Our Swift caravan comes with a factory fitted Sargent 40w solar panel. This isn’t really enough for some off-grid vanning so we decided to add some additional solar to the roof. The idea was to add an additional 130w panel but it adds another 11kg to the already paltry payload so I decided we would swap-out the exiting panel and replace it with the 130w version.

The panel cost around £200 from Sunshine Solar Ltd and delivery was prompt.

Removing the old panel

The panel was screwed into two plastic mounts so it was straightforward removing the panel itself. The mounts had been stuck down with a silicone adhesive and removing these was more of a challenge. I used a Stanley knife to partially cut into the silicone and then tried the wire “cheese cutter” method. In the end, I was able to pry up one corner and as it was a hot day, was able to tease open the entire seal with minimal damage to the roof. The old panel is now charging the redundant leisure battery in our outside cabin at home…

Installing the new panel

There’s a nice pre-drilled hole in the roof of the caravan and with the purchase of a Solar Roof Entry gland I routed the cables through into the caravan. I also added an extra cable – a USB cable – through the gland as a neat way of mounting the caravan WiFi Extender aerial. Below you can see the roof cable entry hole and I cleaned the roof surface with Bostik Simson Prep M (just the sections where I would bond the new panel).

The gland was secured with some 3M VHB tape on the inner edge and then Sikaflex 522 adhesive silicone around the edge.

I used the same technique to bond the panel. A central strip of VHB and plenty of Sikaflex 522 around the edges.

Here’s the panel bonded in place.

I then attached a terminal box and 4-way plug / socket to the edge of the panel. This will allow me to deploy the WiFi extender onto the roof without trailing a cable into the van through a window.

We’ve had a few wet days over here on the Isle of Wight and I’ve been busy planning a few jobs and upgrades on the van. It’s due a service in a month and there’s a list of stuff I’ve been meaning to do so this was a great time to order what I’ll need ready for our return home.

In no particular order, I have a new Solar panel arriving. It’s 135w and will replace the factory installed Swift 40w panel. I have outstanding queries with both Swift (via dealer) and Sargent about the current carrying capacity of the pre-existing solar wiring. It looks ok but if not I’ll need to cable the solar panel directly to the battery.

If I need to add new wires through the roof of the van for solar, I will add a USB cable also for the WiFi extender setup – I may also convert this to 12v so it works off-grid and maybe just tidy up it’s location to be a bit more permanent.

I’ve put off adding a fan kit to the Dometic fridge. I think I have all the bits and pieces apart from an electronic thermostat, which I did have but then assigned it to another project!

I’ve got an Alde fluid change to carry out; sort out a replacement pump for the Thetford C260 – ours is increasingly dodgy at starting after a period of inactivity; new awning rail corners and finally find a solution so that the TV operates on 12V and can remain setup whilst we travel.

I’d also like to polish the front GRP Panel which has become increasingly dull due I guess to UV damage.

I’ll add blog posts for each of the tasks as I get round to them.

Quick catch-up from the last maintenance work some weeks ago at Glastonbury.

The current jockey wheel and assembly is some 8 years old. First problem was with a kind of pressure pad / shoe which locks the vertical shaft in place. This has a hook which locates on the assembly to stop the pressure pad from dropping through the mechanism.

In our case, the hook had become weak and broken off.

The pressure pads are a few pounds but ours definitely needed replacing.

At the same time, we decided to change the jockey wheel as the winding mechanism was becoming quite stiff.

The breakaway cable whilst still functional had a kink and tear in the plastic so we decided we would change all three items.

We headed to Taunton Trailers from Glastonbury where we found a healthy choice and a friendly / knowledgeable guy. The site appeared to be built out of shipping containers under a concrete bridge!

We bought the AlKo Jockey Wheel Plus, product code 122436 which we think is the direct replacement for the one fitted at manufacture, probably the 122434.

If we’d known earlier, matching would have been easier because the product code is stamped on the base of the wheel bracket. Both Jockey wheels seem to be rated at 150kg stationary and 90kg in motion which sounds about right, but also on the limit of our noseweight.

At the same time we would replace the break-away cable.

All of this was a straight swap-out with just a word of caution about the breakaway cable. The hooked end you can see needs to be opened on the old one and pinched closed on the new one.

I was just about able to open the old cable but despite a decent collection of tools I could not get any closure on the new ring. In the end a trip to Screwfix and a set of mole-grips enabled the wire loop to be closed.

We decided to test our off-grid capabilities recently and to spend a full week off-grid in Oxfordshire. We were a bit dubious about how well the battery would perform as it’s a basic lead-acid battery dating back to 2015. It certainly doesn’t owe us anything. The battery is a generic 100ah offering which means really you can only use 50 – 60 ah. Any more than that and the life of the battery is severely limited.

The solar panel is a 40W version, factory fitted by Swift.

The charge controller is a Sargent 1755-R.

After the first day, the battery voltage had dropped a couple of dots (as measured on the Swift panel) and we noted an issue with the Sargent controller. This very basic controller has two LEDs. The lower one flashes Green to indicate that there is output from the Solar panel. The upper indicator is the “Charging status” and this should illuminate Red for bulk charging and green for float charging. In this instance, nothing. We figured out it was time to replace the battery and the solar controller with a modern MPPT controller and Lithium battery.

I don’t take a huge amount of credit for the upgrades because there is a lot of information on the Web about how to replace the leisure battery with a Lithium phosphate one. On one forum in particular there are some very detailed threads about what is involved – the caravan forum “Caravan Talk”. I used some of the postings on that site to figure out what to do.

First thing was to order a new battery. I went with a Low Profile battery from KS Energy. It’s 120ah Lithium-iron Phosphate battery and apparently has a very good BMS (Battery Management system) built in. It also is a “Smart” battery which means it’s got a Bluetooth interface, Apple / Android App and a whole host of information regarding the state of the battery.

It also has built-in temperature control as Lithium batteries don’t like to be charged below 0 degrees C.

What this means is that you don’t also need to buy say the Renogy 500 monitor nor the Victron sense temperature control module (which terminates charging at low temperatures). It’s all part of the battery.

The KS Energy 120ah LP (Low Profile) battery arrived very quickly and the also the chosen solar controller – a Victron energy MPPT 75 / 15.

Fitting it all was very easy. The Low Profile battery is an easy swap-in, as it’s quite a bit smaller height-wise than the old lead acid offering.

The now defunct Sargent controller connects into the Caravan wiring loom and to the solar panel via two plastic connectors above the microwave.

Since I wasn’t trying to salvage the Sargent module I just cut the wires and used the cut wires to connect to the new controller. A bit fiddly in the confined space of the cupboard but very straight forward.

There’s a preferred connection sequence in the controller manual – I think it’s battery before panel.

Once it was all connected, the appropriate LEDs lit up and I was able to pair my smartphone with both the battery and the controller. Once paired, here are screenshots of a couple of the battery information screens.

And similar for the Victron controller.

A day or so after the install and all the monitors are indicating as they should. This is a brave new world – it’s like moving from analogue to digital or paper based to computer. No more guessing how much energy is left in the batteries. No more wondering if I’ve discharged the lead acid battery too much. No more guessing as to how much charge is entering the battery.

Finally, big savings now we can stay at off-grid sites and one final added bonus, an extra 15kg of payload!

It wasn’t so much as a White Christmas for me last year but more of a “Yellow” one.

Another two Dewalt Powertools were added to my toy collection at Christmas and one of them is already proving it’s worth on our current tour. The Dewalt 18V XR Air Inflator.

It uses the same 18V batteries as my drill which accompanies us for dealing with the corner steadies and it made ultra light weight of inflating our bike tyres. It’s just a bit too big to fit in with the puncture repair kit though!

It has a multitude of adapters and whilst we are using our poled awning on this trip, I reckon it will inflate our porch air awning in no time at all.

I shall report back later in the year!

Job number two on the first trip of 2022 was to sort out the awning light. The current one has been on the van since new and been shipping water for several years. At first we thought it was just a little condensation but it wasn’t – this is a common fault on the Swift caravans.

And now the light has pretty much totally failed and there are no replaceable parts. It’s a new unit only. We didn’t want to install the same product again so we decided upon one of the “wrap-around” lights. The first challenge was how to get one shipped over to Spain (we spent countless hours trying to find one in Spain but couldn’t locate a supplier) – previously we have had all kinds of products shipped over from suppliers directly and indirectly, via eBay and Amazon. Even Electric bike kits costing hundreds of pounds would arrive in 4 or 5 working days.

Not any more. Seems like most of the suppliers don’t like all the paperwork involved in sending out to the EU any more. We did find one supplier, after a tortuous hunt around eBay and placed the order. A reasonable £35 became inflated to £60 after the addition of £12 freight and £13 customs duty.

It took three weeks to arrive. I guess someone got a Brexit bonus from the large freight cost and customs charge… Considering the charges, packaging itself was on the light side!

As well as no replaceable parts, the existing light had been bonded to the caravan with a mixture of VHB tape and a silicone adhesive such as Bostik Simson STR-360. It was a pig to remove, achieved with:

• Heat – very important
• Stanley knife
• Fishing Line to effectively “cheese cut” under the lamp

Eventually it was freed from the side of the caravan.

The connection block was then teased out through the hole in the sidewall, disconnected and then the wires held in place with a small clamp. Note there are 4 wires here – two are for the light and two are for the alarm indicator. The alarm indictor is a small red led which flashes when the alarm is set. On a dark night, it’s like some kind of emergency beacon shining across the campsite.

We had already disconnected the source of those wires so the new lamp not having the red LED would be no problem.

Ideally I would have had a new replacement connector but I clearly wasn’t going to be able to find one of these in Spain so I carefully teased out the metal inner pins, un-picked the old wires and re-used. Finally sealing the wires into the male part of the connector with a silicon adhesive (see below).

To bond the new lamp, I would use a mixture of VHB tape and Sikaflex 522, which is a very strong silicone adhesive which can only be removed mechanically once it has cured. Full curing takes 48 hours.

I now made a right mess of sticking the lamp on. There are several things which need to happen at the same time and I thought I could manage this. The VHB double-sided tape had already been stuck on the back of the lamp and I needed to remove the sticky backing. Then I chose to apply a bead of silicon adhesive all around the edge of the lamp. Then I would connect up the lamp and simultaneously fill the hole in the side of the van with clear waterproof silicone.

This proved impossible. By the time I’d connected the wires together and filled the hole with silicone, I’d got adhesive everywhere. On my hands, on the side of the van, on the awning. Eventually I bailed out of this idea and cleaned off the Sikaflex adhesive.

That is what I should have done from the start. It was over-ambitious to think I could manage with a bead of silicone around the lamp. Eventually I got the lamp in place, stuck down with the VHB tape and then I ran the Sikaflex around the edge of the light.

Final result looks good and the bond seems strong. Lets hope it lasts and we don’t see the light dangling from the side of the van as we travel along a motorway!

It’s always the same at the start of a towing season. Some things just don’t make it through the winter. Our first issue is with the electric flush on the Thetford C260 toilet. It doesn’t work.

A quick look around the internet and there’s a few possibilities:

• Fuse failure
• Corrosion on the controller circuit board
• Pump impellor stuck
• Pump failure

Our first challenge was to find out the model number. It seems the older version is the Thetford 250 and this has it’s own fuse at the back of the cassette enclosure. There should also be evidence of the pump showing as on this older model, the pump is accessed and replaced from the toilet cassette void.

We found no evidence of either of these so concluded we have the later Thetford 260 unit. This should be easier to troubleshoot…

The fuse on our main 12v board serves both the toilet flush and water pump. The water pump is working ok so we probably have power to the toilet. A multi-meter would have been handy but we don’t have one with us.

There’s apparently a technique to tell if the toilet has power – switch on the caravan 12v internal lights and press the flush button. If they dim slightly then that would indicate power is at the control panel. Our 12v LED lights gave no indication whatsoever that power was being drawn. I still suspected though that the unit did have power and it’s just an artefact of 12v LED lights.

I think another way to tell would be to raise the float inside the toilet cassette and see if the red led lights up but I didn’t have any gloves so I gave that a miss and started to dismantle the unit.

Access is under the silver sticker. In this instance it was easily removed with my fingernails and no damage to it whatsoever. I’ll be able to re-use.

Once the cover is removed, the circuit board “pops” off, revealing two screws and access to the pump below.

First impressions are that this compartment is bone dry. I was expecting some condensation and possible damp damage but absolutely none. Everything looks pristine.

Having disconnected the pump from the control board, the two screws were undone and the pump unit can be teased out.

Again everything looks in order so time to check the impeller.

It turned out the impellor was frozen and needed releasing with a screwdriver. It was possible to free the mechanism and apply some dry silicon lubricant. Whilst it’s called a dry lubricant, it is a spray and in liquid form!

Success! Now the impellor is free, newly lubricated and the pump spins up. It all goes back together in reverse of the dis-assembly

I can also fit the sticky cover on straight and properly aligned with the recess.

That’s the first item fixed…

We bought the Kampa Legerra 260 Air Awning last year as somewhere to keep our shoes and coats along with the Dometic freezer we acquired a few years ago. This is now the fourth awning currently in our possession.

This has become our “go to” awning based upon how easy and quick it is to put up. In fact its so fast that we don’t feel the need to start packing things away the day before when we change sites.

It now takes longer to fold and pack the awning and put away the pegs than it does to erect this Kampa porch awning.

The awning itself is very lightweight and whilst it clearly isn’t going to last as long as our Isabella Magnum 390, it was competitively priced and given the ease of use, I image it will serve us well.

We use a couple of awning stoppers to enable accurate positioning of the awning. The right hand one stays permanently in place and we move the left hand one out of the way to thread the awning through the rail via the upper rail entry point.

Then it’s a case of inflate the air beam, pop down the custom carpet to help align the awning correctly and maybe a dozen pegs, two guide ropes and two storm straps. It also comes with its own awning skirt.

It’s a reverse of the process to take it down and in transit, we stuff it in a plastic bag without folding and transport it in the car. It’s then ready to pop up at the next site.

Ideally this awning would be around half a metre wider and that would allow us to miss the rear window and locker with the side panel. We also found two new folding chairs which will replace our current ones. They were bought from Broad Lane leisure and the brand is “Liberty Leisure”. These aren’t the lightest folding chairs I’ve ever come across but they are the strongest. They are also a very comfor

They also fit the Kampa Leggera awning perfectly alongside one of the Kampa slotted tables. So for short trips, the Isabella Thor chairs will remain in the under-bed storage, again improving put-up and pack-away times.

Finally, this Kampa Awning hasn’t leaked or had an excess of condensation so apart from wishing it were slightly bigger, this suites our purpose extremely well.