What did you do to your van today?

[trevskoda]

Did you clean the area where the pad lug fits into the caliper? A wee rub with a file works.

And apply copper slip to the back of the pads, stops that eratating sqweel.

 

[HurricaneSmith]

Perhaps I'm out of date, but when I've changed my disc pads in the past it usually meant I needed to fit new discs too.

 

[trevskoda]

Perhaps I'm out of date, but when I've changed my disc pads in the past it usually meant I needed to fit new discs too.

Only if you have left it to late, you should change pads when 3/4 worn.

 

[Patrick1]

Continuously glue edge strips for cupboard doors and drawers back in place. It looks real bad without them because of the laminated polystyrene sandwich construction. It seems HYMER builds use 10 year lifespan products.
I also replaced the fresh water pump as it was talking too loudly and annoying fellow campers. I didn't get the right replacement so had to do some heath robinson. My wife likes it because the flow is less and she finds it easier to adjust the shower temperature. I am thinking about getting a lower flow and pressure pump. Bit scary though because if you get it wrong the toilet won't flush and it's money down the drain.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I finally got around to fitting the new water pump to replace the one which died in France, I was cream crackered by the time I was done.

 

[Rumour]

In May we had a new Autoterm heater fitted in place of the Eberspacher Combitronic unit. We kept the Calorifier and the warm air radiator, just replacing the boiler and controller. We had a quote of £3800 for an Eber replacement, Autoterm quoted £1200 if I went to them in Wrexham. I did ask them to put in a relay for the warm air blower and it worked fine. The only problem was having hot air everytime we had the hot water on.

Yesterday was a simple job. The installation included a relay to operate the Eber blower fan for hot air heating. I ran two wires in existing trunking from the power out (terminal 87) through a switch and back to the wiring to the boiler. So for when it is hot, the switch is off and when the weather turns, we switch it on. As I said, simple. And for a saving of £2600, I can fettle with the rest of them. Next job is to change the relay for a "either/or" relay so we can have cool air in hot weather.

 

[marchie]

See my post #6818 re 1/2 filling the water tank ... Arrived at the Hagley Bypass A491 in the hissing rain last night, and turned on the pump. No water, and no gurgles/spluttering from the taps. Gauge reading empty, because the tank was! Seems I forgot to close the 'empty the tank' valve when I emptied the system in mid-July ...

Drove to the Bell Inn, Belbroughton, 2 miles away and explained my plight. Manager couldn't have been more helpful. He volunteered to run back and forth to the Bar with 2 x 5 litre bottles whilst I stood in the hissing rain filling the tank. Manager refused any payment, and, with it being after 10:15pm when we had the Tank filled and the airlock removed, insisted that we stay on the Pub Car Park, again free of charge. The man is a star, and on the next trip south, we'll aim for the Pub and treat ourselves to a meal. He is quite happy for Forum Members to use the Pub overnight, without the stipulation of buying a meal. So, if you're heading for Newhaven Ferry, the pub is 182 miles north of the Port, and only 2 miles to M5/M42S, and about 5 miles of M5 J3, heading down A456 to the Hagley Bypass.

Steve

 

[wildebus]

Continuously glue edge strips for cupboard doors and drawers back in place. It looks real bad without them because of the laminated polystyrene sandwich construction. It seems HYMER builds use 10 year lifespan products.
I also replaced the fresh water pump as it was talking too loudly and annoying fellow campers. I didn't get the right replacement so had to do some heath robinson. My wife likes it because the flow is less and she finds it easier to adjust the shower temperature.

I am thinking about getting a lower flow and pressure pump. Bit scary though because if you get it wrong the toilet won't flush and it's money down the drain.

I had a customer who found his waterpump was too lively with his Lithium Battery and its 13V+ voltage.
I sent him an LED light dimmer to put on the +ve feed to the pump and he found he could adjust the dimmer (which worked by changing the voltage) to adjust the flow. a dimmer like that is a couple of quid and could be worth trying before swapping the pump out?

 

[Tezza33]

Bit scary though because if you get it wrong the toilet won't flush and it's money down the drain

At least if it doesn't flush you can put your hand down and remove the money

 

[trevskoda]

My loo and flushing, so next job tmo is find the fault, ohm/volt meters at dawn.

 

[marchie]

My loo and flushing, so next job tmo is find the fault, ohm/volt meters at dawn.

I used an electric eel plus my metre to trace the fault; because there's no plaice like ohm ...

Steve

 

[HurricaneSmith]

...... Drove to the Bell Inn, Belbroughton.......The man is a star .........So, if you're heading for Newhaven Ferry, the pub is 182 miles north of the Port, and only 2 miles to M5/M42S, and about 5 miles of M5 J3, heading down A456 to the Hagley Bypass.

Steve

182 miles north of Newhaven might not be a strong enough draw to attract Motorhomers ......but........

The Clent Hills are only 3 miles away, 1,000,000 visitors can't all be wrong, and they are free to visit.

That makes the Bell Inn at Belbroughton (with it's huge car park) a great place to stop, so thank you for me !

 

[marchie]

182 miles north of Newhaven might not be a strong enough draw to attract Motorhomers ......but........

The Clent Hills are only 3 miles away, 1,000,000 visitors can't all be wrong, and they are free to visit.

That makes the Bell Inn at Belbroughton (with it's huge car park) a great place to stop, so thank you for me !

I was born in Stourbridge, and visits to Client Hills (esp. Boxing Day sledging) we're a regular feature! I told the Manager of the Bell Inn that I had attended the Xmas Dinner Season in 1979 with my colleagues from Crawley Heath branch of the Bank, and he replied, tactfully, that that was before he was born ...

Steve

 

[rugbyken]

before they were born always hurts at goosnargh i told frankie the bar manager i’d come out the army in 74 he said that’s the year my mum was born !!!

 

[marchie]

I was born in Stourbridge, and visits to Client Hills (esp. Boxing Day sledging) we're a regular feature! I told the Manager of the Bell Inn that I had attended the Xmas Dinner Season in 1979 with my colleagues from Crawley Heath branch of the Bank, and he replied, tactfully, that that was before he was born ...

Steve

'Cradley Heath', not 'Crawley Heath' ...

Steve

 

[wildebus]

Doing a few tweaks to the Motorhome experience ... not so much DOING actual things to the van, but more changing how I am using it ...

Thought the Microwave was broken when I tried to use it at Druridge so ordered a replacement from Amazon. Turned out the Microwave was fine but the supply had no Neutral supply (which my NCV tester would not pick up on and I thought the supply was good all the way into the oven - lesson learned there!).
But new Microwave has 'flatplate technology' - which means no annoying turntable to deal with - and a grill, which I think will be handy to be able to do things like heat pasties and also crisp them up a little. New one was 1cm wider which meant had to modify the Tambour doors and rails in order to allow them to open wider to slot it in, but fingers crossed was worth it
Also, despite old and new both being 800W Microwaves, the old one drew 1170W in use and the new one draws 1050W, so actually seems quite a bit more efficient for some reason.

I can't remember the last time I used the gas oven in the built-in cooker - I use an Air-fryer - and the same goes for the gas grill as well - especially with a grill within the new Microwave - so put some cloths over the metal insides to make it anti-rattle and is now my full-time pot & pan storage

Next addition is a double-step to get in. I don't have to much of an issue with the single electric step (although it is far from perfect having said that) but the OH with her little legs finds it a bit awkward. Looked at double-step options ... replacing the electric single with a double electric one is just too pricey so dismissed that and the typical caravan double step is ok for a caravan, but for a motorhome I thought it would get in the way as take up too much room and get in the way, when inside between stops.
I found this folding step on Amazon which looked ideal and decided to go for it

Nice deep treads and the dimensions meant it is an equal height between the ground and each step and the internal step in the motorhome. Not the cheapest step, but seems pretty solid and when folded up it fits neatly and out the way behind the drivers seat so not in the way when not needed.
This step is available sold as Kampa and Maypole, but I chose one with some odd German name for £45 - link here

Final thing for the day was sorting out my Mesh Firepit... Didn't notice until Druridge, but the bolts that keep the legs on the frame were too short for the nyloc nuts to properly secure and one after another fell off! Replaced the bolts with longer ones so the nylocs would stay in place, plus some washers to make positioning the legs more solid. I would suggest anyone with a mesh firepit like this check the bolts are long enough to do the job...

 

[runnach]

Bea has been on my case for ages to add a little bit more worktop space for light stuff, IKEA to the rescue, not too bad a colour match either.

 

[marchie]

Doing a few tweaks to the Motorhome experience ... not so much DOING actual things to the van, but more changing how I am using it ...

Thought the Microwave was broken when I tried to use it at Druridge so ordered a replacement from Amazon. Turned out the Microwave was fine but the supply had no Neutral supply (which my NCV tester would not pick up on and I thought the supply was good all the way into the oven - lesson learned there!).
But new Microwave has 'flatplate technology' - which means no annoying turntable to deal with - and a grill, which I think will be handy to be able to do things like heat pasties and also crisp them up a little. New one was 1cm wider which meant had to modify the Tambour doors and rails in order to allow them to open wider to slot it in, but fingers crossed was worth it
Also, despite old and new both being 800W Microwaves, the old one drew 1170W in use and the new one draws 1050W, so actually seems quite a bit more efficient for some reason.

I can't remember the last time I used the gas oven in the built-in cooker - I use an Air-fryer - and the same goes for the gas grill as well - especially with a grill within the new Microwave - so put some cloths over the metal insides to make it anti-rattle and is now my full-time pot & pan storage

Next addition is a double-step to get in. I don't have to much of an issue with the single electric step (although it is far from perfect having said that) but the OH with her little legs finds it a bit awkward. Looked at double-step options ... replacing the electric single with a double electric one is just too pricey so dismissed that and the typical caravan double step is ok for a caravan, but for a motorhome I thought it would get in the way as take up too much room and get in the way, when inside between stops.
I found this folding step on Amazon which looked ideal and decided to go for it

Nice deep treads and the dimensions meant it is an equal height between the ground and each step and the internal step in the motorhome. Not the cheapest step, but seems pretty solid and when folded up it fits neatly and out the way behind the drivers seat so not in the way when not needed.
This step is available sold as Kampa and Maypole, but I chose one with some odd German name for £45 - link here

Final thing for the day was sorting out my Mesh Firepit... Didn't notice until Druridge, but the bolts that keep the legs on the frame were too short for the nyloc nuts to properly secure and one after another fell off! Replaced the bolts with longer ones so the nylocs would stay in place, plus some washers to make positioning the legs more solid. I would suggest anyone with a mesh firepit like this check the bolts are long enough to do the job...

We bought the obscure label similar step from Leclerc Hypermarché in Miranda d'Ebro in early May for €32.99 [about £28.50] and use it to get into the drop down bed. Ours has 2 treads and a top deck platform, giving an overall height of 65cm and the same footprint. The extra height means we can leave the bed at the height that is just about flush with the lounge seating, saving the night/morning routine of chucking the upholstery around to stop the bed fouling on the cushion seatbacks etc. The short height makes it easier than the Hymer Ladder to stow on top of the bed when travelling, and as a 2nd use, the operating height is just bout erfect for lifting the ebikes and Bike Cover on and off the Bike Rack

Steve

 

[wildebus]

We bought the obscure label similar step from Leclerc Hypermarché in Miranda d'Ebro in early May for €32.99 [about £28.50] and use it to get into the drop down bed. Ours has 2 treads and a top deck platform, giving an overall height of 65cm and the same footprint. The extra height means we can leave the bed at the height that is just about flush with the lounge seating, saving the night/morning routine of chucking the upholstery around to stop the bed fouling on the cushion seatbacks etc. The short height makes it easier than the Hymer Ladder to stow on top of the bed when travelling, and as a 2nd use, the operating height is just bout erfect for lifting the ebikes and Bike Cover on and off the Bike Rack

Steve

actually, that is a thought ... could use the step by the bike rack to lift them on and off and make it a bit easier.

 

[marchie]

actually, that is a thought ... could use the step by the bike rack to lift them on and off and make it a bit easier.

That's exactly what we do, David. The difference between the bikes from a single step of 19cm and the new step of 65cm is chalk and cheese, and it's also considerably easier to hook the Bike Cover on and off!

Steve And Elaine sewed a cheapo Lidl blanket together to make a cover for the steps, so that any dust or muck that is picked up using the steps for the bikes, does not get spread over the bed when the Steps are stowed on the bed for travelling

One of the few routines that we have just about got 'off pat'!

Steve