2024 – The first tow with the California Ocean

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Well it’s been a long journey in many ways. This is the short version. Finally, early in 2024 (after a 6 month hiatus) we hitched up the caravan for the first time and towed from East Devon to Cadiz, crossing the sea from Portsmouth to Santander.

Our previous towcar was a Kia Sorento (a succession of three in fact) and we were somewhat nervous about how this outfit would perform in comparison.

Our California Ocean (Nellie) is the 204PS version with all-weather Bridgestone tyres. I’ve seen some concerns on various forums about these but so far no problems for us.

Our new Towcar

These are our thoughts and experiences so far, in no particular order.

  • The power of the 204PS is more than enough for our 1600kg van (fully loaded). On one hill start under wet conditions we noticed a small amount of wheel spin. The 4-Motion (not available when we ordered) would have been a nice, but expensive, add-on.
  • Cruising on the motorways you really don’t fell any instability whatsoever. It exceeds our experiences with the Kia Sorento which I find remarkable. On bumpy roads the Cali is firmly in control whereas with the Kia, there would always be a little bit of feedback from the caravan in such conditions.
  • We averaged 25mpg which on this journey is 25% more than we achieved with the Kia. That’s no disrespect to the powerhouse of the Sorento but the bikes on top are very aerodynamically unfriendly.
  • The 80l fuel tank upgrade we purchased, coupled with the extra MPG is a real gamechanger
  • The Bike Rack sits on the tailgate of the Cali and I can load the bikes without the high-wire act of a lighweight 3-step ladder. I asked on many forums if there was any chance under a hard lock whilst reversing that the rack might snarl with the front of the caravan. All responses were positive and our experience is that the there is a large space under all possible lock conditions. We can now discard the stepladder from our packing
  • Once Bikes are loaded onto the rear rack, forget opening the tailgate. If you’ve left a key piece of equipment in there needed during the tow, it’s going to mean removing both bikes
  • Comfort wise, the cabin on the Cali is very comfortable and it was an effortless tow to the South of Spain. Plenty of gadgets and the Adaptive Cruise Control is a game changer!
  • Still getting to grips with the packing. The reason for the Cali is for us to be able to head off from the Caravan and explore areas for just a few days. Deciding what should be in the Caravan versus campervan and then which part of the campervan is definitely going to require more work. The usable boot space in the Cali is not as big as the Sorento.
  • Space is tight out of our house and around the locality and we wondered if the Cali would be more of an issue negotiating the busy streets and tight turns but again, no problems out first time.

2024 – out with the old towcar

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Our trusty Kia Sorento – the third one, picture Dec 2024

We had just a month to sell our Kia Sorento before we headed off to Spain with our new Towcar – the California Ocean. First job was to invest £150 with Black Diamond Valeting in Budleigh Salterton. They did a brilliant job in bringing the vehicle to a showroom finish. Whilst we have always looked after our cars well, this hasn’t really extended to detailing and polishing but the car did look fantastic afterwards.

Selling

Our first port of call was webuyanycar.com and as expected, they came in with quite a low valuation of £13,700 which would have almost certainly been knocked down at appraisal time.

motorway.co.uk and carwow.co.uk were both indicating a reserve price of around £15k with a possible selling price of slightly more than £15.5k.

We had some issues with the carwow website so went with motorway although by the time we had finished, I think both sites had their a faire share of clunky bits of process.

carwow and motorway are essentially auction sites and the motorway auction happened very quickly (maybe same day or next day) and the car “sold” for just under £16k. After the sale you are at the behest of the purchasing dealer and the communications with our lot were poor. They knew we wanted the car collecting before Christmas but faffed around and said it might be a few weeks into January and then went quiet. motorway weren’t very proactive and within 3 working days it was clear this was going nowhere.

The purchasing dealer was I think a Citroen dealer and the purchase didn’t seem to fit their website profile. My theory is that they had someone asking about a Sorento, won my auction and were then waiting for a customer deposit before actually completing the deal.

We then moved onto carwow and the listing and interaction with the carwow business was much more professional. Essentially the same kind of process, the winning bidder turned out to be a big car supermarket, Carbase, a selling price again for just shy of £16k. We had a hiccup with the collection which this time was genuinely delayed by the Christmas holidays but the first guy from the ecomotive logistics company didn’t show. ecomotive knew the deadlines but seemed unwilling to make a real effort to find a replacement.

After escalating, finally they found someone to collect the next morning – our departure date for Portsmouth – Santander. The chap who did turn up from ecomotive was thorough, fair and very nice guy. He reported his findings to Carbase and a few minutes later the £16k was in my account without any haggling. The logistics guy did say that carbase like to buy quality used cars and he felt they would not be disappointed with my Kia Sorento. I agreed with him wholeheartedly!

As I think I stated earlier, one is at the behest of the purchasing dealer but in my limited experience, carwow were much the better company to deal with. webuyanycar were just to low with the pricing.

The Kia Sorento is now up for sale at Carbase for £19.5k and given they’ll inevitable have to move on the price etc, I’m pleased with the outcome.

Our new Towcar

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It’s been a very busy couple of weeks since we picked her up, and have spent only one solitary night trying things out. In fact, we had booked into a Caravan and Motorhome site just a few miles away from the dealership (on purchase day) only to be asked on arrival “You do know we haven’t any facilities?…”. Ha, all we had was two pillows and sleeping bags so a fraught hour or so trying to find an alternative site!!

Haven’t towed the caravan yet but she drives beautifully. Plenty of power and the DSG box is great.

We need a name for this large grey (“Indium grey”) beast.

Our new Towcar
Moe seems excited

Time for a replacement tug…

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On our way to the big smoke to hopefully purchase a new-to-us tow car.

Our Kia has been excellent but with the not too distant demise of the Diesel engine, it’s time for something a bit newer which will hopefully support our touring days for many years ahead.

Enjoy retirement, Mr Sorento.

10:30 to London Waterloo.

Bike conversions – version 2

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Our original bike conversions were a DIY project, back in 2018. Whilst they have served us well, the front hub drives have their limitations. They lack the power / torque, balance and grip offered by the mid-drive eBikes. They are also very heavy to lift on top of the Sorento and we hoped the new conversions would be a little easier to handle.

Regarding torque, the modern mid-drive motors have around twice the torque of the front wheel hub drives.

We wanted to upgrade both of our bikes to mid-drive motors and essentially I’d decided to go street legal again, this time with the Bafang BBS01b 250w mid-drive motor.

We wanted to preserve the battery system as my Dillenger battery pack is still in first rate condition and came with high quality Samsung cells. Moe’s battery pack had only just been replaced a year ago.

I’ll come on to the kit’s we ordered but for my bike, I needed to buy a new bottle battery holder. That’s because on the hub conversion, the controller electronics are part of the battery holder and the mid-drive motors require simply a battery with all the electronics encased in the main motor unit. I was able to source a new battery holder relatively easy at a cost of around £30 or £40.

For Moe, we wanted to replace the rear rack (which houses the battery unit) with a lightweight aluminium version. The original steel version makes her bike incredibly heavy and cumbersome – her bike was an absolute monster to lift on top of the car. This was more of a challenge but eventually I found something on eBay which looked compatible, of very light aluminium construction but with a price tag just shy of £60.

The kits were ordered from an Internet company called Custom Built eBikes. I was originally planning on fitting these myself but I noticed a special offer on their website of £129 for installation of their kit. I though that was good value and whilst researching a bit more, realised the company is a short distance from us near to Exeter airport.

Their normal business model is to collect your bike, convert and then re-deliver but not surprisingly, this incurs some fairly heft delivery charges.

In this instance we were able to deliver and collect the bikes ourselves. No special tools to buy, plus they had some difficulties removing the bottom bracket which would have presented me with a challenge. On one of the installs the motor was dead so they had replaced that before we collected.

Here are some after pictures of our two bikes.

Specialized Cross Trail elite with Bafang mid-drive
Specialized Cross Trail elite with Bafang mid-drive
Marin Kentfield (vintage 2009) with Bafang conversion
Marin Kentfield (vintage 2009) with Bafang conversion
Display unit for the Bafang

The Conversion – Custom Built E-Bikes, Exeter

What about the conversion company? They were excellent. We wanted a quick turnaround which was a little beyond what they would normally commit to but they delivered both bikes on a tight timeframe. Despite one of the motors failing during installation.

One of our chains was stretched so they replaced this, again at a reasonable cost.

Communication was brilliant and all-in-all great value.

Weight

Moe’s bike is so much lighter and better balanced. It’s now the easy-one to lift on top of the car. The weight of mine is similar but much better balanced.

Power / Torque

Just a different world. Because the motor is driving the front chain cog, the speed and torque is reflected through the rear gears. It takes a bit of getting used to compared to the basic hub drive but the results are superb.

Other

What you do lose with a mid-drive motor is the high range of gearing. This is particularly noticeable on my 2009 Cross Trail because as an older bike, it only has 9 gears at the rear. The front chain reels previously had 28 – 38 – 48 teeth on each cog. The Bafang chain reel we chose has 44 teeth. This is fine when cycling normal hills with electricity but without electric, the really low gears just aren’t available any more and this is less than ideal.

There is a special Leckie ring which will take the front cog down to 40 teeth but this is expensive and requires a modified Bafang motor case cover.

There is also the option of fitting a 10 or 11 cog cassette to the rear but this will also require a new derailleur and shifter. I might just push the button on this change…

Caravan Fridge fan addition

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Well, this is a long-time hack to try to improve the performance of an absorption fridge during hot periods. Nothing particularly original here but time-consuming and fiddly. This is another project I actually completed last year (Autumn 2022).

I chose to mount two silent, good quality computer fans on an aluminium angled bracket (Wickes) attached to the sides of the fridge exhaust vent housing.

In addition to the fans, this little project required a thermostatic controller and a variety of connectors; I used Wago 240v connectors (available from Screwfix, TLC Direct Electrical and many other electrical outlets). These are my go-to screw-less electrical connectors.

The most difficult part was the lack of space in which to secure the brackets to the caravan, I could not fit the finished product in place so eventually I made it in two halves, using the fan body to secure the two halves together. I could then fix each half in place and join them at the centre.

Cooling fans – bracket construction
Brackets in place – upper vent

The temperature controller is available from eBay for a few quid and there are 240v and 12v versions. Obviously I used the 12v version for this install. There are some basic instructions included with the unit written in the finest Chinglish! Essentially you program a high temperature for operation of the relay (I think I chose 28C but will refine this based on experience) which turns on the fans. When the temperature drops below 24C then the relay switches the fans off.

Now… be careful. I connected this up and thought it wasn’t working. It powered up but no voltage on the output pins; You need to know that the 12v input to the unit operates the unit and the relay; It does not switch the 12v input to said relay. You need to provide the relay with its own power which is then switched. Essentially the relay is isolated from the input supply which powers the unit, allowing you to switch different voltages and currents (subject to the unit’s ratings).

The thermostatic controller is attached to the Sargent caravan controller box using 3M VHB tape.

I tapped into and spliced some 12v cables which I use for my “Pump and Sump” system.

Waste Water – Sump and Pump – Caravan Ramblings

Temperature thermostatic controller
Brackets screwed into upper vent
Temperature fan controller
Wired in parallel with external sump ‘n’ pump

Addition of TV and bracket to Swift 2015 van

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The write-up of this little project has been as long in the pipeline as actually finding out how best to travel with the TV in our Swift van. It’s a cold morning here in Spain so the perfect opportunity to catch up with some notes. The TV was an impulse buy back in 2018 so Joe could watch the world cup. And then he found the local pub in the Peak district more welcoming!

Meanwhile for the last 4 or 5 years the wretched TV has travelled around with us. Always in the way – no matter which locker it’s stored in; and bulky too, with its dedicated padded bag.

Finally Joe devoted some time to sort out this little dilemma – problems of a first world order!

Our caravan is a Swift Sterling Eccles Ruby SE, manufactured in 2015. It doesn’t come with anywhere to mount a TV. I think it’s supposed to sit on the worktop opposite the sink, next to the bedroom / lounge dividing partition. There are no mount points for it and this worktop is a useful food preparation area – as well as drinks storage area.

This is the finished article. Cheers!

LG TV Project

Moe made this custom cover for the TV for when it’s not in use. It’s a pillow case adapted with velcro and buttons to keep the unit clean and to stop wires swinging around when we are travelling.

LG TV Project

Shopping list:

  • A TV. This LG TV purchased in 2018 has an external power supply providing a 19v output to the TV from a little in-line computer like transformer
  • A padded bag from Bags4Everything.co.uk (now redundant)
  • Buck converter
  • TV Bracket
  • mate-n-lok two pin connectors
  • Pieces of wood to strengthen the attachments

The TV was chosen specifically for it’s external power adapter. This means it should be adaptable to run from the caravan 12v circuitry, although in this instance the transformer indicated an output of 19v.

Whilst it is true some of these 19v TVs will run quite happily from a 12v supply, this one wouldn’t. It seems that the LG Smart TVs are a little bit more demanding of the correct voltage. I solved this by buying a 12v to 19v buck converter from eBay. I chopped the cable from the transformer to the 19v plug and using the mate’n’lok connectors, I can either connect the original transformer or the output from the Buck converter to the TV. This means the TV is fully available for use when off-grid.

Some of my pictures here aren’t great but in the shot below you can just see the aluminium box of the buck converter and the two-way mate-n-lok connectors. The buck converter is stuck to the back of the tape with 3M VHB tape.

LG TV Project

I also bought a Vision Plus TV Bracket – Triple Arm 07 5170/20 Caravan/Motorhome TV Bracket – from eBay too.

This consists of an adjustable arm and a locking bracket for travel. I mocked up a variety of mounting points and in the end, opted for mounting the TV on the bed side of the partition, behind the cable and conduit box which runs up the side of the partition and has all the 240v, aerial and 12v sockets.

I dismantled this concealing box by removing the L shape vertical cosmetic corner cover and then removing the screws, hidden behind the plastic covers. Once I had access to the inside of this box I glued small strips of wood to the places where the brackets would be mounted. This is important as it spreads the load and provides far more purchase for the screws than the flimsy caravan mdf board (or maybe it was plyboard?).

Below you can see the arm of the TV arm attached to the MDF screen between lounge and bedroom. Counter battens are glued onto the other side of this in the conduit box.

LG TV Project

The travel bracket fixed on one of the other sides of this boxed-in area. I wanted this to be really secure so I added a “plate” of plywood from worktop to bracket to distribute the load and to rest on the worktop. You can see that in the picture below.

LG TV Project

Here is a photo of the completed bracket assembly with annotations. Note the mounting arm allows for removal of the TV using a “quick-release” mechanism.

LG TV Project

Blue circle – main bracket attached to dividing partition and counter battens added on the other side (in the conduit box).

Green circle – Secure travel bracket. Again using a counter batten and exterior piece of strengthening ply.

Purple circle – 12v to 19v buck converter

Red circle – mate-n-lok connectors

Yellow circle – USB Signal booster

The caravan has it’s own built-in signal amplifier so you may wonder why the additional USB powered one. Well, the caravan also has an external F-type coax connector which allows the connection of an external satellite dish or aerial. This connects directly to one of the aerial sockets next to the TV and doesn’t go via the main caravan signal amplifier. Hence this additional one.

A lot of work and a neat solution – to a problem which never existed, given the tiny amount of time we spend watching television!

Alde one way valve replacement

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A quick job this one – ever noticed the water pump starts occasionally for a few seconds without any demand for water from the taps? Maybe you can hear it during the night.

It’s usually a symptom of a failing valve or limescale affecting the smooth operation of the small 12mm valve attached to the boiler.

I’m not entirely certain if this is a “Pressure relief valve” to vent off excess boiler pressure or an “Automatic air intake valve” to aid the draining of the boiler and hot water system at drain-down.

Either way, you may also notice damp under the caravan close to where the clear plastic tube exits the floor of the van where water is escaping.

It’s all push-fit so easy to remove. Usually one can fix the old valve by soaking in vinegar which dissolves any limescale build-up.

In this instance after an annual vinegar soaking of the old valve, I decided to install a new one.

Alde Valve replacement

I’ll leave the comments open for a while so that if anyone knows the precise function of this valve, they can reply.

Dometic RMS 8551 fridge – faulty door (dropped)

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There seem to be a number of problems with the Dometic RMS 8551 door latching shut and not opening without manually lifting the door at the same time.

Dometic Fridge Model number

Ours had stuck closed in this manner and it looked like the bottom hinge had bent downwards ever so slightly – probably as a result of constant vibrations on the road with provisions lodged in the door.

It seemed like it could either be bent back or a number of packing washers placed between the door and the lower hinge pin. In the end we bent the hinge very slightly and added a single washer.

That was the easy bit. The hard bit was removing the door so that we could pack out the hinge pin. The control panel electronics themselves sit in the centre of a plastic cover which runs across the entire width of the fridge. There are two small screws which need to be removed from underneath the panel. In theory, this allows the panel to pull forward. The lower part of the panel was free but major resistance from the top of the panel.

Eventually there was the sound of plastic breaking and the right hand retaining click had broken, revealing the issue. Dometic had glued some kind of plastic finishing strip all along the top of the panel – including the section where the panel clips on the retaining clip. This strip was stopping the panel sliding forwards.

The sticky plastic cover

I was able to slide a screwdriver under the foamy plastic on the left hand side and this freed up the panel from the clip. Access is tight but I *think* a wallpaper scraper would have done the job a bit tidier than my screwdriver.

Once the panel is out of the way you can see the screw-in upper hinge pin. Remove this and the door lifts off allowing the hinge to be bent back into shape or packed-out.

Upper hinge pin, with slotted screw

If I was doing this job again, I would try to undo the hinge pin with the panel in situ; maybe with a knife blade or some pliers. Don’t know if that would work or not but worth a try.

I stuck the broken retaining clip back together with Sikaflex and it will hold until a new clip arrives.

For re-assembly, I also removed a section of the stick plastic where the clip fits. This means it won’t get stuck again!

Bodged retaining clip – new one on order from eBay!

Heiki Roof light cleaning

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Our Heiki Roof Light hasn’t been cleaned since we took delivery of our Swift Caravan back in 2015. It’s absolutely filthy and there is very little light penetrating into the bathroom.

With the right tools, it’s a very simple job to remove / deep clean and the results are outstanding.

You can see plenty of videos on Youtube but some of them are painfully slow!

First, make sure you have a set of long reach Torx keys / wrenches. This set cost me nine quid from Screwfix.

Long reach Torx keys

How to remove the roof light:

  • Raise the roof light into the up / open position.
  • Using the Torx 15, unscrew the 4 screws in the handles of the roof light.
  • The handle stems then pull off their spindles (pull them gently inwards).
  • Once all stems are free, place the roof light to one side on the roof and retrieve it with a ladder
  • The light can now be separated unto it’s two components – the outer cover and the inner vent. For this you need the Torx 25 key. Once all 4 screws have been removed, the plastic can be thoroughly cleaned with washing-up liquid and a splash of bleach.

Assembly is the above in reverse. The result is outstanding; shame I forgot to take a before picture!!

Heiki Roof vent – like new