The Dispatch | Expert | Scudo Hub

Nothing planned but any good weather and I will get a night or two out.

Nowhere special and not much driving I think.  St Mary's Loch for a night and across to Solway area perhaps.  Should avoid any crowds.  Need to go into Carlisle to get a key cut anyway.

I have been up and down the Pennines from Skipton to Kelso at least once a month over the past three years so will leave that area to you.  It's a great run though, especialy if you try to mirror the Penine Way as close as posible. 

Nice neglected corner to visit.  I think I know your riverside spot at Annan.

Must look out for that hide next time.

Well observed you two.

It is indeed a great spot.

There was an ariel slide set up last time I visited though.  Didn't improve things afaiac.

I don't bother with checking accurately myself, (it's too scary )

But I do set the trip when I fill up normally from almost empty.  I expect about 600 m per tank with mixed driving.  Out in the sticks and up and down dale it drops to more like 500.  Last tank while recently touring N Pennines and Yorkshire Coast through the recent weather dropped below 500 for the first time.  Lots of low gears and wheelspin though. 

Sorry, not very scientific!

I looked up a couple of Smev/Dometic marine dealers.  Offering some spares but I couldn't find and seal kits.  Riduculous prices too.

Might be worth asking:-

https://www.leisureshopdirect.com/gas/c … mev-spares

And this listed under Dometic servicing:-

R PATERSON MOBILE CARAVAN REPAIRS
39 km

Falkirk
Falkirk,
GB

CONTACT SERVICE CENTRE

+44 7517 204404
MOBILECARAVANREPAIRS@HOTMAIL.COM

WWW.RPCARAVANREPAIRS.COM

The plastic and board on Caspers lower door is the same as mine!

From a taxi?

Doesn't seem like there's much more you can do really.  Ventilation will always help but isn't always practical in winter.

Trouble with the mould is that you will never totally get rid of it and it's not good stuff to be breathing in if your spending hours living in there. 

Decent waterproof ply would be a lot better.  How about that plastic (polycarbon?) double skinned sheet stuff wrapped in carpet?  There is allsorts of different plastic claddings out there but hard to find in the small amounts we need.

Interested to hear your living in it, do you move around much?  If you can occasionally get electric hook up for a day or two you could give it a good dry out with a fan heater.

The plastic on my sliding doors looks moulded to fit so is probably from a taxi.  Sliding windows both sides too.  The plastic still feels cold to touch but never gets condensation on it like the painted steel in the top half.  I used a couple of layers of cheap camping/yoga type mat for insulation.

As C says, it's really not worth worrying about to much. 

It's nothing like an MOT and more to stop people claiming motor home status to take advantage of any reduced costs in comparison to a commercial vehicle.  They just want to stop people putting a backpacking stove and an airbed in the back of the works van and claiming it's a camper.

And how on earth do they define "detachable but must have some permanent means of attachment" anyway?  Velcro, chewing gum, magnet?  I have had a van reclassified ok with just the flat top of a locker accepted as a table.  And another with just an 8" flip up shelf at the side of the sink.

Never heard of a single person being challenged at any later date about still conforming to the regs.  Could happen though if you stripped it out and were involved in an accident while carrying a ton or more of scrap to the tip I suppose.  But surely not just for a missing table leaf?

I am sure it would be possible using readily available parts and ingenuity.

I  considered it years ago in a different van when my kids were young.  (A different world even! )  I didn't go ahead because of doubts over insurance cover.

Unless it was a propriety kit, tested and approved, I think in a worst case scenario, you could be left in a difficult state both personally and legally.

You could build something as safe as any 3 point set up and certainly a big improvement over a lap strap, but unless tested and approved it wouldn't meet regulations.

There are commercial options available but last time I looked, they cost nearly as much as my van.

http://scotseats.co.uk/images/uploads/d … ingles.pdf

Thanks all. 

Those fuse diagrams are great.  I have a few bits and pieces of manuals but non with proper diagrams like that.  Although they are for later models they look like mine.

Bit the bullet and had a look at mine.

Due to mobility and flexibility probs it's a nightmare.  By the time I get laid on my back in the footwell with my feet in the road and my head under the dash, I can only stand it for a minute or two before cramping up and having to extricate myself.  Getting my head, a torch, a hand and any tool in there without knocking my glasses of is almost impossible.

But then a thought hit me... I haven't yet even checked the fuse!

My wiring diagrams are awful though...can anyone please tell me where and which the heater blower fuse is?

Looking at that cage in vaz's pic, it looks like it could easily be adapted to make a carrier for the rear door.