Having a caravan means (in theory) that we can get away at the drop of a hat. It is always ready to go (in theory). No one will have borrowed bits off it for agricultural purposes (in theory). And everything will work as well as it did last year (in theory).
Having got first cut silage we have decided we can get away for a few days next week, so we went to check out the caravan. For some reason the battery had been removed to put on the old digger. We got it back in and connected and tested the lights. No good. We tried another battery. Still no good. Now, the battery can either be charged externally with a battery charger, or onboard using the caravan's Zig charger. This also keeps it charged when on site and connected to the electric. Every day last week batteries moved between the caravan and battery charger, but never managed to get the magic needle on the control panel to flicker. After much poking about under cupboards we found some fuses, changed one and Hey Presto we had battery power.
Next issue to overcome was the oven. It's always been a bit temperamental - switching off while cooking supper and we have resorted to using tape to hold in the switch to keep it on. Henry thought he should look into it and that maybe the jets were bunged up. So after disconnecting everything got to work with spanners and sockets. At one point it got a bit serious as something was unscrewed that shouldn't have been and it took much ingenuity with a long piece of wire to get it back together again. So it's working again - at least as well (or not) as before.
The last thing to do was to check and purify the water supply. Seasoned caravanners (and we should be called that after 35 years) know to drain the water system before winter. But we're too optimistic - expecting to get away one more time in autumn, or too hopeful - "it'll be alright" - and don't always get this done. Remember the temperatures last winter (minus 15 in December)? When we put the pump in a can of water and turned on the tap, the water ran out quickly - but not into the sink. The inevitable had happened and something had blown on the water heater and water was leaking fast. After much wriggling and wiggling Henry got the water heater out and discovered that a vital tie rod had sheared. No problem we thought, we'll look on the Internet and order a new part. Not as easy as we thought. It seems that this heater hasn't been made for eight years and there are no new parts. So we started looking at caravan breakers and eventually found a site in Wales with the part in stock. I rang up this morning to check if the website was correct and then ordered the part. It should be here in a couple of days, and assuming it's the right bit and we can put it all back together again it will be all systems go. A lesson learnt - always drain the water before winter!
All the hassle over the weekend was making me feel a bit low, but an emailed alert this morning lifted my spirits way high -
Having got first cut silage we have decided we can get away for a few days next week, so we went to check out the caravan. For some reason the battery had been removed to put on the old digger. We got it back in and connected and tested the lights. No good. We tried another battery. Still no good. Now, the battery can either be charged externally with a battery charger, or onboard using the caravan's Zig charger. This also keeps it charged when on site and connected to the electric. Every day last week batteries moved between the caravan and battery charger, but never managed to get the magic needle on the control panel to flicker. After much poking about under cupboards we found some fuses, changed one and Hey Presto we had battery power.
Next issue to overcome was the oven. It's always been a bit temperamental - switching off while cooking supper and we have resorted to using tape to hold in the switch to keep it on. Henry thought he should look into it and that maybe the jets were bunged up. So after disconnecting everything got to work with spanners and sockets. At one point it got a bit serious as something was unscrewed that shouldn't have been and it took much ingenuity with a long piece of wire to get it back together again. So it's working again - at least as well (or not) as before.
The last thing to do was to check and purify the water supply. Seasoned caravanners (and we should be called that after 35 years) know to drain the water system before winter. But we're too optimistic - expecting to get away one more time in autumn, or too hopeful - "it'll be alright" - and don't always get this done. Remember the temperatures last winter (minus 15 in December)? When we put the pump in a can of water and turned on the tap, the water ran out quickly - but not into the sink. The inevitable had happened and something had blown on the water heater and water was leaking fast. After much wriggling and wiggling Henry got the water heater out and discovered that a vital tie rod had sheared. No problem we thought, we'll look on the Internet and order a new part. Not as easy as we thought. It seems that this heater hasn't been made for eight years and there are no new parts. So we started looking at caravan breakers and eventually found a site in Wales with the part in stock. I rang up this morning to check if the website was correct and then ordered the part. It should be here in a couple of days, and assuming it's the right bit and we can put it all back together again it will be all systems go. A lesson learnt - always drain the water before winter!
All the hassle over the weekend was making me feel a bit low, but an emailed alert this morning lifted my spirits way high -
So I'll be on poised to click at 09:00 on Thursday. Something to look forward to next year. At least I don't have to check my working rota now.
2 comments:
Christine - please phone Jules at the Institute regarding your bookings for this week (Lacemakers) I have one in for tonight and another for Saturday
Tel 015242 72896
Dear Anonymous
I assume you meant this message for my sister-in-law Christine (from Hawkrigg) - so I have passed it onto her.
I'm afraid she doesn't ramble on this Blog - that's entirely down to me.
Kathleen
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