Hmm.......................

Just had four nights at Beechwood Grange just outside York which it has to be said didn't pass off without one or two minor incidents.

First of all we arrived at storage to pick the Orion up only to discover I had left the caravan keys at home.

Fortunately I carry a spare set in the car glovebox so that saved the day.

Secondly,someone who shall remain nameless ( SWMBO ) managed to reverse our twelve week old Passat Alltrack into the caravan hitch,inflicting damage to the rear bumper.

As can be seen it's not massive damage,BUT IT'S A THREE MONTH OLD CAR !!!!

Managed to keep calm,just glad it wasn't me what did it,off to the reapair man after the Bank Holiday

Next,when we arrived on site I proceeded to put the awning up in the face of rapidly approaching black clouds only to find that for some reason some of the awning poles had got stuck inside each other and it took a great deal of effort to remove them,all this while the heavens opened.

Since returning home I have rubbed them down with WD40,hopefully it won't happen again.

Then I came to open our very expensive,top of the range Kamei Corvara roof box only to find that the lock had jammed and the key wouldn't turn.

As the box had within it the grandkids bedding,bicycles etc. ( oh yes we had two grand kids with us ) this was a sticky one,no amount of persuasion was going to make that bugger open.

After tussling with it for a while,SWMBO put in an appearance and I explained the dilemma,she looked at the box and said " You do know there is a lock on the other side",of course I did I was just waiting to see how long it would take her to spot it.

Anyway got the box open and after a few calls and e-mails to the Roof Box Company,it is going back to be replaced/repaired.

Don't you just love it when you spend shed loads of money on what you think are quality goods only to have them break.

Anyway the following day SWMBO was sat at the front of the van and suddenly piped up " Do you know there is a crack in this window ? "

Sure enough there is star shaped crack in the front window which has originated from who knows where.

We are having the van serviced by a mobile chap on Thursday so I will ask if a repair can be done,if not I will put some clear tape over it as it is not leaking water and I am not paying the silly money that a replacement window will be.

After all this everything went smoothly,if you can call being pitched in front of the childrens playground,smooth.

Never again.

Don't you just love caravanning.

Ian

Isabella Videos

I have just been looking at some videos on You Tube made by Isabella.

I have watched many of these over and over mostly in relation to erecting our Magnum awning and have found them very useful as Isabella's paper instructions leave a lot to be desired.

It occurred to me that anyone new to caravanning may not know of their existence and be struggling with the sometimes complex business that is awnings.

So if you want some assistance head over to You Tube and enter "Isabella" in the search box and receive plenty of help and advice.

Ian

Barnard Castle

Just had five nights at the CC site on the outskirts of Barnard Castle in Teesdale and,despite the odd adverse comment on the CC review site we found it very pleasant site indeed being neat and tidy with a warm and spotlessly clean washblock.

The main complaints appear to be road noise if you pitch ( obviously ) adjacent to the road but we were further down the site and suffered no problem at all.

Don't look for it on Google Earth though,it isn't there.

There were no Orion problems but the TV lead that we expensively bought from the Scarborough site,gave up the ghost.

Amazingly the chap in the adjacent van was a retired TV engineer who appeared to bring his entire workshop with him and soon fitted our lead with new plugs ( metal ones at that ) and we were soon up and running again using a lead that I would probably have had to chuck away,well done that man.

At one time during our stay there were three Orions in a row,a 400/2 our 440/4 and a 430/4.

The chap in the 400/2 was a blog follower and the occupant of the 430/4 hopefully soon will be.

During our stay there was an enormous thunderstorm on the Saturday night which if our van or awning was prone to leaking would have surely showed it up,the site road was like a river with the amount of rain it put down in about half an hour.

We had a visit to Ropers caravan dealers in Catterick to see if they had the new Unicorn 3 in stock but to no avail,however the salesman said there are people ringing up daily about it and apart from a full range of demonstrators they have 120 on order.

Looks like being a winner if every dealer has a similar number.

Of course no visit to a dealer is complete without purchasing something whether you need it or not,and this was no different.

I purchased an Isabella Clicklight for use in the awning.

Isabella Clicklight

It is very useful but be careful how you detach it from the pole as it is easy to break the plastic as I discovered,all repaired now.

Of course being Isabella they aren't cheap but told SWMBO it was reduced in the sale ( of which there wasn't one ) so that little problem was taken care of.

Ian

Scarborough ( West Ayton )

Just had a repeat vist to the above site for four nights in gloriously sunny weather.

Excellent site and not too far from the Park & Ride into Scarborough at the bargain price of £2.50 ( SWMBO got a discount with her geriatric bus pass,£1.10 ).

Took two grandkids for the first time,when the Valium wears off I suspect I will feel much better.

It did throw up though that we could probably do with a larger van especially as we now have a vehicle in the Alltrack capable of pulling one.

Will have a look at the Bailey Unicorn 3 when it appears at the dealers.

Anyway had one very minor glitch with the Orion in the fact that the 5A fuse for the hot water blew for some reason,replaced the fuse and all was well,weird.

When we were pitching up we couldn't find the TV hook up lead to connect to the bollard,looked everywhere,so made a purchase of £15 at the site shop for a replacement only to find it as we were packing up.

Felt a little better about it as our original lead wouldn't have reached the bollard anyway and the replacement was 25m long.

We use the shower as bedding storage and I managed to knock the shower on when it was full of bedding,oh deary me.

The Passat Alltrack is a fantastic tow car and pulls the Orion with ease,even with four passengers,stuffed full of luggage plus a full roofbox and two childrens bikes.

The auto/Tiptronic gearbox is a delight,why we persisit in waggling a stick on the floor to change gear is mystery with this amount of auto sophistication.

One thing I did notice on site was the number of very largish vans being pulled with very small towcars,didn't look anywhere near to the recommended 85% ratio ( yes I know it is just a guide for inexperienced tuggers ),must have been touching 100% in some cases or perhaps even 100% +.

Ian

Leyburn and the TdF

Last weekend we took the Orion to Leyburn CC site to watch the Tour de France ( been having some computer problems which aren't over yet which explains the delay in posting ).

It was the first time we had towed with our new Passat Alltrack and it didn't let us down,solid as a rock all the way.

The approach to the site is very narrow,I would hate to meet another van coming the other way which shouldn't really happen if everyone sticks to the correct arrival/departure times.

The site itself appears very confusing on first arrival as there appears to be roads going off everywhere and it has to be said it could do with a bit of money being spent on it as it is beginning to show its age.

The facilities were clean and tidy though and the showers were excellent but a lot of the pitches are under trees which are in severe need of being cut back.

We found a tree free pitch though which was very pleasant.

A lot of the pitches are occupied by seasonal vans of which one or two looked a bit scruffy.

There was no problem with the Orion although I thought there was a leak at one point as a greenish puddle appeared in the front locker after very heavy rain,it wasn't until SWMBO reminded me that I had spilt a cup of green tea the night before and it had seeped under the sofa end,relief all round.

A bit of a tip coming up,you can't put a door canopy up on a non-awning pitch,we did and was asked to remove it.

The Tour de France was a magnificent spectacle,never to be seen again in my lifetime I don't suppose,certainly not in Yorkshire

Ian

Plump Up Those Seals.

I have mentioned previously about spraying the window seals with Thetford silicone spray ( the stuff you use for the cassette blade seal ) to stop them cracking.

It is also useful for applying to locker door seals and the main door rubber seal,plumps them up nicely and may prevent a locker door from leaking.

Did ours this week.

Ian

Shockers contd.

Wunny has been observant and noticed that the price in the previous link was for one shocker only,crafty.

This link however is for a pair but P&P may need to be added.

Cheap Al-Ko Shockers - Pair

Ian

Cheap Al-Ko Shockers.

Paul Medcalf,one of my correspondents,has found a source of cheap Al-Ko shock absorbers,£34.99 with £9.99 UK postage.

Al-Ko Shock Absorbers.

Red ones are also available.

Much cheaper than elsewhere.

Thanks Paul.

Ian

Durham Grange,A Recalcitrant Aquaroll and A Frustrating Half Hour.

Have returned from our second visit of three nights to Durham Grange a CC site just off the A1 near err.....Durham.

This was the only site I could find a short notice vacancy for with it being Bank Holiday weekend but it was no hardship as it is an excellent clean and tidy site.

SWMBO found the traffic noise from the A1 a bit annoying but as far as I was concerned it was one of those noises you could only hear if you listened for it.

No problems with the Orion but had a bit of difficulty with the Aquaroll.

We were on a serviced pitch and using the Aquaroll with the "ball valve" attachment in the side to use the Aquaroll as a cistern.

I connected it all up and left it running as it should have switched itself off when the valve shut the water off,instead it overflowed and the water kept coming.

The valve looked OK but I thought there was a piece missing so after some postings on CT and various bits of advice I compared it with the van on an adjacent pitch and mine was the same as his so it was an internal problem.

As a like for like swap was £35 ( although cheaper versions are available ) I was keen to see if I could fix it but of course it was all done up as tight as tight could be and I couldn't undo it to get to the innards.

( Why this is so on a ball valve Lord only knows especially as if there is a fault it is likely that dismantling it would be whilst on site with a scarcity of appropriate tools,it is hardly likely to need attention when I am at home watching TV surrounded by wrenches and the like ).

Anyway I enquired of the warden if he could undo it with a wrench which he kindly did and the long and the short of it is that I replaced the large black rubber washer with one out of the spares kit that came with the Aquaroll and all,most surprisingly,worked again.

The second frustration was inserting the Bailey wheel cover in the groove around the wheel arch.

I had heard it was a bit of a tow and one of my correspondents suggested using a tyre lever,good idea.

It is a complete sod to put on and it took two of us over half an hour to get it sorted during which time one or two words of Anglo Saxon origin may have been uttered.

I had to have a lie down afterwards

The track is now opened up so hopefully it will be easier next time.

We had also bought an Isabella wind screen at least this was OK except that just after we put it up the heavens opened and remained open for twenty four hours.

Incidentally we called at Ropers in Catterick for a nosey and they had a couple of Orions left on sale so if anyone wants one there are some still available.

Ian

Window Pains contd.

One of my nameless correspondents has sent this regarding the front window problem :-

 

 

Anonymous1 May 2014 19:06

Hi
If you don't have a serial number on the sticker inside the window (top right hand corner as viewed from the outside of the caravan), there is another sticker positioned on the left hand side (as viewed from the outside) of the window right close to the window hinge. To see the sticker you will need to fully open the window to its maximum and look at the hinge on the left hand side of the window. Its a white sticker with a bar code and a series of numbers. I too have the marks on the inside of windows and dealer has asked me to supply a picture of this sticker. I hope to get a replacement and hopefully better window in the not too distant future.

Hope this info will help anybody else with a dodgy front window.

 Ian