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 Topic: Avondale Olympus - First caravan project!
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12/10/2008 at 3:33am
Location: Surrey
Outfit: Avondale Olympus Perle Custom
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Joined: 06/10/2008 Standard Member
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By pure chance I have ended up owning a Avondale Olympus. Its a 1992 Perle Custom SE. I don't yet really know what that means other than I guess a level of specification. I have decided to keep it (I was going to sell it on) and so on that basis it has now become a project of mine.
Not knowing anything about the construction of such a thing I have been reading other projects on here to see what I would expect to see behind the surface. I fear I shall be needing to remove some inner panels and possibly dealing with a bit of damp, it looks very minor, but things often do initally. I shall find that out in due course.
What I have also been doing is putting the Cascade 2 heater to some use. I figured that since it had not been used for a while, things may have deteriorated and so with a bit of use any issues may show up. Sure enough after about 4 cooling/heating cycles it started leaking water via the grill. I didn't know where from at this stage, it very quickly got worse and would no longer light. So the first part of this project started. I found some service info and diagrams on the net and set about removing the heater. Whoever fitted the heater didn't give much slack on the pipes but after a bit of fiddling I had it out. Next was the strip down. I wanted to do this anyway figuring that it may have scale/dirt/corrosion in the tank and I wanted it to be all clean. After this photo was taken I also removed all the scale.
I also found the cause of the leak and it was the wax element on the front of the heater, apparently this is common. In any case I took the opportunity to order new fittings and also a new burner, this wasn't really needed but it wanted it to be as new. A very minor bit of corrosion was also dealt with within the heater and finally it was all assembled with new parts, cleaned up and put back together and tested. Looking better ;) One thing I want to check is what kind of flue cover I have since I read a report about a safety issue with the Cascade 2 under certain wind conditions. However the heater is now back in full action and is working great again. I have a few other things I wish to do with this heater but that can wait for now. Oh and I also replaced the water pipes from the filter to the heater with nice new ones.
I have also been reading about the carver 1800 heater, and some potential problems that it may have. I have not yet inspected/serviced mine but I shall do soon. Also I have come across a thing called a Fanmaster. I quite like the look of that so may have to keep my eye out for one!
The next area which grabbed my attention was the shower room. I am not particularly fond of any of the colour schemes in this van and intend to recover all the seats and change the carpet and curtains, however the dirt has to go first and this is where I started and finished.
You should notice that the light changed in there too. It now sports a 3x10w (yes a bit greedy) 12v (converted from 240) light from Ikea. I also changed shower head, to a modern mira version which works amazingly well considering its designed for domestic installations. Next will be to fit additional plumbing supplies and put the shower head on the left side of the bathroom with its own controls. This will allow a better setup for the sink taps. I have also got a thermostatic mixer to try and see how affective it will be from the small pump, since the water supply temp will most likely not be that stable, less time messing about with temps will mean more efficient use of water. There may not be enough pressure but I shall see - so far it seems fine.
I also plan to turn this into a more modern looking 'wet room', and have some offcut material designed just for the job. The toilet and sink will remain for now as will the wall coverings, although I may experiment with a few ideas to improve the drainage from the sink (which gets in the way of the toilet seat at the moment.
Speaking of which the drainage of the whole thing leaves little to be desired. Is there a specific reason for this style of pipework? I am considering changing it to a more residential setup using 1 1/4 inch pipework, and "real" waste/trap setups (at least for the kitchen sink and shower tray) Obviously I will keep in mind the all additional weight any of this will add.
Well that's about it for now. I'll update this when I have made a bit more progress!
Ed
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Ed :)
Olympus Perle refurb has begun!
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