Tag Archives: Caravanning

Oh Phooey, Bad News From Glossop Caravans…

21 Sunday Aug 2016

Posted by in Caravan Servicing, General, Maintenance

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We went to pick up our caravan yesterday from Glossop Caravans after it has had its annual service. Unfortunately we received some bad news… we have damp.

It’s at the rear in the top offside corner. Glossop Caravans have been pro-active and already submitted a warranty claim. This is why it’s so important to get your caravan serviced in line with the manufacturers guidelines.

Scan

It appears we have a crack at the top of the rear end cap. While we were there, they positioned a ladder platform next to the caravan so we could both go up and have a look, and indeed there is a crack right on the radius of the corner, about 75mm long and when you pass your finger across it you can feel a slight step, which to me indicates something is causing one side to be pushed out… either something underneath or a slight twisting pressure on the corner.

I’m not sure how long the warranty claim will take to be accepted (or rejected… but that’s a potential nightmare) but the work apparently will take around three to four weeks.

So, hopefully we will still be going to the NEC in October with the caravan and I’ll keep you updated on progress.

Choosing A New Tow Vehicle Pt 2…

26 Tuesday Jul 2016

Posted by in Blog updates, General, Projects, Tow Vehicle, Towing

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If you haven’t read “Choosing A New Tow Vehicle Pt 1…” you might want to start there first.

So what happened to scupper all my spreadsheet deliberations in the early hours of the morning while driving to work?

I was on the M60 heading towards the airport thinking about what aircraft were due out… as you do, when a large pickup passed me. Not with one of these truck tops on the rear but a hard cover over the pickup bed and 4 bikes mounted on a rack above the bed. I hadn’t a clue as to what make it was as I wasn’t into pickup’s really but it did look really neat and by the time my brain got into gear to see if I could identify the make, it was gone.

All that morning I was thinking about pickup’s…. maybe I was missing a trick here and a SUV type vehicle wasn’t the way forward, but a pickup was. They seem to be one of the vehicles of choice in the USA for people towing travel trailers, but that’s a whole different market. There are a lot of caravaners in the UK using them too. What was I missing?

A couple of days later I saw what I thought was the same vehicle again on the M60, this time with no bikes on the back. It had a VW badge on the tailgate. I thought VW didn’t make pickup’s. But this got me thinking again, was a pickup the way to go… lots of people use 4 x 4 pickups to tow with, they seem to have plenty of room, be practical, have seating for five and are generally built tough as they are usually designed for commercial use.

A chance conversation about caravans at work with someone who had recently changed his Discovery for a pickup… a VW pickup.

A few days later I started searching on the internet for information about pickups… there is more out there than I thought. My original spreadsheet got a bit of a re-write over the course of a weekend.

A day or so later we were staying down at Plough Lane Caravan Site and we saw another Amarok on the road which was the first time Sue had seen one and it renewed our interest again, and as luck would have it we were near to a VW Commercial Dealership (have a read here https://caravanchronicles.com/2015/09/20/wiltshire-wanderings/) so we dropped in. It was ticking all the boxes, but more research was still required about 4 x 4 pickup’s. My spreadsheet grew.

Now, I’m not going to give you a long list of the ones we looked at and the reasons for dismissing them in our particular case, some people might have chosen them and for them, they tick all the boxes which is great. The others didn’t tick enough of our (well my) boxes and the Amarok did. So “Project Wolf” was born.

“Project Wolf”

I did not know what to call this series of blog posts when I was making my notes, I read that an amarok, or amaroq, is a gigantic gray wolf in Inuit mythology, said to stalk and devour any person foolish enough to hunt alone at night. Unlike real wolves who hunt in packs, amaroks hunt alone. This kind of stuck in my brain and I started scribbling “Project Wolf” at the top of the pages I had in my note-book where I’d written about stuff for the Amarok.

After my first conversation with the dealer in Swindon, I needed lots of questions answering and fired off an email to VW UK. And got a quick reply telling me nothing of what I really wanted to know. So I tried again, this time to VW in Germany. Not telling me much more… but in lots of detail of course. Thankfully the Australians came to the rescue, although the specs are a little different, it helped fill in the blanks.

Screen Grab

The start of my growing spread sheet about pick-up’s-v-SUV’s

Searching on the internet it seems that the Amarok is going down a storm down under in Australia and there are lots of videos and information on Australian 4 x 4 forums about the Amarok… as well as quite a bit of stuff from southern Africa and south America. I spent the next couple of months gathering information and adding even more columns to my spread sheet, then going back visiting other manufacturers web sites filling in blank bits for their particular 4 x 4 pickup’s to keep things on a level playing field.

overview-amarok

Image (c) VW GMBH

OK… So why choose a pickup?

Glad you asked. Well these are OUR reasons and thoughts. They may not coincide with your particular circumstances, but here’s why… for us.

rearThe loading and storage capacity are huge when compared to most SUV 4 x 4’s. The weight capacity is around 1000 Kg’s and most can take a standard Euro-pallet footprint. That’s a lot of caravanning extras. A lot of pickups can be fitted with a van style top that will allow wet dogs, bikes and other stuff that you wouldn’t put inside a vehicle. Although we don’t particularly want a cab style top but would prefer a flat lid with a bike rack on top. And we don’t have a wet dog. We may have a wet awning though. The tailgate can apparently support 250 Kgs… handy for tailgate BBQ’s! It also makes it easy for me to throw in a big snap-on tool chest and use it as a work bench when tinkering with aircraft electrics.

A lot of pickups are still built on a ladder chassis (like the old Land Rovers) for strength and generally have a longer wheelbase which for towing increases stability. The hitch nose weight limit is generally higher – 150 Kg upwards and generally they are heavier so a lower towing weight ratio can be achieved.

Comparing our Freelander to the Amarok I got:-

Freelander Mass In Service=1723 Kgs, Caravan MTPLM=1490 Kgs, giving a towing ratio of 86.5%

Amarok Mass In Service=2093 Kgs, Caravan MTPLM=1490 Kgs, giving a towing ratio of 71.1%

The Amarok 85% figure is a caravan with a MTPLM of 1779 Kgs and 90% comes in at 1884 Kg’s. The maximum rated towing capacity for a braked trailer is 3200 Kgs.

The other factor for me is the build. Most pick-up’s are built for commercial use and things tend to be a bit beefier. The seats are a bit tougher, the springs, brakes, switches…. everything is designed and made with heavy use in mind. OK this can make them a bit more utilitarian in their design and look inside, but I wanted something that would still look good after 100,000 miles.

The mechanics too tend to be a bit more industrial. The vehicles are not built to a minimum weight just to get good MPG or performance. They are designed for a working life with minimal down time and servicing costs. With all this In mind and much more we (well I) settled on the VW Amarok as the main contender.

OK… so what’s hot about the Amarok?

Here’s a few things I like… mainly taken from the VW literature and I guess is similar to other offerings.

ABS and EBD – Anti-lock Brakes and Electronic Brake Distribution. ABS is pretty standard now but the Amarok ABS also has Off Road ABS as well and is linked to  something called EBD which essentially helps prevent lockup of the rear wheels when under less load (i.e. lightly loaded in the back) or when the vehicle’s weight is transferred to the front wheels when braking. Handy for those wet grass campsites.

Hill Hold Assist – handy for hill starts when towing and Hill Descent Control – Available on a lot of 4 x 4’s but the big one for me was unlike the Land Rover version (which is great by the way!) it operates in off-road mode at any speed below 18 MPH when the vehicles ABS is being used. It controls the braking automatically to prevent unintentional acceleration going down hill even in slippery conditions.

Brake Assist – senses how fast you apply the brakes and if it senses you are doing an emergency stop automatically applies the maximum braking effort available.

The 2.0 Litre BiTDI Engine produces 180 PS (132Kw) or 180 Hp in old money which is similar to some larger engines in other makes. The two turbos help the engine give a huge 420 Nm of torque when mated to the 8 speed automatic gearbox, which has first gear optimised for off-road and pulling away when towing heavy trailers. 8th gear is designed as an overdrive to reduce revs and maximise fuel efficiency.

Here’s one from the F1 world…. regenerative braking. When you brake the energy recuperation system uses momentum to turn the alternator and charge the battery, making the most of the energy when you brake.

Permanent “4 motion” four-wheel drive. All wheel drive is permanent on the automatic no matter if you are in on or off-road mode. The Torsen differential splits the power 40:60 between front and rear wheels, but when off-road the system automatically distributes power to the wheels with most grip… and works with hill start and hill descent control.

There were a few other things that I liked… for example you can put a 32Gb SD card in the radio with all your music from your iPod on and the hands free system seemed quite easy to use too. There were more 12 volt power points than you could shake a stick at, including one in the pickup bed, handy for your cool box!

It has all the usual stuff too, leather interior, cruise control, front and rear parking sensors, cup holders  everywhere, storage draws under the front seats, inbuilt sat-nav.

It’s not small – 5254 mm long (excluding tow bar) and 2228 wide at the mirrors. With our caravan hitched it will be a total length of around 12.54 metres or about 41′ 2″ in real money.

The MPG figures were OK too…. but that with VW has to be seen in perspective of course.

So with all my geeky and techie boxes ticked…. all we had to do was go and prod one in real life and take it for a wiz round the block!

Now I think VW have missed a trick here, VW Car Dealerships don’t sell Amarok’s, you have to go to a VW Commercial Dealer, and after talking to a few people, this seems to be a bit daunting as a lot have people have never stepped into a commercial dealership before. Our nearest VW Commercial Dealership is Manchester Van Centre VW in Trafford Park where we met the lovely Jessica… but more about that in Part 3.

Here is a sneaky preview of an Amarok from Down Under….

Glastonbury 2016…

23 Saturday Jul 2016

Posted by in Events, General, Mini Break, Travelling in the UK, Trips

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A bit late but here’s a round up of our last trip down to Glastonbury…

Monday 20th June

As we’d been able to pre-load the caravan we had chance to get an early start on the 215 mile run south down to The Old Oaks just outside Glastonbury. Generally we have been lucky with the traffic on all our trips and this today was no exception. The M6 was smooth flowing and after leaving the caravan storage facility at 7:45 we pulled into Stafford Services around 9:30 to collect a couple of take-out coffee’s from Costa and have a leg stretch. By 10:00 we were back on the M6 and the easy traffic meant we could fairly breeze along at 55 all the way down to Birmingham, only slowing down for the four lane high level sectioned roadworks just after the start of the M5. It had been on and off light rain all the way until we passed over the high level bridge at Avonmouth when blue cracks started to appear in the overcast. Having been down to Glastonbury when the festival was on several times before we noticed that the signs for festival traffic had changed slightly and there were more of them. Winding our way around the outskirts of Glastonbury, which was now in bright sunlight was almost second nature… to the point Sue was commenting on things that had grown in peoples gardens since we were last here. I finally pulled the handbrake on out side reception at 13:20…. a total time of just over 5 hours if you take off the 30 minutes stop at Stafford  Services.

The usual post setup photo

The usual post setup photo

Tuesday 21st June

Tuesday started out cloudy but bright and we decided to walk into Glastonbury. From the site there are a few paths you can choose. A good idea is to pick up an OS Explorer Map (Number 141) as it shows not only the paths into Glastonbury, but if you want to walk the 1.6Km across to the festival you can do so using public footpaths across the fields.

OS Explorer Map No 141 (c)Ordnance Survey

OS Explorer Map No 141 (c)Ordnance Survey

IMG_0593Leaving the site via the footpath that runs up to the two old oaks, at the gate turn left and follow the path to Stone Down Lane, At the next gate turn right up Stone Down lane for the steep pull up Stone Down Hill heading directly towards the Tor.

Once you reach the top, and have regained the strength to carry on, bare right at the junction and continue to follow Stone Down Lane past the base of the Tor (photo). Follow this road for a few hundred metres and at the next junction bare right following this as it climbs up slightly for a couple of hundred metres. At the next junction you are at the top of Bove Town where it joins Paradise Lane (you can follow Paradise Lane back to the campsite). Turn left and head down hill, down Bove Town and it brings you out on Wells Road, just at the top of the High Street. I think it took us around 50 minutes to do the walk. All the walking meant it must be time for some form of snack… brunch maybe…. and we wandered down the High Street towards our favoured Heapy’s Cafe. Sitting outside enjoying brunch we could keep an eye on the local market and all the comings and goings of the very popular (and cheap) veg stall….. and a few of the craft stalls too!

IMG_0595 IMG_0596IMG_0598After doing our usual saunter round the shops and sights we decided to head back following the Main Road and up Wicks Lane. This is not a route I’d recommend if you are nervous about walking along the side of a busy narrow road. It is however a much flatter route if a bit longer.

Wednesday 22nd June

As it was arrivals day for the festival, it’s always prudent to either stay local or go somewhere miles away. We opted for the stay local and headed off to the Clarkes Outlet Village in Street. Setting off early…. just in case!

Turning right out of the site into Wick Lane didn’t hint at the chaos unfolding on the roads. However at the end of Wick Lane…. it was stationary traffic heading towards Pilton on the A361. Thankfully we were heading in the opposite direction and it was clear. We continued to pass standing traffic… that by now had festival revellers wandering about… in one camper van they were cooking bacon… I could smell it as we drove slowly past and in another it looked like the bar was open and a group were all sitting down in the road between the vehicles. The traffic was still stationary as we went round the roundabout on Magdalene Street and still standing traffic. By the time we reached the roundabout at the A361 – A39 junction it was just a mahoosive car park. Following the A39 past “Burn’s The Bread’ bakery and over the river it was still stationary and looked like it had been for a while. As we got to the big roundabout where the bit of dual carriageway is… still a car park and at that point we turned into a very quiet Clarkes Outlet Village.

Arriving early the shops weren’t open yet…. but the local Frankie’s & Bennies was and they were serving breakfast.. it would be rude not to wouldn’t it!

Several hours (and shopping bags) later it was time to head back… the A39 car park  from earlier was still a car park. Ok… plan of action. Having the OS Explorer map in the car was handy and after a bit of finger tracing…. Cue the music…. we set off like we were in The Italian Job navigating round Milan. 25 minutes later we were back at The Old Oaks having crossed standing traffic on the A39/A361 three times. Navigating like a local….. DONE!

Thursday 23rd

Having never been to Cheddar Gorge… well Sue had when she was about 12 or 13…. it was time to correct that. Thursday started out well…

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Lets say we had 110% humidity and 10% of that was falling… it never rains on holidays. The local weather report following the morning news was upbeat and the rain was expected to clear, which it did almost as soon as the forecaster said it, it stopped.

Firing up the Freelander we punched the destination into the Sat-Nave and trundled off hoping the previous days traffic had now cleared, which it had.

Arriving in the village we parked at the first car park at the bottom of the gorge, donating a large slice of my wallet to do so to the young woman in the small office. Never having been here and to be honest not doing any research beforehand we did not know what to expect. Following the signs we wandered in the general upwards direction towards the entrance. On arriving we were a bit stunned to see the admission price… OK we wanted to visit but hell I didn’t want to invest enough for a 10% equity stake in the place. Deciding we needed more info before committing…. and caffeine to overcome the financial news forecast on the state of my wallet, we wandered in search of coffee. Passing the cheese factory shop and always on the hunt for nice cheeses we hopped in and out again. Now that was just taking the… £6.50 for something that was more wrapping than content. (Note… go to Wells market on a Saturday and you can get huge blocks of local hand-made cheese for half the price). We spied a tea shop – The Wishing Well Tea Rooms, that had a raised vantage point and a free table….

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… and ordered coffee and scrambled eggs on toast while we contemplated our next move… which it turned out was a leisurely round-about drive back heading up the gorge and going cross country.

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Our route back took us past a couple of the entrances to the Festival, which by now were full of very soggy revellers….

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That evening it was Cadac time…. unfortunately One Harry Caravanner forgot his apron of disguise… so I had to step up to the plate and came up with a Tex-Mex…

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So… Cadac all set up….IMG_0621

Yes… it’s all under control dear…. yes I have stirred it…. no its not burning….

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… doing nicely…..

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… add the sauce and more spices….

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… and serve on a wrap….

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…`waddya mean… where’s the salad?

Friday 24th June

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Clouds on the horizon greeted us when we got up, but sun was forecast for most of the day with a shower or two later. Deciding we needed some exercise we decided to do a circular walk round the site and so headed off along one of the many footpaths that are around the site, heading off first to visit “the girls” (the chickens) and to see how the pond work had being going over the closed season.

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A lot of effort had gone into tidying up and clearing weeds from the pond… not that it really needed tidying up in the first place mind you…

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We set off past the two old oaks and along the track that looked down on to the site, which is actually quite hidden from the surrounding areas…

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… and you do get a view across the valley of the festival site… yep it’s just over there…

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Turning back onto Wick Lane the sky started to darken and we picked up the pace as we could see the rain slowly moving towards us from the hills to the east. By the time we turned into the site spots were falling and we just made it as far as the little hut with the elsan point… unfortunately this picture doesn’t show the torrential downpour that had us trapped there for about 10 minutes…

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The rest of the evening was damp to say the least!

Saturday 25th June

Saturday is Wells market, and definetly worth a visit. There are some excellent little craft stalls and some really good local food stalls with everything from fresh local veg to French and Italian olives, locally cured meats, a rather delicious smelling bread stall and one of those stalls that when you want one you can never find one…. a great stall selling every type of shoe and boot lace you could possibly imagine. Enjoying the scrambled egg on toast a couple of days earlier, we found a suitable place to sit overlooking the market and ordered the same again, complete with two large coffees. We just about managed to finish or brunch and coffee when the rain came down again briefly.

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As we were due to head home in the morning, the afternoon was spent tidying up, generally pottering about and watching this guy…

IMG_0645It’s always a welcome break coming down to The Old Oaks and it always seems no sooner than we arrive than we are packing to leave. Better start planning the next trip then, which might have a few changes in the setup… lets call it “Project Wolf”. Stay tuned for more!

Southport bound…

08 Wednesday Jun 2016

Posted by in General, Mini Break, Travelling in the UK, Trips

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Managing to get three days off recently, and not wanting to spend too long getting there, we headed off for a short break at the seaside…

Monday 23rd May

As it was going to be a quick break, we hadn’t pre-loaded the caravan as usual. So Monday morning saw us packing up the Freelander with everything ready for our mini break. We have wanted to visit Southport for a while. It was one of those destinations that although being so close to home (Manchester), for some reason we had only ever been for the flower show, and that was a fair few years ago. The only other time I’ve been to Southport was for my spin and stall training many years ago when I was learning to fly, and to be honest I wasn’t taking much notice from 3000 feet back then.

The Caravan Club Southport reception

The Caravan Club Southport reception

Every time we kept looking on the Caravan Club web site it was fully booked for the dates we wanted. However the site has expanded with a new section and facilities block and a quick check showed they had the three days we wanted on a super pitch.  We hitched up around 11:15 and headed out for the 53 mile 1 hour 30 min drive. The traffic Gods were being kind and all the motorways were flowing freely… well at least in our direction.

Checking in was the usual Caravan Club efficient process and we were given the usual site plan with our pitch marked up.

IMG_0522We had decided to take the bikes with us and after setting up, I off loaded the two bikes from the back of the Freelander and we geared up. One of the great things about the site is the easy fairly traffic free access to the seafront, handy if you have younger members of the family and you want to go cycling. In the information centre there are also a number of leaflets with themed cycle routes that are all suitable for beginners and range from a 3 mile to a 7 mile ride. The Caravan Club also on it’s website has an easy route that you can download.

IMG_0508We joined the seafront near the site and cycled north along the beach. The cycle way is separate from the path used by pedestrians, unlike Blackpool where you always seem to be avoiding the small dog on the extendable lead thirty feet away from it’s owner.

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Cycle lanes on the left, pedestrians on the right

 We rode north, past the amusement park… which was closed, and on under the pier. We reached the Ribble Estuary National Nature Reserve and rather than turning inland we headed back south looking for somewhere to have a late lunch.

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As we got back to the pier we spotted this place “The Guelder Rose” which had tables outside so we could wheel the bikes up to the table and lean them on the wall. They did have a bike shelter in the car park but it didn’t look too secure. While I sat outside Sue went in and got a couple of menus.

IMG_0511The view from the table was OK, and the antics of drivers on the roundabout kept us entertained. Unusually it was warm enough to be out cycling in short sleeves but sat on the corner outside, the wind still had that late spring chill about it. Suitably refreshed Sue went in and paid the bill and we walked the bikes over the road and continued south under the pier and back towards the site.

IMG_0519When you reach the shoal of fish, you know you are nearly back. We crossed over the road and headed towards Southport Eco Centre (which never seemed to have the wind turbine operating) which is on the quiet road that leads back to the site.

Tuesday 24th May

Lord Street in Southport is famous for it’s shopping and the last time I can remember being there was as a child in the late 60’s being dragged up and down by my parents. I suspect a lot has changed since then. It’s about a 6 or 7 minute walk from the site past Morrisons. Lord Street is about a mile long, with a roundabout marking each end. It was mainly built in the 19th Century and a lot of the shops still retain the glazed canopies that protected the early shoppers from the vagaries of the weather.

IMG_0527Walking north along Lord Street one of the first buildings you pass is Southport Lord Street Railway Station which opened in 1884 and served the Southport and Cheshire Lines. The station closed in 1952 and is now a hotel. On the opposite side to the shops Lord Street has a mixture of residential and business property and the street is flanked by lines of trees. In 1846 the future Napoleon III lived in lodgings just off Lord Street and it’s said that the covered walkways and tree lined street was the model for the boulevards of Paris when he ordered the reconstruction of the French capital in the late 1850’s through to the mid 1870’s. However… it was morning coffee time.

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Sat outside one of the numerous establishments that served morning coffee, it was hard to imagine you’re sat in a tree lined boulevard in Paris… despite the blue skies and sun. Sue’s phone was dinging away with text messages from the hospital. Whenever she’s away it always seems like there is some pending meltdown and the department is going to grind to a halt. Suitably stocked up on caffeine we set off again window shopping and exploring some of the little side malls.

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IMG_0533One mall caught my attention. It is the grade II listed building now known as Wayfarers Arcade.

The Arcade first opened in 1898 and the design of the building is typically Victorian, with a domed glass roof, supported by decorative iron work, with some stained glass windows and mahogany shop fronts that have been virtually unaltered since the day the arcade opened. The 13m span, barrel vaulted glazed roof is one of the largest in the UK.

IMG_0532Having ‘done’ Lord Street and the 60’s architecture influenced parallel Chapel Street we walked back towards the seafront thorough King’s Gardens and towards the Pier.

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Kings gardens was constructed on land reclaimed along the former sea front as the sea receded almost three miles over the course of several decades and is now popular for all sorts of activities, including sailing. As Sue had never been along the pier we continued throughout the gardens.

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The pier is a grade II listed building and at 1112 meters is the second longest pier in the UK (The longest is Southend). In June 2015, the Southport Pier tram service was scrapped due to rising maintenance costs and council cost-cutting measures, but you can still see the old tram lines. It has since been replaced by one of those small land trains that you can see running round the streets of various resorts.

At the end of the pier is the new pavilion opened in 2002 which houses a collection of old penny arcade machines and a cafe… that serves beer. Result!

Sue watching the tide come in... well we think it was coming in it was so far away!

Sue watching the tide come in… well we think it was coming in, it was so far away!

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Looking from the end of the pier towards  the Ribble Estuary and my former workplace BAE Warton.

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…and just to prove we did walk the 1112 metres to the end, oh yes… the tide was coming in!

It was time to head off to find somewhere for a late lunch again and eventually wander back to the caravan. It had been a great two days beside the sea in Southport. The weather was better than we hoped for and we managed to get some cycling in too.

The Caravan Club Site

It’s a busy site… busy in terms of getting a booking as it’s so popular and we can see why. Its hidden away even though its not far from the centre. We could not hear any road noise and sitting outside in the evening was really peaceful. If you want to book the site for some of Southport’s big events like the flower show, air show or jazz festival, (there is lots more, check out what’s on and when here) I guess you have to be quick off the mark at the start of the season. The new section of the site felt open and a little less claustrophobic that the original site and the new facilities block was easily up to standard. The staff were friendly and welcoming. Would we visit again… we only touched the surface of things to do and see in and around Southport, so yes, as soon as we can find a free couple of days when they have spare pitches we will be back.

Once In A While…

22 Monday Feb 2016

Posted by in Accessories, General, Product Review, Reviews, Travelling In Europe, Travelling in the UK

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Once in a while something comes along and makes you think…. ‘what a good idea’. I was contacted by James Clark and asked If I’d like to take a sneak peek at something he and his friend, Lucy Bartlett have been working on.

bed Continue reading →

Caravan Chronicles Shopping…

21 Thursday Jan 2016

Posted by in Accessories, Blog updates, Caravan Chronicles Shopping, Caravan Electrics, Help Guides, Projects, Technical

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I receive a lot of emails asking where people can buy some of the tools – especially some of the crimp tools and terminations I use in my posts and articles. In the past I have just emailed people back with the details and maybe links. However my last post about cable termination brought on a rather large amount of requests. So I have decided that I will include links to the products on Amazon. So from now on you will see a section at the bottom of any posts called….

Caravan Chronicles Shopping...

Any specific items used will be listed, and by clicking on the link to the item you will be taken to the Amazon store page. If you do decide to purchase anything, it will be from Amazon (or their associates) and delivered by them. It’s just like buying from Amazon directly.

The price you pay is exactly the same as it would be by going directly to Amazon. All I receive is a few pennies from each sale that will help towards keeping the wheels of Caravan Chronicles turning.

I have also created a shopping page that lists the products under a link to the original article. There aren’t any photos, just descriptions to keep the page neat and quick to load. If you want to go back to the article, just click on its title.

I hope you don’t mind me doing this, but it will save you having to email me asking where to get things from and save me a bit of time in replying to everyone.

Cheers

Simon

Cable Termination 101…

03 Sunday Jan 2016

Posted by in Caravan Electrical Fault Finding, Caravan Electrics, Electrical, Help Guides, Maintenance, Modifications, Technical, Tips

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As it’s now the ‘off season’ for a lot of caravaners and thoughts turn to sorting out those problems that we put up with on the last couple off trips, I thought I’d look at cable terminations. One of the problems that I’m asked about revolves around cable termination in trailer sockets and plugs. Like most things there is a right way and a wrong way of doing it and there is also the compromise.

So what’s the problem?

Well the problem is terminating a cable to a solid metal part. You will most likely see cables that are striped down to the copper conductors and the individual strands twisted together then inserted in a hole with a screw tightened down to hold the conductors. So whats the problem with this? When you tighten the screw it’s turning obviously and the end of the screw twists down on to the strands of cable, often breaking a few off and pushing quite a few out-of-the-way, usually in an average termination about a quarter of the strands are not held under the screw tip. The 2.5mm square cable you thought would reduce volt drop for the battery charging circuit is now reduced to something less and its current carrying capacity is reduced. Is there a solution?

The obvious one would be to solder the ends of the cable to stop this happening and it’s a great solution, but is does have drawbacks. When you solder the end of a flexible cable the point where the solder stops becomes a weak point and is susceptible to vibration and flexing stress and the thin copper strands transition from being flexible to a solid mass. This is why in aviation, marine and military applications soldering is not usually permitted.

The correct way that flexible conductors should be terminated is by crimping on a “boot lace ferrule”. These are simple brass tubes, sometimes nickel-plated that are slid over the untwisted strands of the conductor and crimped tightly. Some ferrules are just small tubes or ‘U’ shaped section machine crimped and some have a plastic insulator to help isolate the conductor when several are installed in close proximity.

Here’s a simple step by step guide to crimping and terminating a 13 pin trailer socket. It could equally apply to a trailer plug.

For the photos I used a spare socket and short length of standard multi core cable. I have links to all the items, including tools used in the article in “Caravan Chronicles Shopping” at the end.

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The tools required are a sharp knife, cable strippers, screw driver, ferrule crimps and the ferrules. (tip: make sure your screw driver is a ‘terminal driver’ with flat parallel faces and if fits snugly into the screw head. As the screws are brass, it’s easy to damage the head using the wrong screwdriver)

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The first step is to trip back the outer cover for the cable. Strip back enough so that the individual cables are long enough to trim to length:

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The next thing to check is have you got the right end of the cable? The cable manufacturers lay the individual conductors in a specific pattern so that when stripped, the pattern of colours is in the right order for the end you are terminating. If you have the incorrect end of the cable you will have to cross all the colours over each other to install them correctly in the plug (or socket) As you can see, this is the wrong end for a socket:

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Ok, I’ve stripped the other end and you can see the colours are in the right ‘order’ for terminating a socket:

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Next we need to measure the difference in termination length between the four centre line and the 9 outer pins… here it’s about 8 mm:

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Measuring the back waterproofing cover I know the outer jacket needs to be a maximum of 45 mm from the 9 outer pins and the 4 inner pins need to be trimmed back to 37mm:

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Now the cable is cut to the right length so there should be no short or long cables causing problems when assembling the socket:

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Strip back the individual cables so the exposed conductors are the same length as the ferrules:

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Slide the correct diameter ferrule on to the exposed conductors:

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Crimp into place:

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The crimp tool is set so that it will only apply the correct pressure to compress the exposed conductors the required amount. Squeeze the handles and the four jaws close on the ferrule and compress it, continue squeezing and once the jaws have attained the right pressure the ratchet mechanism in the handle releases.

If you look at the picture below you will also see that the crimp tool also presses several ridges into the tube, this is to increase the mechanical grip on the conductors and help stop the tube distorting under the pressure of the terminal screw tip:

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Continue until you have all the cables completed:

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One last check… look for stray strands and anything that doesn’t look as though its crimped correctly… give them the ‘tug’ test if in doubt.

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I always like to back off the screws so the ends are just visible in the holes:

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The next thing you might need to do is correct the length of the ferrule. I have used standard length ferrules and as the holes in the socket terminals are not as deep, I had to trim off the excess. The ridges pressed into the ferrule body help gauge how much to trim off. In this case I only had to snip off to the first indent:

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Once trimmed to length, it’s a simple matter of following the colour coding and inserting each cable and tightening the screw. I always start with the four pins in the middle:

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Once all the cables are terminated, have a good look to see if all the screws are tight, and of course check the colours are in the right place!

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Because the cable was trimmed to the right length before we started there are no loops, so the cover can slide on neatly:

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There we go, a finished socket all ready to mount onto the bracket:

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To terminate the socket  from start to finish and while Sue (thanks `Sue) took all the photos took no more than 25 minutes. Ok it was on a bench and doing outside at the back of a vehicle will take a bit longer, but it’s not that difficult to get a professional result.

The ‘Compromise’

Right back at the start I said there was a compromise – soldering. It’s not difficult to do and achieve and end up with a professional result.

Practice makes perfect and its worth having a go on a scrap length of cable first.

Here’s a few of my tips for successful soldering:

Don’t apply too much heat to cause the insulation to melt (turning down the temperature of the soldering iron or reducing the contact time between the soldering iron and cable helps)

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Don’t try to melt solder onto the tip of the iron and run it in to the cable you will burn off the flux too fast… instead touch the solder onto the hot strands of the conductor. Capillary action will pull solder into the strand bundle.

Don’t allow too much solder to be drawn in. You are looking for just enough to still be able to make the outlines of the strands of cable, not a big ‘blob’ of solder on the end.

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The solder should look shiny not dull. If it’s dull, the solder cooled too soon as the conductors were not hot enough, this is commonly known as a ‘dry joint’ the solder sits on the surface of the copper.

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Avoid breathing in the fumes given off from the flux and the solder. Solder is an alloy of tin and lead… and the flux is pretty nasty too. ( I have an old computer cooling fan that I use to blow the fumes away if I’m doing a lot of soldering).

If you have made the soldered cables too long, you can always trim them back to the correct length. Soldering all the conductors in a caravan cable like this usually takes me no more than five minutes from start to finish.

A few practice runs will soon get you producing good results.

Finally to finish off, I usually give the finished connections a spray of ‘liquid plastic’. It comes in an aerosol can and when sprayed on form a thin plastic coating over everything. You can usually find it in motorbike and automotive shops for waterproofing electrics and HT leads.

It easy to get a good professional result, and I still can’t understand why some tow bar fitting companies don’t either crimp or solder their connections. They usually do when it comes to connecting the other end of the cable to the vehicle. The cynic in me wonders if they are hoping for repeat custom when sockets or plugs start to have problems in the future.

Caravan Chronicles Shopping...

I have been asked where you can purchase some of the products featured above. Here are the links to the products in the Amazon store. If you click on the links and purchase the items, a few pennies will go to helping the cost of running CaravanChronicles.com

Crimp Tool : Hsc8 6-4 Self-adjustable Ratcheting Square Ferrule Crimping Plier for 0.25-6.0mm² Wire Terminal

Wire Ferrules : 750x AWG18 AWG16 Wire Crimp Insulated Ferrule Pin Cord End Terminal

Soldering Iron : 50w Variable Temperature Adjustable Controlled Solder Station Iron Gun Soldering Kit Set

Solder : Solder with Cored Flux 100g 60/40 Tin Lead Resin 0.7mm

13 Pin Milenco Socket : MILENCO 13 Pin Socket Black Caravan / Motorhome / Trailer

13 Pin Milenco Plug : Milenco 13 Pin Plug

13 Core Cable (8 x 1.5mm + 5 x 2.5mm) ISO Approved : 13 Core Caravan Cable Sold per metre

Is it humid in here?…

28 Monday Dec 2015

Posted by in Accessories, Gadgets, Modifications, Product Review, Reviews, Uncategorized

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WedFeb6130934UTC2013Just finding time to catch up on a few things that I haven’t had time to write about over the past few months.

One of the things we bought a while ago – sometime last year I think, was a cheap de-humidifier from ALDI. I was a little sceptical about the performance of such a small and low priced device initially but it seems to work as advertised. We haven’t been leaving it plugged 24 hours a day  but just using it when we are out for the day and in the evening. Usually we just plug it in when we get up are and leave it running stood on in the bedroom area on a low shelf near the bathroom door and in the evening move it into the bathroom and put it on the floor. We don’t leave it running overnight.

Each day it averages just over two cups of water. Now that doesn’t seem much, but that water was in the air and it has to go somewhere, usually in the form of condensation. One thing we have noticed is that in the morning when we open the blinds, even when it’s down to a few degrees above freezing outside there isn’t any condensation on the lower edge of the windows or window frame. In the colder months usually we put the towels used from showering over the heated towel rail in the bathroom to dry and I’ve always worried about condensation forming in the caravan, but I think this little unit might have eased my concerns somewhat. I don’t think a de-humidifier is worth running 24 x 7 in a caravan as there are so many vents, but taking the moisture out of the ‘van from day to day living can’t be a bad thing!

A Cheeky Pre-Christmas Break…

24 Thursday Dec 2015

Posted by in Christmas Markets, General, Mini Break, Travelling in the UK, Weekend Break

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Now being classed as ‘semi-retired’ i.e a part-time job means that I’m limited as to when I can get away. This coupled with Sue’s on-call commitments and theatre schedule at the hospital means that our trips are a bit last-minute. Regular readers will know that since buying our caravan we have always tried to fit in a Christmas Market trip, just to get into the festive spirit. This year looked like it was not going to happen. However, having to use up the last of my holidays before year-end and coupled with the fact the cardiac unit at the hospital was quiet meant we could just about fit in a cheeky little break before Christmas. We had originally set the time aside for a possible trip down to the Isle of Wight to see some friends as one of them was due to undergo surgery a couple of weeks earlier. However surgery was delayed and it would have been too soon after the op. So the next problem was where to go?

Over the past few years we have done a few Christmas markets and a quick check of the ChristmasMarkets.com web site soon gave us the dates for all the markets and Birmingham seemed like a good candidate. Next was to find a site within walking or bus distance – who wants to drive to a christmas market when there is lots of wine being mulled !. The Caravan Club came up trumps with Chapel Lane Caravan Site about 8 miles south of all the Christmas action. A quick check of the Caravan Club website showed the site had spaces and four nights were booked.

Thursday 17th December

 We were both off the day before and so we could take the clothes and bedding down to the caravan, which made it easier as all we had to do was load up the comestibles boxes and fridge stuff into the back of the Freelander on day of departure.

IMG_0039.CR2Setting off from the storage unit at 10:20 soon had us on the M60 and eventually navigating the road works on the A56 cut through to the M6. Although quite busy the traffic was flowing. We made a brief stop to pick up coffee at Sandbach Services (yep we had forgotten to make a flask of coffee before setting off). I’d programmed the site in as a POI on the sat-nav so it took us straight there without any dramas. It was about 12:40 when we checked in. The site was quiet with maybe twenty or so vans and motorhomes so we had a choice of pitches, eventually opting for one on the corner opposite the facilities building.

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Well we had to have some Christmas lights…….

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Friday 18th December

IMGThe weather was forecast to be grey and overcast but no rain and after talking to the wardens the previous afternoon we had an option of catching the bus ( either the X50 or 150 from near the campsite entrance) or catching the train. A train journey of twenty minutes versus a bus trip of about an hour won out. It’s just over a mile (1.2 to be exact) from the site to Wythal Station and it took us about twenty minutes to walk there.

We originally opted for Snow Hill as a destination but looking at the map, Moor Street Interchange was closer. Tickets were £6.80 return each for an open return and the train seemed a logical choice as it was more frequent at peak times. You can buy tickets from a machine at the station entrance.

Victoria Square

Victoria Square

Moor St Interchange is right next to Selfridges (the pimply building) and is a good landmark to use for getting round. As it was only 10:30ish we… well me.. actually needed a coffee top up so we made a stop at a coffee shop to check the map and come up with a plan of action. The streets were still fairly quiet and we wandered down New Street towards Victoria Square. Following the market signs we navigated round a building that was in the process of being demolished to Centenary Square where there were some smaller craft stalls and a ferris wheel. We headed back towards Victoria Square where the smell of cooking bratwurst sausages, donuts and mulled wine got to us. We purchased  a couple of mahoosive red bratwurst sausages, which were delicious.

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Looking down New Street from Victoria Square

Looking down New Street it was getting busier and we set off towards New Street Station. A few weeks before we had watched a program about the demolition of the old concourse and opening up of the building, including a new roof, and we, well me really, after working for a number of years for one of the train companies and passing through New St so many times, was keen to see the results. The transformation is amazing….

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It was now light and seemed bigger, and the transformation with all the shops and food areas was such an improvement. However one thing to note – the signs for the toilets on the main level all direct you to facilities that are on the rail side of the barriers. The only loo’s that are available for non rail travellers are on the mezzanine level.

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Even though it was a grey day never rely getting fully daylight, the light coming into the main concourse area made such a difference.

We had spotted a couple of options for lunch and continued exploring the rest of the malls that were now linked to the main station building. It reminded us of Boston, Mass. where you can walk from one mall through to the Prudential Centre and on to another mall without ever going outside… kind of handy with their winter weather.

Eventually we headed back outside on to New Street and wandered past all the market stalls that were all now brightly illuminated and with lots of people shopping. We did notice that some of the stalls did seem to repeat, having the same things for sale as another stall further up the street.

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By the time we had got to the other end of New St again (and I’d bought a new camera) it was time for a late lunch and a sit down (plus I wanted to play with my new purchase). We wandered back to New Street Station and headed for a tapas bar (Tapas Revolution, Grand Central Station) we had spotted earlier.

After enjoying some tapas washed down with a rather nice house red, we ventured out again and re-visited some of the locations we had been to earlier so I could take a few photos with the new camera (OK why the new camera… well normally I’d have a full frame body with a 70-200 on the front and a couple of other lenses on my back pack and sometimes I just don’t want to carry all that gear about but have something I can slip in my pocket but still have the functionality and resolution of my normal gear and a Canon G7X fitted the bill)

Mulled Wine, Hot Chocolate with squirty cream and live festive music...

Mulled wine, hot chocolate with squirty cream and live festive music…

By the time we got back to Victoria Square again, Sue decided it had to be mulled wine time by now and I wanted one of those hot chocolates with the squirty cream on top. The large Swiss chalet building had a bar underneath and a balcony with a group playing festive music. Just as we got served, it started to rain so we squished in under one of the covered tables with a few others to listen to the music. All very festive… except for the rain but it was way to warm to snow.

Saturday 19th December

IMG_0002For the past couple of years I’d always wanted to visit the Heritage Motor Centre  as it is located adjacent to the Jaguar Land Rover Gaydon Centre the home of the Land Rover Collection. I’d had it as a POI in the GPS for a while and we had been in striking distance of it on several trips, but never had the time (or it was a school half term) However we thought it would be a quiet time to visit, so set off to drive the 12 miles from the site. We came off the motorway and followed the sat-nav through some road works and turned into the road that leads up to the entrance and were met with a small banner cable tied to the fence:- “The Centre is closed for refurbishment and will reopen on the 13th Feb 2016”. Nooooo!

It’s my fault, I should have checked on-line, but in all fairness who the heck thought they would close the whole damn thing. I was not a happy camper to say the least. I’d even picked up a brochure in the site information centre about it too!

Sue to the rescue

Sue being Sue had put one of the pamphlets from the information centre in her bag about  Hatton Shopping Village which also had some christmas things going on and was only a couple of junctions back along the M40, so sat-nav suitably programmed we turned round in the empty drive to the motor centre and headed off to our new destination. It was a bit off the beaten track and if you go when it’s raining you need a 4 x 4 as the overspill car park is a field of deep Warwickshire mud.

There is an eclectic collection of shops from farm produce to bridal gowns and everything in between. It’s not huge but there are some nice outlets selling local crafts. We both spied a sweet shop that had a resident chocolatier and after small investment we emerged stocked up with a bag of hand made chocolates and regular readers will know my weakness for coltsfoot rock and traditional cough candy. Opposite the sweet shop was a furniture shop and in the small window there was a rather nice reproduction art deco square table lamp that would just be right in our hallway at home. Wallet somewhat lighter we emerged with a lamp. We continued our wanderings… past the bridal gown shop where a young woman was trying on a wedding dress… It took me all my strength to stop Sue from pressing her nose up against the window… not really, but it did look nice even I have to admit that.

We continued round and as luck would have it just as it was lunch o’clock a cafe appeared. The menu had a reasonable choice – Sue opted for salmon fish cakes with poached egg and hollandaise sauce with green leaf salad and I went for chicken schnitzel and a cheese sauce.

Unfortunately when it arrived mine was served on a planed down scaffolding plank. Sorry but scaffolding planks, bits of driftwood, roofing slates, cute mini dustbins/flower pots/buckets, shovels (yep there is a place somewhere that serves breakfast on a shovel) to me are not my cup of tea. Call me strange, but I do like a plate with my food.

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On the way out we called in the village shop and picked up a hand raised pork pie and a selection of local artisan cheese along with a jar of sweet chilli jam and a fresh cottage loaf – still warm, just the required ingredients for an evenings grazing sat with one’s feet up in front of the TV. I wouldn’t say Hatton Shopping Village is a destination in its self, but it is worth stopping off if you are in the vicinity or passing near by.

Sunday 20th December

IMG_0001We woke up to clear blue sky and a chill in the air, it was only 6 degrees according to the digital thermomiterbob do-hicky, which was a drop from the past few days where it had been in double figures.

After the incident of the closed museum the previous day, I did check to make sure the “Think Tank” was open, it was and so we set off in the Freelander back into the centre of Birmingham not far from where we had been on Friday. It took us around 25 minutes and passed through the centre of Kings Heath so mid-week or on a Saturday it might take a little longer. Birmingham Science Museum is housed in one of the university buildings at the heart of the university complex. Quite handily there is a multi-story car park right next door and we took a gamble that on a Sunday morning it would be quiet. If you do decide to pay a visit head for the multi-story car park on Jennens Road rather than the sat-nav info on the web site as that takes you to Curzon St – the ‘wrong’ side of the car park for the entrance. Walking out of the car park it’s easy not to see the sign for the entrance. Car parking was a reasonable  £3.20 for the time we were there.

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For the two of us, including a planetarium show it was £27.50, which is not too bad I guess. The museum is spread over 5 floors (there are lifts) and we headed down to the ground floor to start there.

The museum is great for children/grandchildren with lots for them to get involved with, however for me, it does seem a little haphazard in it’s layout and as though the curators have had to cherry pick exhibits to fit into the available space.

After we had visited the planetarium for one of the shows we headed back down to the ground floor to the cafe for coffee. We were in the queue and the chap in front of us wearing a USMC shirt turned and asked “Is that a Breitling Emergency you are wearing?” It must be a man thing. I can generally spot Breitling watches at 20 paces and Sue is always amazed at this skill. And Sue herself wears a Breitling that she would never expect anybody to recognise. After a bit of a chat it turned out he did have the right to wear that shirt – he was a US Marine (semper fi) and he still had his Breitling issued by Uncle Sam.

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I think Sue was swatting up…. expecting me to ask question later…!

I can't resist a bit of Black and White now and again!

I can’t resist a bit of Black and White now and again!

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Monday 21st December

Monday started clear and chilly, and it didn’t take long to pack everything away. We had already taken the awning down on Saturday evening as the wind was quite gusty and it was flapping around a bit so while Sue cleaned inside, I loaded up the Freelander and squared everything away outside. It was a joint effort making the sammiches for the trip and I stored them in the electric cool box on the back seat of the truck, along with some water.

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It wasn’t long before we were ready to hitch up and pull off site. We remembered to post the barrier tag through the reception letter box and we headed out on to Chapel Lane. The run back home was as easy as the trip down with the M6 being fairly free-flowing again.

What do we think?

A great four-day mini break with a Christmas Market, some trips and some great memories. Chapel Lane Caravan Club site is an ideal base for Birmingham and the surrounding area. There are plenty of things to do and see in Birmingham and within a 20 to 30 minute drive from the site there is easily a week’s worth of places to visit. Extend the driving range to 45 minutes and there is enough to do for a second week.

The site seems well run and very clean and there is little or no road noise. Showers were hot and the facilities block well maintained and clean. They however might get a little busy when the site is full. The Club WiFi works OK with good signal strength and good phone signal too. TV reception was not a problem.

Would we go back? – It’s on our list of places to re-visit as there are still lots of places to visit in the surrounding area.

For those wishing to visit the Caravan Shows at the NEC it would be a good base for a show visit and to include other attractions in the same trip.

We would just like to wish all our caravanning and motorhome readers a very Merry Christmas.

Simon & Sue