Tam n pups winter trip 2022

[Manic]

What does it matter what the tv has on it.
Don’t forget to tape up the fantasy reversing light as well

 

[Northernraider]

What does it matter what the tv has on it.
Don’t forget to tape up the fantasy reversing light as well

Cause the programmes dinnae match the times which is really annoying . I missed the chase earlier cause it said it was on at 7 but was actually at 6

 

[rolosroller]

I swear someone must have put up a post on some community webpage or something that a motorhome bumped in to the wall as that's now at least 6 people who have come down to where I'm parked and made a point of looking at the back ....2 have even shook their blooming heads at me through the window . .it cannae be a coincidence.

CaptainPaul does such a thing exsist?


I'm no imagining it lol that last woman walked right to the back of the van turned round looked at the bumper then at me through the window shook her head and walked off .

Probably the most exciting thing that's happened there in years.

 

[Gina M]

I swear someone must have put up a post on some community webpage or something that a motorhome bumped in to the wall as that's now at least 6 people who have come down to where I'm parked and made a point of looking at the back ....2 have even shook their blooming heads at me through the window . .it cannae be a coincidence.

CaptainPaul does such a thing exsist?


I'm no imagining it lol that last woman walked right to the back of the van turned round looked at the bumper then at me through the window shook her head and walked off .

I would say in situations like that, just be nice to everyone and smile a lot. You don't want to wake up to your tyres being slashed. You are the stranger in town. Maybe the locals are a bit wary as to your intentions.

Gina.

 

[Northernraider]

I would say in situations like that, just be nice to everyone and smile a lot. You don't want to wake up to your tyres being slashed. You are the stranger in town. Maybe the locals are a bit wary as to your intentions.

Gina.

I always say hello or good morning etc ...but half the time it's ignored it kinda wears thin after a while.

Maybe covid changed things or summit I dunno , but I keep hearing how friendly the Irish are , and my granny, great aunts etc were all Irish. But honestly I can't say I'm noticing it. Sure I've met a few that have been as friendly as the next person I've met anywhere. But I've either been unfortunate or something has changed as I've met a lot of unfriendly and very guarded folk . Not many vans about so maybe it's the time of year or something I dunno . I think maybe folk along the wild Atlantic way get pissed off like those along the nc500 or folk in Cornwall or summit. Maybe if I was going in to pubs or restaurants I'd meet friendlier folk as folk are always friendly taking yer money eh , but in everyday just walking about etc ...I can't say I'm seeing it.

I think CaptainPaul has been the friendliest irishman ive no met lol

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Feltwell]

So my phone is correct

But the TV is an hour out very weird ...

It's got better then - the last time I watched RTE it was at least 30 years out

 

[CaptainPaul]

I always say hello or good morning etc ...but half the time it's ignored it kinda wears thin after a while.

Maybe covid changed things or summit I dunno , but I keep hearing how friendly the Irish are , and my granny, great aunts etc were all Irish. But honestly I can't say I'm noticing it. Sure I've met a few that have been as friendly as the next person I've met anywhere. But I've either been unfortunate or something has changed as I've met a lot of unfriendly and very guarded folk . Not many vans about so maybe it's the time of year or something I dunno . I think maybe folk along the wild Atlantic way get pissed off like those along the nc500 or folk in Cornwall or summit. Maybe if I was going in to pubs or restaurants I'd meet friendlier folk as folk are always friendly taking yer money eh , but in everyday just walking about etc ...I can't say I'm seeing it.

I think CaptainPaul has been the friendliest irishman ive no met lol

Sorry to hear your not having the most friendly experiences here Tam, Us Irish are renowned for our friendly & welcoming nature but I think your a victim of perception here, and I truly believe if you had a wife and or family with you, you wouldn't even be getting a 2nd look and people would be much more friendly with you, its stereotyping I know but a single man with a handful of pups touring around outside of season just doesn't equate in their tiny minds.... but it's their problem not yours mate so don't let it bother you, but I'd say perception is the name of the game here....

 

[jumartoo]

granny, great aunts etc were all Irish.

Can't you get an Irish passport then?

 

[barsteward]

I'll hopefully then be just enjoying the warmer weather , bit of sunbathing , maybe a swim lol

It's certainly never boring being a fulltimer but some of the worries I could do without. Doesn't matter what van I get or how much I prepare there is always something and it's generally the same bloody faults with every van

The nut behind the wheel I know! I know!

 

[Northernraider]

Can't you get an Irish passport then?

Can't you get an Irish passport then?

I dunno , I asked mum a while back about my gran etc and she said although they came from moycullen in Galway she thinks my granny was actually born in Scotland. I never really looked much more in to it. Mum's memory etc these days is not the best and sometimes she gets a bit confused with stuff. Looking online it says grand parents or great grandparents so it might be worth digging in to a bit more .

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Northernraider]

I don't understand electrics , why is it that my b2b will kick out 40a divided by the 2 different battery banks I have at first but then once the batteries all get to around 85% it's only putting in 1 or 2amps. The solar seems to do the same , I don't think my batteries have been much over 85% in the last 2 weeks no matter how much driving I've done or how sunny it is .

The 400ah bank hasn't had more than 350ah and the 300ah bank hasn't been over 260ah in ages.

The inverter seems to use 3 or 4ah constantly even when nothing being used and I can't put it on power saving mode because it needs over 25w to wake it up and the fridge obviously doesn't use that much . So I need to leave it on full-time, when the fridge kicks in it takes around 7ah from one bank and 3ah from the other . It kicks in about every 20minutes for around 2 minutes , and it's on lowest setting, which is more than enough as I've ice droplets in fridge compartment.

This morning I have one bank at 286ah and one at 224ah and not enough solar coming in to even run the inverter never mind add any charge . And I don't want to drive today . If I turn off the inverter I'm getting a grand total of 0.25 input from my 1100watt solar farm .


I would have thought when driving the b2b would put in the 40ah constantly until batteries were 100%

Why doesn't it?

 

[CaptainPaul]

I dunno , I asked mum a while back about my gran etc and she said although they came from moycullen in Galway she thinks my granny was actually born in Scotland. I never really looked much more in to it. Mum's memory etc these days is not the best and sometimes she gets a bit confused with stuff. Looking online it says grand parents or great grandparents so it might be worth digging in to a bit more .

Well if Muhammad Ali & Barack Obama can claim their Irish heritage surely Tam from Alba can!
Even that edjit currently in the Whitehouse is Irish descended! Lol

 

[monzer]

I don't understand electrics , why is it that my b2b will kick out 40a divided by the 2 different battery banks I have at first but then once the batteries all get to around 85% it's only putting in 1 or 2amps. The solar seems to do the same , I don't think my batteries have been much over 85% in the last 2 weeks no matter how much driving I've done or how sunny it is .

The 400ah bank hasn't had more than 350ah and the 300ah bank hasn't been over 260ah in ages.

The inverter seems to use 3 or 4ah constantly even when nothing being used and I can't put it on power saving mode because it needs over 25w to wake it up and the fridge obviously doesn't use that much . So I need to leave it on full-time, when the fridge kicks in it takes around 7ah from one bank and 3ah from the other . It kicks in about every 20minutes for around 2 minutes , and it's on lowest setting, which is more than enough as I've ice droplets in fridge compartment.

This morning I have one bank at 286ah and one at 224ah and not enough solar coming in to even run the inverter never mind add any charge . And I don't want to drive today . If I turn off the inverter I'm getting a grand total of 0.25 input from my 1100watt solar farm .


I would have thought when driving the b2b would put in the 40ah constantly until batteries were 100%

Why doesn't it?

I'm hopeless with electrics as well but do you have an app to monitor the solar? I'd be interested to see what your history says regarding when it is going in to float mode. No idea about the B2B side of things.

I had a similar issue where my MPPT was going in to float mode even when batteries were still pretty low. I found that setting up Victrons VE networking solved the problem as this shared the actual voltage reading of the batteries. The MPPT then knew to hold of from going in to float mode to early.

 

[Lenny HB]

I don't understand electrics , why is it that my b2b will kick out 40a divided by the 2 different battery banks I have at first but then once the batteries all get to around 85% it's only putting in 1 or 2amps. The solar seems to do the same , I don't think my batteries have been much over 85% in the last 2 weeks no matter how much driving I've done or how sunny it is .

The 400ah bank hasn't had more than 350ah and the 300ah bank hasn't been over 260ah in ages.

The inverter seems to use 3 or 4ah constantly even when nothing being used and I can't put it on power saving mode because it needs over 25w to wake it up and the fridge obviously doesn't use that much . So I need to leave it on full-time, when the fridge kicks in it takes around 7ah from one bank and 3ah from the other . It kicks in about every 20minutes for around 2 minutes , and it's on lowest setting, which is more than enough as I've ice droplets in fridge compartment.

This morning I have one bank at 286ah and one at 224ah and not enough solar coming in to even run the inverter never mind add any charge . And I don't want to drive today . If I turn off the inverter I'm getting a grand total of 0.25 input from my 1100watt solar farm .


I would have thought when driving the b2b would put in the 40ah constantly until batteries were 100%

Why doesn't it?

With all that solar although you may not be getting much of a charge from it, it's probably enough to raise the battery voltage enough so that the B2B see the batteries as nearly charged 80%or more so it cuts back its charge rate.
With your size of battery banks a 40 amp B2B isn't going to do much anyway. As for solar, late October in Ireland having a laugh aren't you.

Can you refresh me on what your system is?

 

[Janine]

I dunno , I asked mum a while back about my gran etc and she said although they came from moycullen in Galway she thinks my granny was actually born in Scotland. I never really looked much more in to it. Mum's memory etc these days is not the best and sometimes she gets a bit confused with stuff. Looking online it says grand parents or great grandparents so it might be worth digging in to a bit more .

I can do some research for you, if you like.
I would need your Mom's date and place of birth, if you want to pm them to me.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[namwaldog]

​

I dunno , I asked mum a while back about my gran etc and she said although they came from moycullen in Galway she thinks my granny was actually born in Scotland. I never really looked much more in to it.

Tam,
Have a look at.....

Search our records

People search Search records indexed by personal name. Advanced people search Place search Search for records relating to specific places. Place search Virtual Volumes Use to find records for kirk sessions, other church courts, and government bodies, including the Scottish Cabinet. Search...

www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk

It's a Scottish gov site that allows you to search for births, deaths, marriages etc.
It's a long time since I've used it but I seem to remember the certificates for Scotland give a lot more info than those for England & Wales.

If you found your mam's birth certificate it would give her parent's names inc the maiden name of her mother.

Then look for the marriage of your mam's parents (your maternal grandparents) and it will give you a lot of info on them, age, occupation, fathers name etc.

From this you will have your maternal grandmother's name and year of birth. If you can't find her birth in Scotland, she may have been born in Ireland.

The searching is free but the download of certificates for the full info costs abt £1.50 each.

Worth a bit of effort for an Irish passport?

Good Luck

 

[Poutie57]

Tam, I’m no electrical expert and I’m sure someone like Lenny will come on and explain it all better but I’ve had the same problem as you, over the last 4wks I’ve got a lithium setup being managed by victron dc/dc & mppt mine does the same 30+ amps amps then gradually steps down whilst driving however on pure maths if i drive for say 2 hrs i will only get max 60amps plus your solar input but the dc/dc will step down once its max voltage and drop to float voltage. As I haven’t being driving for over 2 hrs it’s reach full volts but never reached full amps so gradually I’ve ended up with a flat battery and as you’ve had poor weather even your solars are not going to top it up.

 

[Northernraider]

I can do some research for you, if you like.
I would need your Mom's date and place of birth, if you want to pm them to me.

I'll find out what I can from mum and drop you a pm .

She gets home from hospital today so I will be able to phone her and ask stuff

 

[Langtoftlad]

She gets home from hospital today so I will be able to phone her and ask stuff

Has she had her knee op?

 

[Northernraider]

With all that solar although you may not be getting much of a charge from it, it's probably enough to raise the battery voltage enough so that the B2B see the batteries as nearly charged 80%or more so it cuts back its charge rate.
With your size of battery banks a 40 amp B2B isn't going to do much anyway. As for solar, late October in Ireland having a laugh aren't you.

Can you refresh me on what your system is?

OK I'll list what I have

1100w of solar panels, fed through 3 mppt chargers to 2 separate battery banks , 1x 400ah and 1x 300ah the 300 bank serves all the original van equipment, lights, pump , heating etc . The 400ah serves the inverter which runs all the 240v equipment and immersion heater etc. It's a 3000w inverter charger.

I also have a renogy 40 amp b2b charger.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Langtoftlad]

OK I'll list what I have

1100w of solar panels, fed through 3 mppt chargers to 2 separate battery banks , 1x 400ah and 1x 300ah the 300 bank serves all the original van equipment, lights, pump , heating etc . The 400ah serves the inverter which runs all the 240v equipment and immersion heater etc. It's a 3000w inverter charger.

I also have a renogy 40 amp b2b charger.

All the right kit, but not necessarily connected in the right order - to paraphrase the late great Eric Morecambe

Sorry, not helping.

 

[Northernraider]

Has she had her knee op?

Yes she went in 26th last month they removed the old knee and fitted a new one , she's moving about a lot better but developed a kidney issue due to the antibiotics she was on so they kept her in longer ...but apparently bloods are looking good now so she's getting home today thankfully. She seems to be a bit more mobile with the new knee so hopefully things progress. She always recovers better when she's home as she moves about more and eats better .

 

[Northernraider]

All the right kit, but not necessarily connected in the right order - to paraphrase the late great Eric Morecambe

Sorry, not helping.

I think it just doesn't matter how much solar you have if it's not sunny , also personally I'd have preferred to still have a 3way fridge so it also used gas as that's my biggest power usage. The 300ah bank that runs everything else is not so much a concern really .

Neither of the banks have gone below 70% yet so not too much off a worry , but then I've been moving most days so the b2b has done a fair bit of the charging.

It's just why everything seems to reduce charging rate once batteries reach 85% that I don't understand .

 

[Northernraider]

OK well not very pretty and bodgit bill or gadget John would be proud but I have working lights again and lenses are reattached . It will do for now at least

 

[gus-lopez]

he searching is free but the download of certificates for the full info costs abt £1.50 each.

sure the last time my daughter bought any when searching family tree they were £27 in england?

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[namwaldog]

sure the last time my daughter bought any when searching family tree they were £27 in england?

It's a while since I bought any Richard, but a certified copy from the Registrar used to be abt £7 each.
What you get from Scotlands People is the download of an image of the actual Register entry.

It's been abt 12 years since I did any serious research so I'm bound to be out of touch!!!

 

[Janine]

Our charges

Pay-per-view Within our indexed records collection, you can search our indexes free of charge and use pay-per-view to view and download digital images of the records you find. The indexes cover birth, death and marriage registers, census returns, church registers, valuation rolls, legal records...

www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk

 

[Northernraider]

So here's a few pics of spiddal , there's not a lot to see or do here and the weather has been rotten today ..morning fine afternoon heavy rain and currently thunder lightning and hailstones.

So we didn't walk much today....only met 2/3rds of my target

I'm moving on tomorrow, going to try and find somewhere in Galway to park so we can have a walk around the town but if nowhere suitable I'll just head out the other side and park at the train station carpark the other side of it. Then if weather OK I'll take the scooter in one day for a look around. If not then sod it , I can't be arsed with anti motorhome towns. I hope Spain hasn't changed drastically as I really need it lol.


Decided this will be my last winter trip till 2024 as I'm gonna build that vario next year and just work over winter to restock my savings. This trip is working out more expensive so far compared to others mostly due to high fuel cost and low mpg with this van. My budget is going to be tight.


Anyway will see what happens

 

[CaptainPaul]

So here's a few pics of spiddal , there's not a lot to see or do here and the weather has been rotten today ..morning fine afternoon heavy rain and currently thunder lightning and hailstones.

So we didn't walk much today....only met 2/3rds of my target

View attachment 678450View attachment 678451View attachment 678452View attachment 678453View attachment 678454View attachment 678455View attachment 678456View attachment 678457View attachment 678458View attachment 678459View attachment 678460View attachment 678461

I'm moving on tomorrow, going to try and find somewhere in Galway to park so we can have a walk around the town but if nowhere suitable I'll just head out the other side and park at the train station carpark the other side of it. Then if weather OK I'll take the scooter in one day for a look around. If not then sod it , I can't be arsed with anti motorhome towns. I hope Spain hasn't changed drastically as I really need it lol.


Decided this will be my last winter trip till 2024 as I'm gonna build that vario next year and just work over winter to restock my savings. This trip is working out more expensive so far compared to others mostly due to high fuel cost and low mpg with this van. My budget is going to be tight.


Anyway will see what happens

Hopefully you'll get parked up in Galway it's a great wee place and always had a good vibe, I have to say I'm surprised to see the 'no motorhomes' brigade out everywhere when we used to tour Ireland (10-15 years back) nobody give a Fiddlesticks and you just parked where you liked, obviously something has happened over the years, probably why we never motorhome at home in Ireland any more and of course the weather, hopefully some day the TDs in Dáil Éireann will see the enormous potential and start opening Aires & parking etc everywhere
Anyway it won't be long until your heading south towards Spain and hopefully over to Morocco and I'll buy you a pint lol

 

[Northernraider]

Hopefully you'll get parked up in Galway it's a great wee place and always had a good vibe, I have to say I'm surprised to see the 'no motorhomes' brigade out everywhere when we used to tour Ireland (10-15 years back) nobody give a Fiddlesticks and you just parked where you liked, obviously something has happened over the years, probably why we never motorhome at home in Ireland any more and of course the weather, hopefully some day the TDs in Dáil Éireann will see the enormous potential and start opening Aires & parking etc everywhere
Anyway it won't be long until your heading south towards Spain and hopefully over to Morocco and I'll buy you a pint lol

Aye sadly it seems everywhere is changing. That couple I met a week or so back that got threatened with the shotgun have given up and went back to the UK...


Scotland was the same I wildcamped all my life but have seen it change, England seems a complete nightmare for wildcamping, im hoping Spain hasn't changed much in the 3 years since I've been . It's getting harder

I'm hoping my budget let's me get to Morocco this year .

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}