Beginner questions!

[ellie26]

Hi everyone - bought our Marco Polo end of last year and whilst I have been using as my every day vehicle (I only have a 5 mile commute) today was the first day we set it up in the back garden with the awning.

We didn’t have an at home hook up and when we tried to plug the TV in the power socket wouldn’t power the TV? Is it because we were running it off the battery? Was the voltage too high?

After some fiddling I attached the gas canister and turned on both the gas valves - and had my first cuppa. I take it I need to close both of those off, (the one on the top of the bottle and the red one under the fridge?)

The only thing we didn’t tackle was the water. We will get to that next week.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Ian]

The mains socket (its a euro type plug on mine) next to the sink unit only works when you are on hook-up. The leisure battery only supplies 12v power to the USB ports on the 'conversion' part of the vehicle (and of course the built in camper electrics). There is no power inverter so 240v only works on hook-up.

When on campsites but not using the cooker I only turn the gas off at the valve under the fridge. Whenever we drive anywhere I turn it off at the bottle too. I'm sure it wouldn't cause a problem if it was left on at the bottle every now and again but wouldn't be funny in a crash.

 

[ellie26]

Thanks for the answers, it’s a learning curve!

 

[Steven rhodes]

Hi Ellie,no you just need to turn off the valve at the bottle end not the gas shut off as far as I'm aware,because if you drive with the bottle valve turned on it will damage the regulator,which is about 35 pound to replace should the need arise,I have forgotten to switch it back off a couple of times so far and luckily nothing has happened as a result but I do try to remember to switch it back off now being a gas fitter myself I think the other valve is more to comply with regulations about gas appliances needing a emergency valve in the supply pipe which seems illogical as it's much faster to access the one at the bottle but hey who am I to question the rules

 

[BabaJen]

As Steven said above, it is a legal requirement for each gas appliance to have it's own shut off valve. I have never used the hob one in over 500 nights of camping.

Switching off st bottle, again as said above, should always be done when travelling. It only takes sa few seconds and just imagine the hazard leaking gas would cause in the event of an incident that severed a gas pipe or connection.