Winter motorhome and trailer
If you hear these phrases in video reviews or read headlines with such names, it means that someone is trying to prove to you that inside the caravan or camper presented to you, during a winter trip, the air temperature will warm up to summer values. , despite the fact that arctic frosts will rage outside.
I am a thermal energy engineer. At one time I graduated from the Faculty of Energy with honors. For several years I have successfully organized and carried out winter caravanning - an Arctic trip by motorhome to the Arctic Circle. I have something to tell you about winter campers.
Those who talk about winter campers in their video reviews have never traveled in a campervan in winter and have no idea what it is. All their video reviews boil down to one thing: wall thickness. That's all. The concept of "Winter House on Wheels" is somewhat broader and their design features, preparation and the presence of special accessories go far beyond the thickness of the walls and the knowledge of some evaluators of this equipment.
During our Arctic caravanning, 12 crews traveled with us. 8 European trailers including 2 Kabe ultra-winter Scandinavian motorhomes and 4 European motorhomes.
Now I will tell you what problems and difficulties we encountered and how we solved them.
First of all, Before starting to drive in severe frost, it was impossible to connect the trailers' electricity to the cars. The connectors are frozen. The problem was solved with regular heating pads.
Secondly, When filling the caravans with water, it turned out that all the water filler hatches were covered with a crust of ice and could not be opened. We had to run garden hoses through the main doors and pour water directly into the tanks, which weren't always available on some campers.
In American motorhomes, this point is well thought out. There, all water connections are located in a heated room, and doors lead to it, which are easy to open even in severe frost.
Third, One of the caravans lost heating and hot water. During a winter trip, this is the most unpleasant thing that can happen. In such a situation, you must stop caravanning and return home. The mobile home becomes unfit for habitation. The reason for the lack of heating was the so-called heavy fractions, always present in the gas. They are essentially small droplets of water. In winter, they turn to ice and can clog gas lines where they bend. This is exactly what happened to one of our crews. We are incredibly lucky. Using the same heating pad, we warmed the elbow and the gas began to circulate. Before a winter trip, be sure to install heavy fraction filters.
Fourth. Gas cylinders cannot be left open in trailers while driving, otherwise an explosion could occur in the event of an accident. But at the same time, when traveling in winter, the temperature in the camper must always be positive, otherwise the water in the boiler and the tank will freeze. What should I do? During winter travel, the Truma Dow control system must be installed. This is a crash sensor which, in the event of an accident, cuts off the gas and prevents an explosion. During our winter trip, all crews had Truma installed.
Fifth. With us also traveling two Kabe trailers. The manufacturer of these campers called them winter campers and brags about this name at all exhibitions. During our winter trip, these caravans had the same internal temperature as everyone else, that is, the temperature set by the travelers. Even in the coldest region of Finland, at one of the campsites, where the frost outside was minus 37, all the caravans inside were at 25 degrees Celsius. But why was this Kabe called Winter? The fact is that it has slightly thicker walls than other European motorhomes. Why was this done? As I said above, during our winter trip the temperatures inside the trailers, whether Kabe or not Kabe, were normal. But to maintain the temperature in trailers with thicker walls, a little less energy is required. Our winter caravanning lasted about a month. Heating these Scandinavian Kabe winter caravans required more floor gas than the rest of the caravans. But why do Scandinavians thicken the walls of caravans and advertise them at exhibitions, selling their campers at incredibly high prices?
Many Europeans store caravans and motorhomes in so-called urban campsites, located in picturesque locations, and use them as a summer residence, i.e. permanent living space. In winter, their caravans must be constantly heated and gas is very expensive in Europe. This is how they developed a demand for caravans, which have thicker walls and require less gas to heat. And nothing more. For a month plus half a cylinder. For Russia, this does not matter.
Sixth. I was aware of this problem, but not everyone did what I said. This applies to trailers. The fact is that European trailers have very low ground clearance. This does not allow gray water tanks to be placed under the ground, and even less to create a heated space for them. As a result, there are no gray water tanks in all trailers except Kabe. For those who don't know, gray water flows from the kitchen sink, sink and shower, but not from the toilet. If there is no gray water tank, all this waste first flows into what is called a collector - a tank placed under the floor of the trailer, and then comes out at a specific location . Thus, while circulating in this sewer, the gray water froze and blocked the outlet of wastewater from the sewer. This is an extremely unpleasant situation. In essence, you are deprived of the trailer's water supply. You can only go to the toilet. Neither the shower nor the sink nor the kitchen sink works. Not very nice. Kabe winter trailers have a different wastewater disposal system. There is a gray water tank there, but it is located in a heated room inside the trailer. Its volume is only 40 liters. It's nothing. All you have to do is take a shower once. But that's not even the problem. In case of severe frosts, the drain from the tank must be almost straight, without blockages at the ends of the pipes, the ends of these pipes being located in an unheated room. In winter, it is better to turn it off completely, that is, to make sure that water does not stagnate there. In general, this winter in Kabe, the 40 liter internal gray water tank is rather a burden. For comparison, in American trailers, the total volume of gray water tanks reaches 300 liters. How the sewage system works in American caravans.
Typically, American motorhomes have two gray water tanks, each holding 150 liters. High ground clearance allows you to place the tanks not only under the ground, but also cover them with heat-insulating material - polypropylene, and lay corrugated pipes between the tanks, through which hot air flows. flows from the boiler in operation. So, not only are the tanks heated by natural heat, they have a very large volume, but they also create many advantages, which will be discussed below.
Yes, it's not 40 liters in Kabe under the bed.
Generally on our winter trip the problem was solved by disconnecting the regular trailer collector and Kabe's gray water tank from the sewer.
Seventh. Warm floor. For those who did not have this option, it was very cold. The floor is the only surface with which we are in constant contact: we walk on it, children crawl on it, sit on it, etc. Warm floors are the most important option for traveling in winter. European trailers have two underfloor heating systems: a 220 V electrical system and an Alde water system.
With electricity, everything is clear. If there is electricity, the ground is warm, but on our trip to the Arctic it was mostly not cold. But I want to dwell in more detail on the water floor of Aldus. Fortunately, among the participants in our trip, there were no mobile homes equipped with this water heated floor. As I already said, I have a higher education in thermal engineering and at the institute we were taught to develop such systems.
If anyone has a kitchen water heater that heats water, look at what's inside: a coil through which water flows, going from cold to hot. This coil extends along the interior perimeter of the kitchen water heater. Now imagine, each edge of the kitchen column will constantly shake relative to each other. What will happen to the coil? It will have fistulas and hot water under high pressure will come out in the form of numerous fountains. This is exactly what has started to happen in European trailers equipped with an Alde water system. There, numerous boiler pipes, screwed to the floor opposite the left side, entered this floor. The boiler itself, fixed with bolts, began to wobble relative to the floor over time and fistulas appeared where the pipes passed under the floor. The entire system simply leaked, creating a large puddle on the ground, and the entire trailer lost heat. I categorically dissuaded my customers from installing this “masterpiece” and it ultimately saved our Arctic caravan park from this type of problem. Nobody had this extra. The manufacturer eventually abandoned the production of such water heated floors for a while, and then resumed it. Maybe he fixed something there, but how he eliminated the vibrations of the boiler in relation to the pipes is not clear. In general, these European heated floors are completely unsuitable for use in Russian conditions.
How does underfloor heating work in an American motorhome? As I said above, the high ground clearance of these trailers and campers allows the gray water tanks to be hidden under the floor of the camper, covered with polypropylene underneath and placed between them corrugated pipes, through which hot air from the boiler passes. And goes, as you think, where, into the floor grates. So the floor of an American camper van is truly warm and not cold. It does not need electricity, it is heated by boiler heat and there are no water pipes. In American caravans, the floor is immediately heated when the heater is turned on. There is no need to include anything additional.
Eighth. Uniform temperature distribution. During the Arctic trip, our caravans traveling with European trailers encountered a problem unexpected for them, but I warned everyone. The fact is that if you take something long and narrow, heated inside, and you place this long and narrow object in a cold environment, then the heat distribution inside will be as follows. It's hot in the middle of it, long and narrow, cold at the edges. This happens because on the edges (let's call this mobile home long and narrow, it's obvious) the mobile home will have 5 walls in contact with the cold, and in the middle there will be 4. This is why the lost heat will be at maximum. edges. But some trailers have children's rooms in the back. In the American trailers, everything is completely different. First, we can exclude a heat loss surface here. It's the ground. During heating, it is always hot. In a European caravan, it is less cold than hot, provided there is electricity. Second, the cursor. Sliding walls. When opened, the trailer expands, improving air circulation. So the cursor performs another important task. It reduces uneven heat distribution during winter travel.
In the United States, all motorhomes have two climate certificates. They are tested for heat loss and distribution. In the first case, the camper is placed in a large freezer, closed, the heating is turned on, the temperature is raised to 75 F, then the heating is turned off and the time taken for the temperature to reach 75 F is noted. drop to 50 F.
In the second case, temperature sensors are installed in the camper, placed in the freezer, the temperature inside the trailer is raised to 65 F and the temperature is measured at all sensors. The difference should not exceed 0.5 F. If all standards are met, two climate certificates are issued for an American motorhome. The first concerns heat loss, the second the temperature difference.
Ninth. Brakes. Since European trailers are equipped with inertia brakes, the speed in many areas during our Arctic trip did not exceed 25 km/h. We literally trudged, covering miles with difficulty. The fact is that European trailers have an inertial braking system. It works as follows. You press the brake pedal, your tractor loses speed, the trailer pushes the tractor, that is to say rolls over it. The trailer's mechanical lever system transmits force to the trailer brake pads and trailer brakes. That is, the tractor brakes first, then the trailer. When driving on ice, the trailer is pushed by the tractor and the traction of its wheels with the road is disrupted. So the trailer starts controlling the tractor. We had train withdrawals several times. We were lucky there was no one on the road at the time. It is precisely because of this design of the braking system that the driving speed in winter, even on European trailers in winter, at least not in winter, in icy conditions should not exceed 25 km/h.
In American trailers, the braking system is not inertial, but electric. As soon as you step on the brake pedal, the trailer's brake pads are immediately activated by an electric motor. When braking a train with an American trailer, the trailer brakes first, then the tractor. The trailer acts as a parachute for the tractor and prevents the train from collapsing.
Tenth. Swaying. Returning from a trip to the Arctic, a very unpleasant incident occurred with my crew. I didn't notice the black ice. This is a dangerous and very slippery layer on the road, black in color, strongly reminiscent of ordinary asphalt. With a European trailer, I exceeded the speed limit and drove at a speed of 110 km/h. All European trailers, whether winter or not, are pendulums, since their axles are located in the middle. There was a slight rocking movement from which it was impossible to get out of the ice, because at the slightest braking the tractor lost traction. And that's what happened. The rocking intensified and my train rotated 360 degrees 3 times. We were saved by the fact that the road was wide and there was not a single car in the forward or reverse direction. We escaped with a slight scare.
This would not have happened with an American caravan. First, the axes there are offset. This was done in order to eliminate swaying. Second, American trailers brake before the tractor, preventing the tractor from losing traction on the road.
So what does the concept of "winter motorhome" mean and which caravans and motorhomes are really winter, all American or Scandinavian Kabe at sky-high prices, which only have thick winter walls and that's all.
Konstantin Shchelbanin
Shchelbanin@gmail.com
+1 786 651 86 68
WhatsApp : +7 918 487 50 79
