Probable Last Trip

Well we have returned from what is probably our last trip of the year staying at Beechwood Grange near York,I can't see us getting out until the horror of Christmas is over and done with ( can't be over quick enough ).

We like Beechwood as it is only forty five minutes or so from storage and is a well run and managed site with good clean spacious pitches.

The Alde heating proved its worth as it was a bit nippy at times but the Cadiz was lovely and warm inside.

I think motorhoming with very large motorhomes must be really taking off as there were at least three near us,all in the £100,000 or so bracket.

I don't like to turn these missives into " what I did on my holidays" but if in York at any time try and visit the Treasurers House at the back of the Minster and go on the short ghost tour.

Gives food for thought shall we say.

Ian

Berwick Sea View

Just returned from four nights at Berwick Sea View CC site in Northumberland.

We have visited this site previously which,as the name suggests,is right on the coast and if you pick your pitch carefully there are some excellent views.

It is within walking distance of Berwick,Spittal is a stones throw away with a beach and a small promenade with a cafe ( unfortunately the promenade seems to be a toilet for the local canine population ).

Spittal From Berwick Sea View CC Site

The journey up started a little iffily with snow showers but these vanished by the time we reached Durham.

No Cadiz problems to report though I wish I could get out of the habit of continuously nervously checking the rear cupboards for leaks from the roof join.

I said I would report on the adaptation to the Alde control panel as described in a previous posting.

Well the answer is rather inconclusive really,after the Alde warmed up I think the thermostat was more responsive than previously but this may have been me being hopeful,so sadly the jury is still out on that one but as the thermostat is now open to the air it should be an improvement.

Ian

Phantom Tracker Offer

Phantom have an offer on at the moment whereby if you recommend someone you get 6 months free and the new subscriber gets three months free.

http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=89bb2309b36b9c97eb159e69b&id=04eb8a35f4&e=10c2445352

So if anyone wants recommending let me know and we could both do ourselves a bit of good.

Ian

A Fool To Myself But Anything For My Readers.

As a special pre-Christmas offer,not bad for a Yorkshireman,I will include the cost of postage for the Magnum awning and the Futur Annex.

So £550 for the awning and £200 for the annex both including postage.

There you are,no excuse now for the wife's Christmas present or you could put it away for Valentines Day,she will be thrilled.

Ian

Home Made "Load Monitor".

David Mantell has been busy again and has produced a document describing how to make a manual "load monitor" for your van,David's instructions are reproduced in their entirety below:-

I feel that the Alde load monitor is a really great idea to prevent your electrical supply from site tripping out with all the embarrassment that this can bring. However, the cost of the unit at over £40 is exorbitant. A simple domestic energy monitor that measures current is all that is needed to keep an eye on the total electrical consumption.

The Alde system is good in that it automatically reduces the electrical heating whilst other items are consuming energy, however if other units (microwave/cooker hob/fan heaters for the awning etc) exceed the site supply, then the Alde cannot compensate and the site trip will ‘blow’.  The system described here is a manual system (ie you need to keep an eye and manually turn on/off items that consume energy). The major advantage is that the cost is much lower; mine cost me £10 secondhand from ebay!

Most energy monitors display kilowatts but there are some that can also directly display current in amps – one such monitor is the Owl CM113A/CMR113A  this has a similar ‘clamp round’ sensing  coil that is fitted around the positive supply cable. This is in turn connected to a small transmitter that resides in the bottom locker. The separate indicator unit is wireless and can be placed anywhere inside (or outside) the caravan. This unit indicates total current consumption and hence the user can make simple choices on what is on and off to limit the total consumption to below the site supply. I have this installed in my Cadiz for a while now and works extremely well.

One word of warning – most energy monitors only indicate watts/kilowatts – whilst this will work,  it will need you to divide this reading by the site voltage to get the current consumed – bit of a pain as site voltages are somewhat variable especially on the continent!  My suggestion is to monitor ebay and wait until a suitable unit becomes available.

If this is of any interest, I would be happy to provide any further details you may need – send a pm to Ian who will pass them on to me. 

As usual,thank you David.

Ian