We arrived on site and got set up on the Sunday before Easter and as this was the first outing of the year, did all the usual checks of the water system etc and all was well, thankfully no leaking taps this year due to frost damage, so I was feeling rather pleased.
However, that night when it started to get cold, we realised that the heat wasn’t coming through to any great extent. We have the Alde system and the radiators were only lukewarm rather than hot and were not enough to get the caravan even warm, even after several hours. The caravan was serviced in February and hasn’t been used since, so I started to investigate. Eventually found a YouTube video that said for all boiler issues that don’t seem to have a reason, do a full boiler reset by disconnecting the wires going into the boiler, wait for 20 seconds, and then connect them up again. When I connected them up, the boiler fired up and heat started to come through. I don’t know what was wrong initially but this resolved the problem and we didn’t have any further issues throughout the stay. Thankfully, issue number 1 resolved.
Woke up the next morning to hear my husband shouting ‘fire’. He had tried to light the stove to make coffee early in the morning (he’s a very early riser) and had been fiddling with the knobs on the cooker to try and get the stove lit. Unfortunately he managed to light the oven without realising it and set fire to all the stuff I store in the over for transit (tea towels, chopping boards etc). Luckily, the oven is directly opposite the caravan door so he opened the door, grabbed the whole oven shelf with the flaming items on top, and flung it all out the door onto the gravel hardstanding where some stuff instantly extinguished and the rest continued to burn to ash. Thankfully this was only 7am so there was no one around to witness our humiliation and luckily, no damage was done to the caravan apart from the smoke which didn’t take long to clear. Interestingly, the smoke didn’t set our smoke alarm off however, making toast for the rest of the week set it off every time. Issue number 2 wasn’t the disaster it could have been. I have now put a white sticky dot on the only cooker knob my husband is allowed to touch!
They say troubles always come in threes so I was waiting for the third issue! Everything went well and we were having a lovely break but then, the check engine light came on in the car. This is always worrying when you have a tow ahead of you as it could be for something minor where you can continue to drive as normal or it could be for something more significant where you shouldn’t drive, let alone tow. We phoned the AA (we are members) and they said there was nothing they could do as we were on a caravan site and we had not technically broken down. They advised calling the nearest dealer as the car is still in warranty. So we phoned the nearest dealer who told us that they couldn’t help until the end of April at the earliest. We asked if they could at least plug us into their computer to see why the light had come on and advise whether it is safe to drive or not, but they said they couldn’t even do that! This put us in a bit of a predicament as we just didn’t know what to do. We decided to try local garage so we went to Froggatt Edge Garage and the guy there could not have been more helpful. He connected the car to his computer, saw the fault code, and advised us that it was to warn us that we had a faulty sensor in the DPF system. There wasn’t anything wrong with the engine or the DPF system itself, it’s just not ideal to have a sensor that’s not working. However, it was safe to continue with our holiday and to get the caravan home and then take the car to our own dealer to have the sensor, repaired or replaced. It was such a relief to find someone who was so willing to help. Issue number 3 partly resolved (we continued with our holiday and have car booked in with our dealer for next week).
We arrived home on Easter Monday having had a lovely first break of the season, even if it had been slightly more eventful than we would have liked.
Oh dear! But it could have been worse. We have just had a bit of a predicament, our mobile service is due today. OH couldn't find the locking wheel nut. Then he remembered that it would be in our car which we sold. Luckily to someone who lives nearby and his wife was at home. Panic over, but the servicer hasn't contacted us yet...and he has turned up without phoning first. New brake pads needed in addition to the normal service.
Hopefully that's all your camping dramas over for this season at least!
On our first outing of the season last month, we discovered the toilet flush wasn't working. No big deal, but we had a little Google and with the help of a YouTube video got it sorted quickly and quite easily (the impeller in the pump had got clogged up so wouldn't move).
We also had an issue with the engine management light coming on last year, while we were towing. All was fine, then we stopped at the motorway services and when we set off again the light was on. Fortunately, once we'd checked in the car handbook to see what it meant, we learnt that if the light was orange (which this was) it meant it was okay to keep driving but get it checked later. If it was red, it was not okay to drive.
We had a few days in the sun over the weekend and whilst wandering around the small harbour became aware of an outboard not starting. When it did start it burst into flames and the boat owner quickly realised that whilst a boat may be surrounded by water, putting out a fuel fire is difficult without an extinguisher or bucket.
He frantically searched around a few lockers on the boat (a thankfully empty tourist boat for about 12 passengers), found nothing, then ran to another boat and found a small bucket which was useless as by now the fire was engulfing the top end of the engine.
He was eventually saved by some fishermen who drew alongside and put the fire out using water from a couple of catch buckets. If there had been an extinguisher, or a large bucket on board chances are the engine would have been OK, but 2 minutes was enough for a £15k engine to be reduced to a smouldering piece of scrap
With the orange warning lights, you can continue to drive. The red ones, and you have to stop. You were lucky with the oven thing. I never light the correct hob first time myself. Though how your husband didnt realise he hadnt lit the hob as opposed to the oven, i dont know. I mean, the kettle was never going to boil, was it. That said, i'd be blaming the person who stored combustible goods in an oven. Then didnt remove them once on site.
Eventful indeed, glad you made it home without having to cut the first trip short!
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
Quote: Originally posted by Mick S. on 19/4/2023
That said, i'd be blaming the person who stored combustible goods in an oven. Then didnt remove them once on site.
This is the current line of argument in our house at the minute 😂 Is it my fault for storing stuff in the oven or his fault for playing with every knob on the cooker until he finally got one to light?
Our Easter trip a few years ago was marred by having no gas. Thankfully we have an electric hob to use for 7 days; we went through the handbook looking for solutions & eventually found that the habitation service engineer had turned off the valve right underneath the MH (we have the underslung gas tank.) The information about this was nowhere near the information about the other gas appliances in the handbook.
Now we check everything is working before we drive away from the dealer’s forecourt.
And we’ve always used a travel kettle to make our filter coffee.
BTW next time go to the ALDE control panel, select Settings and scroll down to "reset" and press the button. No need to disconnect any wires.
We would never ever store anything in our oven as we are both forgetful and that is why the caravan has lockers. LOL!
Can't advise on the car as ours went from running 100% to totally dead in a second. We were lucky to be able to glide to the side of the road and it was an A road. However I strongly suggest that you take out a policy with Green Flag / Mayday who will attend to the issue even if the vehicle is on a caravan site. Mayday can be bought if a member of the Caravan Club.
They took us back to our caravan which was on site and two days later collected the car and caravan, took the caravan to the storage compound, car to our home, dropped us off and the next day collected the car to take it to the garage 25 miles away. Excellent service.
Quote: Originally posted by iank01 on 20/4/2023
B However I strongly suggest that you take out a policy with Green Flag / Mayday who will attend to the issue even if the vehicle is on a caravan site. Mayday can be bought if a member of the Caravan Club.
They took us back to our caravan which was on site and two days later collected the car and caravan, took the caravan to the storage compound, car to our home, dropped us off and the next day collected the car to take it to the garage 25 miles away. Excellent service.
Ive recently taken up with 'Green Flag'. Are you saying its Mayday by another name?
Quote: Originally posted by iank01 on 20/4/2023
B However I strongly suggest that you take out a policy with Green Flag / Mayday who will attend to the issue even if the vehicle is on a caravan site. Mayday can be bought if a member of the Caravan Club.
They took us back to our caravan which was on site and two days later collected the car and caravan, took the caravan to the storage compound, car to our home, dropped us off and the next day collected the car to take it to the garage 25 miles away. Excellent service.
If a member of the CAMC then it is Mayday as it offers dual recovery and breakdowns include the caravan.
Ive recently taken up with 'Green Flag'. Are you saying its Mayday by another name?
Well, my hope that my next trip would be less eventful did not quite work out. We had a lovely week away last week. It was beautiful weather and we had a great time with no caravan issues, indeed, I was feeling quite pleased with myself. We arrived back at our storage site on Monday afternoon and as I was using the motor mover to get the caravan into its bay, my husband didn’t see me and reversed the car very quickly backwards, hitting me and tossing me up into the air and down again about 4 metres away. After an afternoon in A&E being checked for everything under the sun, I was sent home with lots of cuts and bruises, a huge lump on my head and feeling very shocked!
We are hopefully away again in a few weeks, so third time lucky for an uneventful break!
Quote: Originally posted by Pixie_Hez on 24/5/2023
Well, my hope that my next trip would be less eventful did not quite work out. We had a lovely week away last week. It was beautiful weather and we had a great time with no caravan issues, indeed, I was feeling quite pleased with myself. We arrived back at our storage site on Monday afternoon and as I was using the motor mover to get the caravan into its bay, my husband didn’t see me and reversed the car very quickly backwards, hitting me and tossing me up into the air and down again about 4 metres away. After an afternoon in A&E being checked for everything under the sun, I was sent home with lots of cuts and bruises, a huge lump on my head and feeling very shocked!
We are hopefully away again in a few weeks, so third time lucky for an uneventful break!
Get well soon, and use the mover yourself and don't let him near it!
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Eventful Easter Break
via mobile 19/4/2023 at 9:53am
