What have you fixed on your motorhome this week? (3 Viewers)

[offagen]

Fitted seals to two mini-heki rooflights. Even with their blinds closed there would be cold draughts from those rooflights when there was a chilly wind. One was right above our bed!

Inspired by a feature article in the August 2021 copy of MMM magazine, I finally got round to ordering some seals from Jacksons Leisure. Fitting them meant removing the rooflights' clear plastic lids by removing the two pins at the top of the lift bar and the two hinge pins. I was able to do both from inside the motorhome without having to go up on the roof. The plastic lids were then lowered through the rooflight openings. After thoroughly cleaning the lids the seals were fitted in the pre-made channel, secured with a bead of silicon sealant.

It didn't take too long and the only slightly fiddly bits were removing the plastic split pins to free the lids. Hopefully now there'll be no more cold draughts.

 

[dunnah01]

MOT and 2 tyres yesterday . MOT pass - yay
My experiences if garages didn't disappoint. Tyrepal bleeped to say 10psi. Sure enough all the air had come out of one of new tyres. Fiat asthmatic pump wheezed to 55psi to get me back to the garage. The beepin valve was leaking, but what's worse it was the original one that had been fine for 30+k and 5 years so they did something to disturb it. I only noticed it hadn't been changed when I got home after MOT but checked receipt and hadn't been charged so though $Od it it will be fine - buqqer
New high pressure valve fitted and all seems ok for now.

 

[DJL220]

Sorted out the middle marker light that was very dim and only just passed the MOT. Typical pulled the cable gently through the hole only to find no spade connectors on the end
A trip to Screwfix for an inspection camera (couldn’t find the wires or access behind the skirt - thanks Bailey). Managed to find the cables and install new marker light.

 

[Kiters74]

Just had 4 Tyres at £750, plus new Airbag ECU £450, MOT being done on Monday hopefully just mot
cost ?

 

[cyberyacht]

(1)Repaired TV aerial. (2) Fixed broken wire on hab door central locking(why don't they leave a bit of slack in the wires?). (3)Traced dead USB sockets to blown fuse. (4)Put additional fixings to microwave mounting brackets after our appalling roads shook it loose. That's enough for one day!

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[oldiesontour]

Built 340ah lithium battery..4 X 3.2v cells ,200amp Bluetooth, heated (£300) removed 2 X lead acid from under drivers seat (110ah 1 yr old now for sale) fitted new battery,fitted new 240v compressor fridge along with its own 600w inverter and wiring cleaned out van off to Norfolk Saturday

 

[1967bowesj]

Not a fixed as ive already done that a few time with the 8505 fridge.
So fridge threw its toys iut the pram last trip to france so compresser fridge it will be, we also wanted a microwave back in as we do use one!
Found a very reasonable priced copy of a well know model on evilbay.
Came damaged, bit too and fro with chinglish seller and a discount price it is.
Old fridge out and sold off, it is working just doesnt like not being vertical these days.
Had enough size to fit fridge with microwave above.

 

[MisterB]

Not finished yet, so still in progress, i am replacing a Fiamma bike rack with a Thule manual bike lift on a motorhome fitted with Fiamma rails.

took me a few days 'sitting' on the project as they are totally different fixings and are at totally different lengths (Fiamma is very long and the Thule very short), but this is what i have discovered so far ......

The end caps on the bars fixed to the motorhome just ease off. Inside is a screw and small bracket which holds the securing pins in place

The two different hook fixings - the Thule is the top photo.

the top fixings on the Fiamma rail fixed to the motorhome dont fit the 'hook' fixing on the Thule bike rack - BUT the tubing is exactly the same size ... solution is to replace the fixings on the Thule with those on the Fiamma - works perfectly, even better is that as the fiamma tubes are a lot longer, it solves the problem of the difference in length of the two bike racks and enables me to fit the much shorter Thule bike rack, using the existing longe top Fiamma fixings on the motorhome

The fixings to the bottom rail are totally different, whether they come like that or not I'm not sure, I think prob not. I think it probably comes with the hooks, so I assume at some point this is a not an original bike rack from the dealer ...?

Basically it's just the tube with a hole drilled through to accommodate the securing pins.
I thought I would try to improve it a little

So it now fits into the rail a bit further

They are 35mm stainless steel, the same spec as the originals, from Amazon. I could try to get some proper Fiamma hooks, but obviously what was in there works ....

I then sourced a piece of square aluminium and fitted riv nuts (the square section is just laid across the two bottom fixings for now) but that's where it will be fixed eventually.

The riv nuts are to accommodate the bolts on the bottom of the frame of the Thule bike rack.

It came with an angled section of aluminium which I assume booted through the body of the motorhome. I will discard the angle bracket at this stage and just bolt the bottom of the rack through the rivnuts on the square aluminium section.


The next job will be to 'dry' fix the whole thing in situ, then I can check everything for being plumb to the motorhome before bolting ,(rivnuts) the aluminium square section to the two bottom legs.

Hopefully it will all be done for Drax !!

 

[MisterB]

Getting closer now. I've ordered some U bolts to clamp the bottom legs to the aluminium square section. Then I can drill through the top legs and secure everything

First 'dry' fit, I need to reduce the length of the bottom legs

Just cut them down to 9 inches. They're still a bit long but I'm wondering if I can make use of their length at a later date. When I bolt them up they will look a lot better and fit closer to the bottom legs. I will also print out some end caps for the tube and square section and glue them on.

Bike rack wound down (I removed the bike carrier s to reduce weight while fitting)

I will now be able to put the E bikes on by myself and get them off by myself aswell. At least that's the plan ....

I will save the offcuts in case I ever buy/come across a couple of Fiamma hooks fittings that I can rivet into the bottom legs, but as I've fixed them in exactly the same way as they were fitted previously, I'm not overly concerned.

 

[WESTY66]

Not a fixed as ive already done that a few time with the 8505 fridge.
So fridge threw its toys iut the pram last trip to france so compresser fridge it will be, we also wanted a microwave back in as we do use one!
Found a very reasonable priced copy of a well know model on evilbay.
Came damaged, bit too and fro with chinglish seller and a discount price it is.
Old fridge out and sold off, it is working just doesnt like not being vertical these days.
Had enough size to fit fridge with microwave above.



View attachment 928564

View attachment 928565

View attachment 928566

I have just revived my 8505 back down to 3 degrees and -20 but if it buggers up again I’ll be pm’ ing you as that’s what I would like to do

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[Bustup15]

Removed the small Heikki? roof vents from Wc and shower to clean them as impossible to do without dismantling the 2 sections.

 

[The Wino]

Removed the small Heikki? roof vents from Wc and shower to clean them as impossible to do without dismantling the 2 sections.

View attachment 929726
View attachment 929728View attachment 929727

They're a really annoying design aren't they it's like manufacturers who make it difficult to change bulbs when they know sooner or later it's going to need doing

 

[Sidney Selby]

Fitted FM and DAB signal amplifier booster, pull out radio , very easy to wire .. even for me who has no electrickery knowledge.
( Vecys Splitter 1 .. at Amazon £13 !)
Have gone from a pathetic 5 DAB stations to 75 odd and has 300% improved FM radio signal.

On my van the arials are in the wing mirrors.
Huge improvement for £13.

Good morning pwilmo, please see attached picture, is it this one please? Thanks, regards Sid

 

[pwilmo]

Hi there

Here's a screen shot

and a link:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vecys-Antenna-Amplifier-Booster-Splitter-VAN001DAB/dp/B08TZSVS5B?tag=mhf04-21

Cheers

 

[1967bowesj]

Another weekend and another mod, fridge door retainer, colour coded too lol

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[stewartwebr]

Thule/Dometic awning would not reseat. What a carry on, turned out it had lost its limits. First you need to remove the remote control from the memory and remove all limit settings. Then retrain the remote and then commence the setting of the limits. Thank goodness for the YouTube videos as it’s a lot of button pressing and the awning dancing in and out to respond and allow you to move to the next stage. All back working again but at one point I did think wouldn’t this just be easier with a wind out handle.

Should have added that Morelo support advised you should leave the inverter on whilst the awning is out or you may suffer the issues I had. What a waste of power that would be, never had an issue with any of my vans with electric awnings so not going to heed that tip.

 

[gus-lopez]

will also print out some end caps for the tube and square section and glue them on.

Here in spain you can buy any size blanking caps, round & square in most ferreterias

 

[Buddy1012]

A problem familiar to many - Thetford grill not staying alight. Plenty of suggestions out there eg replace thermocouple which requires a fair bit of fiddling / dismantling etc and costs around £30. If this doesn’t solve it then there is always a replacement gas valve - again a bit fiddly and costs around £65. The alternative - clean the burner with a toothbrush sized wire brush and then use a piece of wire to get inside all of the burner outlets. Worked a treat and took less than 5 minutes, cost nothing and didn’t compromise the integrity of the gas installation.

 

[Buddy1012]

Thule/Dometic awning would not reseat. What a carry on, turned out it had lost its limits. First you need to remove the remote control from the memory and remove all limit settings. Then retrain the remote and then commence the setting of the limits. Thank goodness for the YouTube videos as it’s a lot of button pressing and the awning dancing in and out to respond and allow you to move to the next stage. All back working again but at one point I did think wouldn’t this just be easier with a wind out handle.

Should have added that Morelo support advised you should leave the inverter on whilst the awning is out or you may suffer the issues I had. What a waste of power that would be, never had an issue with any of my vans with electric awnings so not going to heed that tip.

Just had my Dometic electric awning removed (a right pain in the @&se and a recurring problem) Replaced it with a nice solid, robust, manual Thule Omnistor.

 

[Gromett]

A problem familiar to many - Thetford grill not staying alight. Plenty of suggestions out there eg replace thermocouple which requires a fair bit of fiddling / dismantling etc and costs around £30. If this doesn’t solve it then there is always a replacement gas valve - again a bit fiddly and costs around £65. The alternative - clean the burner with a toothbrush sized wire brush and then use a piece of wire to get inside all of the burner outlets. Worked a treat and took less than 5 minutes, cost nothing and didn’t compromise the integrity of the gas installation.



View attachment 932382

I carry a set of these around with me. Brilliant for all sorts.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00GAXB3XE/?tag=mhf04-21

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[Grasmere9]

Started to spray the Truma vent covers and fridge grills with grey Matt Plasticote ...pleased with the results so far

 

[Grasmere9]

Started to spray the Truma vent covers and fridge grills with grey Matt Plasticote ...pleased with the results so far View attachment 932437

 

[stewartwebr]

Just had my Dometic electric awning removed (a right pain in the @&se and a recurring problem) Replaced it with a nice solid, robust, manual Thule Omnistor.

I must have got a little confused whilst typing. My awning is Thule Omnistor, nothing to do with Dometic. Had it in and out the last few days and all working great again.

 

[steve69]

I haven't fixed anything - but then neither has the garage that's' currently supposed to be replacing the airbag module. They sent the old module away and one week on - still no replacement.

 

[gus-lopez]

Fitted some pliss blinds to each side of windscreen. cuts down on sun & easier than fiddling around with the outside screens every time I go out & return when at home.
Fitted new fridge grilles a few weeks back . slightly larger so trimmed panel work & the 8 stainless screws in each lined up .Bonus

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[DJL220]

Full service, fuel/oil/air/pollen filters, coolant and timing belt/water pump. Just need to grease the Alko chassis and we are ready for our French trip later this month.
Nice saving over what I was quoted locally too.

 

[AlunandFelicie]

Fed up with the ‘all the clothes have fallen of the rail’ problem when you meet a British pothole or a French speed ramp I decided to take decisive actionhaving looked at a few other solutions and being a fan of KISS I did what every right thinking bodger would do :-

Moved the rail up to within an inch of the cupboard ceiling! Now I get 4” of extra hanging depth and the hangers stay on (I have tried it out)

 

[Tantalus]

Well I would not call it fixed but the cylinder head gasket went on the way back from salt fleet gale
So I followed Wildman’s advice and put sum kseel well blow me apart from all the rusty water stains under the bonnet you wouldn’t think it had happened watt the hell is that stuff probably gummed up the work’s but seem to have worked Frome stemming traction engine to purring petrol will give it would never have believed it if I hadn’t seen it my shelf a good run today to try it out on to eBay

The loo door catch. The shaft is threaded and should screw into the body of the lock but the thread is poor. When it fails, I get locked in! Gorilla glue has hopefully fixed it.
I've also fixed a bracket under the settee. The main support was screwed from underneath. Bracket now screwed on sideways and bolted vertically.
The Heiki is very heavy to raise and I'm afraid the plastic winder will break. I've WDd the hinges. Anyone know if it can be made easier? I'm female 77.

 

[Mike Rivers]

Ferry booked for 24th Aug. Habitation check carried out end Jul which revealed damp underneath French bed. This (in theory) had been fixed previous December. Found new company Damp Repair Centre near Uckfield who are currently undertaking the re-repair. A very professional company, they send me updates on work progress with accompanying photos. Offered to guarantee the repair for 1 year. In conclusion the company in Faversham didn’t do the best job, repair didn’t last and whilst they offered to have another look sometimes you need to cut your losses and just go with whoever you think will do the best job moving forwards. At least she’ll be ready for holiday.

 

[AlunandFelicie]

potching with the van ,one for the dog lovers (and umbrella enthusiasts)

First off fit some 2x1,

(Note bottom hinge ,spare angle bracket from kitchen installation)
Next fit umbrella holder ,

And

Finally after a bit of cutting to match opening fit gate ,

In open position above and below ,

Job took about two hours and cost £50 ish ,holder and gate from Amazon (anyone at Lakefest this weekend wanting to see it in action let me know)

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