A Stupid Trick

Chris63

Chris63

Joined
May 12, 2016
Posts
102
Likes collected
20
Funster No
43,042
MH
Autotrail Dakota
Exp
2009
Good afternoon,
I can't believe that I did this but it happened. I moved my motorhome Autotrail Dakota with the ECU still attached , I moved the van less than 3 foot but it was enough to pull the connecting wires out to the hook up. The internal connection looks sound and I connected another cable but no power coming through to the van!! Any good ideas, I checked the fuses and they appear sound. Any thoughts and yes it was a stupid trick.
Merry xmas.
 
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Check every connection at each end from the House EHU socket and house trips through both ends of the cable to the other end both wire and van socket and van circuit breakers. Even then you might have broken the cable internally somewhere along its length!
 
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I have done it too. Only seems to happen at home, in a hurry to go I suppose, always have good look round on site nearly drive off over a picnic chair once 😘. Now I have a cable I keep at home that has one of those 3 pin inline connectors you get with lawn mowers fitted about a a foot from the van end, if I drive off it unplugs with no damage. Neighbour may wonder why I have left a lead on the drive.
 
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Richard n Ann said:
I always walk once round the van before getting in, also look under it if it's been parked there for a while.
And while pulling off I look in the mirrors and reversing camera to see if there's anything on the pitch.
Click to expand...
Reminds me of all the checks when tugging, boy I don't miss all that carry on!!

Cheers James

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Richard n Ann said:
I always walk once round the van before getting in, also look under it if it's been parked there for a while.
And while pulling off I look in the mirrors and reversing camera to see if there's anything on the pitch.
Click to expand...
We have seen somebody storing their outside chairs under the van to keep them out of the rain only to drive over them the following morning.

Took us a week to get some replacements!
 
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I’ve seen a transit based MH travelling into Norwich with a long orange hook up cable trailing behind. Goodness knows what the following traffic thought of it. Often wondered how much further he got before someone stopped him.
 
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stevec said:
I’ve seen a transit based MH travelling into Norwich with a long orange hook up cable trailing behind. Goodness knows what the following traffic thought of it. Often wondered how much further he got before someone stopped him.
Click to expand...

So wasn't looking in his wing mirrors often.
 
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if you have checked all fuses etc and sre sure its not a connection in the cable itself, remove the external EHU connection from your van, its probably held in by four self tappers into the bodywork, there should be enough 'slack' cable to pull the connection away from the van to check that all the cables are still connected, when you replace the external EHU connection, it wont hurt to add some extra mastic to maintain the seal between the EHU connection and the van.

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Chris63 said:
Good afternoon,
I can't believe that I did this but it happened. I moved my motorhome Autotrail Dakota with the ECU still attached , I moved the van less than 3 foot but it was enough to pull the connecting wires out to the hook up. The internal connection looks sound and I connected another cable but no power coming through to the van!! Any good ideas, I checked the fuses and they appear sound. Any thoughts and yes it was a stupid trick.
Merry xmas.
Click to expand...
Yes, i did that once in the early days of owning the motorhome, but never in 40 years with our caravans! Luckily for us the internal cabling was undamaged but it sounds like you may have pulled some cabling adrift internally. A suggestion, wire a 13Amp plug with a dead short across the L/N then using a multimeter check if you get a zero ohms reading on a multimeter at the van hook up L/N terminals. If you get no reading at all then you have an internal disconnection. Don't forget to remove the shorted plug BEFORE connecting to mains!
 
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I stopped for lunch in a layby overlooking the Yorkshire Dales, got our chairs and a small table out. After lunch packed away the cutlery, cups etc. Sat in drivers seat to listen to the news, drove off after a few mins to campsite about 6 miles away. On unpacking realised that I had left my table and chairs behind, returned to find them still there...........
 
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Hi Thank you for all of your suggestions and trust me , it won't happen again.
Best wishes , Merry Xmas and a covid free 2020
 
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I use an 'H' shaped offcut of 18mm ply about 500 x 200mm to wind the EHU cable onto when not in use.

When the cable is in use, the ply sits on the pedals in the cab.
 
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stevec said:
I’ve seen a transit based MH travelling into Norwich with a long orange hook up cable trailing behind. Goodness knows what the following traffic thought of it. Often wondered how much further he got before someone stopped him.
Click to expand...
NFN = Normal for Norfolk.....:sneaky:
 
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I unplugged the power lead from a site and moved to another site only about an hours drive away. I plugged in and got no power, as it happened I was next to another Brit so together we started to solve the problem, we suspected that my lead was faulty so undid both sockets and checked the connections, all ok. Then checked the van connection , ok. Next we connected his power lead to my van but not before the chap had to get a spare lead to extend his to reach mine, and it worked so we still suspected my lead was faulty so we connected mine to his and it worked again, so we though right it must be the site outlet so I went to report it at reception and she turned it on for me in her office. DOH.

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On a beachside carpark I found a plastic step that someone had obviously driven off and left behind, I thought I'm having that so I took it and put it in front of my own step, The next day a fellow traveller knocked on my door and claimed it. :xangry:
 
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sonar said:
A check when leaving list. And a arriving list has prevented any damage for us all the time we used
a caravan as well .

we have a much shorter list now with a motorhome.
double sided A4 laminated the first item to check off when there and leaving.

really simple idea.
Click to expand...
That must shorten your holiday somewhat
 
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sonar said:
A check when leaving list. And a arriving list has prevented any damage for us all the time we used
a caravan as well .

we have a much shorter list now with a motorhome.
double sided A4 laminated the first item to check off when there and leaving.

really simple idea.
Click to expand...

When pilots do walk-round checks of an aircraft they do not have a checklist - if you could not remember the essential items and recite what you were checking to an examiner then you failed.

But I accept that we were doing the same thing on an almost daily basis. So much so that 30 years later I could still do it.

Geoff
 
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