with airlocks being fitted to tank vents. Interesting hot water service - a Bosch Model 16E Instantaneous worked really well. Again provision has been made for disasters! You can even take a feed to the washing machine from the rear of the motorhome.

The funny looking bendy bit of pipe shown above right is more attention to detail. These gadgets vent tanks etc. and are called air breaks. Applications include smell prevention and positively preventing cross contamination of your water supply should a toilet decide to back flow (another heaven forbid!). So many commercial units leave this out. Excellent control of fresh and waste water with several combinations available, all neatly labeled and engraved white on black traffolyte. A brilliant idea, as even with our own "simple" system we often forget what does what - getting worse tooooo with the passing years. Owner builders should note that it is illegal in Australia to have a common black and grey water tank - we have no idea why???? We liked the inclusion of a 12 volt outlet in case you need to run a pump etc. Another great idea was the inclusion a roll up hose reel for fresh water. These are a boon in those circumstances where you have to fill up really quickly to avoid upsetting the locals!! We've all been there!

All tanks were made by Atlas Plastics and held in place with steel straps all protected with rubber insertion - see photo below left for the detail. We are big fans of Atlas and have helped several mates install them - just so easy to work with. You get the tank, try it in the RV, THEN you mark where you want the inlets and outlets to go and Atlas weld them on. It is absolutely foolproof and you cut down on the countless fittings many of us use - all potential leak points too! Fresh water is both filtered (dual) and demineralised via a built in Carefree filter system. This stops sedimentation blocking pipes by calcifying and is a very wise investment particularly when visiting areas with only bore water over an extended period. Sedimentation can completely wreck the plumbing in a motorhome and it turns into a sand that you just cant shift.

A good mate of Alan's with a very expensive commercial motorhome, rang the manufacturer to try to find out how to access the lines into his shower as he was getting zero water. After two days delay, the foreman rang back advising that to gain access he would have to drill a 400mm hole from the OUTSIDE of the RV! Ouch!! Needless to say this chap has "Carefrees" fitted to his "holey" RV. Note how easy it is to service any of these filters and all are highly visible to remind you to check them! Some very good design work here with all tanks being easy to get at without days of dismantling, as we witnessed a couple of months ago on a much larger coach. Interestingly all tanks can be removed and installed by one person. And before you ask - we have no idea what the pressure gauge actually measures as we "forgot" to ask Alan!

Outside Storage
All bin interiors were finished in tasteful speckle finish - looked very smart and is very practical, as scuffing and scratches tend not to be so obvious. You can clearly see the finish in the photos below. Extensive use was made of special purpose built mountings for holding ladders, tables etc. securely in place. This all worked very well and overall looked super neat. Two bins pass right through and the gas assisted struts made opening a breeze.

Note the special holders for fishing rods and the huge ladder. Not shown here is the excellent storage method for a full sized solid top table. This was being used for the BBQ and you will certainly spot it in the BBQ photos. Looking at the bin photo, above left, reminds us of ships - all the cabling neatly held to the ceiling out of harms way. Alan did tell us how many kilometres of wire were used, but old timers has caught up with us!