5th Year of Owning a Slide-in Camper, Practical Sharing, Major Mistakes to Avoid When Purchasing a Slide-in Camper

Tags: Slide-in Camper, Camper Recommendation, Camper Travel

First, a disclaimer: I am not a big name or a celebrity in the slide-in camper circle. The views in this article only represent my personal opinions and do not target any organization or individual. Comments with different opinions are welcome in the comment area.

Mistake 1 When Buying a Slide-in Camper: The More Seats, the Better

I have also met many friends who consult me about slide-in campers. The first question they ask is how many people this vehicle can seat. When they hear that some slide-in campers only have 4 seats, they almost all have the same expression and say: Such a big slide-in camper only has 4 seats. How can a family of 5 fit?

This is probably the idea in the mind of most novice slide-in camper buyers. In fact, the biggest cost of traveling with a slide-in camper is time. Young people have to work and children have to go to school. It is impossible for all family members to travel together every time. So don’t care too much about the number of seats. When slide-in camper manufacturers design and produce slide-in campers, they take into account that most buyers are first-time buyers. In actual use, these seats are always empty, resulting in a lot of wasted space.

Mistake 2 When Buying a Slide-in Camper: The More Beds, the Better

Like the number of seats, many novices ask when consulting about slide-in campers: How many people can your slide-in camper sleep? Why do I only see one bed? This is also one of the mistakes in buying a slide-in camper.

First of all, due to domestic policies, the length of slide-in campers in China must be controlled within 6 meters. If it exceeds 6 meters, it cannot be registered with a blue license plate, nor can it enjoy the treatment of a small car, and the requirements for a driver’s license are higher. Under this framework, the space of a slide-in camper is fixed within 6 meters, and the width of a slide-in camper cannot exceed 2.4 meters at most. As a result, the interior space of a slide-in camper is only about 12 square meters at most.

I often tell everyone: If your 80-square-meter house is crowded with 5 people, let alone a slide-in camper of only more than ten square meters, all in one space with no doors or walls separating the beds. It can be said that when one person turns over, everyone in the vehicle knows. How can there be any comfort when sleeping 5-6 people in such a space?

Most extra beds are basically made by flipping and splicing seats, which inevitably have many seams and are uncomfortable to sleep on. More beds will inevitably occupy the limited space of the slide-in camper. For example, the storage box of a bunk bed model will definitely not be big, and the headroom of a model with a lifting bed will be very depressing.

Mistake 3 When Buying a Slide-in Camper: Electric Macerating Direct Discharge Toilet

My first slide-in camper was equipped with an electric macerating direct discharge toilet. At first, I also thought this toilet was very convenient and could discharge sewage without manual operation. Later, in use, I found that this electric macerating toilet was really not easy to use.

1.Too water-consuming. This toilet automatically completes the flushing process by pressing a button after use, which cannot be paused. The whole flushing process takes about 1-2 minutes. I once tried that when the water tank was full and no water was used for other purposes, the 120-liter water tank was used up after flushing the toilet 11 times [the water tank volume is according to the manufacturer’s instructions, and the volume may be falsely marked]. That is to say, each flush consumes nearly 10 liters of water, which is a huge waste for the precious water on a slide-in camper.

2.Sewage discharge is troublesome. In fact, electric macerating toilets are very good for campground slide-in campers, because there is no shortage of water sources in campgrounds, and there are direct sewage discharge pipes connected, so there is no problem of difficult sewage discharge. For slide-in campers, the black water tank is also limited. Every time the black water tank is full, you have to find a sewer to discharge sewage. Under the current lack of domestic campgrounds, if you stay in one place for 3-5 days, discharging sewage from the black water tank will be a troublesome thing. Discharging sewage at will on the road or in a parking lot is equivalent to defecating anywhere, and you must never do such a thing.

3.Odor from the black water tank comes back into the vehicle. Due to the negative pressure when the vehicle is running, the odor in the black water tank is drawn into the carriage. This problem bothered me for a long time. Finally, it was improved by plugging the drain plugs of the hand sink and the stove to the hand basin before driving every time. The black water tank and gray water tank of this vehicle are shared. Finally, I simply gave up using the toilet to completely solve the problem.

Because of the lesson from the toilet on my first slide-in camper, the first requirement when I changed my vehicle later was that it must be a toilet with a pull-out black water tank. At least, this toilet is water-saving, convenient for sewage discharge, and odor-free, which is universally recognized.

Some slide-in campers are equipped with portable toilets. Although they are not as convenient to use as pull-out toilets, they are still better than electric macerating direct discharge toilets.

Therefore, I suggest you must choose a toilet with a pull-out black water tank when buying a slide-in camper.

At this point, some people may say that the toilet on a slide-in camper is just a decoration. Who will defecate in such a small space? I disagree with this view. People have three urgent needs. If a slide-in camper has no bathroom or toilet, what is the difference between it and a bed car? You have to get out of the car to go to the public toilet in the middle of the night. It is troublesome to put on clothes, poor in safety, and far from high-quality slide-in camper life.

Mistake 4 When Buying a Slide-in Camper: Domestic Parking Fuel Heater

Both my first slide-in camper and my second slide-in camper were equipped with factory-installed domestic parking fuel heaters.

Let me talk about my experience using this fuel heater:

1.Loud noise. Every time it is turned on, the sound is like a plane taking off, which is very disturbing to residents, so I basically dare not use it.

2.Thick smoke. In winter, when using this parking fuel heater, thick white smoke comes out of the exhaust pipe. I thought the car was on fire the first time I used it, so I quickly took out the fire extinguisher to deal with it.

3.Strong odor. There is a pungent smell of incompletely burned diesel when in use, and there is a pungent odor in the car.

The above is my own use experience. Later, I also saw other car owners have this phenomenon, which should not be an individual problem.

However, after I changed my vehicle, the Webasto parking fuel heater installed on the car has none of these problems. Although it still makes a sound during use, it can hardly be heard unless you listen carefully, and there is no phenomenon of thick smoke.