Friday 22 June 2012

Rain Dear

Well we should have gone to Cawood Park this weekend for three days including a visit to York Cycle Show on the racecourse but the weather is so appalling we decided not to go and keep our powder dry.

Cawood Park

It has not stopped raining for two days solid and when I checked with Cawood Park yesterday they said they weren't flooded ( Cawood village is prone to floods ) but the site was very muddy.

We were using some vouchers that I got from the Manchester show topped up with some cash and they said we could carry it all over to a future stay which I thought was very reasonable.

As I write this the weather is absolutely foul,it looks more like November than June.

For once I am glad to be inside bricks and mortar rather than the Orion,except the conservatory roof has now decided to leak.

Ian


Thursday 21 June 2012

Mosquito Net

Took Justin's advice and fitted the Fiamma mosqito net today,looks rather good if I say so myself.

Used heavy duty Velcro as opposed the the supplied screws.










Ian

Positive & Negative

Just in case anyone is desperate for the information,if you connect the battery up incorrectly ( positive to negative and vice versa ) it blows a fuse and the 12v electrics don't work.

The fuse that it blows is the one marked "Battery" on the panel under the nearside front bunk,it is 20 amps.

Do not enquire as to how I know this fact.

Ian

Thursday 14 June 2012

Bulbs ( Electric not Crocuses )

A few posts ago I think I mentioned buying a spare bulb or two for the ceiling lights.

The dealers wanted somewhere around £2.99 per bulb ( G4 ) and I got some off t'internet for around £1 each.

Was in the local pound shop a few days ago and they had four for,yes you've guessed it,one pound.

So if you want some spares/replacements try your local pound shop first.

Ian

Tuesday 12 June 2012

Calling Colin

Colin,

Someone is interested in your mattress if it is still for sale.

I can't use Google FriendConnect to e-mail you as I can't get it to work.

Is it still for sale?

If it is if you could e-mail me and I will try to pass on your details.

Ian


Thursday 7 June 2012

Bailey Poor Finishing Off.

Without going into too much detail I have it on very good authority that Bailey are aware that some of their products are poorly finished off and are endeavouring to do something to correct it.

We shall see if any improvements become apparent.

Ian

Isabella Confusion

When we first purchased our Orion we also bought an Isabella Magnum porch awning.

The Fixon 2 brackets that were supplied with it had one thin pad and one thick pad.

I presumed ( eventually ) that the thick pad went on the bottom and the thin pad on the top to provide the step for the Alu-Tech rail.

However the pads never seemed to fit correctly against the side of the van but I presumed that this was how things were.

Recently we bought an Isabella Eclipse Magnum to fit on the front of the awning or direct to the van itself to provide a sunshade.

To connect to the van two Fixon 2's were needed so I bought a couple as they weren't provided.

These had two thick pads on them which,although giving a step,wasn't as deep as the original thick and thin set up.

After some helpful advice from CT,I went up to the van and discovered that there is a much better fit between the van and the Fixons using two thick pads ( or two thin it doesn't really matter,I went for thick as I thought it provided a little more protection for the side of the van ).

Ordered some thick pads from Lowdhams in Nottingham ( spare pads are not easy to find on the net  so gave them a ring ) who said they always use the thick pads.

The pads aren't cheap though at £1.42 each.

Hopefully the awning will sit better against the side of the van now.

Possibly everyone else knows all about this but I am always the last know anything.


Incidentally talking of awnings,Isabella seem to have produced a more up to date series of videos about erecting their awnings and incidentals.

They are available via You Tube,just put your awning model into "Search".

Ian

Cushion Capers #2

SWMBO has attached some of the Velcro to the triangular cushion and the ones facing it and it seems to have been successful.

One of my correspondents also suggested placing some non-slip mat under the cushion so I have done this as well.

Will report back after our first nights sleep in about a fortnight or so.

Ian

Friday 1 June 2012

Pedancy

One of my correspondents has pointed out that in areas that can't be readily seen there is a lack of the 30mm diameter plastic screw covers in the Orion.

Well being a pedant I found 24 screw covers that were missing and just had to be attended to.

Funny that as soon as you know something is there it gets on your nerves.

There are six each side of the front window behind the curtains,three under the lower shelf to the left of the TV worktop,five under the shelf by the washroom door and three under the shelf in the wardrobe.

Having decided to rectify this I searched the internet for a supply with no luck,I came across some in Dickinsons last week.

However having purchased them and tried to fit them they turned out to be the wrong size.

The two pins on the back should be 9mm apart and not 8mm as these were.

I therefore had to resort to Baileys to purchase some and weather their £5 delivery charge ( although to be fair I ordered them at 10am on Wednesday and they arrived at 10am on Thursday ).

These are the ones :-

Pear 9mm KD Fitting Cap

I mistakenly thought the 9mm referred to the diameter of the top but after checking with Bailey parts it refers to the distance between the pins.

As the sum total of these items is around £1.50 at retail prices ( much cheaper I assume with the amount that Baileys must get through ) I think Bailey is being a bit cheapskate not fitting them on a caravan costing around £13K


Anyway continuing my pedantic theme,a while ago I noticed that a wire from the front light had come loose and was hanging down below the front of the van.

I taped this up but whilst underneath I noticed that where the bolts that secure the floor were situated the wood had splintered and was not covered by the black paint.

I know the floor is marine ply so should be resistant to water but I still gave these few areas two coats of Hammerite to be on the safe side.



One last thing,in the wardrobe up to the right there are some electrical wires that hang down and are not secured.I have taped these to the ceiling as if a coat hanger gets inadvertently caught in them it will pull them out.


There I can sleep more easily now.


Ian