A Warning & A Tip

Whilst on site recently I  have noticed there seems to be more and more caravanners and motorhomers leaving their EHU cable wrapped around a drum/wheel type device pulling off just what is needed to reach the electric point.

I don't know if this is from laziness or ignorance.

It is a dangerous practice as heat can build up in the cable with a possibility of it catching fire,what compounds the danger is that many cables are then stored under the caravan or motorhome raising the potential of a fire reaching the floor above.

Now lets keep things in proportion,coiled cables are not bursting into flame on a regular basis but the potential is there,probably more so in winter when more electrical devices are in use,heating,fridge,TVmicrowave and possibly hair dryers and the like.

If you look on Google there are plenty of examples of burnt EHU cables which at most could have caused a fire and at the very least would require the purchase of a new cable and possibly spoiling a holiday.

All for the sake of uncoiling cable and laying it out on the rear of the pitch,it's one thing if your van catches fire but I shouldn't imagine your neighbours would be best pleased.

Now onto a more cheerful topic.

In this months Practical Caravan is a tip for more easily aligning the receiver for the Al-Ko wheel lock with the gap in the alloy wheel.

Before trying to align the receiver by eye screw the threaded part of the mechanism into the receiver by a few turns without going through the red lozenge.



This makes aligning the receiver up easier as the end of the threaded bit is more at a level with the alloy spokes and is therefore easier to centre up.

Tried it upon our return to storage the other day and it works,much easier.


Ian

The Firs

This is another on site blog post from CMC The Firs near Belper in Derbyshire.

Lovely quiet little site that we have visited many times before,one of its attributes being that there is no children's playground so peace and quiet can be more readily guaranteed.

Seeing heavy rain wasn't in the forecast we plumped for our 'usual' corner grass pitch rather than a hard standing,our usual preference.

Remarkably I even got the satellite dish up and running with a minimum of swearing but to compensate for that I lost the TV remote control battery cover which took forty eight hours to resurface.

Hadn't been here long when SWMBO broke the lock on the semicircular cupboard adjacent to the sink,she was always heavy handed that girl.

Anyway went on to Prima Leisure and ordered another one which arrives at home today .

One advantage of owning a Bailey,and would influence any future purchase,is the ready availability of spares.

As we were preparing to set off from storage we were talking to a chap who had been waiting weeks for a part from Lunar with no end in sight,I hope he doesn't die waiting.

Bailey parts may occasionally seem expensive but at least they are available,right down to the smallest screw.



We are still having problems making the Isabella Eclipse side panel adaptor fit properly.

Have contacted Isabella again so we shall see what they have to say.

In the meantime if anyone has made one fit properly then get in touch.

Breakfast is calling so cheerio from The Firs.

Ian

Durham Grange

We have just returned from four nights at CMC Durham Grange where we have stayed many times before so I won't dwell on the site.

We had a serviced pitch ( love serviced pitches ) so why is it when you pack something away it is perfectly OK yet the next time you come to use it it is knackered,

As it was a serviced pitch we were using the Aquaroll with the hose from the tap attached to a ball valve arrangement in the Aquaroll to regulate water input.

Would the valve work,would it chuff,it wouldn't turn the water off,so the Aquaroll overflowed.

At this point I chucked a wobbly and had to be calmed with tea.

Anyway I dismantled the valve and replaced every part as I have a repair kit for such instances.

Would it work ??

Well yes and no,when I first reconnected it all was OK,as soon as my back was turned the Aquaroll overflowed.

It was like this for a day or two until I gave up,just refilled from the tap "as and when" and ordered another valve ( in fact two,one as a spare ),not worth the continued grief.



Some may remember a few posts back I complained of the Whale pug working its way out of the socket.

Whale suggested dismantling the socket and cleaning it out in case any dirt was causing the problem,which my service man did,but it made little difference really.

Anyway I came up with a solution eventually,it's not pretty but it works,

Put a reuseable cable tie around the securing flap to force it down to lock the plug onto the input tubing like in the photo  below.

( Sorry for the quality of the photo but whist mooring a rowing boat on the River Wear in Durham I fell into the river with my phone in my pocket.The phone survived as it is waterproof but some water got into the camera.The phone is sat in some rice ( not Ambrosia ) in the airing cupboard as I type to see if I can dry it out ).

Apart from a couple of minor reglueing  jobs that was it really.

Oh I almost forgot to mention the satellite dish.

Does anyone else have difficulty in setting these up ?

I know the principle of the thing,have apps on my phone and all the rest but the sodding thing is a pain in the backside to align,so I gave up on Day 1.

Come the morning of Day 2 it aligned reasonably quickly,so we could watch Babenation in peace,explain that..

Ian