Lunar • Venus • 2019

1. Confirm the stabiliser's properly coupled: the coupling handle fully lowered and the red indicator button raised. 2. Press down on the stabiliser handle until resistance builds (meaning the friction pads have reached the ball, but aren't yet under load). 3. Look at the arrowhead on the stabiliser's arm: lined up with the two green marks means the pads are still like new. 4.

Lined up with the two red marks means the pads are worn and need replacing straight away. Note: with the handle correctly applied, the arrowhead should sit against the black line marked 2. The pads need no lubrication at all - just wipe them over with fine emery paper before every trip. There's no adjustment needed for the friction pads themselves.

On a tandem-axle caravan, we'd recommend using a side-lift jack (the Al-Ko Jack Set, order number 1389235) to make fitting easier. Position the wheel so the receiver sits visible in the middle of the rim opening (don't use the opening that has the tyre valve in it). Unscrew the receiver's plastic cap and put it away in the tool kit.

Fit the locking bolt into its specific rim insert, then fit the socket key for the locking bolt. Line the locking bolts and assembly up with the receiver, and tighten the socket - using the supplied wheel spanner or a torque wrench - to the correct wheel torque. Take the socket key back out, fit the barrel lock, then hold it in place and lock it.

Swing the door open and press the control knob in. Keep it pressed while you turn it anti-clockwise to the full-rate position. On spark-ignition models, push the ignition button; non-ignition versions instead need a lit match or gas lighter held to the burner. Hold the knob in for around 10-15 seconds, then release it and set the heat you want.

The grill door needs to stay open while lighting and using the grill, and the control knob should always go back to 0 once you're done.

Running every piece of 230V mains equipment at once may simply be more than the supply can handle. A typical UK caravan park hook-up maxes out at 16 amps, though 10 amps is more usual, and some continental sites offer as little as 5 amps. Draw more than the site can supply and you'll trip its circuit breaker - so it's worth checking the available output with the site operator.

Rough consumption per appliance: fridge 0.5A, charger 1.0A, water heater (max) 5.7A, blown-air heaters 4.8A, colour TV 2.5A, microwave 3.5A, air conditioning 4.0A, Truma Ultraheat (max) 8.3A, kettle 3.2A, and Alde central heating 10.0A.

If the combined load goes over the site's circuit breaker rating, it will trip. Power consumption and output for the 230V mains equipment is set by the PSU's own spec: INPUT 230V runs at 230 Volts, 0-16 Amps +/-10%; OUTPUT 230V is RCD-protected across 3 MCB outputs - one rated 16A and two rated 10A - with each circuit (water heater, space heater, charger) switched separately.

Individual appliances include the Truma Combi boiler (900W/3.9A or 1800W/7.8A) and the Dometic refrigerator running on 230V AC mains.

Raise the bed frame's front edge a little at the middle - only as much as needed to clear the carpet without hitting the bedside cabinet - then draw that edge inward toward the vehicle's centre. The backrests will then drop down into the gap to complete the bed. Reverse the steps to turn it back into side seats.

The technician may have left the circulation pump in continuous mode, which is meant for testing and stops the hot water cylinder getting enough heat. Resetting the Alde control panel to its factory defaults is usually the simplest fix - see your heater's operating instructions.

The circulation pump may still be on speed 5, which technicians use to push air out of the system. Turn it back down to speed 2-3 for a touring caravan or a B- or C-class motorhome, or to just below speed 4 for an A-class. If the heating fluid was replaced, there may also be air trapped in the system - see your heater's operating instructions.

Yes - use it exactly as you normally would. The hot water cylinder has no heating elements that could burn out, so it does no harm.

In the UK, the products meeting Alde Approval 40X0 2024 are: Comma Xstream G40; Fuchs Fricofin DP; Volkswagen Group G12evo; and Alde's own Protective Premium in G12++ and G12evo versions. (Alde stopped selling its G13 products at the end of 2023.) All come ready-mixed with deionised water, are magenta, can be mixed with each other, and give frost protection down to -37°C plus 5 years' corrosion protection - but always check the label. North America has its own, chemically different, approved list.

Ideally the same antifreeze that's already in it. Magenta fluid almost certainly means an Alde-approved antifreeze, so top up with any approved product - they can all be mixed. If the fluid isn't magenta, the safest option is to add just one or two cups of deionised water - you lose a little frost, corrosion and bacteria protection, but mixing incompatible antifreezes risks worse damage.

Then have the fluid replaced with an Alde-approved antifreeze as soon as you reasonably can.

Turn on all the electric and gas/diesel heating you have available - this actually uses less energy overall. Set the thermostat to a comfortable temperature rather than turning it right up when you feel cold, or you'll overshoot and end up opening windows; a jumper and a setting a couple of degrees lower saves more. If you don't need hot water overnight, tell the system not to heat it then.

Each season, bleed any air out of the heating fluid, and keep the vents at the top and bottom of cupboards and lockers clear.

On 12V DC, how much it takes from the leisure battery varies a lot. It peaks at ignition - about 2 A for gas heating, about 20 A for diesel. For off-grid planning, allow roughly 1 A while gas heating is running and about 4 A for diesel; switched off, the standby drain is around 80 mA. On mains: UK mains is nominally 230V but usually nearer 240V in practice, so expect roughly 4.8 A at 1 kW, 9.5 A at 2 kW and 14.3 A at 3 kW.

That depends on how the vehicle is built and insulated, how cold it is outside, and how much power you can give the heater - more power means more heat. Most manufacturers now aim for around an hour from cold to a comfortable temperature.

You can heat the vehicle through the winter, though if nobody's staying in it you may decide it isn't worth the running cost. On mains hook-up at home, for example, you could set 10°C with 2 kW of electric heating. Check inside regularly for condensation and signs of rodents, and bear in mind some lockers and compartments probably won't be protected from frost.

The heating fluid needs replacing once its corrosion protection runs out - Alde-approved antifreezes (magenta) last 5 years. Bleeding air from the fluid now and then improves efficiency. Each season, check the boiler flue: the hose should be secure and undamaged, and the outlet free of blockages. After 10 or more days staying in the vehicle, top up the boiler's air cushion.

Before any frost, drain the fresh water - and while you do, make sure the red breather valve hasn't scaled up. See your heater's operating instructions for details. An annual service may be a legal requirement, particularly if the vehicle serves as an annex to a house, is hired out, or is somewhere people work.

Set the room temperature on the control panel to around 15°C. In summer that's low enough that the central heating will rarely circulate, day or night, while hot water is not affected.

That's down to whoever installed it - ideally an Alde-approved antifreeze, which is magenta. Alde advises against any antifreeze it hasn't approved.

With the system cold, about 1 cm higher than the Min mark. As the fluid heats up it expands towards the Max mark.

Roughly 10-15 litres in a touring caravan or a B- or C-class motorhome, and 20-25 litres in an A-class motorhome or a boat.

After 10 days' use, the Alde system prompts you to top up the air cushion in the hot water cylinder, which keeps it running smoothly. If there's been water in the system: turn off the water pump, open all the taps and the shower fully, open the safety drain valve for 5-10 seconds and then close it, and refill the water system as usual. If the system has been dry, you can ignore the reminder.

By law, stored hot water has to be kept hot enough to scald, to stop legionella - a potentially deadly bacteria - from growing. The Alde TMV3, an aftermarket accessory, limits the temperature of the water reaching your taps and shower.

Expect roughly a 4-5 minute shower every half-hour. The aftermarket Alde TMV3 can cut down on hot water wasted in the shower, and the Alde Flow gives continuous hot water - it can be retrofitted to any Alde-equipped vehicle from the 2018 model year on, and in the UK is sold only through Moosewerks.

Only water that's pleasant to drink. Some sites in Spain, Portugal and North Africa supply water heavy in bleach or salt, which corrodes stainless steel. Even if a tap is labelled as drinking water, don't put it through the Alde system if you couldn't bear to drink it - unless your vehicle has a reverse-osmosis water filter of at least 4 stages.

Anything the label says is safe for a stainless steel water cylinder. Clean Tabs make a range of suitable products that are easy to find.

Yes. A vehicle can be designed to winterise itself, but very few on sale are.

Yes, and Alde recommends it. You can also set the system to favour one source over the other - for example, whichever is cheaper.

As a rough guide, a 6 kg propane cylinder should last a weekend of gas heating - though in freezing weather it will go considerably faster.

Propane. Butane isn't suitable below 13°C (BS 5482 Part 1).

Yes.

Alde advises against it. A crash sensor on the bulkhead regulator doesn't change the main risk: drive onto a fuel forecourt with the gas heater running and fumes could be pulled straight into its combustion chamber - effectively the same as carrying a lit camping stove across the forecourt. You'd need to pull over and switch gas heating off before every fuel stop, and forgetting just once could be disastrous.

No need to worry - it does no harm in the short term, though B10 or stronger biodiesel shortens the burner's life if used long-term. Carry on using the diesel heating normally until you can top up with at least half a tank of a compatible fuel, and try not to repeat it.

Alde's diesel models - the Compact 4000 D and the 4000 D Plus - run on B7 diesel (EN 590) and XTL diesel (EN 15940). If you use agricultural or marine diesel, HVO meeting EN 15940 is also compatible.

Alde doesn't recommend it. It's technically possible, but if you forget to switch the diesel heating off before stopping to refuel it won't go down well with staff or other customers - and fumes could be drawn straight into the combustion chamber. An Alde engine heat exchanger is the better option for heat on the move.

It depends on how much the boiler compartment and diesel tank need reworking. The Compact 4000 D isn't a straight swap for a Compact 3030, for instance, and not every diesel tank has an accessible sender or a spare fuel pick-up. The cost may well rule it out - Alde puts such a job at probably over £5,000.

Yes - both the Compact 4000 D and the 4000 D Plus run on diesel. The Compact 3030 and 3030 Plus can't heat on diesel themselves, but an Alde-equipped motorhome can have the engine heat exchanger fitted to use the engine's waste heat.

No. Even caravans and motorhomes built to the top BS EN 1645 grade aren't insulated like a house, so underfloor heating would have to run too hot to walk on to warm the whole vehicle by itself.

No - it's an open-vented system, which keeps the weight down and reduces the draw on the leisure battery.

No. The controls run on 12V DC, but the electric heating elements need 230V AC mains. Away from hook-up, you'll need to heat with gas or diesel. Run from a leisure battery, the electric heating would produce only around 9 W - roughly a tenth of the heat your own body gives off.

When filled, it's about 10 kg heavier than a combi heater. Separate space and water heaters are generally less powerful these days, so they aren't a like-for-like comparison.

No. Alde Compact boilers have aluminium surfaces inside the glycol cylinder, and any copper particles circulating into it would set up galvanic corrosion.

Yes, interior heating is possible both with and without water content, depending on the operational setting.

Straight away, remove any ignition sources - put out naked flames, don't touch electrical switches, phones or radios, and don't start the engine. Open the windows and doors, get everyone out of the vehicle, shut off the gas cylinders or external gas supply, and have the whole system checked and repaired by a qualified expert.

If the vehicle is not in use during freezing periods, you must completely drain the water container via the safety/drain valve (FrostControl or manual drain valve). The system does not feature an internal active frost protection mechanism that prevents freezing without draining.

Yes, as long as a suitable safety shut-off device - for example a gas pressure regulator like Truma's MonoControl CS - is fitted in line with UN ECE Regulation 122, to stop gas escaping uncontrolled in a crash.

Let the heater cool, remove the cover over the electrical connector, and press the switch's reset button.

Green means operational, and yellow indicates the warm water heat-up phase.

You can select 900 W or 1800 W depending on the setting.

Depress and turn the ignition button roughly 90 degrees anti-clockwise to release the battery. Take the cap off and fit a new battery (1.5V AAA / R3 / Micro), checking the polarity is correct.

Climate class SN (which Dometic calls 'Extended Temperate') means the fridge is designed to work reliably when the air temperature is from +10°C up to +32°C (taken at the bottom vent grille, outside the vehicle).

In a hot summer the outside temperature often reaches about 32°C - the top of the fridge's rated range - and once it climbs higher, the temperature inside the fridge will inevitably rise. An absorption fridge needs a heat source to move its refrigerant around the cooling unit (which is why it can run on 12V, 230V or gas), so it has to get rid of the heat from its power source as well as the heat drawn out of the food compartment.

To help it in hot weather: park where the fridge vents get as much shade as possible during the day; unclip the outside vent grilles to improve airflow; and if you regularly travel somewhere hot, consider having a ventilator kit (a fan fitted behind the fridge) installed to boost the airflow - Dometic lists these among its accessories.

The RM(X)8xxx range can take an S+ signal on its control board, which lets it pick solar-supplied DC power when it's available. For this you need a solar regulator from Dometic's Büttner range that has a signal output cable, wired to S+. The panel charges the leisure battery (or batteries), and whenever the regulator signals that solar power is available, the fridge gives it top priority in AES (automatic) mode.

In automatic mode the fridge chooses its energy source in this order: solar DC first, then mains AC, then ordinary 12V DC, and gas last. Most AES set-ups take their 12V feed from the vehicle's starter battery, with the alternator's D+ signal allowing DC operation; to use the S+ signal instead, you'll need a changeover switch so the 12V heating element is supplied from the leisure battery rather than the vehicle battery.

On 12V the element is rated 120-190W, so the fridge draws a continuous 10-15A on DC - more than most vehicles' leisure batteries can sustain for long, which is why this solar/DC mode tends to be used where the fridge is fitted in a beach hut or similar off-grid building. Bear in mind that changing the vehicle's wiring could void your warranty - Dometic advises checking with your dealer first.

Dometic's 2023 'New for old - simply swap' guide covers both its absorption and compressor fridges, showing which current models replace older ones. It's available from the catalogues section of Dometic's website.

Check the fuse in the mains supply and replace it if it has blown, and make sure the vehicle is actually plugged into a mains supply. If both are fine, the AC heating element may have failed - that needs an authorised Dometic service centre.

Possible causes, and what to do: the vehicle's own fuse has blown - replace it (see the vehicle's handbook); the vehicle battery is flat - test it and recharge it; the ignition is off - switch it on. If the fuse in the fridge's DC cable has blown (the fuse on the relay) or the DC heating element has failed, contact an authorised Dometic service centre.

Check the gas cylinder isn't empty (change it if it is) and that the gas valve is turned on. If air has got into the gas pipe, turn the fridge off and on again, repeating this three or four times if needed; if a gas hob or cooker is fitted, switch that on, then try the fridge again if needed.

The mains voltage is too low. The fridge switches back to mains by itself once the supply voltage recovers.

Work through the likely causes: the cooling unit isn't getting enough air - make sure the outside vent grilles aren't blocked; the evaporator has iced up - check the door shuts properly and the seal is seated and undamaged, then defrost the fridge; the temperature setting is too warm - turn it to a colder setting; it's very hot outside - take the vent grille off for a while so hot air can escape faster; too much food, or too much warm food, went in at once - take some out, and let warm food cool before putting it back; the fridge was only switched on recently - give it four to five hours, then recheck the temperature.

To get it ready: take the tank out through the service door, stand it up with the pour-out spout facing upward, remove the cap, add the correct amount of waste-holding tank additive plus roughly 3L of water, then refit the cap and slide the tank back in. To empty it: wheel the tank to an authorised disposal point, take the cap off, hold the vent button down with your thumb while tipping the spout downward to empty out, add about 5L of water, give it a gentle shake to clean it, empty again, rinse the float under a tap, fold the handle back in, and slot the tank back into the toilet.

Undo the mast's locking collar and lift the antenna up. Work out whether local broadcasts are vertical or horizontal, and orient the antenna to suit. Turn the amplifier on (its LED will light) and wind the gain fully anti-clockwise down to MIN. Slowly rotate the antenna: red means a poor signal, yellow means it's improving, green means you've found it.

No green anywhere? Turn the gain up and sweep round the full 360 degrees again. Once you've located the transmitter, turn gain up to MAX, switch the television on, and tune it in.

1. Top up the fresh water container and stand it beside the wall socket on the caravan's offside external wall. 2. Check that the pump isolator switch on the inside control panel is off. 3. Turn on the kitchen's hot tap, with every other tap shut. 4. Put the pump into the container outside, making sure it sits right down at the bottom. 5.

Lift the wall socket's lid and push the pump assembly plug fully home into it. 6. Fit the dust cover over the container opening. 7. Switch the pump isolator switch back on at the control panel. 8. Once the kitchen's hot tap runs freely, let it go a few seconds longer to clear any trapped air, then turn it off. Do the same again for the cold kitchen tap.

a. Drain the whole system. b. Open every kitchen tap (lever taps should be lifted to their central position) and leave them open for good. c. Do the same for the bathroom and shower taps, including the shower's on/off control rose. d. Give the shower head a shake to clear any water held inside, then disconnect it from the hose. e.

Take out the cold water drain plug, if your caravan has one - it's usually underneath, near the water inlet socket. f. Clear any water left in the pipework at the inlet sockets and the in-line pressure switch. g. Unplug any cartridge or in-line filters from the plumbing. h. Shake out submersible pumps and keep them somewhere dry. i.

Drain the external shower's bridge connection on the Ultraflow housing, either by fitting the shower connector or opening the valve with a tool.

1. If there's air trapped in the submersible pump it won't prime properly - free it by gently shaking the pump while it's underwater in the tank, with the power switched off. 2. For an external submersible pump, get it into the water first, then connect it to the van's side.

1. Once the system's properly primed, close every tap and shower. 2. Keep the power supply on. 3. Turn the adjusting screw clockwise to tighten it - the pump should start running. 4. Open one cold tap partway so water flows at roughly a pint every 15 seconds. 5. Slowly back the adjusting screw off again until you hear the switch start to click - at that point it's correctly adjusted.

The tension clips sit on the cassette's left-hand side - flyscreen adjustment above, sunscreen below. Push a screwdriver into a clip, press gently inward, then twist it clockwise a turn or two to add tension, or anti-clockwise to slacken it off. Release the inward pressure slowly so it re-engages with its internal ratchet.

Recheck and repeat as needed until both crossbars settle back at the top by themselves. Avoid overtightening.

You can transfer the Lunar warranty to a new owner, provided the caravan has had regular servicing at a Lunar dealer or an NCC-Approved Workshop (AWS). The transfer needs to happen no later than 28 days after the new owner takes over. You'll need to send full proof of annual servicing along with the sales receipt and a £50 admin fee, then post the completed change-of-ownership form and paperwork to Lunar Caravans Limited (After Sales Department), Sherdley Road, Lostock Hall, Preston PR5 5JF.

Validity depends on having your caravan serviced and damp-checked every year at an approved workshop, with genuine parts and the recommended sealants used throughout. Years 1, 3 and 6 need that service done within 60 days before the purchase anniversary, or on it - never after. Years 2, 4 and 5 allow a 60-day window either side of the anniversary, provided no gap between services runs over 14 months.