old van/new van

[panelbeater]

hello peps.
well my old 1991 sprites independent suspension on o/s has gave way after the work its done me proud touring for 9 months of the year for last 4 years and thousands of miles towed by either of my t2 trucks.
its time to let her go,my faithful buddy.her bed welcomes me sober or pissed.
so this weekend its sad to say its retired.
but oh a new van has been purchased.
through a fellow vanner on a rally last week he told me again about a van his neighbour is getting rid of due to break up.
we were at hunstanton cricket clubs field and the decision to go see said van was decided.
so my brother and 2 friends came and went to,forget name,but it was 165 mile round trip to see van.
well surprise surprise its a lovely 2 berth about 18" longer than mine,i could do with a few more inches,and immaculate inside,no damp spongy floor and all woks as it should.
peps that know me,well i have a large girth so i headed straight to the john and i fitted through the door so much easier than the sprite,a + then.
i was hooked and others checked out and over van i sat with the old owner to strike up a deal.
a bit of haggling and a deal was done there and then.
he accepted my offer and i handed him a check for 950.
as he knew his mat and he vouched for me a check was accepted.
then he said when do i want to collect it,now i says as its a long way to go back.
all items had been removed except some shoes from wardrobe.
he handed me a folder and in it is the vans paperwork,turns out its a 1998 newer than i expected.
we pumped up tyres as a precaution i reversed onto it and hitched up and after cleaning ball with my home made gin,old van is wet ball, off we set to go to weeting to leave van untill i find time to swap over,this weekend i hope.
its got an allco hitch its got 1 year old fitted mover another +,nice green and gold oven/hob with hot cold water,shower,heating,cassette bog,12v/mains 3 way fridge etc.
so all in all a good van at a stupid price.

i have ordered 4x100w solar panels and all i need to install.
the panels on old van 80wx4 will come off and be sold as kits ready to clip on battery.

there is a rally that starts at breck farm weybourn today and my mate is stewarding it so i phoned him and asked if he had his extender-able ladder with him and he has so i will be taking new van there and fitting roof out whilst learning how to use items in new van as old sprite was cold water only.

ellity,i have posted on site that i might not get to hulme end but hope to.others will be there though.

[johnb5177]

Sounds like a great van, well done......

A question though........'wet' ball.......'dry' ball........sorry to be a numpty......please explain the difference, and why.......

[Banshee]

Panelbeater!!!! We need to see pics of the new van

I wonder if the old one broke because of all the rocking it got that night

"HERE YOU'RE SPILLING MY TEAAAAAAAAA"

[terranosaurusdoug]

Nice one, close a door and open a window n all that eh

wet ball for old style (normal) caravan hitch or a trailer hitch, dry ball is for hitch with an anti snaking or stabilizer device that CLAMPS to the ball so the ball cannot be greased and must be free of paint and rust etc., there are friction pads in the hitch on the van that press onto the ball when a lever is pressed down, if they get contaminated they need replacing, hope this is clear enough

[johnb5177]

Absolutely ace.....thank you...

Never having been a caravaneer, I would not know this, so added to my knowledge base...

[terranosaurusdoug]

Originally Posted by johnb5177

Absolutely ace.....thank you...

Never having been a caravaneer, I would not know this, so added to my knowledge base...

No worries, my dad didn't know, was going to put grease on my tow ball

[panelbeater]

well to cap it all i had a check come today from the tax man.£1641.80 hohoho.
so in effect i have got it for nothing.
wet/dry explained well.
i damaged the sprite last year so have a claim form to fill in.
it will be a write off,due to age and damage,so will see what i get back.

[terranosaurusdoug]

Originally Posted by panelbeater

well to cap it all i had a check come today from the tax man.£1641.80 hohoho.
so in effect i have got it for nothing.
wet/dry explained well.
i damaged the sprite last year so have a claim form to fill in.
it will be a write off,due to age and damage,so will see what i get back.

It's a great feeling isn't it mate, when you have some good fortune, I love it

[elty001]

Originally Posted by Banshee

Panelbeater!!!! We need to see pics of the new van

I wonder if the old one broke because of all the rocking it got that night

"HERE YOU'RE SPILLING MY TEAAAAAAAAA"

Will have to see about hulme end steve,we go away a couple of weeks later so might have to give it a miss.

[Bigbunny2007]

Good luck with the new van mate

[panelbeater]

old post but an update on new van as nearly had it a year.
as soon as i got it i had 2 new 8ply tyres fitted,fridge does not work on mains as its been out befor for whatever reason,i think the electric element is not positioned correctly by me as when i took fridge out to clean gas side of it the element was hanging there,i put it where i thought it went but is wrong as on mains the inside of the fridge gets warm.gas and 12v both work a treat though.
i put an inboard water pump in line as my water barrels have small hole and supplied pump did not go in hole so i remembered i had a new one in back of t2 so did the mod to get water running.changed lights i use to led.put new charcoal filter in.it blew site mains even though my trip switch tripped when i switched mains hot water on but hot on gas ok. took the site a while to fix as box number 13 i and 3 others triped but no lecky getting to our box so tripped it somewhere else lol.
vans done around 5000 mls now and just got in from 3 week trip with new 3l terry auto.
lovely truck.
so all in all a everything works was not fully true but for what i paid i am happy and when i insured it ccc gave me there price of van as 2300 so good all round.
oh,remember my old faith full sprite,well the insurance paid out 500 to me for it,being as i paid 100 for it 5 years ago i guess i am well up.
happy tin tenting chap here.

[Lazy-Ferret]

If your fridge is similar to mine, the mains heater for the fridge should be on the riser pipe that is also the flue for the gas light, right next to the 12v one.

You can see them in this picture.



When I first got my van, the fridge got warm on 12v, but worked fine on the mains and gas. I pulled it out, and checked everything. both the elements get hot (very hot), but there was a lot of surface rust which made removing the elements from the tubes very hard. I used a mini wire brush in the drill to clean out the tubes, and in the end, after cleaning everything up, and using some heatsink compound to help slide the heaters back into their tubes, I put it all back together. It's worked fine since...

I have a question for you, like you, our barrels only have the small neck, so the pumps that fit through them are not powerful enough to run the shower, and more powerful pumps won't fit in the old barrels... I wanted to fit an inboard pump, but I was not sure how it would prime, if you only have external barrels which are lower than the caravan floor. I had visions of having to find a way of getting water back up to the pump every time you run out of water. So, how do you prime the pump, and how close to the input from the barrels does the pump need to be?

[panelbeater]

nice photo,i will at some time take it out again and take off the outer insulator cover to get to where it goes,thanks.

[panelbeater]

the pump is on the inside of the pump pressure switch,it is self priming.
i got it to use as a pree pump for wvo use but never needed it.
it just makes a bit more noise from the in barrel pumps.
it does not take long in sucking up to fill hot water tank,i leave tap open untill it comes through and turn off then pressure switch cuts it out.

[zippy656]

pics !!

fridge loo and cooker help look here

www.thetfordservicenet.com