Chatsworth & Very Sturdy Trousers

Just returned from a three night break on the Caravan Club site at Chatsworth in Derbyshire.

The site is an excellent one and includes a number of super pitches one of which we inhabited.

It is very pleasant to go "all mod cons" once in a while with the waste,water,TV and toilet emptying all in close proximity.

The facilities are all top notch,the toilet block wash up etc. are all spotless.

The only very minor criticism is that a lot of the pitches are under trees which does cut out the sunlight to some degree leaving it a bit damp in places,I think some of the trees could do to be cut back a bit.

The Orion was faultless,YC leisure seem to have done all that was asked of them ( the front window blind is still a bit tardy ),it made a pleasant change to have full running water once again after the Whale inlet had been swapped for a new one.

Whilst there we visited Chatsworth House which is accessed via a locked gate from the site.

There is £5 off the admission fee if you take your CC membership cards with you ( that's £5 each for a couple ).

The house and grounds are stunning and well worth a visit if in the vicinity.

The house is open 11am - 4:30pm and it is an all day experience which can be recommended.

We also visited Eyam,the "plague village" and had a browse around the museum,very interesting.



Whilst on the return journey home,I took the wrong turning off a roundabout in the centre of Chesterfield.

The sat.nav indicated a simple right turn a hundred metres or so ahead to bring us back onto the correct road.

After taking the turn I noticed that the end of the road said "Buses Only" but just prior to it was a left turn down a narrow road which in my naivety I  presumed just led back onto the main road and avoided the "Buses Only" junction.

Anyway I turned left,went around the corner only to be faced with the barriers to enter a multi-storey car park.

Of course out of nowhere a car appeared behind and another exited the car park in front of me.

Now reversing the van in anything other than a straight line has never been a particular forte of mine,especially when hemmed in by cars,in a narrow road,outside a multi-storey car park,trying desperately to nip my bum cheeks together to avoid further embarrassment.

SWMBO got out all calmly and directed me back along the access road,round the bend and back across the junction.

If I say so myself it all went pretty well,not spectacular but enough to get us out of a sticky situation.

Then it was sod the "Buses Only" markings,through the traffic lights and on our way.

When the sweat had dried I felt quite pleased with myself,every curve is a learning curve as they say.


Ian

It's Back.

Well we collected the Orion from YC Leisure today after servicing and warranty work,it wasn't without one or two problems at handover but they were ironed out amicably enough eventually .

SWMBO is delighted that the TV worktop has been replaced,the chap that did it said that it is much more difficult to remove and replace than you would think,so anyone intending to do it themselves,be warned.

Thankfully there is no sign of damp/water ingress whatsoever so that is a big relief,also the wheelarch liners are intact,no splitting.

I had specified the fitting of a pair of Al-KO shock absorbers and I am glad I did.

I only have the evidence of the forty mile trip down the A1/M62 to home to go on but the difference was obvious.

Whereas previously passing HGV's made the van move about slightly now it barely moves at all.

It feels far more stable to tow which inspires confidence in your blogster.

One thing to watch though,when I came to collect the van they had put RED shockers on when the mass of the van demanded BLUE.

RED are for 1300 - 1800Kg on a single axle and BLUE are for 901 - 1300Kg

There are also GREEN ones for lighter vans.

Al-KO Shock Absorbers

As the 440/4 has an MTPLM of 1249Kg they fell in the BLUE category.

Anyway I asked for them to be changed and they did with no argument.

So if you go ahead and have some fitted,check the colour ( some Orions,the 460/5 and 530/6,are over 1300Kg so will require the RED ),the price is about £85 per pair plus about an hours labour.

All done and dusted for another year,hopefully.

Ian

Return Imminent.

Due to collect the van from YC Leisure in two days after a service and some warranty/non-warranty jobs.

Fingers crossed all is OK.

Ian

A Matter of Weight ( Or For The Physics Graduates,Mass ).

Before we took the van off for a service we completely emptied it.

Whilst all the stuff was piled up in the garage I thought that I would weigh it just to check we weren't carrying too much.

The total was 90Kg + 25Kg for the mover  ( not of course including clothes or food ) to the accuracy of the bathroom scales and being "generous" on the weights.

So with a payload of 147Kg we are 32Kg under which is almost exactly the same margin as when we weighed it on a weighbridge after we purchased it.

Not going tell SWMBO of course or there will be 32Kg of clothes/make up etc. making its way caravanward.

Nice to know we are towing safely though.

Ian

Potential Split Wheel Arches

Teddy, one of my correspondents,has notified me of this which I think is worth bringing to wider attention:-

Hi, Ian do get your dealer to check your wheel arches. Our dealer (Lowdhams Nottingham) has serviced several Orions that have split linings and has reported this to Bailey as a design fault and we ae waiting for a call back to have ours replaced. The dealers did stick some sealant over it but it did not look too sturdy so my ever resourceful other half has stuck some thick sealant tape over it to prevent any water ingress when travelling.

Ian

Hargill House Caravan Club Site

Just returned from a two night stay at Hargill House a Caravan Club site just off the A66 about 1.5 miles from Scotch Corner in the Northern Pennines.

A well laid out clean and tidy site although if you have any form of physical disability you would be as well to pitch at the top end as it is on a slope and the facilities are at the top so there is a slight hill to climb if you are at the bottom.

 

As can be seen from the pictures we took the Isabella Magnum Eclipse instead of the Magnum awning itself as we were only stopping for two nights and it proved a good decision.

The Eclipse can fit straight onto the caravan itself ,as here,as well as onto the front of the Magnum and only takes minutes to set up and dismantle so if it rains,as it did,when packing up you can leave the Eclipse up until the last minute to provide some shelter and then take it down and it is easy to dry when you get home.

Pricey I suppose but it is Isabella and can be recommended.

We are still without running water due to the ongoing pump electrical problem but strangely it didn't seem to affect us too much.

During the stop I noticed water dripping from a pipe under the van next to the Truma Ultrastore dump valve pipe.

According to someone on CT it is the over pressure relief valve pipe.

I have no idea if this is relevent or not,just that I had not seen it before.

Will put it on the list for the service next week to be checked.

After we had hooked up the electrics to the car to come home I noticed the ATC light was showing steady red,never done that before.

Unplugged the electrics and left it a minute or two,plugged it back in and it went green,another thing to be checked.

Taking it for its first service week after next so will post as to what happens,if anything.

I have specified a pair of Al-Ko shock absorbers to be fitted as it tends to bounce a bit on uneven surfaces so we shall how that goes.

Ian

Upper Door Catch Adaptation

Paul Medcalf one of my correspondents has sent some instructions for fitting a catch to the upper split door of the Orion to stop it flapping about as the original catch is on the lower part of the door only.

Ian

Thought i would share with you and your followers. I have just added an additional external door catch to the top half of the ext door to prevent it swinging in the wind when the bottom half is closed to keep the dog in :-)

It was quite easy to fit and line up the parts came to about £22. plus a bit of glue and some mastic seal. . If your readers complete the project advise them not to forget to order the 2x spacers. Using the Spacer i placed a blob of strong glue to the back plate of the spacer and then surrounded it with white mastic seal not too much and then pressed it in to position on the outside of the van cleaning the excess mastic as i pressed it into position . I then used self tapping screws supplied by my retailer and carefully screwed the catches into position. Pics attached

Regards

Paul

As soon as I mentioned this adaptation to SWMBO I have naturally been banned from undertaking it.

Anything involving screws and sealant is no go.

She may have a point as I have just buggered the carpet up slightly putting down some double sided non slip carpet strips.

Ian

2013 Orion Range

The brochure for the 2013 Orion range can be downloaded from here:-

Bailey Brochures

The 450/5 seems to have gone and I am surprised there isn't a "two fixed single bed" model,I thought there would be for 2013.

The only difference in spec. I could see was that they now come with a Whale Aquasmart II on board water pump instead of the "drop into Aquaroll model".

I think I prefer the latter,easier to change if it goes tits up rather than a back to dealer swap for an on-board one,certainly whilst under warranty anyway,also one less thing to freeze up in the winter.

Bailey now publish MIRO noseweights and it is interesting to note that the smallest van in the range,the 400/2 has an ex-works noseweight of 79Kg whilst the biggest van,the 530/6, has a noseweight of 50kg.

Strictly speaking we,and I suspect many others,would not be able to tow the 400/2 as our noseweight limit is 75Kg.

As that is the MIRO noseweight I suppose there would have to be a bit of "loading behind the axle" to bring it down a bit but in such a small van that could mean stuff being too near the rear,not a good idea.

There is no mention as far as I could see of the Evo 4,perhaps that has quietly bitten the dust also

Ian

Leaky Orions.

There is rather worrying post on CT regarding a leaky Orion 440/4 that is worth a read.

Leaky Orion 440/4

Ours is due for a service in three weeks so I hope all is well in that department,have to say there is no indication that we have any ingress problems.

Ian

Floeing Again

Have been back from Cawood just over a week I thought I would try the Floe again,this time with all the taps shut.

As I surmised previously I got out just over 200mls, plus what came out of the hot water tank.

What came out was a dirty brown colour.

In my humble opinion I think this proves the worth of the Floe and its admittedly high price for what it is ( round about £40 ).

200mls is enough to freeze during the winter with the resulting damage of pipework etc.,although admittedly I had no problems last winter pre-Floe.

Ian