Just been watcing a You Tube video by Dan Trudgian using a Bailey Touch Up Crayon for concealing dents and damage to the wooden surfaces inside the van.
Seems to do a good job so have ordered one ( Mendip Ash ) from Prima Leisure at the princely sum of £7.99 plus £1 for second class postage.
Not got a use for it yet but I am sure an occasion will arise.
When it does I will report back.
Ian
No Alde haven't brought out an inflatable for alleviating piles.
In the latest copy of Practical Caravan there is an interesting article about how the restore the air cushion,and therefore avoiding damage,in the Alde boiler if sited for more than ten days.
Makes interesting reading and something I wasn't aware of.
Ian
Visited storage today to rectify the problem with the wet exterior rear floor as catalogued in previous posts.
Was heartened to note that the previously very wet floor had dried out considerably after I implemented the emergency methods posted previously to control it so presumably the water was either running down the bodywork and under the van or running down the gap where the totally useless grubby seal was,or both.
For this job I used Sikaflex 522,which is both sealant and adhesive,and was ably assisted by my neighbour Mr.Roscoe who seems to have an affinity for sealant that I do not possess.
Started with the front and rear panel gaps :-
Before
After
Then on to the rear,with pictures much the same as the front.
I had previously purchased some white 2cm x 2cm plastic angle from E Bay and used this as a "drip strip" along the bottom of the rear of the van to prevent water running underneath,secured with the Sikaflex and screws
All in all was pleased with the results and hopefully the floor will dry some more as the weather improves.
All that is left to do now as a "belt and braces" precaution is to change the seal in the toilet cassette comparment door when Bailey replace the wrong one they sent as Thetford had put it in the wrong packaging.
Ian
I eventually managed to get up to storage today to check the van over and fit an idea that I read about somewhere a while ago.
Have found in the past that we are always tripping over shoes in the van doorway,especially if we haven't got and awning or canopy up.
Bought some collapsible coat hooks from E-Bay and fitted them just inside the door in order to hang shoes on.
Dead easy to fit but you may have to use shorter screws than the ones provided to prevent them from puncturing the fridge wall behind.
When not in use they can be folded safely out of the way.
I intend to put a spot of black paint on the screw heads so they are less noticeable.
There you are,a little lockdown project for you all.
Ian
Took a trip up to storage today to put something temporary in place in the hope that the wet section of the floor may dry out a bit.
Fistly I liberally coated the wet areas with Black Waxoyl ( thank you David Mantell for that suggestion ),that was a messy job.
Secondly I taped some plastic sheet across the rear of the van in order to prevent ( or certainly reduce ) water running underneath and secured it with Gorilla tape.
Having had a close up look underneath I think the problem is in the centre section of the van.
The end section bodywork doesn't actually touch the floor so I don't think the problem is there.
The centre section bodywork however is not attached to the floor but to a piece of wood that fills the gap between the bodywork and floor giving something to screw the bodywork to.
This piece of wood was very wet,presumably from rainwater clinging to the bodywork and wetting it as it was very wet indeed.
I think this wood gets wet and the excess water runs off to the corners where it can go no further and soaks the floor.
There were some gaps in the corner trim which I filled with Waxoyl but whether these contribute to the problem I don't know.
My long term plan is to get a piece of L shaped aluminium and secure it under the back of the van in the centre section to act as a 'drip strip' so the bit of wood doesn't get wet.
Needed to get something in place as there was a possibility we would get locked down again but we seem to have escaped.
Secondly I had an e-mail from John who suggested that the problem may lie with the cassette locker door seal letting in water in driving rain,he has had the same wet floor problem,changed the seal and all was well.
I have heard similar things on forums as well
Having checked it I couldn't see a problem and was going to leave it at that but as the seal is only about £20 or so I will swap it anyway for peace of mind,thanks John.
Will leave if for a few weeks and see if the floor dries a bit.
Will keep the blog posted on events.
Ian
More for something to do than anything else I decided to apply Scotchgard to all the soft furnishings to guard against spills etc..
Suppose I should have done it before but never got around to it but anyway it's done now.
If anyone else wants to do it,to give two coats it needs five cans,easily available from E-Bay.
Secondly, I have noticed that the underside floor at the rear offside is very wet.
There is nothing showing inside,have had the panel off under the bathroom sink and all is bone dry.
All seems dry around the toilet,flush tank is empty,the only thing I can think of is that rain is running down the panels,sticking to the GRP as it extends underneath and wetting the floor.
Anyone else had this problem and if so how did you remedy it ?
Last year at service that corner was 18% when the rest of the floor was about 13-14% so it wasn't too bad then,it's certainly more than that now.
Perhaps it gets wet like this every winter,never gets chance to dry out till spring and has dried sufficiently to be OK for the May service after some ( hopefully ) warmer weather.
Could do with drying it out really with a hairdryer or the like but it is in storage with the wheels off and no electric so will to wait for better weather and see what happens.
Anyway Happy Christmas and a good Covid Free new year to all my followers,or should that be follower,who knows.
Ian
