Its been a while since an update, I havent been able to do anything really with the amount of rain we've had, especially internally as the windows are STILL leaking, so anything done inside will get wet, I'm thinking of all the wooden framework I need to build for the kitchen.
As far as the windows are concerned, I've decided on new bonded windows all round, but starting by replacing the back two side windows, which are the worst ones, leak wise. This will mean I can relax about covering them up. I'm hoping to get them with privacy tint, I think this costs around £25 extra per window.
It would be nice to have one sliding window in the front, opposite the sliding door, ts would create a nice bit of air flow around the inside when parked up. It costs an extra £100 per window approx for a sliding opening, so more than one window would not be worth it.
Steve, I have received your email, and promise to get in touch soon.
Ok, windows aside, as I said, not much else has happened, life has been very busy, and the weather has been pretty awful ! You can guarantee when you announce a drout warning, the rains will come, and they did big style. I have had a fairly constant stream of water coming in and trickling down the floor and under the wooden seating I have made, which thankfully at the moment hasnt ruined it, but its only a matter if time. I have no room to store them anywhere else right now, so whatever happens, happens.
I have bought a couple of things in readiness for the internal conversion. I really needed a dog cage asap as I needed to know what dimensions to work with to build the kitchen around and over it. I couldnt really afford it, but one came up that was perfect, also a long way from where I live in Gloucester, in Kent. I bid at the last minute on ebay, and won it for around £30 less than my maximum bid, which I was very pleased about. Its silver and black, so goes along with the theme of the hob/sink and the overhead cupboard.
If you remember, a while ago, back last year, I bought a bargain cage from Northampton through ebay, made by Lintran, this turned out to be a bit too deep not leaving much room behind for storage.
This is it, I fixed it up and made a new divider and put some new locks on, sprayed the black mesh so it all looked good and sold it on ebay to pay for the new one. Luckily it sold for around the same price I paid for my new one, giving us about £200 profit on the original purchase, but it was still cheap for a Lintran cage, which costs around £500-600 new.
This next one is my new one, its not such an awkward shape, and as I said matches the interior I have planned a little more. Its made from Aluminium, and is made by a company called Trans K9 who are equally respected in this kind of business as Lintran.
It came with two keys for the locks on the doors, and is in very good condition, without any rattles when driving along. The intention is to build my kitchen/divider around and over it, then have it easily removeable so it can be swapped between our daily Animal Ambulance and Nina when needed. It has a good height, and when the central divider is removed is a big enough area to comfortably fit two biggish dogs on longer journeys.
Looking forward to building it in to the conversion now.
The most recent thing I bought was a TV. I have had a 15" tv for years, which has freeview built in and runs from 12v power, but it has a special power lead that isnt easy to replicate for 12v battery power. This was the intention until I saw this one. Originally made for kitchens to fit underneath cupboards, its a 10" tv with built in dvd, freeview, and FM and AM radio. It should be arriving in the post today, and will hopefully fit up underneath the overhead storage cupboard above the seating. The screen swivels to pretty much any position so can be viewed whether seated or in bed. It operates on 12v DC and will work straight from the battery with a standard power jack plug. I worked out that it will run for 28 hours solid on one of my 70ah batteries when its fully charged.
To work this out, if you have the voltage and wattage, it is
watts / voltage = amps.
In the manual for the tv I downloaded online, it tells me that it uses 30 watts, I know the tv is 12v, so 30(w)/12(v) = 2.5(a). My battery is 70ah, which means it has enough power in it to draw 70amps in an hour before it is discharged. So taking the 70ah, divide that by the 2.5amps gives you 28 hours. This doubles when I put my second battery into the equation, giving me 140ah.
Anyway, it gives me far more tv viewing than I will ever use, so means I will have enough juice left over for lighting, which will be very low consumption too as its mostly LED lights, and the 12v fridge which will be the highest consumer.
This is the photo on the front of the manual of it. Again, silver and black, matching everything else :).
Oh I did buy one more thing. I really didnt fancy using the 12v distribution unit I got from the transit, nothing wrong with it, it was working when it came out, but I just didnt like it, so bought a Zig unit from ebay. Unlike the one from the transit, it will charge the leisure batteries etc, its exactly the same as the one I put in Scooby. The only problem is the switches have worn, makng them very hard to switch, but I think our local caravan showroom stocks spare switches for the Zig units, as they are in most caravans from years ago, so if I can replace the switches easily, then thats what I will be using for power.
So to recap, I had a load of stuff, decided I didnt like it, and went out and bought it all again with stuff I did like :S. needless to say I have stuff for sale now lol, apart from the cage, thats already gone.
Unbelievably, Nina's MOT is due on 18th August, I cant believe that we've had her a year already !
The last couple of times I used her, the brakes were shocking, as in I could barely stop. The trouble with leaving an older vehicle stood up for weeks on end. The very last time I used her I was actually worried for my life ! So yesterday I took her to Jon and Malc at Bedford Street Motors, who did all the MOT work last year, and they have had a look around before putting her in for MOT. Initial problems showing up, are a cv gaiter, the nsf shock absorber, which I am hoping is the cause of the very annoying knocking noise on that side, and the Brake Compensator Valve, that was the cause of all the fuss last year when MOTing, had seized, meaning there were no brakes at all at the rear, and the front ones had air in the system. This would explain a lot !
This work alone, along with the cost of an MOT, will be around £300, plus whatever else shows up on the MOT. Im hoping nothing else shows though, as I've probably done less than 3000 miles since the last one. If it stays at or around that price, I'm not happy, but its manageable.
Will know more tomorrow when I pick her up.
I need her back tomorrow, because she has a transport job to do from down by Bristol. I'm picking up some big panels to use at The Field and Nina is the only one big enough to fetch them in.
Thats it for now, will update tomorrow when I find out how the MOT went. Wish her luck ! :).
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Location:Gloucester
