QEK Junior
The QEK Junior is a caravan from the GDR which , along with two other models, the QEK Aero and the QEK 325 , was manufactured from 1974 to 1990 as part of the GDR consumer goods production.
Manufacturer
The QEK Junior was developed by a working group in the main plant in Hennigsdorf of the VEB Quality and Stainless Steel Combine (hence the abbreviation “QEK”) and manufactured in cooperation with three plants in the combine. The final assembly took place in the VEB Maxhütte Unterwellenborn , operating part Schmiedefeld . For this reason, the Federal Motor Transport Authority primarily specifies ISOKO Schmiedefeld as the manufacturer in the vehicle registration document. Other possible manufacturers are CAS Staßfurt (VEB CAS Staßfurt) or CAL Leipzig (VEB Chemieanlagenbaukombinat Leipzig-Grimma).
The QEK Junior is a single-axle caravan with a self-supporting polyester structure with a pop-up roof that is only insulated in the area of the window line. Originally conceived for a family of three to four people, nowadays two people are preferred when traveling in a car.
variants
The QEK Junior was initially built as the HP 400.83 without its own brake. The HP 500.83 / 2 variant was added later, which initially had a hydraulic overrun brake and a mechanical parking brake. The hydraulic overrun brake was later replaced by a mechanical one and retained until the end of the construction period. This should also enable weaker towing vehicles such as the Trabant 601 or Saporoshez to carry the QEK Junior.
The HP 400.83 has an empty weight of around 300 kg and a permissible total weight of 400 kg. The HP 500.83 / 2, on the other hand, weighs around 360 kg when empty and has a permissible total weight of 500 kg.
landing gear
The driving behavior of the QEK Junior also meets today's requirements. On the one hand, this is due to the low weight and small dimensions of the car, and on the other hand, the QEK Junior has a chassis with independent suspension that is relatively complex for trailers . Two wishbones are suspended from a central tubular frame, which are sprung using coil springs and rubber stops. Standard shock absorbers allow vibrations to subside quickly. This construction was used in both the HP 400.83 and the HP 500.83. Only the braking system was added.
The hydraulic overrun brake on the HP 500.83 / 2 is exotic today, but was standard in trailer construction in the GDR. The Bastei and Intercamp caravan types , and the Camptourist tent trailer up to 1984, were also equipped with hydraulic braking systems. The advantage of the hydraulic overrun brake is its uniform effect, the disadvantage is the higher maintenance costs compared to purely mechanical overrun brake systems. In the GDR, one trailer type after another was gradually converted to mechanical overrun brakes. The QEK Junior also received such a braking system at the end of the 1980s.
construction
The advantage of the QEK Junior was that, with a little luck, you can put the caravan in a normal garage: the QEK Junior has a total length of 3,850 mm (body length 2,900 mm), a total width of 1,925 mm and a total height of 2,000 mm. An acceptable headroom in the interior is achieved by the lifting roof and a recess in the floor in front of the kitchen unit. It should be mentioned here that this standing area is divided into two halves by the cover of the drawbar tube, which can occasionally be a tripping hazard. The structure of the QEK Junior has four windows which cannot be opened in the standard state. However, sufficient ventilation is achieved through the lifting roof, forced ventilation in the floor area in front of the kitchen unit and through the divided entrance door. The kitchenette is in the bow on the right and a wardrobe in the bow on the left. This is followed by the recessed standing area with the lifting roof. Behind it there is a seating group that offers space for six people and can be converted into a bed surface by lowering the table attached to the rear wall. This lying surface has a dimension of 1880 mm × 1860 mm.
The kitchen has a removable two-burner gas cooker of the type BAT Campy 75/1 ( VEB Monsator ) or type Campy Foron 2000. A sink without water system, but with a drain to the outside, was standard in the early HP 400.83 on the left in the kitchen block (next to the wardrobe ), later the more practical installation location on the right in the kitchen block (at the entrance door) was chosen. The kitchen unit has an upper and a lower unit with sliding doors. The opening of the wardrobe, however, is only closed by a curtain.
Further storage space can be found in the seat chests, which are closed with plywood lids and on which the eight foam cushions rest. All furniture, like the entire structure, is made of polyester. Only the three floor parts are made of plywood.
In addition to the electrical installation of the traffic lighting, the QEK Junior has 12 V interior lighting that is fed by the battery of the towing vehicle. The two (later four) lamps are located above the rear window and in the area of the kitchen unit. Depending on the equipment, the QEK Junior has a converter with a power of 50 W, with which the interior lighting can also be operated using a 230 V mains connection. If the towing vehicle still had an on-board voltage of 6 V, the converter could also supply this output voltage by reconnecting it. Then, however, the 12 V light bulbs had to be exchanged for those with a nominal voltage of 6 V.
If the QEK Junior has the converter, the caravan has a 12 V socket as well as a 230 V socket. The QEK Junior does not have a separate gas bottle locker as standard. A gas bottle with a capacity of three or five kilograms can be installed in the interior under the sink. From there, the gas cooker is also connected via a hose. For external gas boxes on the drawbar, there were retrofitting options specially tailored to this type of caravan.
Trivia
A German minimal electro project was named after the caravan.
The QEK Junior caravans produced in VEB ISOKO Schmiedefeld were delivered on the rail route of the Probstzella – Neuhaus am Rennweg railway .
