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Subject Topic: Abi Marauder 280.2 - Advice please....
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PersonLeon08
27/7/2016 at 10:32am
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Quote: Originally posted by moorlander999 on 26/7/2016
Did you get the step from Aldi ?
Been on the Aldi website and can't seem to find one 😩


Yes it's one from Aldi but we bought it 2 years ago and when it was in the reduced section, they've had them in since but only in camping season IIRC.


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2016:

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PersonLeon08
28/7/2016 at 7:03pm
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So I thought I'd do a little cooker cleaning the other day and it turned into a bit of a chore....



The rings, seen better days but all working and a little elbow grease....



First run of elbow grease....



Top of cooker which is in pretty good condition apart from a few chips on the enamel but those screws have accumulated years of yuck!



Getting there, round 2 of elbow grease....



Better and waiting to order the new tops as cheap enough and waiting for SS M4 x 10mm screws, the ones in it are temp....but the bad news....



One of the screws was so stuck it snapped off the head, a proper pain but got lucky(ish), tried one of those screw extractors and it just snapped at the first bit of pressure which didn't please me as bought it specially for this as it is only a 4mm screw....



But....I could just get access from below and see some of the thread and got some grips on it and screwed it in so it came out the bottom, phew!

BUT the really bad news....years of grime and no proper maintenance leads to this....



And worse still whilst trying to get it out the standoff snapped as well so now need a new Grill Burner....Grrr!

What I don't like is that it seems it is not a simple part to get and only seen one stockist of it up to now so means got to pay stupid money for it which get's right up my nose, Industry Specific BS is what we call it, we even thought about scrapping it and using the Coleman Dual instead but....it does show though that whilst things may seem to work you might not be far away from possible disaster....to be continued....



Post last edited on 28/07/2016 19:20:26

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2016:

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PersonLeon08
02/8/2016 at 5:01pm
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As the weather has changed here just pottering about until the Gas Burner turns up....

Front Marker day today....until the rain stopped play....



Before, weathered and cracked and tired.



Just what is lurking behind....



Quick clean and much better....



Even more much better....one down one to go, it started raining but you get the idea. (A bit gutted the marks around the light weren't grime but wear so can still see them but something for the future to sort out)



Quick clean of where the old badge was, years of gunk and glue now gone with some White spirit, T-Cut and elbow grease.

To be continued....

[Addendum: Both done now. )





Post last edited on 02/08/2016 20:09:58

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2016:

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PersonLeon08
04/8/2016 at 9:47pm
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Slow week but did notice only today that at some point in it's life, ALL the cupboards doors have been off and when put back all the hinges were put on upside down, mmmm! but all Stainless Steel screws now fitted to cooker.

Weather permitting, Grab Handles refurb tomorrow.

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2016:

Leeds Festival


PersonLeon08
06/8/2016 at 10:49pm
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Didn't get round to doing the Handles as got side tracked.

As I've suspected but not really looked into it I saw today the previous water damage, inside we've only seen traces of old water damage and it's all from the bottom up, you can see some of it in previous pictures.



As you can see, this by the door and although completely dry it needs some work....which is for later in the year.



While under there this mess was bugging me, old sealant and dirt....



And never did get to sort this out....



That's better....



And better 2....

Off topic a little but I can't believe I didn't post these that came with the Abi....



























Got to be a good sign when a 26 year old Caravan comes with all its original paperwork, someone loved it....to be continued....

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2016:

Leeds Festival


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PersonLeon08
08/8/2016 at 8:31pm
 Location: North West
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It seems the harder you look the worse it gets....lol

Todays adventure was with the Thetford 465, worked fine last time we used it and checked it today and nada....the pump (Electric) wasn't working, so as a matter of elimination starting with the battery pack....we ended up with what you see below....



Of course not going to pay £50 to replace, instead we are going to replace with a normal pump for £10, we got the info from an old post here (2009) from someone who had the same problem and was told by Thetford the manual pumps (From 2005) will fit....what we might do is in the future source a new motor as they cost nothing (£3-£10) compared to replacing the whole part but coming from China it could take weeks to arrive....we did order a new filler cap though as well as the old one looked like it had been chewed by a dog!?!

....to be continued....

Post last edited on 08/08/2016 20:40:17

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2016:

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Personchrisn7
08/8/2016 at 10:04pm
 Location: West Yorkshire
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Very interesting project, thanks for posting all this. I did wonder from the battery pic if its vented to atmosphere - couldn't see the place where a vent pipe should be? Today it would have to be in its own battery box to prevent risk of explosion..

Nearly bought one of these once - I seem to remember there were 2 models and at least one was a no frills van, so that at least you could have the pleasure of new. The idea was that you could buy other fittings later as you could afford them (unless that was just my wishful thinking at the time!)


PersonLeon08
09/8/2016 at 12:13am
 Location: North West
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Thanks Chris, the battery is Sealed and no way to attached a tube and where it sits, is vented (Floor vents) to outside as well.

Ours is a .2 if that means any differences when originally available and some fittings have been retro fitted but think mostly of the period but as we've never seen an original interior hard to say 100% which.

There's still lots more to do....but for now just getting it ready for the next trip.

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PersonLeon08
12/8/2016 at 10:41pm
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Quick update....



Thetford parts arrived today from Bradtech. (Great service)



As you can see the Dog reference from earlier.



Now what was not mentioned in that old thread was that you need one of these to make the conversion complete: Inlet Tube - Part No. 07024 (£1.99 from Camperlands, luckily they had one on the shelf) as you can see from the next pics why!





And the end result is....



A working toilet with no batteries required.

Next....



Grab handles refurb, which is also part of the exterior re-seal which is ongoing.







The dirt was harder to remove than the mastic, I used a little bit of the window cleaning compound, which is like a mild T-Cut and paper towels which is a trick from working on guitars, as they contain clay it acts as a very mild abrasive.



Odd screws, one type from the back and a different one from the front ones, got a selection of Stainless Steel screws to replace all anyway....I haven't put them back on yet as they are being 'refreshed', the only downside is that the missing screw covers are not available to buy on their own and only got 3 so going to replace with 'something'....to be continued....

Post last edited on 12/08/2016 23:12:18

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2016:

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PersonLeon08
13/8/2016 at 8:56pm
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What a rubbish day today, one of those days when nothing goes right....was meaning to get handles back on and re-paint wheels, double check brakes and a couple of other bits n bobs but what we didn't know was the Grab Handles weren't screwed into the body but went through it and the screws attached to those plastic nuts you get on furniture and 4 of them were behind the Oven so had to take that out as well.

Then the olive for the gas pipe wouldn't come off so had to cut the pipe BUT thought there was enough give in it to just replace the olive and screw back in but no, not today, at least we can get some new pipe tomorrow and get it finished.

Anyway not very exiting, but what we got done today....







Handles had 4 coats of black matt enamel paint, suitable for plastics....to be continued....

Post last edited on 13/08/2016 21:00:55

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PersonLeon08
15/8/2016 at 11:21am
 Location: North West
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Sorry no pics from yesterdays adventures, wanted to get the cooker back together, which is all good now, will post a pic up later when it's complete, not very exiting....but got interrupted by the washer tripping the mains so job for today sorted....

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2016:

Leeds Festival


PersonLeon08
16/8/2016 at 9:46pm
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Just a bit of tidying up today....



Cooker back together and Toast is now available.......all new Stainless Steel screws added, just the new cooker tops to replace, no rush though.



Just the matching wheels now back on and the one that came with it is now the spare.



I used this to tidy the wheels up for now, I either got a bad can or it's absolute rubbish as the finish is terrible but looks cleaner and will be refurbished properly in the next few months....to be continued....

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2016:

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PersonLeon08
22/8/2016 at 8:26am
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Just pottering around lately due to other jobs needed to be done and we are away on Thursday so don't want to start any big jobs.

Jockey wheel love...



Alko with expensive to replace wheel, last time I looked it was £45! but luckily found one at Camperlands for £12.99, not original but for now....







I was going to paint it black again but thought it never came painted and sometimes paint can hide things, especially on serviceable parts so better to go back to original state, needed a wire brush and a drill, taken apart and new grease....to be continued....

Quick update on costs:

Jockey Wheel - £12.99
Replacement Grill Burner - £20.00
1/4 Olives for Gas Pipe - £1.99
Copper Gas Pipe 1 Mtr - £2.99
Thetford Bellows Pump - T07862 & Waterfill Cap & Inlet Tube - £20.30
Black - Enamel Paint - £3.50
Gas Door Rubber Stopper - £1.99

£63.76

Running Total = £150.06 [-£10 for Gas = £140.06]

New Running Total - £213.82





Post last edited on 22/08/2016 09:07:58

Post last edited on 22/08/2016 09:10:20

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2016:

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PersonLeon08
22/8/2016 at 1:48pm
 Location: North West
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Quick update, as we were looking for solutions to have music in the Abi but keep the power requirements to a minimum as we only use the Battery while away, we came up with this.



Logitech z120 speakers, which are meant for plugging into Laptop/PC as they are USB powered....but as you can see they will work off a power brick meant for recharging phones etc....

We tested them last night and after 4 hours were still working, we did look at Wireless/Bluetooth options etc BUT as we know that way uses more power with the speaker and device being used and thought this was the cheapest and most economical way.

The Speakers were £12.00 and already had the 'brick' as we have several for all the devices in the house and they sound pretty good.

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2016:

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