Journey in the Camper to Wanaka

Posted on June 1, 2008 by Ross
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This weekend is our last holiday one until the other side of winter, so we headed off in our campervan after work on Friday. Our destination was the Mt Barker area near Wanaka. Friday was a lovely evening, with no wind – always a bonus. Traffic wasn’t too heavy but we keep wishing for more areas where we can safely pull over to let traffic go by. We felt there were more pull off stretches in the North Island. And the drivers in the North Island are definitely better at tooting in appreciation. We stopped for tea in one of the side streets in Roxburgh. It was baked beans and bacon on toast with a cup of tea and dishes done in a shade over 30 minutes. Continue reading →

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New Brake Rules (continued)

Posted on May 29, 2008 by Ross

While I was there I asked whether they had checked out the new heavy vehicle brake rules. Seems like they had checked it out and the owner of the ones they are working on that are unregistered is relaxed about it, and not concerned about them not being registered. So it looks like conflicting advice, but I’ll go with what I was told and get our bus registered. The words “scrap metal” and “spare parts” did a good job of motivating me.

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Plumbing fixed

Posted on May 29, 2008 by Ross

Finally got the plumbing fixed. It was one of those 5 minute jobs that took several hours. They replaced the pressure valve, but it still thumped every few seconds. The next likely cause was a small water leak, so they went hunting for them. And found a few, and fixed them. And still it thumped. So finally they tried a new pump. At last, silence. Well not when it’s going – although it is quieter then as well. But mainly it is now silent in between when it is pumping – no more thumps. Yahooo…

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Motorhome Forum Still Broken

Posted on May 28, 2008 by Ross

With still no luck logging on to the forum, I asked for help from the NZMCA office. I got a prompt answer, but it was not at all what I expected. The answer was that our access to the forum had been removed. It seemed that some discussion had taken place about hosting a bulletin board on the NZMCA site, but that was rejected. I was referred to an article in the latest NZMCA Motor Caravanner magazine, but try as I might, I could not find anything in the June/July issue explaining what is going on. The NZMCA office said something about a new forum being started up, but I couldn’t figure what this meant either. I keep thinking I must have missed something, that there must have been warning of this change that I missed. But I’ve been looking for information on a motorhome forum, so think I’d probably have spotted anything in the magazine which I read from cover to cover 🙂 Continue reading →

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On-line Motorhome Forum Broken

Posted on May 25, 2008 by Ross

Back in the March 2008 I managed to log on to the New Zealand MotorCaravan Association (NZMCA) on-line forum. This is a combined forum with the Australian association, the Campervan and Motorhome Association of Australia (CMCA). I had some trouble logging on, it kept giving me an error message. I eventually discovered that despite the error message, I was actually logged on. A helpful woman at the CMCA was giving me some advice on the problem, and I still owe her some screen shots. Our link from New Zealand is via a members-only part of our NZMCA website. It is all a bit complicated and I did wonder how many kiwis had managed to get through.

I had a great time looking at all the information available on the forum, and getting a feel for the thing. Having used a forum for something completely different, at least I had an idea of the concepts. But it is still a matter of getting some idea of the culture of the forum. (Forums are modern versions of what used to be called bulletin boards and message boards.) It didn’t take long to see that the regulars are very helpful and are willing to pass on whatever information and advise that they can. Continue reading →

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New Brake Rules (continued)

Posted on May 24, 2008 by Ross

While I was there I asked him if he was aware of the need for vehicles to be registered by the end of June because of changes in the brake rules. He wasn’t, thinking the Annex Cs would cover them, and thought that so long as the vehicles had been imported before 1 February 2008 (the witching hour for the emission rule changes) that all was OK. Which is what I had thought as well. Maybe the vehicles he is converting are newer and mightn’t be so much at risk. And some of them are already registered. But all I could suggest he do was check out the requirements next week, to be sure. I was surprised that some alert has not gone around the companies involved in  motorhome conversions. And can only wonder how ordinary people doing their own conversions might be vulnerable to something they don’t even know about.

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Plumbing and Pipes

Posted on May 24, 2008 by Ross

I took the camper around to the local motorhome builders this morning, to get a new pressure-release valve fitted for the water system. There was a very slight leak from the old one, leading to a reduction in pressure and a thump from the water pump about every 10 seconds. Here is hoping that this fixes it. Trouble was there has been a bit of a change in plumbing systems. Our camper is a 2002 model. It has what is apparently house plumbing/piping – grey PVC pipes crimped. The new pressure-relief valve was expecting the newer motorhome piping. He showed me how it just pushes together, without crimping. Heaven knows how it works. Seems the cold water uses blue, and the hot uses red. Nice… An advantage of the new system is that sometimes it was very awkward to get the crimping tool into difficult locations. A disadvantage of the new system is that it’s not something that every plumber will have parts for.

We had the misfortune to have a cold water pipe melt on top of our fridge in Pauanui on New Year’s Eve this summer. That was the bad news, but the good news was that we were visiting my cousin who is an ex-plumber. So on New Year’s Day we went to visit the local plumber who lent him the crimping tools and sold me for about $25 the bits to fix it. So it can be lucky to have house plumbing in the motorhome…

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New Heavy Vehicle Brake Rules

Posted on May 23, 2008 by Ross

While still coming to terms with the implications of stopping our build, we went to the road-show from Land Transport NZ explaining the implications of the new heavy vehicle brake rules. We got an invite as owners of our campervan as it is on a Certificate of Fitness (CoF). So we wanted to know what it meant as the fact sheets were all the usual mumbo jumbo. Plus we wanted to make sure our bus was going to be OK with the new rules. Plus the lovely folks from LTNZ held the road show at Larnach’s Castle near Dunedin and promised a bit of a supper. Who were we to turn down a night out, even if it meant lots of talk about brakes. Well, lucky we did. Continue reading →

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Bus For Sale

Posted on May 23, 2008 by Ross
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Our bus is going for a CoF next week, so it can be registered. We have a 11m 1993 Nissan UA440 which we bought last year from a conversion company to convert to the motorhome of our dreams. It is an import from Japan, and was complied in December last year, to make sure it didn’t get caught be the new emission rules from 1 January 2008. We thought the registration had been put on hold, but it turns out it was put on an Annex C. This allows it to be driven for the purpose of conversion, like to the engineering shop or paint shop etc. In April we finally got an accurate costing for the build, and realised it had spiraled beyond our means. So we pulled the plug on our big-bus dream, and now have to find a new home for our bus. So if you know anyone who wants a good 1993 Nissan UA440 11.3m for converting, send them my way. It has only 128,000 km on the 12.5 litre 6 cylinder engine. It has air suspension, and ABS brakes.

It’s the end of an era for motorhomes in NZ, and this would be a good way to be part of it. The cost of anything to convert from now on is likely to be a huge step up from the imports.

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Isuzu Trucks

Posted on May 22, 2008 by Ross

Looks like there is a new upgrade/model of Isuzu trucks due in September. It is hard to get exact details of what the changes are as it looks like Isuzu NZ don’t want too many details out. Someone said to look at the Australian site, which is a good one. Trouble is they don’t seem to have exact model matches. Like we have a NQR500 in NZ, but they don’t have anything above a NQR450 – which appears to be a bigger wheelbase anyway. And apparently there will be “significant” price increases with the new models, and it sounds like run-out prices on the old. So the question is, do you go for the new (and improved?) model and pay more, or jump on an “old” model for significantly less?

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Generators

Posted on May 21, 2008 by Ross

More research today on generators. I wanted to see what a quiet one with electric start might cost. Originally I fancied an Onan 3.6KW petrol inbuilt one. In the USA I saw a price of under US$2,800 which equates to under NZ$3,600. However the price in NZ was about double that at about NZ$7,300. Sounds like they’re the ones to get if you win Lotto, but meanwhile back in reality land …. Once more I have little idea of what I need, but like the sound (or lack of it) of the Hondas. The EU20i looks like a cute little unit, but I don’t like the idea of getting cold to have to start it. So the EU30i is beckoning to me and trying to seduce me with electric starting. I suppose this can be done from inside. I saw somewhere there was a remote control option possible. So far I haven’t figured out why you’d want to be able to start it up from 100m away, but I’m sure there is a reason. It’s almost double the price, for 50% higher output, with a bit less noise. It is about as economical as the smaller one with a bigger tank, so longer time between filling.

Tomorrow is night class on website development. We might even learn how to do links and photos. That’ll be fun, and would mean I could jazz up the site a bit.

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Washing Machines

Posted on May 20, 2008 by Ross

Started learning about washing machines today. There is always so much to learn. Like how much water they use, and how much electricity. And how much of a load they take. Because on the face of it, if they use 60 litres of water, that’s going to have a big impact on them tanks. There is a 2.5kg Lemair (made in the USSR? – does that still exist?) that uses only 30 litres. But then, a 6.5kg model uses 60 litres of water. So per kg, that is more efficient with a full load. And I saw somewhere that the 2.5kg model is only big enough for one queen size sheet at a time. The Indesit front loader washer/dryer seems popular in some motorhomes, but somehow the drier seems to use more water. One advert for it said “no spin option” which seemed weird – a washing machine with no spin? I inquired and it turned out to mean there was an option to have no spin cycle. The 2.5kg model is top loading, which limits where it can be put. But it is cheap – very cheap. I’ll have to find a forum to see what people feel about washing machines and water consumption.

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First post ever

Posted on May 19, 2008 by Ross

Started my blog page today after seeing one on somebody else’s site. It
didn’t look that hard, so I might as well have a go. Also found some
good sites today – I was looking for information on generators and
electrical systems for motorhomes. I stumbled into some very good sites
from the USA which still look very useful on the other side of the
world.

Also made some progress on my web page creation. Worked out how to link
pages. So now I have two pages.

[This was my first ever post on my home-made steam-driven blog. I started a class at night-school on website making, so made myself a website. We had to learn HTML coding in Notepad ++.] I am fudging the dates of the posts here to reflect the dates they were posted there.]

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