What have you fixed on your motorhome this week?

Hmmm had a couple lately , brought the van back a couple of week's ago , and found the motor got a bit hot . Ran the engine on the drive till it got very hot , still no fans , so had a quick look , tested a few bit's and fitted a new temp sender . Now the fan kick's in at half gauge indication , and run on after engine's switched off .

Supposed to be in wales thursday , but a last minute water problem stopped me dead . Boiler wouldn't fill properly , causing low hot water pressure . Didn't help when i tried to removed the check valve from the pump . Opps , it's was non removable . Argh owner abuse , new pump , already sourced and fitted .
Original problem traced to the boiler pressure relief valve , still waiting on that one , being promised monday .

So
  • new fan temp switch ,
  • fresh coolant (ahem again)
  • New fresh water pump complete with check valve ,
awaiting ;
  • Boiler pressure relief valve ,
On the plus side , i now know my water system layout .
 
Had to order two sealed batteries for ours, the solar panel seems to have cooked our lead acid batteries whilst the van has been parked up. To be fair full flooded lead acid batteries in a none vented box at the side of the water and van heater seems a bit naughty but that is our friends at Brownhills sent it out. To be fair they are 3\ 3.5 years old so cannot really complain
 
nothing, but got a couple of things we need to fettle after taking the grandchildren away. Not that they broke anything just things we have lived with and they were surprised about.
 
laneside said:
Had to order two sealed batteries for ours, the solar panel seems to have cooked our lead acid batteries whilst the van has been parked up.
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Your solar charge controller is not doing it's job if it lets your hab batteries cook. What's to say it will not cook your new batteries. Will it not warrant some investigation of your solar charge controller before taking the chance of ruining your expensive new batteries.
 
The shower tap in our van is more of a valve than tap because the hose and on/off bit are two separate entities. For a while we have coped with the valve bit dribbling when operated, this weekend I had a go at it. Had to remove the access panel at the rear and disconnect the pipework and wiring (typical Elddis cowboy build quality; every connection was either loose or hand tight) luckily no leaks round the back. A new micro switch is in the post as the cable on the old one had been pinched in numerous places. Surprised anything worked. Will be all sorted by Tuesday hopefully. Also fitted a couple of straps and press studs to stop some lanky sod from stretching out and splitting the bed. And I also flushed the radiator and filled up with antifreeze.

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Not do much fixed as rejigged. Decided it was ridiculous carrying £3500 worth of bikes on a tow bar rack when all the stuff in the garage is probably with less than £1000.
I've completely gutted the garage & starting again with the bikes securely tucked up in there. Now let's see what else I can get in it.
 
Well never made wales , which probably ent a bad thing , as it rained all weekend . Not having 4 wheel drive or a power winch would have meant my having problem's trying to leave . Strong wind's and thunderstorms blew tent's away , and flooded the airfield . At one point when i checked the weather radar , you couldn't make wales out for the brightly coloured cloud cover . However , escape ent dat easy , the saga of the water system continue's .
The boiler relief valve arrived as promised , duly fitted , the boiler filled and with everything ticker tee boo , i finished loading the bus . Hang glider and all , just check the water level , ready for departure tomorrow , hang on where's this water come from ? .
Now being fair , this could also be owner abuse , however the van is 18 year's old and i did notice a weep last year . On the top of the tank are two elbow's , fitted into a large screw on bowl . I discovered the bowl , full to the brim , with water , in fact i later discovered it was beginning to overflow . I drained the water , only for it to start filling again .

Hmmmm not good .

I figured the pressure in the pipe's was pushing water though , what ? , a split in the feed elbow . Now , being honest i had tried to remove this bowl on friday , to make replacing the water pump easier .

It was having none of it ! .

One connection released , but the other refused point blank to play , so i noted it for replacement before it caused any problem's , and carried on . It's now causing problem's , probably because i gave it so much grief on friday .
This water system repair , is turning into a full overhaul . There ent much more i can replace , and i still ent escaped . New part ordered , arrival estimated wednesday , so ,

replaced ,
  • boiler pressure relief valve ,
awaiting ,
  • hymer fresh water insert , two elbow outlet .
Just as well i know my water system , now enit . Can i please go on holiday after this , himmler ? .
 
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Thankfully the repair of the fresh water tank, which was damaged when I ran over a stepladder, seems to have held okay. The ladder caught the end of the drain, breaking it away from the tank. I was able to force it back into position then seal it off with Loctite Kintsuglue, a shape and fix putty that dries hard but still slightly flexible so any vibrations shouldn't affect it. I left it to harden off for a couple of days then refilled the tank. Just checked and the tank remains full with no leakages.

Never come across this stuff before, wife spotted it in Tesco, thought it looked "useful" so she bought a packet. It's quite expensive but cheaper than a new tank or a plastic weld, which would have involved taking the tank out. It dries waterproof so I'm not too concerned about water contamination - we don't drink from the tank anyway.
 
So I fitted the new micro switch for the shower valve and tightened everything up as it should be, not how Elddis left it......shower valve still leaks so a new valve is on its way. Only £9.50. Surprised me how cheap it was. The o rings in side the old one had perished and since they are shaped it's probably cheaper and easier to buy the new one. Didn't stop me from buying a set of o rings though. Best to have and not need.

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My big shiny gear knob got wobbly from too much rough action in the North York Moors. I gave it some attention and it's now standing stiff and true again.

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Hah cracked it , insert arrived yesterday morning . I really can't fault brownhills , both the pump and insert came from them , both next day , both with absolutely no problem's at all . Have to admit , postman was late . So it didn't arrive till gone 12 , yet 10 minutes later , i was doing the install . Got disturbed for nearly an hour , when a guy came to collect mother's car , for some restoration work to the bodywork . So by the time , i did get it all reassembled , pump connection's soldered , bleed and tested , it was gone 3 . That would have meant , i'd have been travelling during rush hour . Stuff that , i do enough of that when i'm working , but at least i get paid .
So the plan now is to go today , actually in about an hour . Van's checked , loaded , rack and bike on the back , and i'm history , should put me there early to mid afternoon .
At last .

So now all present work up to date , and functioning as it should ,

Final part fitted ,
  • hymer fresh water insert , two elbow .
Start again in the autumn . For now , i'm outta here .
 
Fitted a new tap to the sink and in doing so the hot water pipe melted on the back of the oven and started to leak. :cry:
So, purchased a heat protective sleeve (up to 277 Deg C) and encased both water pipes inside it. That's another job done and hopefully will last for several years at least.
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Connected fridge directly to leisure battery (with fuse!) fiddly job but worth it.

Finally got round to installing a Battery Master. The BM was easy to fit, but the installation of the VSR/Split charger had been poorly done. So what should have been a 15 minute job was a 3 hour 'let's do this properly' job!

All done now & I will be less worried about van starting when on my 4 week snowboarding trip this winter

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Replaced another core plug that I didn't know was there and which decided to leak on the motorway and taking an hour to stop leaking just to get Mr back to a friends. All OK now fingers crossed.
 
Parts didn't arrive in time so had to take the grandkids to Conwy and Colwyn Bay with a leaky shower tap. No matter. (Varying degrees of) Fun had by all. (Ever had to retrieve a dummy from a well used toilet cassette????) Got the kids back to mum and dad, parts for shower were ready and waiting. Another job for another day. Waved to loads of vans on the way back. Was that you? A55, M56, A51.
 
Mr Chrysalis said:
So proud of this fix. Upcycled a pencil to repair the broken D holder in the door mounted bin. Almost invisible repair. Could only be improved with fawn coloured gaffer tapeView attachment 245850
Alice is so pleased with me, she has bought me a present that’s coming on Tuesday. It’s a new D holder.
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Is there no end to my talents? Now that the new one came and is installed, I have used the broken ( but fixed) one to wrap the two 5m wire dog leads around. It stops them getting tangled and keeps them tidy

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Nasher said:
Connected fridge directly to leisure battery (with fuse!) fiddly job but worth it.

Finally got round to installing a Battery Master. The BM was easy to fit, but the installation of the VSR/Split charger had been poorly done. So what should have been a 15 minute job was a 3 hour 'let's do this properly' job!

All done now & I will be less worried about van starting when on my 4 week snowboarding trip this winter
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Not meaning to be critical, just curious. The fridge will not run very long on your leisure battery unless you are on electric hook up or have plenty of solar power. So if you are on hook up, why not use the fridge on mains, or better still, gas?
 
Mr Chrysalis said:
Not meaning to be critical, just curious. The fridge will not run very long on your leisure battery unless you are on electric hook up or have plenty of solar power. So if you are on hook up, why not use the fridge on mains, or better still, gas?
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Thanks for your concern. The fridge (Waeco CRX-50) was connected to the leisure battery via the PMS 3 control panel (a permanently 'on' connection) Voltage drop can be a problem & it's recommended that a direct connection is better. (I was also advised to do the same for the Wallas diesel heater/hob)

I don't have solar or gas, just a 110Ah leisure battery. With careful planning, I can last 3 days static, without hookup. Most of my time away is on sites with EHU, but I do have weekends away for classic bike race events without hookup and it's not a problem. That said, I have a generator for longer stays without hookup

For the record, I don't use the PMS 3 in-built charger as it is crude compared to modern chargers and eventually I will remove the PMS 3 unit - it now just does RCD for mains sockets and 12v to sockets, lighting & water pump

Rationale for no gas, is that I carry motorcycles inside the van, so I don't want naked flames and no solar as I try to keep everything as simple as possible (also it always rains at motorcycle events, so solar can't be relied on!)

Hope this satisfies your curiosity :)
 
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Nasher said:
Thanks for your concern. The fridge (Waeco CRX-50) was connected to the leisure battery via the PMS 3 control panel (a permanently 'on' connection) Voltage drop can be a problem & it's recommended that a direct connection is better. (I was also advised to do the same for the Wallas diesel heater/hob)

I don't have solar or gas, just a 110Ah leisure battery. With careful planning, I can last 3 days static, without hookup. Most of my time away is on sites with EHU, but I do have weekends away for classic bike race events without hookup and it's not a problem. That said, I have a generator for longer stays without hookup

For the record, I don't use the PMS 3 in-built charger as it is crude compared to modern chargers and eventually I will remove the PMS 3 unit - it now just does RCD for mains sockets and 12v to sockets, lighting & water pump

Rationale for no gas, is that I carry motorcycles inside the van, so I don't want naked flames and no solar as I try to keep everything as simple as possible (also it always rains at motorcycle events, so solar can't be relied on!)

Hope this satisfies your curiosity :)
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It’s good to know that you can get 3 days of fridge on the battery. Thanks for sharing the tip about direct wiring
 
Popped this in the fresh tank 2 days ago and now flushing through.

Hope it’s sorted the intermittent sensors in both water tanks :)
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Nasher said:
(also it always rains at motorcycle events, so solar can't be relied on!)
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Never had a problem getting power from our solar no matter what the weather, rain, hail, fog although you might have to sweep the snow off.

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im completley knackered i have just spent 2 hours polishing my wheel balance weights and they look fantastic now cant believe i have never done this before now time for a beer
 
Went to change one of the high level marker lights on the van and found the fitting beginning to burn out. Ordered two new from Caravan Components and fitted them today.
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As you can see the lens was also cracked. This was the nearside, the offside was starting to go as well. Fittings made by Hella as usual, ten years old, 65k on the clock.
 
I have fixed the date of the start of our next trip - fly to Gatwick, train to near Canterbury to MH, one night Canterbury P+R and charity shops for Basia, meeting for me with P+R Manager, then on DVR-DRK ferry next morning. Normandy, South of Paris and slowly back to Poland.
 
RichardB said:
How much water did you put in the tank with it?
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Put in the 1kg bag and filled the tank up full. Ran it through all the taps and heater and left if for 2 days, then drained and rinsed.

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