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shackman

Hi all. After a few delays, including missing the recent Carthago Factory visit, things look set for us to finally get our new I51 from Lowdhams at 1400hrs Wednesday 29/10/08....... Yeah! Yippee! It's really going to happen and the belly excitement is heavily astir?

Being relatively new to this motorhoming sport, and having naively undertaken just one hand-over 18 months ago on our current van, we are anxious that next weeks' hand-over goes smoothly.

We have seen previous posts generally on the subject and downloaded a very comprehensive checklist. However nothing beats experience and we were wondering if any of you fellow Carthago owners would care to offer up some advice, tips, hard facts etc based on your own hand-overs. Specific info on the I51 and/or general advice would be most welcome.

Thanking you in anticipation...

Ian & Margaret.

ruthiebabe

Hi Ian and Margaret, that's good news I'm excited for you! The only real tip I've got is obvious and you are no doubt planning it. Stay overnight on their camping area and test everything out so that you can go back with any questions in the morning. Then maybe have a day or two nearby if you can, for example Clumber Park Caravan Club site is up the road and it should be pleasant walking in the park with the autumn colours. they may have a space midweek?

Specifically to carthago get used to operating the Alde heating/hot water system on both gas and electric. It's a doddle but it is different to truma and warrants a good practice. Be aware that things will not get as warm overall or as warm as quickly on electric as on gas, that is normal. (In practice that means that if cold you will tend to warm up the living area via the Alde while travelling using the cab heat exchanger, or if you haven't done that put it on gas when stopped before transferring to electric if on hook-up.

Other than that you should find the handover pretty comprehensive, ours was, and not much in the way of teething problems.

Good luck and best wishes, Ruth

shackman

Thanks for that Ruth. As I type, I'm looking out of the window and seeing snow! Therefore your comments re quickly getting the hang of the heating system appears particularly apposite.

Unfortunately we will not be able to stay overnight at Lowdhams, but we do not live that far away anyway. They did offer but work commitments...

Ian & Margaret.

PS. Enjoyed your Practical Motorhome article on sorting garage space. We are looking forward to the novelty of a nice large garage and the challenge of getting all that we want in without disorganisation and clutter.

carolgavin · Quiz Queen

Oooooh its tomorrow. On here somewhere is a checklist, think its in downloads section. Good luck tomorrow and remember to post some pics when you get a chance!!!!

shackman

Ta for the replies. Yep! The handover was comprehensive, and great fun. Glad we now have extra payload, it's needed as we were given 100 kilo pile of books/folders to read up on! Think that might be a task for tomorrow though. A good nights kip is now badly needed after all the excitement of a rather long day.

Tomorrow, the real fun begins. Night night all....

Ian & Margaret.

gandj

Well, too late to give advice about handover, but here are some things we found after handover. First, I need to say that we are well pleased with our Chic, it is living up to all our expectations and well worth the wait. Also, Lowdhams have been great, thus far, and I have no reason to think that will change. The niggles, then:

1. We opted for the Corasan single moulded kitchen sink unit as an extra. There was a surface crack in the sink which we didn't notice on handover. Only showed after a couple of days when dirty water got in and highlighted it. Lowdhams replaced it.

2. The C250 Thetford toilet, with the electric paddle operation, has developed a slipping cog wheel. The cog teeth come out of mesh, manifested by terrible noise. I have fixed temp with an elastic band. Also, if you hear the Sog venting fan come on when the cassette is removed, this is wrong. There is a micro switch underneath which is slipping out of place. This C250 is altogether flimsier than older models. But I like the way you can easily dissasemble the cassette for cleaning.

3. Be careful with the large Remis rooflight. Its not as strong as the ole' Heki. In particular, the thin plastic fin (guide) which the blind slides along is not strong. Be careful not to push up or down as you slide the blind across, eg. if your foot slips on the step!

4. The fridge water overflow is still a problem. I had hoped this would have been sorted by Dometic. Our previous Burstner had the same fridge and freezer, great jobs, but after a couple of weeks I found that the beaker inside the bottom external vent was overflowing, just as it did on the Burstner (also Hymers etc). Like may others I have extended the pipe to discharge down thro the double floor - which is quite easily done.

Graham