Eriba Man

 The fitted Gas Heater was an option when buying and new Eriba Puck from a dealer.  In the later Pucks, the heater fitted was the small but efficient Trumatic S2200. Although a handy and compact means of heating the van in colder weather, it did mean the sacrifice of one of the cupboards in order to house the heater. As many caravaners limited their touring to the summer months, and with many visiting campsites with main hook ups, then many bought the caravan without the optional heater. Instead, small oil filled radiators, or fan heaters were used when heating was needed. I am a big fan of basic CL type sites, particularly the really stripped back sites which don't provide power. With my solar panel, I can last indefinitely living 'off grid'. The problem arises when the temperature drops and heating is required. There is no way that a solar system and leisure battery will provide any meaningful heat in cold weather.  I considered it, but decided against 'butchering...

There are a number of quirks in the Eriba Puck, and one which always amazed me was why in the later models a tiny 'tablette' was added under the rear window. The edge also holds the mounting hinge for the table. Not only does this restrict the bed by 6", the hinge is notorious for banging your head when getting out of the bed. Apparently, this shelf was considered a design flaw by Eriba, and it just never made sense. So, took my 5 mins to remove the shelf and bracket. I'll keep this in case I ever want to return the van to it's original state. When I made a new shorter table, I still had the hinge section left which I drilled and attached to the van wall. Works perfect! And the table looks good.  All that remains is to try it out on my next trip!