First time off grid

[JohnCalifornia]

I was itching to go away this Easter weekend as I had dug the California out of hibernation 2 weeks ago so it was the first camping trip this season but I didn’t book anything as the weather forecast wasn’t great a few days before. Anyway I tried booking one of my favorite campsites in Pickering only to be told no room and fully booked but they will open the tent pitching area up for me but there was no electric hook up . I mulled for a few seconds then thought, no problem I don’t need power or a water supply. Checked all battery levels etc after putting the Cali on hook up the night before and all good. Battery was at 100%. I got there around 12pm Saturday , turned fridge on, charged the Nebula up and had the heater on from 7pm until 11am today when I left. The battery level was down to 80% which I’m very happy about. It’s my first time off grid as such and had no issues with anything as had water in the tank, gas for cooking and battery power for anything else. The weather was also fantastic even though 3 days earlier they said it was going to rain all weekend. I love these Californias…..

 

[Doric_loon]

The weather definitely does help

We did wild camp this weekend and only used 20% battery. Fridge running, few lights at night, laptop for a film and heater set at 4 came on a few times during night

Compare that to a wild camp in December in the cairngorms -5, snow on the ground, heater on most of the night, lot's of lights on and the battery was 2 bars when we left the following morning

 

[RetroRed5]

Sounds like you had a great weekend in the Cali

How awesome are California's that they enable you to do stuff like this!

So do you keep your Cali literally in hibernation over winter? How do you store it (in a garage, our outside and covered, or just outside) and what sort of winterisation do you do before putting it to bed for the winter?

 

[Doric_loon]

Sounds like you had a great weekend in the Cali

How awesome are California's that they enable you to do stuff like this!

So do you keep your Cali literally in hibernation over winter? How do you store it (in a garage, our outside and covered, or just outside) and what sort of winterisation do you do before putting it to bed for the winter?

Luckily I have a 20m x 10m steel unit here

It stays here when not in use but we used it over the winter for weekends in the mountains

I extend the roof, put a rodent barrier around it and use two microwave dehumidifier bags, empty the water tanks

 

[RetroRed5]

That's a very nice and clean looking Cali

I've got a 7 x 7 double garage for mine, not quite the cavernous 10 x 20 you've got, but it will do the job.

Do you leave the roof up to let it "breathe"?

I've got a bit of space above the Cali in my garage, so I could maybe open the roof half way, but the problem would be if someone opened the garage door without thinking, it would likely cut my pop-up clean off

 

[Doric_loon]

yeah full extended in the winter to let it breath, in the summer only if it's wet from a camp

the big unit is handy but as we live in the country then rodents are a real issue Oct - March, almost impossible to stop them getting into the unit, so I built a hinged fold up barrier out of Perspex that wraps right round the whole vehicle

We used to have a bigger motorhome and they made a right mess of that one winter

 

[RetroRed5]

Pesky little f@~+$%

Sounds like you have it under control though

 

[JohnCalifornia]

Sounds like you had a great weekend in the Cali

How awesome are California's that they enable you to do stuff like this!

So do you keep your Cali literally in hibernation over winter? How do you store it (in a garage, our outside and covered, or just outside) and what sort of winterisation do you do before putting it to bed for the winter?

I put the Cali in my double garage. The front end literally touches the back wall and has around 6 inch spare at the back when the door is shut. I also have a roller door which helps. I don’t think an up and over door would work due to height of the Cali. I can get another car in the garage and a motorcycle in between both vehicles. Not too sure if my garage is a standard size or larger than average. All I do before it goes away for hibernation is give it a good wash, clean drain holes with pipe and syringe, leave in park, leave handbrake off and plug in to the hook up. I start it up and leave running for 10 mins or so every couple of months if I remember to do it. The roof stays down. No issues yet after 2 times of hibernation

 

[JohnCalifornia]

Oh and leave the fridge door slightly open

 

[RetroRed5]

I put the Cali in my double garage. The front end literally touches the back wall and has around 6 inch spare at the back when the door is shut. I also have a roller door which helps. I don’t think an up and over door would work due to height of the Cali. I can get another car in the garage and a motorcycle in between both vehicles. Not too sure if my garage is a standard size or larger than average. All I do before it goes away for hibernation is give it a good wash, clean drain holes with pipe and syringe, leave in park, leave handbrake off and plug in to the hook up. I start it up and leave running for 10 mins or so every couple of months if I remember to do it. The roof stays down. No issues yet after 2 times of hibernation

We likely won't "camp" so much over winter, but we will go out for day trips, hikes, and just for the love of driving it, and I really do love driving it

But I will still need to sort of "winterise" it and will likely follow a similar plan you to you.

 

[flying banana]

That's a very nice and clean looking Cali

I've got a 7 x 7 double garage for mine, not quite the cavernous 10 x 20 you've got, but it will do the job.

Do you leave the roof up to let it "breathe"?

I've got a bit of space above the Cali in my garage, so I could maybe open the roof half way, but the problem would be if someone opened the garage door without thinking, it would likely cut my pop-up clean off

I've thought about this. But if you open the roof halfway in the garage and leave it, will it auto check the roof after 5 hours and auto lift it up into the rafters?

 

[RetroRed5]

I've thought about this. But if you open the roof halfway in the garage and leave it, will it auto check the roof after 5 hours and auto lift it up into the rafters?

Ouch!! That would be bad.

I imagine it doesn't just decide to fully open the roof after a few minutes (or hours) because you could have chosen to open it just a little to clean around the edges perhaps, this is a valid use-case for leaving it only partially open which you'd think the bright folks at VW have thought of. So it would be a poor assumption for the VW to make that it's OK to open fully by itself.

But since I've never tested it, I don't know for sure.

 

[JohnCalifornia]

Oh and leave 1 bar of water in the tank. I read somewhere that it’s a good idea to leave the pump immersed in water all the time. Obviously I drain and flush it out when it comes out of hibernation

 

[RetroRed5]

Oh and leave 1 bar of water in the tank. I read somewhere that it’s a good idea to leave the pump immersed in water all the time. Obviously I drain and flush it out when it comes out of hibernation

Ooh, I've not heard that one before, but it sounds logical - good tip

 

[larrylamb]

. I got there around 12pm Saturday , turned fridge on, charged the Nebula up and had the heater on from 7pm until 11am today when I left.

If off grid, to save loading the battery on arrival precool the fridge and charge items at home on hookup.

 

[JohnCalifornia]

Yeah I did turn the fridge on the night before while on hook up

 

[Steve1]

Oh and leave 1 bar of water in the tank. I read somewhere that it’s a good idea to leave the pump immersed in water all the time. Obviously I drain and flush it out when it comes out of hibernation

I don't think they need to be immersed in water when stored, they are the same as caravan pumps, but you definitely shouldn't start them up dry, the bearings rely on the water for cooling / lubrication.
If you had to winterise outdoors you would definitely want to drain the tank fully to prevent freezing.