Second Trip & That Flip Up Table Again.

Yesterday we returned from four nights at Burford Caravan Club site in the Cotswolds.

An excellent venue in tip-top order

Two recommendations,visit the Cotswold Wildlife Park across the lane and Chedworth Roman Villa about 15 miles away.

The Cadiz behaved impeccably both under tow and for the duration of our stay apart from my old friend the flip up table in the kitchen.

Yes I leant on it again and once more the screws came out depositing a kettle full of ( cold ) water over the front seat.

So it was cushion outside to dry and another repair undertaken with some plugs and No More Nails this time but sadly it didn't look right so I have brought the table home and I am going to drill right through the panel and place a wooden batten behind in the cupboard and bolt it through,seems the only way to make a secure job of it.

Now yes it was my fault for leaning on the table but upon examination of the screws they are ridiculously short to support a table  ( see pic ).

In my humble opinion they are never going to do a great deal except cause future trouble.

During the proceedings SWMBO had risen from her bed to see what all the commotion was about along with a selection of sighs and tuts.

Then to compound matters when I had finished the first repair I put the screwdriver down on the back of the front seat where it promptly vanished down the back of the cushion and landed vertically in the Alde radiator fins.

Not really knowing how to retrieve it I unscrewed a wooden board at the bottom of the cushion but that didn't make any differece so back it went.

As I could just see the screwdriver I managed to get my hand down behind the heating board and after a lot of effort managed to get it out.

Motto:- Don't put anything on the top of the seat back cushions.

All this before 8:30am.

Whilst dismantling the superstructure I came across a "secret" compartment behind the front armrests which I didn't know was there.

It is useful for keeping valuables away from prying eyes when out of the van.

There is one on the other side too.


I had rather more luck with an adapation I made for the TV.

We were on a serviced pitch with TV supplied via the bollard.

Previously in the Orion we had to put the ariel wire through the window into the back of the TV to get reception off the site supply.

As the Cadiz has an exterior satellite point I attached a satellite plug to coax converter to it and plugged in the coax from the bollard.

Up at the business end I purchased a three way splitter off E-Bay,disconnected the blue tagged wire from the Vision Plus signal amplifier ( this blue tagged wire comes from the "satellite in" on the side of the van ) and plugged it into the inward side of the splitter.

Then I disconnected the two wires that feed the two TV points and connected them to the outward part of the splitter ( see pic ).

It all worked rather surprisingly well and is easier to do than explain.

I am going to do the shelf repair later in the week when I have located some suitable bolts so will post on how it went.

Ian

Bailey Parts, An Idea.

In my humble opinion Bailey Parts Direct are pretty much on the ball in my experience.

The one drawback is the £6 postage charge when only a small item is wanted.

I thought it may be a good idea if anyone wanted a small item they could e-mail me,I would put it on the blog and anyone who was shopping for a bigger item could include it in their order and post it on.

Of course the secondary postage and cost of the item etc. would need to be reimbursed but for a small item the postage would come to much less than £6.

Now to the selfish bit.

I want about 20 of these:-

 Mendip Ash Stickers

SWMBO has found a couple of screw holes where they have become detached so I will order a good few just in case as she keeps going on about it,it's only a pounds worth.

So any further small orders drop me an e-mail and we will see how it goes.

Ian

Oh I Almost Forgot...................

When we had the Orion I purchased a Bailey wheel arch cover as someone on the next pitch at the time had one and it looked rather smart.

He warned me that they were a complete bugger to put on and he wasn't far wrong.

A good three quarters of an hour,cut fingers,broken nails,broken temper etc.

Anyway like complete idiot who never learns his lesson,I bought one for the Cadiz and was looking forward to a repeat performance.

Bailey Wheel Arch Cover

Surprise,surprise.

Bailey must have listened to someone as the Cadiz model slips on with no problem at all in a couple of minutes.

It looks like they have used smaller diameter beading in this version.

So if you were contemplating one don't hold back.

Ian

Toilet Flush Door Lock.

Just a small tip,all the exterior locker doors on the Unicorn are locked when the key slot is horizontal.

The exception is the toilet flush door which is locked when the key slot is vertical.

Came back from York with it flapping open,no damage done of course but it doesn't look good.

Ian

Window Catches & Exterior Locker Doors

One thing I have noticed in regard to the Cadiz is how firm the window catches are,they need a fair bit of strength to close/lock them.

I hope this means that there is less chance of them leaking in the future.

Much the same for the external locker doors,need a good shove to close the door.

Ian

A Couple of Things.................

Went over the van today to use the Floe on the water system as I usually do between trips.

I was surprised by how little water remained in the system.

When I used the Floe on the Orion I used to get about 250mls plus quite a bit out of the water heater.

On the Cadiz I only got about 50 mls plus the contents of the heater which didn't seem very much either.

Surprising for a much bigger van


I also calibrated the Alde against a thermometer,it was out by about 2 degrees.

I thought it would be more than that so I will recheck on our next trip.

Ian

First Trip..................

Just returned from our first trip in the new Cadiz,four nights at Beechwood Grange CC site just outside York.

Beechwood has always been one of our favourite sites and is only about 45mins from our storage.

The site was as cared for as it always is with friendly helpful wardens but it has to be said that it is looking a little tired in places and could do with a bit of a makeover especially in the washblock and on the roads,which after rain ( and boy was there some ) present with some very large and deep puddles.

Anyway onto the Cadiz and I am pleased to say there is virtually nothing to report.

Had a scare when we first arrived as the mover wouldn't work,fortunately just a change of handset batteries needed.

Nothing broke,well nearly nothing as I shall document shortly.

The problems that people had highlighted on Caravan Talk didn't materialise.

No water ingress into lockers ( and we had plenty of driving rain ).

No problem with the EHU socket.

No leaks into the van.

SWMBO commented that the fridge was uber efficient,in the Orion we were used to turning it onto Max,we did it on this and everything froze,milk,pop,mushrooms,everything ( sorry Malcolm ).

It towed behind the Alltrack like a dream with little influence from a blustery wind,a 90Kg noseweight was easy to achieve.

As for the layout,few problems there.

It has to be said that the bathroom is a little compact to say the least but you can't have twin fixed beds,a decent size kitchen and lounge and also a large bathroom,the box is only a certain size.

The shower worked OK and appeared well sealed but a bi-fold door might have made better use of space.

The location of the table in the wardrobe is not the best thought out.

It is a pity that it couldn't have been situated in some sort of slide in cupboard in the kitchen like the Orion,it always seemed to be in the way somehow.

The concertina divider between front and rear seems to be a bit of a rickety affair,not really up to the quality of a prestige van,it is like it was an afterthought.

The TV point adjacent to the fridge worked fine with our television and it folded away nicely into its cubby hole.

Beds were superb,no problems there.

The Alde heating/water was excellent but the ambient temperature displayed on the control panel didn't seem to match what we felt in the van ( didn't have a thermometer to check it ).

It showed 25C at times but it didn't feel like it.

Rang Alde who said to check the van temp.with a thermometer then offset the temperature reading on the panel which I will do before our next trip.

Outside,some guide tubes for the rear steadies wouldn't have gone amiss.

The breakage was the extending flap adjacent to the kitchen work top.

Don't lean on this too heavily as it collapses and pulls the screws out.

Don't ask me how I know this fact.

Also,don't drop a mobile phone down between the kitchen unit and the front seat as it takes some getting out.

Kitchen sink wise,someone commented that the tap mixer lever hit the window surround,ours fortunately didn't,just.

It never ceases to amaze me how caravan manufacturers get away with placing 230v sockets adjacent to a sink,I'm sure it wouldn't be allowed in a domestic setting.

Oven/hob/microwave,no problem.

There is plenty of storage space,so much in fact the we had some empty lockers left over.

We have brought the ridiculously large square bulbous cushions home to replace them with some smaller ones,much too big for the van.

All in all,very pleased with the Cadiz which appeared to have been well made and well prepared.

I hope it lasts.

Just a final word of praise for Bailey Parts.

Put on our new Bailey/Pro Tec towing cover this morning for only the second time and one of the straps became detached.

Rang Bailey Parts when we got home and a complete new cover will be delivered tomorrow morning.

I call that good service.

Ian