What did you do to your van today?
- Thread starter Vanterrier
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Markd
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Tidied up the main tail light cluster fixing screws-caps yesterday replacing flush plugs that have to be prised out with caps that overlap the hole slightly.
A dab of sealant as they go in makes an neat job and easier removal.
Replaced a couple of bulbs that were blackened inside.
Of course the check revealed a couple of side markers and one high level tail light not working so that's a job for today
Will be using LEDs as with 14 @ 5w bulbs in all that's quite a draw if ever I was to park overnight legally on an unlit highway. I suppose a laybby counts technically?
A dab of sealant as they go in makes an neat job and easier removal.
Replaced a couple of bulbs that were blackened inside.
Of course the check revealed a couple of side markers and one high level tail light not working so that's a job for today
Will be using LEDs as with 14 @ 5w bulbs in all that's quite a draw if ever I was to park overnight legally on an unlit highway. I suppose a laybby counts technically?
Trotter
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Cheap, really cheap Chinese Bluetooth radio fitted. The longest part of the whole exercise was queuing outside Halfords for a antenna extension.
Works well. Wondering if it’s worth while finding a permanent live for it. So I wouldn’t need to have the ignition on. Anyone got any suggestions. Only concerning the radio, please Tezza33!
Works well. Wondering if it’s worth while finding a permanent live for it. So I wouldn’t need to have the ignition on. Anyone got any suggestions. Only concerning the radio, please Tezza33!
Lee
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I'm in the middle of rubbing down and repainting the rear bumper, which is the 100mm square metal tube with a fixing point for a tow ball.
The work involved loosing the motto.
'You can't be lost if you don't know where yourè going'
So do I replace it or get a new one or have nothing? I await orders from Linda.
I also had to repair a small dent in the corner trim, from reversing into a post in a Car Park in Spain.
Just another battle scar from our travels.
The wonderful weather we are having is making it an easy task, plus there's no rush, as we are not going anywhere.
The work involved loosing the motto.
'You can't be lost if you don't know where yourè going'
So do I replace it or get a new one or have nothing? I await orders from Linda.
I also had to repair a small dent in the corner trim, from reversing into a post in a Car Park in Spain.
Just another battle scar from our travels.
The wonderful weather we are having is making it an easy task, plus there's no rush, as we are not going anywhere.
GreggBear
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You should find that if you swap round the ign live & the permanent live the radio will function correctly. I had three fitted in peugeut vans, with iso connections. Buy the wiring adaptor off eBay & just cut & swap round the 2 lives, think they are red & orange....https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271596425447
This is a straight extender type loom, just find the 2 lives & cut them & reattach them the opposite way round.
Last edited:
GreggBear
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Pardon our interruption...
www.ebay.co.uk
Rec
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@GreggBear I love the way so many members here just talk about cutting wires and swapping feeds! Oh to have the skills or even understand many of the words....
Trotter
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If I link the ignition live into the memory live, this would work wouldn’t it? I’m thinking that swapping them around I’d get a permanent radio live, but loose the memory. Or am I complicating stuff as per usual?
GreggBear
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When I fitted mine, I had no memory, & no ign live. I swapped the 2 lives round & it then operated as it should do ie memory worked & radio came on with ign. If you link both live feeds to a perm live, you will have memory but will need to turn the unit on/off every time.
Trotter
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Pretty sure I understand what you mean. I want to be able to listen to the radio without the ignition on.
To save stations already selected to memory it needs permanent power. That’s correct isn’t it?
So if I swap the wires around, I have live radio, controlled by the on/off switch, but no stations selected.
Therefore, if I join the ignition wire to the memory wire, so both share the live feed for memory. I should achieve what I’m after.
Talk about a picture saving a thousand words
linkshouse
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Installed one of these -
and a pair of these -
Connect to them with my iPhone to play Internet radio and Spotify, well happy with them.
Actually, just in case anyone decides to follow suit, I would go for higher power rated speaker (or 8 ohms rather than 4), perversely, to make them quieter. These are already quite loud, not annoyingly so but certainly not quite, when just on one bar on the iPhone volume
and a pair of these -
Connect to them with my iPhone to play Internet radio and Spotify, well happy with them.
Actually, just in case anyone decides to follow suit, I would go for higher power rated speaker (or 8 ohms rather than 4), perversely, to make them quieter. These are already quite loud, not annoyingly so but certainly not quite, when just on one bar on the iPhone volume
xsilvergs
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Nob Sound!!! How does it make y' Nob sound/be bigger?
wildebus
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Just a note ... The two wires are usually coloured Yellow and Red. Yellow on the Radio is the Permanent 12V; Red is the switched/Ignition 12V.
Orange is nowadays a bit defunct for most radios, but is the illumination dimming control.
Because it is so common to have these two (Red and Yellow) reversed with some makes (Mercedes and VW are key culprits), the majority of aftermarket radios have standard-fit bullet connectors on these two wires so the installer can just pull the bullets and swap them over to fix the issue without the need to cut, crimp or solder anything.
wildebus
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couple of things .. You don't want to swap out the ignition 12V into the radio for a permanent 12V. May seem strange, but the on-off button on most radios nowadays do NOT turn the radio off properly. If you were to do this, you would find your starter battery discharging much faster even when the radio is "off" (the bluetooth module is the key culprit).
What you can do is fit a little wiring kit which allows you to chose at any time if you wamt the radio to come on with the key, or to come on without the key. I have this on my camper and it is dead handy. Been doing this for years on my last 3 vans.
Simple to do and if you want to lean more, have a read of my thread on the VW Forum where there is an explanation and some Q&A
Radio - adapt to go on with OR without key
PS. It is suitable for any non-canbus controlled radio and not just for VW Vehicles!
Trotter
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Thanks both.couple of things .. You don't want to swap out the ignition 12V into the radio for a permanent 12V. May seem strange, but the on-off button on most radios nowadays do NOT turn the radio off properly. If you were to do this, you would find your starter battery discharging much faster even when the radio is "off" (the bluetooth module is the key culprit).
What you can do is fit a little wiring kit which allows you to chose at any time if you wamt the radio to come on with the key, or to come on without the key. I have this on my camper and it is dead handy. Been doing this for years on my last 3 vans.
Simple to do and if you want to lean more, have a read of my thread on the VW Forum where there is an explanation and some Q&A
Radio - adapt to go on with OR without key
www.vwt4forum.co.uk
PS. It is suitable for any non-canbus controlled radio and not just for VW Vehicles!
Think I’m going to leave it as it is. I’ve seen a good Bluetooth soundbar on Amazon for £20. I’ll use that when parked up. Anyone fancy a repair to a “JAM” speaker that will not charge?
The fridge/freezer arrived yesterday. 12 /240 volt. It’ll be used as a back up to the house freezer until we’re allowed out again.
linkshouse
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Yes it is a rather unfortunate name but it has all the features I wanted i.e. none!
That is to say it has a power switch and nothing else, no volume control, no stop, start, next track etc, nowt. You just connect via Bluetooth an then do everything on your device. Plus, for me, another bonus is it doesn’t make any annoying announcement when you connect or disconnect.
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