What are you all up to
Comments
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Agree.
Air con would be little used in the UK (by us, anyway) but many sites in Europe have pitches deliberately under trees.
If an air con unit cannot work if the caravan is pitched under trees, it seems to be a pointless piece of equipment.
No doubt tbe CAMC will be doing an 'expose' article in their next magazine, on tbe inadequacies of these Truma air con units........?
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Disaster struck tonight - and we're talking Disaster with a capital D!
It's our last day down here in Cornwall so we drove down to Perranporth for our traditional fish, chips & wine supper up at Droskyn Point.
Bought the fish & chips, parked up with a view all the way along Perranporth beach, salt & vinegar applied, now to open the wine and .....aaagh! .... it's got a cork, not a screw top!
(And what sort of person carries a corkscrew just in case?)Cue tears & tantrums (that was me, Mrs M wasn't too botheredl) - can it get any worse than this?!!
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We have a Dometic air con unit, probably not dissimilar to the Truma one, and despite holidaying abroad in hot weather for most of the last 9 years, and parking under trees when possible, we have not found any problem with debris entering the unit. Or with water dripping inside.
The instructions for our unit do state that if the water outlets get blocked the water will drip into the van, and that these must be kept clear of dirt and debris, I think the Truma instructions say similar.
Before condemning the design we should perhaps remember that these units are designed to be used on leisure vehicles, which do normally move from place to place, as we usually do every few days, thus allowing any debris to be blown or shaken out of the unit while in transit, in contrast Malcolm's unit may be sitting on his seasonal pitch for months at a time.
And also that leisure vehicles are not really intended for use 365 days per year, so Malcolm's air con is getting much more use than would normally be expected.
Items which are in frequent or constant use will wear out faster and need more looking after. Having now spent the equivalent of about 30 months staying in our van over the last 10 seasons, we have worn out 2 water pumps, 1 toilet cassette mechanism, a complete AlKo hitch assembly, and a Fiamma roll out canopy.
At home, I can see how dirty the roof gets when the van is just sitting on the driveway, no trees involved. It gets green quite quickly, under trees it would be much worse I would think.
I can see that a unit sitting still under trees for an extended period could well mean that the water outlets would tend to get blocked after a while, and need a regular cleaning regime.
Malcolm, if you do not already have one, a sturdy step ladder of the appropriate size might be a good investment!
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A good point KJ. However, surely some sort of warning light would be sensible, rather than wait for water leaking into the van to signal a problem. If our tumble drier detects it needs a filter cleaning it switches off and beeps and indicates the faulty area. After all these items are not cheap.
Hopefully they got Malcom all sorted out.
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After a day of sunshine and heavy showers here in Norfolk we ended the day with a lovely sunny summer evening sitting outside with our pre dinner drink. Daughter, SIL and 2 grandchildren then arrived with their tent so we have had a really great evening. Good weather forecast for tomorrow.
.Bad luck moulesy. Hope you got to enjoy the wine when you got back to your caravan.
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OH dear, oh dear oh dear !!
Obviously I'm not the only one to get confused these days
I tender my sincere and earnest apologies { if not my resignation } to Bakers2 & to Brue, I will try to do what I suggest others do before posting ==> Brian MUST read his writing, Brian MUST read his writing, Brian MUST read his writing ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,,
Brian A B M
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The work was all completed by 11:30 a.m. The aircon is working fine now and so is the motor mover.
After leaving the Truma factory we headed south west towards Chipping Sodbury. We stopped at a motorway services on the M5 for lunch at about 13:30. We arrived at Chipping Sodbury Caravans by 15:20 and collected our repaired awning with new poles. We met the salesman who sold our caravan to us two years ago who seemed pleased to see us. We also bought a new toilet fresh up kit.
We then went to the service department to have the window blinds frame fixed. It had come adrift so they screwed it back on. From what they said, it seems that it's a common problem.
After that I went online to book a pitch at Cirencester Park Club site. Thanks for the suggestion on here. Like it was said, it wasn't too far from Chipping Sodbury and only took half an hour to get here.
After getting pitched, we went to the mobile fish and chip shop on site and bought some fish and chips with mushy peas.
This morning we will need to fill up fuel and then we'll commence our return journey to Worthing. Once there our fuel bill will come down as we will be able to go out on day trips using the Smart car.
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I've still got 11 days holiday left and once we get settled back into our seasonal pitch, we'll be able to stay there for the next 21 nights before having to move.
We're finding caravanning a lot easier since I started working for Pizza Hut because my wife no longer works at all and most weeks my duty rota works out to 16 hours a week of mostly evenings and usually four hours per evening and 3 days off. This makes it easier to hitch up and move to another site every three weeks. We can then spend two nights away visiting another area before returning to our seasonal pitch for another 21 nights. Kent, the garden of England, beckons! I would like to stay at the Bearsted Club site in Maidstone. We can the visit places like Rochester where I used to live in 1983 famous for Charles Dickens. I also lived in the Isle of Grain for a while during that decade. So perhaps a bit of nostalgia in visiting that area. Also the docks at Chatham.
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Also, there's more time available to erect and dismantle the awning. That's another job that we have to do every 21 days. Of course, we needn't put the awning up on our two away nights.
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It's only 21 nights at a time since we started using the seasonal pich this year.
We have a step ladder but it's not high enough, so like you say, we'll need to get a much taller one.
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We've just finished a cooked breakfast of bacon, egg, sausages, tomatoes and mushrooms with toast.
Our first job today before leaving will be to fill up diesel. Luckily there's a Tesco Extra with a pfs only a mile from this site.
The shortest route to Worthing from here is 128 miles via Southampton. It will take us part of the way along the M4 before turning off at junction 13 and eventually joining the M3 and M27. I reckon it will take about 4 to 5 hours depending on whether we stop en route for a break.
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Husky have a wonderful time. It'll all be fine
. You're so lucky to have both parents and that they want to and are up to going away. My mum nearly 87 had a couple of TIA'S if you suggest a day out says no, sad really, but she goes to church and her club and is occupied most days and happy but feels safe. 0 -
Malcolm glad you're all sorted. Now time for a relaxing holiday. Shame you didn't stay longer at Cirencester once you were there and explore. But back on your seasonal pitch you'll be able to use site fees for 'extras' or savings
. Happy anniversary, have a lovely day.0 -
Glad you got sorted out Malcolm. I don't know what scope there is for stopping after Portsmouth, but be aware the last services before then are on the A34 at Sutton Sottney. There is nothing on the bit of the M3 or M27 that you will travel along. Have a good journey.
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Personally, I would have stayed a few days local to where I could return to Truma when the unit breaks again.
Also, I think that having to move sites every 21 days still means that you are using the caravan and its fittings 365 days a year, doesn't it?
Anyway, if anyone is opening a book, my money is on the air con lasting 3 months........
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We drove to Worcester yesterday. Sorry if anyone lives there, but it's a bit of a dump isn't it? We didn't even stop there, but instead went to Spetchley Park Gardens. Lovely spot, not as well kept as perhaps a NT garden but a lovely place, with a large lake with lots of wildlife.
Then we drove to Coughton Court (NT) which we've been to before many times. Had a cream tea then looked around the interesting house and the fabulous gardens - including a vegetable garden and a walled garden packed with flowers.
We even had time to call at Broad Lane Leisure (where we bought our caravan 10 years ago) to look at caravans.......nice but too expensive, was the verdict.
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Yes, a warning light could be good, but would be one more thing to go wrong, and add to the cost of the unit, so personally I would opt for a step ladder, a regular checking regime, and learning how to clean the outlets!
When you think about the rattling a caravan has to endure while being towed, it is not surprising that things like blind frames can come loose, we have 2 or 3 that I have had to re-attach. We probably have a fairly high mileage van as we do long trips, so plenty of scope for things to rattle loose, just glad I can usually fix most problems!
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Yesterday I got a new computer, so I'm spending some time checking that everything is installed and working. I bought it locally - built to my specifications, had my data transferred from the old one, and setup at home.
I use a couple of quite specialist programs that I'm setting up, but every thing seems to be OK.
So, if you live in the South Lakes I can recommend Triarom in Windermere.
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) and would have chiselled the cork out somehow.
, my dear old mum is panicking that we don't for forget anything , but it will be fun 
