Hello from Cumbria. We're the proud owners of a new Eriba Touring Troll 530 which we collected from Airstream and Company at Tebay, Cumbria in the first week of October 2013. We immediately set off in it for a week's holiday in the Forest of Dean and had a fabulous time. We were lucky to catch the very last week of the fine autumn weather that just spilled over from September into early October. We loved the caravan from the moment we started using it!

There were a few problems (they didn't affect our holiday at all) with the electrics fit. In fact everything worked perfectly but there was a mismatch of what we had with what we would have had if we had bought the caravan ex-factory. Airstream agreed to correct this though so it is now back with them for that work. The work is almost finished so we will be collecting it from them again soon.

We downsized from a 7.2m Bailey Pegasus which we towed with a Discovery. We had decided to change the Discovery for a Skoda Yeti 4x4 (so downsizing the car as well) and the Eriba is a better tow match with the Yeti we think. We have only just got the Yeti so have not yet had a chance to tow with it.

We have also joined the Eriba Owners Club but we're not sure how we book up for meets (or get information about them). Their website doesn't seem to have much on it! Can anyone advise on that please?

We're looking forward to lots of good times in our Eriba! It may be small but it's well-designed, well-built and pretty. Small but perfectly formed in fact!

Roger & Marian

Good to see you here Roger and good to see that Roger Randa has given the lowdown on the EOC.

With regard to your purchase from Airstream, I got the distinct impression early last year that they weren't going to entertain factory orders for customers and would only sell vans they had ordered for stock. IMO that's a bit presumptive when you've never sold a particular brand and never dealt with the manufacturer before. All the Eriba dealers tend to have their own take on a spec. for stock vans, usually based on experience of what most people want on factory orders. If you haven't got that experience then you're taking a risk ordering in stock that it's possible nobody will want except at highly discounted prices. Not good for profitability.
It would be interesting to know what was fitted to your van originally in the electrics dep't if I only so we know how to advise others who have the same kit in future.

Thanks Roger and Amanda, this is all very useful! I will post separately about the electrics situation on my Troll. We are looking forward to towing with the Yeti when we get the caravan back! With a Discovery you didn't know you were towing but we think the 2 litre Yeti will be a very good match for the Eriba. We only got the Yeti a week ago and are delighted with it.

Thanks for the information on the EOC. We will email Eric. We hope to get to the Charmouth Rally at least for a few days (we will be en-route for a ferry). In early July though we'll be in France. We do hope to get to La Rochelle in June - we'll email the organisers but if you have any more details that would be great too. We have friends in La Rochelle and plan to visit them anyway - the Summer Rally dates would fit in well with that. It would be nice to meet up with you and the Frantones there as well.

Thanks again for such a helpful reply,

R&M

Thanks for your reply Andy. I think your impression of Airstream's initial intentions were correct. I think also that they didn't understand well enough the admittedly complex options structure on the Eriba specifications and pricelists. The sales stock vans had option sets that would not satisfy many UK customers - for example: no battery or battery charging capability; no water heating in spite of the bathroom having a shower attachment option on the "hot" tap (shower a bit dubious anyway in a very small space?). But it would suggest hot water capability especially with mixer taps in the van!.

We ran into the no battery / no charging problem with our ex- sales stock Troll 530 (which had no charger). It also had no water heating but Airstream had a Truma Therme heater in their spares stock. Life was more difficult on the electrics side. The sales stock Troll had a CSV300 PSU that had been factory fitted - this is a simple AC/DC power supply which feeds the 12v circuits when hooked up to mains. So, no battery charging capability. Our sales order specified Hymer's "Autonomy Pack" option which included battery charging capability, an 80ah gel battery, a 12v-circuits isolating switch and wiring outputs for a control panel should the user wish to fit one. All this was achieved in a factory order van by installing not the simple CSV300 but a more sophisticated PSU/Charger unit, the CSV406. None of this was apparent to us at the time and Airstream did nothing to make it clear! The "Autonomy Pack" we had ordered (and were to pay for) included the CSV406, battery and isolator switch. But our caravan had the CSV 300! Both the CSV300 and CSV406 are manufactured by Schaut for Hymer.

Airstream chose to deal with this, not by ordering us a CSV406 but by ordering an add-on charger directly from Schaut. This was fitted to add charging capability to the CSV300. It was a 3-stage intelligent charger but for what we had paid for the "Autonomy Pack", discounting the battery, I would say we could have bought at least 4 such chargers! Moreover the result would have had no control panel output wiring (as the CSV406 has) and no 12v circuit isolation (ditto); to turn off the water pump (possibly urgently) it would have been necessary to remove the correct 12v fuse!

The charger procurement from Schaut was long-winded because Airstream had no 30-day credit or invoicing arrangement with Schaut. This added over a week to the delivery (already late on promise) and almost caused us to have to cancel our booked holiday (rather stressful). The CSV 406//CSV300 situation did not become apparent to us until we had taken delivery of the van on 1 October - we had ordered (ex-stock) on 1 September. We realised, only after collecting the van and reading the Instruction Manual, that we certainly did not have what we had paid for. The CSV460 / CSV 300 situation was then crystal clear. We had working electrics including a battery and means of charging it, but that fell well short of what we should have had. We put this back to Airstream of course and, not for the first time, the Technical Director (Anthony Slocock) was most helpful to us. He assured us that "the right thing would be done". A CSV406 was duly ordered by Airstream and a date in 1st week of December was agreed for us to take the van back to Tebay for the correct electrics setup to be installed. Also, as a gesture to compensate us for what had happened (I think) Airstream agreed to fit a control panel for us at no extra cost so we will have not just a 12v isolation switch but also a voltmeter and two 12v circuit switches (lighting circuits and water-pump circuit).

Anthony has told me that in future Airstream will order sales-stock vans only with the factory-fitted "Autonomy Pack" (CSV406 etc).

I have no idea whether Airstream ordered the CSV406 from Hymer or directly from Schaut; nor do I know what if any refund they were able to obtain for the (used) add-on charger. However the control panel they agreed to fit then proved faulty. I was originally supposed to have the caravan back within 5 days, but it took a month to obtain a replacement control panel; the fitting work is now in progress as I write. The Eriba should be ready anytime (barring further mishaps) but I want to put some miles on my new Yeti before towing with it. So I've agreed to collect my Troll (for the second time) last week of January.

So if you want to have a battery in your Eriba and be able to charge it, make sure you have factory-fitted electrics with a CSV406 PSU/Charger, unless you are really keen on electrical DIY. And do be sure not to pay for something you haven't got! Mind you, for all I know Hymer may have changed all this for the 2014 models - I don't have an Instruction Manual for one of those. But I doubt it.

Roger

Quote: EribaEinstein wrote in post #10

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........for all I know Hymer may have changed all this for the 2014 models - I don't have an Instruction Manual for one of those. But I doubt it.

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That's a submariner for you, long lead socks

Whilst the initial payload on a Troll looks enormous on paper (compared to white wobblies) a lot can be eaten up by options with just the spare wheel and carrier plus Autonomy Pack taking 50kg, whilst it can be surprising how much other bits and pieces add up to. More recent Trolls have a 1300kg MTPLM which gives 100kg more than our 2005 540 and should be more than enough unless you wear lead underpants too.

Quote: Steamdrivenandy wrote in post #12

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..............unless you wear lead underpants too.

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Well it certainly is a minefield of Eriba buying out there....


"Finally, we are currently discussing an Eribafolk meet for early July in Gloucester and more details should be available next week....."
oh I look forward to the details! I'm try ingot o persuade the parents to join this forum having been Eriba owners for many years but he says he has got addicted to these kind of sites in the past and has promised his longstanding wife not to venture into them again. Would they be able to come on the Gloucester Meet if they are not members on here?

BTW...how so you include a quote from a previous post in your reply?