Electric Picnic 2015

Alkers

So I've seen this topic in here a few times in recent years but there's nothing of yet this year. Who's planning on going and any tips for a first time not camping at it?

Also, we've missed the campervan tickets going on sale so if anyone knows any for sale please do let me know.

bladebrew

I don't have a campervan (yet!), but I wonder if batteries can last the whole weekend at electric picnic, I rented a campervan in Australia and if it was not plugged in on a site straight away all the lights would go dim and the fridge would basically stop working, it would basically be useless without a connection every night,
is this even normal? Or would batteries be expected to last all weekend as I believe there are no electrical connections supplied at electric picnic?

*Kol*

bladebrew wrote: »

I don't have a campervan (yet!), but I wonder if batteries can last the whole weekend at electric picnic, I rented a campervan in Australia and if it was not plugged in on a site straight away all the lights would go dim and the fridge would basically stop working, it would basically be useless without a connection every night,
is this even normal? Or would batteries be expected to last all weekend as I believe there are no electrical connections supplied at electric picnic?

I would expect the leisure battery to last for lights all weekend. It would also be in use for the water pump. The leisure battery does not power the fridge. With no electrical hookup the fridge would be running on gas. I think the camper you had in Australia had a bad battery. It would be strange if they had the fridge hooked up to the battery. That would kill it in a matter of minutes.

moodrater

*Kol* wrote: »

It would be strange if they had the fridge hooked up to the battery. That would kill it in a matter of minutes.

An adsorption fridge will only cool to 25-30 degrees below ambient, you need compressorin a lot of Oz.

scottmonaghan

Just booked pink moon camping for EP, Can anyone tell me is how far it is away from all the action? i hear its a bit of a trek...

Martin_D

scottmonaghan wrote: »

Just booked pink moon camping for EP, Can anyone tell me is how far it is away from all the action? i hear its a bit of a trek...

Very close - can be seen from main arena. Looks like a great option really - and not likely to descend into a 3rd world shanty like the main camping spots

*Kol*

moodrater wrote: »

An adsorption fridge will only cool to 25-30 degrees below ambient, you need compressorin a lot of Oz.

That's true. A decent three way fridge works great on gas though, just as good as on 220v. I see a lot of people don't remove the cover from the vent to allow air circulation. AfAIR it should be removed for relatively low temps >15 degrees. This helps a lot.

A 12v cool box is always an option. I am not sure how long it would take to drain a battery though?

spaceHopper

Get a liter or two of milk and freeze it should last two days

moodrater

*Kol* wrote: »

A 12v cool box is always an option. I am not sure how long it would take to drain a battery though?

Peltier coolboxes are the same max 20c below ambient more like 18C in real life. Most of them are poorly insulated and about 5% efficient so 40w of 12v removes 2 joules of heat per second.

spaceHopper wrote: »

Get a liter or two of milk and freeze it should last two days

This is what we do also:
2 liters of milk at -18C rising to 5C is the equivalent of 180000 Joules

Thats the equivalent cooling of 25 hours of 40w coolbox running constantly which would consume 80Ah of battery.

SonOfPerdition

Simona1986 wrote: »

So I've seen this topic in here a few times in recent years but there's nothing of yet this year. Who's planning on going and any tips for a first time not camping at it?

Also, we've missed the campervan tickets going on sale so if anyone knows any for sale please do let me know.

Try to time your arrival to avoid the queues, early friday morning last year was a breeze. They search every camper and this adds to the delay of getting in.

speaking of searching, don't pack any glass bottles or bring a generator. They will be taken off you on the way in. bring cans and have your spirits transferred to a plastic bottle.

There is a place to empty your toilet cassette, but no fresh water to top up your tank and no electric hookup. so brim your water tank, and make sure your leisure battery is in good condition.

Bring earplugs if you are a light sleeper. The campervan site can be noisy depending on your neighbours, or location in relation to a path.

A decent warm bed, cold beer from your own fridge, plenty of supplies, shower facilities, and your own toilet .. once you've gone in a camper you'll never want to go back to camping in a tent ..

enjoy!

stevire

Camper tickets are quite scarce, I think I'll have no choice but a tent this year!

SonOfPerdition

stevire wrote: »

Camper tickets are quite scarce, I think I'll have no choice but a tent this year!

They don't post them until a couple of weeks before the picnic, so mid august they'll appear in peoples letter boxes. A few tickets tend to pop up for sale then. Keep an eye on toutless.com where you could pick one up for face value, you'd need to be persistent and monitor the thread frequently though.

Alkers

SonOfPerdition wrote: »

They don't post them until a couple of weeks before the picnic, so mid august they'll appear in peoples letter boxes. A few tickets tend to pop up for sale then. Keep an eye on toutless.com where you could pick one up for face value, you'd need to be persistent and monitor the thread frequently though.

Exactly - they actually put more tickets up for sale in the past couple of weeks - I only found out through diligently following the thread on toutless.

Alkers

Does anyone know will I be able to fill water tanks on site or should I fill up before arriving?

Martin_D

Simona1986 wrote: »

Does anyone know will I be able to fill water tanks on site or should I fill up before arriving?

Load up before you get there. Taps on site but you queue to fill a container. There is a black waste point- gets messy but manageable.

DayvFit

How tough is it to find people reselling their tickets. Just recently decided I really wanna go

*Kol*

DayvFit wrote: »

How tough is it to find people reselling their tickets. Just recently decided I really wanna go

You will probably find tickets in the last few weeks running up to it when people drop out of going at the last minute.

corcaigcailin

CAMPERVAN wanted
4 mature ladies who would treat your van like their own.

[Please note:
1. I know it's very difficult to secure a campervan, I've tried everywhere.
2. No, I'm not willing to sell my campervan ticket.]

Alkers

If you get stuck - remember you're also allowed to bring caravans!

corcaigcailin

Thanks Simona, none of us has experience driving a trailer/caravan so we're not allowed the use of a car with a hitch, which is fair enough. I reeeeeeeallly want a campervan!!

Alkers

It's not that difficult, you'd get the hang of it in one outing!

Does anyone know what the story is with bringing in cutlery and the likes is?

landmarkjohn

spaceHopper wrote: »

Get a liter or two of milk and freeze it should last two days

For your morning muesli use Almond milk, not bad at all, does not need to be refrigerated although we keep it in there anyway.

Tea and coffee, after the first cup of black you soon get used to it.

Good leisure battery should last the weekend on lights and water if used with sense. Frugality with water and power are the keys to success when wild camping.

corcaigcailin

We got a rental!!!!!!!!!!!!! Very happy campers now....haha.

Anymore tips along the lines of what KOL and Sons of Perdition had to offer would be great.

*Kol*

corcaigcailin wrote: »

We got a rental!!!!!!!!!!!!! Very happy campers now....haha.

Anymore tips along the lines of what KOL and Sons of Perdition had to offer would be great.

Make sure you have full water so you can boil a kettle, wash your teeth/hands, have a shower (maybe).
Make sure your grey water is empty so you can hold the contents of above.
Empty your toilet and use as little as possible.
Have enough gas for cooking, hot water, fridge, heating as necessary.
something you may not need hopefully but just in case. Make sure you lock any bikes on your rack or barbecues outside just in case. also bring a footpump just in case anybody thinks its hilarious to let down your tyres.

If you have a working fridge there is nothing better than filling it with tons of sausages, rashers, puddings, and eggs! Burgers, chops, anything that can be done on a pan or BBQ. Milk of course. And the obligatory slab of coke (coca cola).
Butter galore and then 20 sliced pans (no point in starving to death). Zillions of bags of crisps.

Finally, tea bags, coffee, sugar, hot chocolate..

landmarkjohn

When driving home, if you haven't already emptied the toilet cassette fill about 4-5 inches of water into it when sluice trap is closed to form a seal , this will help prevent fumes from coming into the wagon as you drive along agitating the waste. You can open the roof vent if it has one facing backwards (i.e. you don't want it catching the wind a ripping off) to vent toilet as well.

Might not make sense now but if you are driving along and you get a whiff you will say "ah..." ;-)

Mine is an older camper, with a modern rental you might not have to deal with such things.

Alkers

Has anyone yet to receiver their campervan ticket?

Martin_D

Simona1986 wrote: »

Has anyone yet to receiver their campervan ticket?

No sign of any tickets yet - camper or weekend - would expect them in coming week

corcaigcailin

Great pointers, thanks people.
Also awaiting the campervan ticket and glad to hear others haven't received theirs yet.

Wx

That's interesting re the tickets. My daughter advertised for a camper ticket, got one last year but missed out this year. Two days ago a guy rang her oferingva ticket for €150, which she would have paid but she was not happy with some of his answers and called it off.

SonOfPerdition

Campervan tickets have started to arrive in post boxes. Mine arrived last fri and others have arrived today. I'd imagine that if anyone has a spare for any reason they'll pop it up for sale between now and the weekend of the picnic.

0kee

Going to the picnic with my camper and haven't managed to sort a ticket yet (anyone looking to sell one??) Would they have a problem with parking it up in the car park and sleeping there? Plenty of people sleep in their cars and vans...

Martin_D

0kee wrote: »

Going to the picnic with my camper and haven't managed to sort a ticket yet (anyone looking to sell one??) Would they have a problem with parking it up in the car park and sleeping there? Plenty of people sleep in their cars and vans...

Look on the website - they will not permit overnights in carparks - whatever about not being too obvious in a car or van a camper will surely attract security attention.

Alkers

Did anyone get directions in with the campervan ticket?
Got everything checked today, replaced bulbs with LEDs, checked fridge and cooker working on gas.
Will a standard gas canister do the fridge for the whole weekend?

Martin_D

Simona1986 wrote: »

Did anyone get directions in with the campervan ticket?
Got everything checked today, replaced bulbs with LEDs, checked fridge and cooker working on gas.
Will a standard gas canister do the fridge for the whole weekend?

Easy. uses very little, even with a bit of cooking. Heating won't arise really - even tho' chilly at night - but you won't be there unless your in the leaba.

Bring ear plugs for sleep time

Sir_Name

I know my brother is selling a campervan ticket if you are still looking.

Alkers

Did anyone get directions with their campervan ticket?

Martin_D

Simona1986 wrote: »

Did anyone get directions with their campervan ticket?

No - but area is well signposted - harder to get lost than find the site entrance.

Roneyc

Hi all - first time bringing my camper this year, been slumming it in tent a few times before. I see on the site they advise campervans to be there on Thursday - I won't be there until Friday afternoon...does the site fill up quickly?

Also does anyone know what the deal with awnings is, I see officially that they're not allowed but is this enforced...was kind of counting on being able to put mine up!

Martin_D

Roneyc wrote: »

Hi all - first time bringing my camper this year, been slumming it in tent a few times before. I see on the site they advise campervans to be there on Thursday - I won't be there until Friday afternoon...does the site fill up quickly?

Also does anyone know what the deal with awnings is, I see officially that they're not allowed but is this enforced...was kind of counting on being able to put mine up!

Camper site is open from 4pm Thursday - so you can arrive from then but not essential (if they all did it would be chaos) - Friday up to lunchtime would be a leisurely option with loads space.

No awnings allowed but that seems to be ignored

*Kol*

Roneyc wrote: »

Hi all - first time bringing my camper this year, been slumming it in tent a few times before. I see on the site they advise campervans to be there on Thursday - I won't be there until Friday afternoon...does the site fill up quickly?

Also does anyone know what the deal with awnings is, I see officially that they're not allowed but is this enforced...was kind of counting on being able to put mine up!

Just in case you are going to the family camper site, it does not open until Friday morning. I think that gazebos are allowed so an awning should be okay

Mouzone

Roneyc wrote: »

Hi all - first time bringing my camper this year, been slumming it in tent a few times before. I see on the site they advise campervans to be there on Thursday - I won't be there until Friday afternoon...does the site fill up quickly?

Also does anyone know what the deal with awnings is, I see officially that they're not allowed but is this enforced...was kind of counting on being able to put mine up!

Anytime we've been there the security guy has asked if we're putting up an awning so he can leave enough space for it as he directs the next van into it's space.

Roneyc

Thats good news! Will be down before lunch Friday so hopefully will be early enough to nab a spot with enough space for the awning!

jimmystar23

is there generally any craft beers on sale at EP?

Alkers

Been in the campervan queue for over an hour now, hopefully almost there!

Martin_D

Well that went well.

Great weekend. Weather held up great.

Bigger crowd noticeable this year but venue just about managed to cater for it.

Could do with plenty extra seating areas - some great food stalls but no place to sit and eat in a bit of comfort (yes getting old).

Camper area could do with a few more Loos (several queues over the weekend) - yes most of us have the facilities but some camper yokes are dubious and the fleet of smaller vans need access. The extra €60 should be enough to iron out the minor issues.

Noticed a lot of extra cars in this year - no Camper Ticket - how's that (no not the ones pulling caravans - the ones parked up with campers)

Pet peeve - plastic Cup recycling as a money spinner:
How to lump an extra 20c on the price of a pint - pretend you are running a "green" festival and run a nonsense plastic cup recycling wheez. Price of pint €6.20 (€6.70 for Paulaner). You get the 20c back if you beggar yourself at a designated collection point (in yet another queue) but bring back your cup for a refill at the bar they still charge you the €6.20
Handy money for kids doing the collecting but not a true and fair recycling scheme - most people gave up on it but the Bar operator pocketed a tidy extra profit. Oh and they insist that the returned cup is unbroken although they were just bagging them in bin bags presumably to be carted off to be preprocessed which was the only positive.

Benbecul97

Were there chemical waste disposal points in the camper section?
€6.20 for a beer is daylight robbery.

Martin_D

Benbecul97 wrote: »

Were there chemical waste disposal points in the camper section?
€6.20 for a beer is daylight robbery.

Yeah - had a couple of plastic pits. Did the job - if you're short is a bit of a struggle reaching in.

SonOfPerdition

Martin_D wrote: »

Well that went well.


Noticed a lot of extra cars in this year - no Camper Ticket - how's that (no not the ones pulling caravans - the ones parked up with campers)

it may explain the new caravan and car specific ticket they've introduced this year.