Newbe

[witjesm]

Hi everyone, thank you for accepting me here. I am a Dutch guy living in Zug/Lausanne Switzerland for the past 12 years.

We ordered our Cali Ocean in April this year and if i can rely on my dealer it will be delivered in January 2022. It will in summer mostly be used by my daughters (20 and 18) since they indicated they would love to contnue joining us in summer but no longer in a tent. That is very much understood so this is a very nice addition to our caravan. In Winter we will use it for weekend skiing around Switzerland when we don't want to drive back on the saturday evening

We did order a white 204hp 4motion version which the dealer will upgrade with Ariva Air suspension, 18" off road all season wheels, all chrome replaced by black Bulli parts, the famous drawer, and the bottom part wrapped in yellow. The girls decided on the color and already named it Berry B Benson The warpping is because they want to give it a retro-twist putting stickers on it like the old surfers van's. With the wrap it will be easily removedif we ever want to sell it.

I hope to learn a lot here. One thing i am immediately interested in is if someone places and an inverter in their Cali 12V => 230V. Will try to search it here aswell since i will probably not be the only one that wants this.

Mike

 

[ThomasHJ]

Hi and welcome! I figured your username indicated a connection with the Netherlands ;-) Van harte gefeliciteerd! Congratulations on getting a VW California! You'll love it. As will your daughters, who are lucky to have parents buying them a California ;-)

Must be Barry with an 'a', assuming it refers to the bee and not the American civil war guy. Sounds like lovely colours! Smart to use a wrap to protect it!

As far as the inverter goes; I believe not many people use inverters in california's, as their usage drains the leisure battery quite quickly. And as a result you would need to charge the leisure battery often enough to not damage it. For that you need 230V hookup. And if that's available, you wouldn't need an inverter.

There are 12V-solutions for a lot of appliances and then there's power banks (for phones and laptops). There's solar power and there's even people using generators, which wouldn't be my choice. But to each their own.

But of course installing an inverter is possible. It depends also on which appliances you would want to use through the inverter. So that's the first question to answer I believe.

 

[pluc99]

Hi and Welcome.
I am also planning to use my camper as a base for skiing amongst other things. I ordered last December and am still waiting.
The Ocean has a 300W inverter located at the base of the left hand captain's chair. It delivers dirty power, so not good for most things electronic as they can be ruined and not enough watts for hair dryers or coffee machines.

 

[witjesm]

As will your daughters, who are lucky to have parents buying them a California ;-)

Must be Barry with an 'a', assuming it refers to the bee and not the American civil war guy. Sounds like lovely colours! Smart to use a wrap to protect it!

As far as the inverter goes; I believe not many people use inverters in california's, as their usage drains the leisure battery quite quickly. And as a result you would need to charge the leisure battery often enough to not damage it. For that you need 230V hookup. And if that's available, you wouldn't need an inverter.

Thank you for your reply and advice. Yes I agree my daughters are lucky but it does go both ways ;-) I will remember the Barry with and 'a' from now on and I have actually never seen the movie.

I understand inverters take a lot of power. In my caravan I have a 1800W combined with a Litium 96 Amp battery and solar panels. This works fantastic and make you independant if you have no hook-up availible. In my case it is combined with a priority switch meaning the external 230V will automatically take over and swith off the inverter if you hook-up. That is what I want to do in the Cali as ell so that I can always and anywhere enjoy good coffee. For this the inverter needs to be in a spot close to the battery and where the incoming power from the hook-up is close. If anyone has that figured out already it would be great.

 

[Graham T]

 

[66tim99]

Hi everyone, thank you for accepting me here. I am a Dutch guy living in Zug/Lausanne Switzerland for the past 12 years.

We ordered our Cali Ocean in April this year and if i can rely on my dealer it will be delivered in January 2022. It will in summer mostly be used by my daughters (20 and 18) since they indicated they would love to contnue joining us in summer but no longer in a tent. That is very much understood so this is a very nice addition to our caravan. In Winter we will use it for weekend skiing around Switzerland when we don't want to drive back on the saturday evening

We did order a white 204hp 4motion version which the dealer will upgrade with Ariva Air suspension, 18" off road all season wheels, all chrome replaced by black Bulli parts, the famous drawer, and the bottom part wrapped in yellow. The girls decided on the color and already named it Berry B Benson The warpping is because they want to give it a retro-twist putting stickers on it like the old surfers van's. With the wrap it will be easily removedif we ever want to sell it.

I hope to learn a lot here. One thing i am immediately interested in is if someone places and an inverter in their Cali 12V => 230V. Will try to search it here aswell since i will probably not be the only one that wants this.

Mike

Sounds great Mike - not many white and yellow Calis around!
Also sounds like a great dealer fitting air suspension, blacking parts and wrapping.
Hope it arrives quickly...my order was placed 12 months ago today - not an anniversary I hoped to see!

 

[witjesm]

Sounds great Mike - not many white and yellow Calis around!
Also sounds like a great dealer fitting air suspension, blacking parts and wrapping.
Hope it arrives quickly...my order was placed 12 months ago today - not an anniversary I hoped to see!

I hope so too, Originally it was supposed to be delivered mid November but that already drifted to mid January :-(