What did you do to your van today?

wildebus said:
Step 1. Get one of the "Magic" expanding hoses.
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I agree. They're brilliant.

But don't make the mistake I made. They looked a bit expensive so I bought a cheap one on eBay.

It worked well the first time I used it.

Burst the second time I used it.

Utter waste of money. Buy cheap, buy twice.

The good quality one I replaced it with has done many years service.
 
Took the awning off the van. We haven't used it for years, because a small, unavailable part broke.

Removal had to wait until helpers were available to lift it down from its bracket nine feet up.

Now I have to decide whether to fix it, or how to get rid of it. And what to do about the aluminium bracket still on the van.
 
I forgot to leave the fridge door open, so I had to clean that out before we go away next Sunday. While down there, I observed how much solar I was getting. Best was 1amp, mostly around 0.5-0.75, so glad I fitted an extra panel now :rolleyes: :rolleyes: I also put down some mats Liz decided we needed, deep joy.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
I forgot to leave the fridge door open, so I had to clean that out before we go away next Sunday. While down there, I observed how much solar I was getting. Best was 1amp, mostly around 0.5-0.75, so glad I fitted an extra panel now :rolleyes: :rolleyes: I also put down some mats Liz decided we needed, deep joy.
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1 amp? Get more than that as soon as the sun rises and is not even shining on the panel. What regulator do you have? Plain sunshine it will reach 30 amps on the 12v, around 12 amp on the solar panel.
 
Found out today that the Renogy DC DC Mppt charges the starter battery even with both Lithiums off at their bms's.with the LB's on its always looked like it only charged the SB when the leisures were at 100%,so good news I can leave the leisures at 70/80% and off and the solar will look after the starter when the van is not in use.
 
Landyseverywhere said:
Found out today that the Renogy DC DC Mppt charges the starter battery even with both Lithiums off at their bms's.with the LB's on its always looked like it only charged the SB when the leisures were at 100%,so good news I can leave the leisures at 70/80% and off and the solar will look after the starter when the van is not in use.
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Great news that. I will try it and see if it works on my van. Thanks
 
Pudsey Bear said:
I forgot to leave the fridge door open, so I had to clean that out before we go away next Sunday
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We have one of those battery-powered ozone generators in the fridge. The batteries seem to last about six months but I sometimes forget to change them. When it has working batteries, it does a good job of keeping the fridge smelling fresh and mould free.

Generally, we remember to leave the fridge and freezer doors open open when we first empty them.

Once the fridge interior has warmed up and dried out, there isn't the same condensation issue, and we get away with leaving the doors closed.

The fridge is effectively in the corridor to the bathroom and bedroom, so leaving the doors open is a bit of a pain.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
I observed how much solar I was getting. Best was 1amp, mostly around 0.5-0.75,
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Was this because the controller decided your batteries were nicely full and didn't need any more feeding?

The figure I tend to look at is not the amount of charge that went in, but the lowest voltage of each day, which is something Victron makes easily available.

If the lowest voltage was 12.7 or more (for lead acid), the battery is replete.
 
Cleaned Moho & made ready for trip to Inverness next weekend.
Might take front wheels off and change pads tommorow, I remember they were about 70% worn when I last looked at beginning of season.
 
Geek said:
..........

Buy cheap, buy twice.
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I agree, now with diesel heaters. Today I am finalising the process of replacing a cheap chinese diesel heater with a proper Eberspascher one and learning the differences. They look the same outside, but the overall conclusion can be gleaned by considering the fact that the Eberspacher silencer is no less than three times the weight of the Chinese one, though they are exactly the same size and shape and both made from stainless steel. Similarly the fuel pump is twice the weight of the Chinese one, but exactly the same size and looks the same. With an identical electrical connector.
Only thing is that the Chinese ones can be had as complete kits for £60 whereas when I took a quick look on the usual sites it seems that the Eberspacher one is about £950. So there has to be room for compromise somewhere. You can just chuck away your Chinese one and fit a new one every year for 16 years for the same cost. So you could say 'Buy cheap, buy 16 times'. If you change it every year. That makes you think. I bought an Eberspacher that was used but basically only as a demonstrator, it was all shiny and clean for £350. The other thing is that the Chinese control panel is only comprehensible to the chap who designed it. The 'instruction book', a flimsy tiny leaflet was written by someone who got an English dictionary, took random pages out of it, stuck them on the wall and threw darts at them. Whatever word the dart landed on would be the next word in the instructions. It's not even as good as the normal Chinglish. Whereas with Eberspacher one you can at least download all the instructions in proper English, including detailes specifications, wiring diagrams, mechanical diagrams and so on. Youtube is full of videos showing how to use the Chinese one but I didn't find them much help. When it doesn't work there are 11 fault codes but each code is quite vague, exactly like the OBD2 fault computers that garages use on cars. The actual fault is never what the diagnostic computer says it is, and is always the third £500 "let's try and see if it's this" item that the garage fits just in case it is this that's bringing up the engine light.

I curse the idiot who removed the perfectly useable and serviceable Carver heater that was originally fitted to my camper. I am now thinking that instead of replacing the Chinese diesel heater, I should have chucked it out and bought a replacement Carver gas heater. They are brilliantly simple and eminently repairable.
 
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I agree. I have a Chinese diesel heater in the shed. Works brilliantly, except when it doesn't. That's when the heat exchanger temperature sensor gets damp. That makes it read very high so the heater won't heat. No error code, but no heat. The fix is simple: remove the sensor and dry it on the Aga. Had to work that out for myself.
Buy as you say, you can buy three or four complete CDHs for spares and still be in pocket.
Those Carver heaters are vastly better. Simple, silent, reliable and they run without eating your 12v. But the new King's Clothes is to run all-electric, no gas, and that can't do space heating, so in comes diesel heaters.
Stupid fad.
 
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