What did you do to your van today?

[trevskoda]

The reason the nyloc was used is because I dropped the dome nut which is now down a hole hiding. As soon as the nylon touched the screwed rod it then screwed the rod further into the rivnut on the baseplate.

I would have used a longer bar with a double bend at side of the battery which would have also stopped the bow in it, yep 2 days ago i lost a useless bracket down the side of the engine never to be found.
At least you got the problem sorted.

 

[AlyJay]

Fitted micro LEDs and vent to overhead trim. There was a factory mounted monstrosity fitted previously so I had to do something with it to cover old holes from factory add on, hence LEDs and also 1 of 3 vents which are needed as it was a condensation trap (other 2 vents are on top of side overhead pockets).
Will fit tommorow & test lights work. The actual feed I'm using was fitted already and rolled up, so must be other factory options hence extra wireing.

 

[marchie]

Drove from Zaragoza to Benicarlo hoping to speak to Tambo about the replacement of the over bed reading lights, after the final foul up by Camper UK at Lincoln; they had external Valeters clean the M/home after the floor delamination repair, and the Valeters must have used a power washer on the roof ...

First overnight stop en route to the ferry, we had a damp duvet, and no reading lights because water ingress had blown the LED lamps ...

I had expected to have just a quick word with Tambo and to return for the fitting of new lamps, but he was in a right strop dealing with a German M/homer; initially he said to call back around 5pm, then said he was too busy, and that I should come back tomorrow, EARLY ...

I had just driven 150+ miles from Zaragoza, so my arrival was not exactly tardy! Were it not for the fact that I need his technical expertise, I would have told him that I would go elsewhere.

He may have been busy, but politeness costs nothing. I'll visit tomorrow after a night on the Benicarlo Aire and see if Tambo is in a better mood!

He worked from his house garage and Van prior to COVID, and was very helpful and innovative with his repairs, fixing problems that other Technicians had said could not be repaired, and he built a thriving business.

Since COVID, Tambo has moved into a purpose built Workshop, with an expanded Accessory Shop, but has lost the personal touch on which he based his business. He was a bit 'off' last year when I needed a new tap fitted - again I would have been quite happy to let him have a quick look to see what was required, and then return for a fitting appointment, but he no longer gives one a chance to explain the problem.Very sad lowering of customer service

Steve

Went back to Tambo this morning. Arrived at 09:05, to find 2 French Motorhomes waiting (N&B Flair and a huge Morello that squeezed under the workshop doorway with about 5cm clearance!)

The Receptionist tried to turn me away, but Ramon told me to wait, and he would get to me asap. It took him 3 hours to do so (he was 1 Technician short because of illness), during which time he turned away as many as 10 M/homes looking for on the spot service ...

He had only 1 lamp (2 are needed) so ordered the 2nd for fitting on 29th January, the first date with any space for bookings! There is a problem with the cabling to the lamps with an absence of power, so best to have a firm booking for time to trace the fault and remedy it. Ramon did apologise for being a bit nippy yesterday, but having seen the number of M/homers calling on spec for repairs, 1 every 20 minutes or so, I can understand why he gets frustrated at being interrupted constantly, half way through a job.

We moved from the Aire on Benicarlo beach (stunning view, 30 yards from the Med, but no facilities) to Roquetes which has free EHU, albeit with only 8 connections for 10 pitches (7 Dutch, 1 Czech, 1 French and us). Fortunately I had my Splitter and our Dutch neighbour was quite happy to share the connection, leaving the French couple out of luck for EHU ...

Steve

 

[Scotia]

Locked it away in the workshop and battened down the hatches ahead of the Red weather warning for strong winds.

 

[Mr and Mrs Tupcox]

With help from a freind we added another hot air vent off the diesel heater, so now 2, one rear one in front,

 

[trevskoda]

Had a oil warning light isue as it was ot coming on before startup, clocks out and bulb copper pickup points all cleaned, sorted now just after i bought a pressure switch of ebay, 6 bucks wasted.

 

[AlyJay]

After spending 4 hrs fitting and soldering in LED lights and then fitting panel to moho, the warm white lights turned out to be blue so now I'm going to have to take it all apart and wait for warm white ones to come from different supplier- was very pi##ed off yesterday, but at least the original supplier admitted they're mistake in sending wrong ones and have refunded.
Next time I get lights online I will test them before fitting.

 

[Molly 3]

Looks like the weather is going to be bad tomorrow so I unplugged my hook up cable .

 

[trevskoda]

After spending 4 hrs fitting and soldering in LED lights and then fitting panel to moho, the warm white lights turned out to be blue so now I'm going to have to take it all apart and wait for warm white ones to come from different supplier- was very pi##ed off yesterday, but at least the original supplier admitted they're mistake in sending wrong ones and have refunded.
Next time I get lights online I will test them before fitting.

I changed all my clocks and dash switch bulbs to blue, main lighting is a mix of soft and white light with a flick of a switch.

 

[Rumour]

Is nothing ever easy? I went to Autoterm near Wrexham to get a new heater controller and have to unit scanned. They found the pump was faulty and quickly replaced it. New controller done and clears a problem that we have had a little while. Great service by Owen and the crew. Anyhoo, on the way back down the M54, I decided to stop off and take a wander up the Wrekin Trail. So I pulled into the car park off Junction 7 of the M54 and went for a walk, torch in hand. Got back at 7pm, two hour drive home and started the van. Lights on.... Err, lights on... Bugger! No lights! And it was very dark. Still, at least it was a place without restrictions on overnight and 12 hours for £4. So I had to stop the night. No clean clothes and no food. Just five Maccy D milk portions and a two finger pack of Shortbread.

Then it struck me.. I had arrived at 15:48 and that meant that I had to get up at 03:45 to go feed the CCTV guided payment machine. (Not sure if I'll get a PCN, but I won't pay it!) Very cold night, but had the heating... Ahh, seems the batteries are on the way out. 11.7 volts! Good job I had the duvet and a blanket... Now I have to get the batteries checked, source the light problems and all before the 27th Feb when we are in Yorkshire!

 

[Scotia]

Cable and eyelets arrived to connect up my inverter, just waiting on the hydraulic crimper arriving to finish the job.

 

[AlyJay]

Is nothing ever easy? I went to Autoterm near Wrexham to get a new heater controller and have to unit scanned. They found the pump was faulty and quickly replaced it. New controller done and clears a problem that we have had a little while. Great service by Owen and the crew. Anyhoo, on the way back down the M54, I decided to stop off and take a wander up the Wrekin Trail. So I pulled into the car park off Junction 7 of the M54 and went for a walk, torch in hand. Got back at 7pm, two hour drive home and started the van. Lights on.... Err, lights on... Bugger! No lights! And it was very dark. Still, at least it was a place without restrictions on overnight and 12 hours for £4. So I had to stop the night. No clean clothes and no food. Just five Maccy D milk portions and a two finger pack of Shortbread.

Then it struck me.. I had arrived at 15:48 and that meant that I had to get up at 03:45 to go feed the CCTV guided payment machine. (Not sure if I'll get a PCN, but I won't pay it!) Very cold night, but had the heating... Ahh, seems the batteries are on the way out. 11.7 volts! Good job I had the duvet and a blanket... Now I have to get the batteries checked, source the light problems and all before the 27th Feb when we are in Yorkshire!

That's what you call a proper bugger.

 

[AlyJay]

Another day in Moho working my way through long list.
Took apart the shower room sink cabinet and modified to hold LED replacement lamp, also reglued loose veneers, while cabinet was out I pulled off loose wallpaper off rear wall & reattached with upholstery spray on glue, very effective and all looks much better now back together, also beefed up mounting point wood for fire extinguisher as it was wafer thin and loose and refitted internal hand rail as you come into Moho.
Probably about 70% through fixes now.

 

[oppy]

Well yesterday ours passed its MoT test 1st time !!! Over the last few years it has failed due to Fiat tin worms, but bloomin eck I'm like a dog with 2 willies

 

[wildebus]

First time out in the van since having the Alternator repaired, replaced, so a good chance to see how well it is putting out the power
Little drive out to the Seaside (well, a town by the seaside anyway) and got some good charge into the battery on the run

 

[Greengrass]

Went out to the Bank to do a cable job but left the cable at home so tested the night heater YES works a treat, And no more mice they got the message and vacated the premises

 

[marchie]

A long day at Autocaravanas Tambo!
The 2nd replacement bulb above the drop down bed had not arrived, and then they could not trace the cable run (the Burstner Manual says that Converters can run the bed wiring anywhere, so good hunting ...), so, rather than waste chargeable time, they ran a new cable from the EBL 99 with a dedicated 7.5 amp fuse, wired inline; the bed lights now have their own circuit, and, if there is another problem, the new fuse is easily accessible, so no more scraped knuckles delving below the passenger seat!

Another problem then surfaced; 3 of the LEDs on the external light over the door had blown (too much of a coincidence for it not to be connected to the water ingress problem and the use of a pressure washer by the Valeters). So Tambo fitted a new, much brighter, external light. Thought that was job done, subject to popping back on the return leg to have the 2nd bedroom light fitted without charge.

Reversed out of workshop and began to reassemble the bed area, and repack the Van, after chucking everything in the shower and kitchen to leave the bed work area as clear as possible.

Went to raise the bed to 'driving height' and it coughed a wee bit, reached about 80% height, and then dropped like a stone to the lowest setting. Lots of checking of the new wiring and the bed switch and testing of the bed raise/lower function. Sometimes it would raise OK, then lower OK, but then a repeat would cause the bed to drop during the raise.

If the bed was left for a few (5) minutes, it would raise successfully, if somewhat slowly. Conclusion was that the repeated raising/lowering had hammered the Leisure Battery and the 5 minutes rests were just about adequate to enable to raise the bed successfully.

Stayed on Benicarlo Aire, 2.5 miles away, in case the problem recurred ( and too late to drive to Moncofa Aire). Bed lowered OK, and raised OK this morning, but the Leisure Battery is going to need a decent recharge run (or a Viagra tablet) to be able to get it up and down successfully .

TBF, the bed is raised and lowered only once each day, and asking the battery to do 2 weeks work in 3 hours, after only 20Wh of solar input, because the sun only shone whilst the Van was inside the workshop, was not a good idea. Hey ho.

Steve

 

[AlyJay]

Took oven out of its hole today as I could see filth down the back of cabinet through vents and underneath it, also wanted to disconnected old brittle shower hoses to measure & find replacements which attach behind cooker and give cooker itself a good clean and prep / paint the metal hinge bracket as its rusty and front top of facia as the wrap is bubbling.
The dirt behind cooker cabinet was sticky and minging but its all spotless now.
Will probably strip and tidy up cooker after I've finished all other jobs in moho.
For such a low mileage moho it was so neglected and grubby inside, definitely light at the end of tunnel now though.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Took oven out of its hole today as I could see filth down the back of cabinet through vents and underneath it, also wanted to disconnected old brittle shower hoses to measure & find replacements which attach behind cooker and give cooker itself a good clean and prep / paint the metal hinge bracket as its rusty and front top of facia as the wrap is bubbling.
The dirt behind cooker cabinet was sticky and minging but its all spotless now.
Will probably strip and tidy up cooker after I've finished all other jobs in moho.
For such a low mileage moho it was so neglected and grubby inside, definitely light at the end of tunnel now though.

We have the same one I think, what was it like to get out? heavy?

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Taxed ours off SORN this morning, a fraction under a quid a day now.