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Topic: New caravan

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mwooly10

24/10/2014 at 9:31am
Location: Manchester
Outfit: Nothing at the moment

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After buying my first COC, i get to try it out this weekend on my first trip out

I noticed dry rot in the top corner in the bathroom, which when i started ripping out, i had to replace all the back corner, but is all solid again (first time repairing too), gave the walls a bit of a paint, fitted some breather panels behind the seat cushions, put a few shelves in the big wardrobe and gave it a tidy up, now looks a lot better.. Still need to give it a reseal and fix a spongy spot in the floor, but i cant wait to get out and try it..

With it being the first caravan i cant believe the amount of stuff that ive got packed in bags waiting to be put in the van

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Milky coffee with 2 sugars please..

Doo Heid

24/10/2014 at 9:49am
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Yayyyy..... Don't you just love getting away?

We're off to Nairn, Lochloy this afternoon for two nights.

Can't wait

Good luck and enjoy.

Andi

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mwooly10

24/10/2014 at 9:51am
Location: Manchester
Outfit: Nothing at the moment

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yeah.. Hoping on the trips after this it shouldnt be as bad, as most of this lot will stay in the caravan..

Thanks and same to you

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Milky coffee with 2 sugars please..

mwooly10

25/10/2014 at 12:30pm
Location: Manchester
Outfit: Nothing at the moment

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Well first night and everything worked ok so far.. well almost

Door lock broke as i was on my way out, spent an hour trying to fix it with no luck, so quick trip to Go outdoors to buy a full door lock so i could nick the lock out of it, and opens and locks again

and also couldnt get the TV ariel to work so thats something to sort out today.. apart from that was a good night, bit windy on top of a hill but least it was nice and warm in the caravan.. now for another cosy night

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Milky coffee with 2 sugars please..

LobeyDosser

25/10/2014 at 2:49pm
Location: Argyll Scotland
Outfit: 1997 Bailey Ranger 470 4

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After a winter of fixing up our COC, we have just had a summer of using it.
Everything is working okay except for the gas section of the water heater, but as we are always on EHU, this doesn't matter.

On only one trip did we require the gas heater and that only for a short time.

We are now contemplating buying a new tow car and a newer van, but really what we have would do us for a few years yet.

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Lobey.

Doo Heid

25/10/2014 at 9:51pm
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Our tv Ariel was VHF, so wouldn't have worked. Binned it for a Status (£125) telescopic job. Fitted inside an hour, but in a different place so fibre glass patch to seal previous hole. Overall, not a difficult job.

Luckily, the Corniche has a slim cupboard for the table storage, so the periscope part fitted in there snug.

It is entirely possible your antennae is VHF, which won't work now. I think 4G phone signal has taken over the frequency previously allocated to VHF.

Anyway, if you have any problems, this is the forum to help....

Andi

mwooly10

26/10/2014 at 2:23pm
Location: Manchester
Outfit: Nothing at the moment

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As i was only local i knew where i was going, and as time was getting on, i just went and bought an ariel for £20, already had cable and the bits to fit it in the shed. all worked fine, although it was a bit more windy last night so i think i need a better pole, as 22mm copper pipe bends a bit in the wind

but least it worked..

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Milky coffee with 2 sugars please..

LobeyDosser

26/10/2014 at 3:09pm
Location: Argyll Scotland
Outfit: 1997 Bailey Ranger 470 4

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Aerial wise we bought a PU-4 many moons ago for our camping trips.

It has a rectangular mesh back and on the front is mounted a 3 X diamond shaped aerial receiver.
It can be taken apart for easier transportation.

So whilst our subsequent units all came with aerials, we ignore these and always use the PU-4.
It gives us excellent reception and works in the same position whether the TV Transmitter gives out a vertical or a horizontal signal.

PU-4 Aerial

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Lobey.

mwooly10

26/10/2014 at 8:51pm
Location: Manchester
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The one i got did a great job, only 5 mins to put up and down, not a massive job, perfect picture.. i think it was just a bit too windy for the pole, but it was a last minute thing.. have a bit of time now to sort something a bit more sturdy now

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Milky coffee with 2 sugars please..

LobeyDosser

26/10/2014 at 9:18pm
Location: Argyll Scotland
Outfit: 1997 Bailey Ranger 470 4

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We went for a proper aerial mast in that the top has a flanged bit that the aerial clamps to. It means that the wind rarely is strong enough to turn the aerial off its direction setting.

Although I have 4 sections of mast, 3 will raise the aerial above the van and that is what we use.
Minimum height means less likelihood of the poles getting damaged by the wind.

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Lobey.

mwooly10

26/10/2014 at 9:26pm
Location: Manchester
Outfit: Nothing at the moment

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i found a similar one to that in the van, but its way too short, not sure where they put it.. mine was in between the top of the window and the roof line attached to the A frame.. didnt move as was fixed well, just rocked a lot. think i have something in the shed that will be much better, and half the time i cant see it being a problem, it probably didnt help being in the hills at the top where the wind it stronger

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mwooly10

26/10/2014 at 9:27pm
Location: Manchester
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all in all though pretty pleased with how it went apart from the couple of hiccups, but that was the reason i didnt want to go far.. it was just a test run to make sure everything worked and set up ok ready for the next trip

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LobeyDosser

26/10/2014 at 10:45pm
Location: Argyll Scotland
Outfit: 1997 Bailey Ranger 470 4

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Your doing it the right way.

We always do a shakedown trip close to home, for the first trip of the season.
Usually 4 nights will show up any problems and we are close enough to home if anything goes completely Pear Shaped. Been lucky so far in that anything that did fail was not disastrous.

I have a number of jobs to do on the van over the winter but nothing major.
Things like swopping the tyres around and then getting the van checked out by a caravan engineer. (Peace of mind and all that).
Then I need to service the blade stabilizer.
The rest of the work is interior stuff like a bracket for the TV and a wet hanging rail for the shower so that we can dry off wet gear without it dripping on the van floor.
I also want to join up the 3 waste pipes at the rear of the van, into one plastic pipe to make setting up the waste system easier when we arrive on site.

I am lucky in that the van slots nicely into my workshop and so all work is done in comparative comfort.
The dogs lie inside and snooze while I work under the van getting oily and mucky!

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Lobey.

mwooly10

27/10/2014 at 12:14am
Location: Manchester
Outfit: Nothing at the moment

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Well lucky i did it right, as Friday had to pop home to pick up the oil heater, and again saturday to pick up a couple of other bits.. But everything went ok, so may go further a field for the next one

Spent just under a couple of hundred sorting it out, replacing wall/sealing it and fixing a few bits.. still got the floor delamination to fix which i'll do tomorrow.. but then will just see how it goes for now, as i may get something a little bigger if i like it, i'd do a bit of kitting out in that one then.. like same as you putting tv bracket and new lights in. will also put wastes into 1 pipe, nice and easy that bit being a plumber..

Thats the only thing i miss, i have no drive here.. i think i may have to move house again, although ive already had 3 houses in 3 years

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Milky coffee with 2 sugars please..

LobeyDosser

27/10/2014 at 12:22am
Location: Argyll Scotland
Outfit: 1997 Bailey Ranger 470 4

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We were thinking about getting something bigger but that would mean a bigger tow car too as the car I have is right on the 85% limit.

Although I have spent a fair bit on the COC, everything I have put on it like motor mover, new battery etc, could all be transferred to another van.

It is the bigger tow car that is the nub.
The COC could do us for a few years yet and as we are both now retired, spending a lot of money on things that we know will sit in the garage more times that get used does seem a bit wasteful.

We will run the COC for another year and then decide whether to keep using it or splash out and get something different.

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Lobey.

mwooly10

27/10/2014 at 12:30am
Location: Manchester
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buying all the bits so far has probably cost me the most, as buying the caravan and fixing it probably stands me at about £650, so i should at least get most if not all my money back. so id be back at square one if you like, to get another caravan

My problem is, i only drive a big van.. so if i like it a lot, then to get on most sites id have to buy a car, which would probably only get used when the caravan does.. bit of a dilemma really.. hence why i might move, one to get the drive and another to free up a bit of cash, i normally buy ones that need renovating throughout.. just finished my 3rd one last xmas.. and now im mortgage free

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Milky coffee with 2 sugars please..

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