Autowatch 650 Alarm

Have had a problem with the above alarm over the last couple of months.

About eight weeks ago we were preparing to go and visit some relatives, not in the van, when I got a call from Phantom that the alarm was going off. 

Went up to storage and could find nothing wrong so set off. 

Later in the morning got another alert so I asked Phantom to temporarily disconnect their connection and I would sort it on my return. 

When I got back had another look and still couldn't see what was wrong so reset it and as I was about to drive away it went off again and just for good measure it did it again within seconds after a second reset. 

Then decided to contact Autowatch who said to send the unit, remote sensor and fobs back to be looked at. 

The alarm, to my surprise as I thought it was somewhere else, was under the nearside rear bunk. 

Undid the casing to be met by a jumble of wires with various connections of which I still don't know the purpose of most of them

Anyway they only wanted the module out of it so removed that and returned it along with the sensor and fobs. 

Autowatch phoned about ten days later to say it was a faulty remote sensor and one of the emergency keys was not working. 

Replaced everything and sent it back, refitted it, it helps to take a photo prior to removal as I got a wire crossed, but it still wouldn't work correctly

In between this I forgot to put the siren bit in the hole in the van floor so had to take it out and refit. 

Now Autowatch had supplied the sensor with some new batteries but having measured the voltage they were 2.9v and it is important that they measure at least 3v ( thanks internet) so replaced with two new Duracell and all is working OK. 

No more false Phantom calls. 

The moral of this little tale is if you are having problems with this alarm, first replace the sensor batteries ( they last rwo years evidently) and then replace the sensor. 

Incidentally the sensor was about £20 or so cheaper from Autowatch than on the net. 

Anyway I hope the above may be useful to someone. 

Happy Christmas to all my reader(s) it will soon be sunny and we will be out in our vans again. 

Winter caravanning is not for me I'm afraid. 

Ian

CMC Chapel Lane & the NEC Show

Just coming to the end of three nights at the above site just south of Birmingham.

It is not the most scenic of sites and the toilet blocks could do with updating but it serves its purpose. 

It is only about fourteen miles from the NEC so tends to be full this week.

No Cadiz problems to report, have replaced the corner spotlight as mentioned previously.

Easy job but a bit fiddly, you will need some spade connectors and heatshrink if doing the job.

Oh and to remove the light you need to twist it,towards the front window if I recall correctly. 

As for the show enjoyed it immensely.

Bailey have not changed their line up so no difference there. 

Still prefer the interior of ours to the new model. 

It has to be said that motorhomes in one guise or another are taking over, there must have been thousands right up to half a million pound jobbies which are so popular there is a two year waiting list. 

Anyway here's to next year. 

Tried to put some video in this post but failed.

Will look into it for the future. 

Ian

CMC Chatsworth

Just finishing a four night stay at the above site complete with a trip around the house.

This very popular site has some empty pitches which is very unusual,perhaps the new booking system. 

On the Cadiz front the offside front spotlight has given up the ghost. 

USB's still working so it must be the LED.

I thought it would be an easy job to replace the LED but I have it on good authority that you can't, need to replace the whole light. 

Bailey want £60 for a replacement but have found a place on line who do them for £20 so will try them.

One more trip to the NEC show then will put the van away for the winter. 

Ian

Eclipse Adaptation

After our last outing I sent our Eclipse canopy back to Isabella to be repaired.

During our windy break the canopy canvas kept flapping about making a noise which was annoying, especially during the night. 

I had the idea of having three Velcro fasteners fitted down the centre seam to secure the centre rafter pole to the canvas.

I asked Isabella if they could do this whilst they had it and they have done a good job, it works really well. 

I suggested to them that it should be standard fitting on all the Eclipses.

We shall see. 

Ian

CMC Berwick Seaview

Coming to the end of five nights at the above site which is actually situated in  Tweedmouth, suppose the marketing department thought Berwick sounded better. 

It has wonderful sea views but perhaps could do with a small amount of TLC around the edges.

All well with the Cadiz apart from discovering I had left some grey water pipes at our last site Ferry Meadows.

Anyway cobbled something together so situation saved. 

Decided to take the canopy down a day early as it had got quite windy and it was flapping about a bit.

Somewhere during the process managed to pull off two of the guyline attachment points so they need repairing

Also managed to scrape a canopy pole on the side of the van,a few wipes with a Magic Eraser as mentioned in my last post and all as good as new they really are excellent.

Ian

CMC Ferry Meadows ( East Side)

Just coming to the end of five days at the above site. 

For the first time I will be glad to see home. 

If you like kids screaming from dawn till dusk, bikes hurtling round the site and dogs crapping willy nilly everywhere then this is the site for you.

As we have two grandkids in tow and there is a large playground on this side, SWMBO insisted East it would be, but it won't be happening again

The civilised West Side it will be in future. 

The only problem Cadiz wise is that one of the fridge door shelves broke. 

My, they are a price to replace, £38 plus P&P from Prima Leisure, but fortunately SWMBO said she could manage without so that's a relief. 

Finally a tip passed on from a fellow vanner whilst in Norfolk 

To clean the locker door surrounds, the "rough" bits, use a magic eraser and water. 

They come up sparkling.

Available from supermarkets or on line, only takes a few minutes with a bit of elbow grease.

Ian

CMC Norfolk Broads

We are just coming to the end of a fortnight on the above site where we have stayed many times before.

A cracking site in a beautiful part of the country as I am sure I have mentioned previously. 

The Cadiz has not been problem free in that the water pump would not switch off,

running continuously. 

Tried the usual remedies, new O rings, calibrated the Whale ic,tried another water pump, checked round for leaks, all to no avail.

A man needed to be summoned who arrived the next day and diagnosed a faulty Whale ic and fitted a replacement the next day so now all is well. 

I think it has been dodgy for a while as when the pump was running it pushed the bottom of the Whale pump out and it therefore dribbled water. 

All this has now ceased.

The unit is a ridiculous price of £50 or so for a small circuit board in a plastic case but it is what it is.

Thanks to Habiserv for sorting us out.

Anyway back to real ( retired) life in a couple of days.

Ian

CMC The Firs

The above is a very pleasant quiet ( no playground whoopee) near Belper in Derbyshire.

The wardens work very hard to keep it neat and tidy. 

Had a further problem with the centre Heki roof blind again with the strings coming loose on the flyscreen side. 

However with the the help of a You Tube video I managed to sort it. 

The other roof blinds are no problem it's always this one. 

The two grey decals above the front side windows have looked scruffy for some time as if something has run down them. 

Had a go at cleaning them but to no avail. 

I was toying with the idea of replacing them, how I would get them in the correct place is another matter, I toyed that is until I saw the price,. 

£96 each!!!! 

That is scandalous, they can stop dirty for £200.

Ian

Hmm.......

Sorry the actual ne for the Funnels is:-

Caravan Funnels 4U.

Ian

Funnel Update

Just a quick update on the flush tank funnel.

Having just used it for the first time it is excellent. 

Fits well into the filler hole and no drips. 

Well worth the outlay. 

Ian

Caravan Funnels For U

As I am a little fed up with dribbling water or flush fluid down the side of the van have invested in one of these.

It was advertised in Practical Caravan and is made by Caravan Funnels For U. 

Looks a bit like a female urine device but should do the trick. 

Probably slightly overpriced at £10 plus P&P but if it does the job then I am happy.

Also available from Amazon and E Bay. 

I am not involved with the firm and bought it with my own pension.

Ian

CMC Durham Grange

On the above site at the moment which is just outside the city of Durham.

Fortunately it is well served by a park and ride as driving/parking in the city is not a joy.

All has been well with the Cadiz with only two minor problems otherwise:the satellite dish blew over and my hay fever has gone berserk.

We have had none of this heatwave malarkey, we'll leave that to London and the South East.

Nect stop The Firs in Derbyshire in ten days. 

Ian

Two Jobs Done

Had a productive afternoon up at the van today.

Refitted the on board Floe which worked flawlessly, I don't know what happened to it originally when it wouldn't work, one of life's mysteries. 

Also replaced the very grubby dome over the shower cubicle.

An easy job, just release the four screws on the arms and remove, taking care not to drop the screws. 

Replacement is the reverse manoeuvre, the trickiest bit is relocating the arms, but its all done now. 

Take care not to overtighten the screws. 

You will need a Torx screwdriver for the job incidentally.

Ian

CMC York Rowntree Park

Having put my name down at birth we are away for four nights at the above site.

It has to be said it is not the prettiest site around, being a converted car park,but it's USP of course is that it's within easy walking distance of the centre of York and its credit card sapping delights. 

It's up to the usual CMC standards but is quite pricy at £192 for four nights

standard hardstandings only. 

The Cadiz has been fine, it's nice to have the pull out table back. 

Next week when back home have to refit the onboard Floe which suddenly stopped working.

Returned it to Floe in Northern Ireland who could find nothing wrong with it. 

Anyway since it came back it works when plugged into the 12v in the car so I will see what happens when I refit it to the van.

In the next week or two I am going to replacte the plastic dome vent over the shower cubicle.

This has been on order from Prima Leisure for months and it eventually arrived last week.

Looks an easy enough job what 9could possibly go wrong.

Ian 

Kartt Jockey Wheel

Noticed that the rubber wheel of the Kartt jockey wheel is looking a little worse for wear

It is less than a year old and only done about a dozen outings,so much for being the world's best jockey wheel

Contacted Prima Leisure, who I bought it from, who contacted Kartt and a new one arrived yesterday under warranty. 

 

At first glance it looks a little more robust than the original one but we shall see. 

Ian

Sliding Table

Further to the saga of the sliding table not sliding, I e-mailed Bailey who said it was necessary to remove the whole top in order to get to it.

I didn't fancy doing this or paying a dealer to do it so I asked my neighbour Mr

Roscoe to have a look as he likes this sort of thing and has more tools than B&Q

Anyway I left him to it and half an hour or so later it was fixed.

I don't know exactly what he did but it was something to do with a screw that had worked loose

It took some fathoming out but it's all sorted now. 

Reward, two double Magnums. 

Ian 

CMC Sutton on Sea

We are at the moment on the above site which is tucked away on the Lincolnshire coast south of Mablethorpe.

Not been here before but worth a visit if you are in this neck of the woods. 

Sutton on Sea itself is an ex railway town but the trains are long gone in 1970.

If you like a good beach then this is your place. 

Have had two problems with the Cadiz, firstly the slide out table in the front chest will only pull out a third of the way. 

After removing the top drawer ( press in the plastic clips at the sides half way along and lift the front) it appears the right hand runner is malfunctioning and probably needs replacing.

Getting a replacement is no problem but how to replace it Lord only knows, it's all built in around it. 

Will have to have a think unless any of my readers know how to do it. 

Secondly the Avtex sound bar on the TV doesn't work using coax connection as it should. 

Rang Avtex who didn't know why either but could only suggest that the cable was faulty so are sending me another to the site so we will see how that goes. 

Ian

Service

Had the Cadiz serviced today along with an Alde fluid change all carried out by DTH Caravan Services. 

The water inlet was replaced as well as the original was a bit worse for wear.

Also had the water hester/heating circuit breaker replaced and a piece of bent water pipe.

It was bone dry fortunately so that's that for another year.

Ian

Avtex TV Excellent Customer Service

I can't remember if I mentioned in a previous blog that our Avtex TV had gone on the blink.

Freeview was fine but satellite only got a few channels, some with sound but no picture. 

Took it to a local repair shop who said the firmware needed reinstalling, which was no problem, but also found the power socket was unstable and turned the TV off if touched so reinstalling the firmware was off till this was fixed. 

Unfortunately they couldn't get inside it for some reason to fix it.

I then rang Avtex who said they could sort it, left my house at 3:30pm on Tuesday and just received it back, 11:30am on Thursday, all sorted.

All for a good price as well which included pick up and delivery. 

Excellent customer service. 

Yes Avtex are pricey but a bit like Isabella perhaps the more upmarket the item the better the customer service is.

Once again a bit like Isabella their items aren't "disposable"  and they are willing to repair them, saves money in the long run. 

Ian

New Tyres

This is a post I did back in January but just noticed I posted it to the wrong blog so here it is :-

Over the years I hsve never been impressed by the reputation of Kwik Fit, not I hasten to add from any personal experience, but from what I have read in various forums etc.

Our Cadiz tyres are approaching eight years old so well in need of new rubber,sad really as they are barely worn.

Fortunately the wheels are off the van for the winter and stored in our garsge. 

After the  local Kwik-Fit depot fitted me a new valve core to the car spare tyre in about a minute and didn't charge me when Halfords wanted me to book it in for the next day and would have probably charged I decided to give Kwik-Fit Mobile a try for some new tyres. 

The depots can't do wheels with Tyron Bands on as they are not trained to do so and haven't got the equipment needed.

Couldn't get any like for like Michelin replacements so plumped for some Hankooks instead. 

Actually I wonder if top brand tyres are worth it for the low mileages caravans do. 

Managed to get two Hankooks, balancing, replacement of the  TPMS sensors ( had purchased the sensors from Prima Leisure a while ago), Tyron Band refitting and disposal of the old tyres all for about £165 which I thought was reasonable.

After a phone call to book the fitting ( you can't do it on line), it was arranged for today and all went smoothly. 

Cheerful chap, arrived on schedule and job done in about an hour and a quarter. 

So all in all can recommend Kwik Fit Mobile if you want some new tyres.

Ian

CMC Ludham Bridge

Coming to the end of an eleven night stay at the above which is a lovely site, one we have visited many times before, in a lovely area especially as we have had very good weather.

The site is nowhere near full, in fact the whole area is pretty quiet which surprised me with it being Easter week.

As blogged previously the ATC light is now sorted, the tripping MCB for the Alde boiler has been diagnosed by Alde as a failing MCB which will be replaced by my service man when the van is serviced in a couple of weeks or so. 

Also having a new water inlet fitted as the original has seen better days

After talking to the chap on the next pitch who had a new Swift  I wonder when the UK caravan industry will begin to turn out reliably defect free vans? 

He had had warranty problems as so many vans, of all makes seem to have.

This often seems to be backed up by a shoddy dealer response.

With some new vans costing £30k upwards this should not be occurring.

Perhaps a case for, as far as dealers go,proper franchised dealers like the car industry.

Anyway food for thought.

Ian

Al-ko ATC Light

If anyone remembered in my last post I mentioned that the ATC light had ceased to function.

Anyway bought another and replaced it. 

Easy enough job, pull the plug apart under the hitch fairing, cut away the plethora of cable ties, undo the two screws holding the plate on the fairing, undo the small nut holding the light to the plate and pull the old light out. 

Refiiting, as they say in Haynes manuals, is the reversal of removal. 

This job would have been a whole lot easier if I hadn't put the old one back and amazingly it still didn't work. 

All sorted now.

A word about purchasing a replacement. 

I got one for £20 off E Bay with free postage.

Al-ko wanted an eye watering £62 for the same thing, oh with free postage.

Ian 

CMC Poolsbrook

Away on our third outing of the year at the above site near Staveley in Derbyshire. 

Boy was it windy on our second day and raining as well, was glad we left the Eclipse canopy at home this time. 

The two problems that occurred during our last trip the faulty mini Heki above the sink and the faulty Alde sensor, have both been rectified.

Sorting the Heki out is a right Chinese puzzle don't know even now how I sorted it. 

The only odd thing this trip was the Alde boiler tripped the circuit breaker for some unknown reason, been OK since being reset.

I have learnt one thing though, the chap next door in a Unicorn 4 had a caravan tech out as his water flow was very slow.

Turned out it was the filters in the taps that were blocked. 

I didn't know but you can screw the end off the kitchen tap and and a plastic filter lies within. 

He had two fine mesh ones but ours has a rather coarser plastic one which is perhaps just as well.

The bathroom tap looks like it needs a spanner to remove so left that alone.

Every days a school day in the world of caravanning.

Ian 

CMC Knaresborough

We are at present having a few nights on the above site on the outskirts of Knaresborough but not far from Harrogate and York. 

It is a lovely site but with a couple of changes could be improved 

Firstly the site shop has nothing at all on its shelves at all apart from some toilet fluid and a solitary hook up cable. 

There are no local shops anywhere so a few caravanning and food essentials wouldn't have gone amiss,other CMC sites seem to manage it. 

Secondly the site has a Wanderer  bar and restaurant but any passing wanderer should carefully check the opening times which are very idiosyncratic. 

I could understand restricted opening in the depths of winter but the site is very nearly full.

I would have thought it could be open say 9 to 5 daily for tea, coffee and light snacks.

I was looking forward to a daily breakfast but it's not to be. 

On the Cadiz front we have had a couple of small problems. 

The mini Heki above the sink has loose cords again, and this is a replacement. 

Can't get it off to fix it at the moment so will leave it till we get home. 

Secondly the Alde remote room sensor which I fitted a few years ago is massively under reading. 

Contacted Alde who suggested resetting the panel but that didn't work so it looks like a new sensor, which is now on order at a ridiculous price for P&P may I add. 

The Avtex TV is also in a local shop for repair as it is playing up when used on satellite. 

Luckily we have a spare as SWMBO was starting to sweat a bit,personally I was looking forward to not having to suffer the dreadful Good Morning Britain and the even worse Masterchef. 

At least the weather is glorious for a change right till we go home, it's not a bad life really.

Ian

Tip

This is a tip I have blatantly stolen from this months Practical Caravan and concerns an easy way to clean the hitch pads.

First remove the plastic security ball from the hitch. 

Put  piece of thin cloth round the ball and spray with brake cleaner. 

Insert the ball back into the hitch and close the black lever only not the large handle. 

( My cloth was a bit thick so the handle wouldn't close but it still worked).

Twist the ball backwards and forwards to clean the pads.

It really works!!

Ian

CMC York Beechwood Grange

Well the season has started for us as we are on our first trip to the above site one of our favourites.

Surprisingly I haven't forgotten anything and all has worked with no problems touch wood.

Well not quite. 

I think the Avtex tv is playing up when using satellite. 

We could only get BBC 1 and 2 plus Channel 4,ITV was sound but no picture. 

Will try it at home and if still the same will contact Avtex. 

Had a trip out to a funeral yesterday, one of SWMBO'S friends, which was a first, and hopefully the last, for a caravan holiday.

The site is far from full, Easter is probably the starting point although it is late this year. 

Anyway it is my birthday on Sunday, another year slips by, oh well. 

Ian

Isabella Trip Light

Recently purchased an Isabella Trip Light and stand both to use in the van/awning and at home.

Must admit it is a neat piece of kit.

The light be used on the stand as a table lamp or it can attach to an awning pole, presumaby Isabella poles. 

Switches on and off by rotating the light and can be used as a hand held torch.

Comes with 7 metres of cable and a plug along with some cable clips to affix the cable to an awning pole to keep it neat.

Has a five hour run time on battery, light glows red whilst charging and green when charged. 

Can recommend. 

Found Yorkshire Caravans one of the cheapest places,next day delivery £8.

Thr light and stand are purchased separately. 

Ian