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Molly Electrical Upgrade Part Two

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Things have moved on a little since the last post.  I went through the invoice for the job and then googled all the parts and what they are for. We decided to go ahead and I transferred the £500 deposit across via bank transfer to get the date set in concrete. As mentioned before it will be a solo trip as Claire doesn't want to drive three hours across country.  We will have had to find something to do on the day they do the work, and with an ageing dog, it was a challenge.  Currently, the estimated time for the job is a full day. I can stay overnight the night before onsite rather than find a campsite or pub stop. Once the company comes back to confirm the job is booked I can say who it is. In the meantime Claire has thought about some extra power points being fitted. Malibu were a little tight/stingy on the points around the van.  It's almost as if Cathargo had a socket shortage! Only one above the hob/sink and another above the bin with light controls. There is an...

Molly Electrical Upgrade Part One

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It's something I have been thinking about for a while; off grid or wild camping abity. Currently Molly is fitted with a single 100 watt solar panel on the roof between the front window and the first (and largest) roof light. It's connected up so that it can charge the leisure battery and contribute to the engine battery.  After a few weeks of non use both were showing on the battery levels at around 12 volts. The sun came out for a few days and the leisure battery went up to the max on the Malibu display, equating to about 13.5 volts. The engine battery pretty much unchanged. The problem we find is, that even with the power banks, we simply don't have enough power to stay in aires that don't have access to electricity for more than a day or two. We have just about managed when away on rallies with our motor caravanners' club. All the full time vanlifers have gone over to lithium batteries and far more solar. Plus the addition of an inverter to make 240 volts from th...

New Decal

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Should we have used this one for our decal to swap with other vanlifers?

Millionaires Slice...

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Anyone else find themselves ordering and speaking like Delboy Trotter?

Adblue Lock Guard-Fiat Ducato

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After the hassle misplacing the  Adblue filler cap in early January, I have finally got around the getting a plate that is secured by the diesel cap and covers the blue filler cap. It supposed to stop thieves, but for me it's to stop me "losing" the cap as I did before.  It was made by some enterprising guy with a digital printer of plastic stuff!! For £4 it saves me cocking up and shelling out another £25! It arrived yesterday and I fitted it this morning. It's easy to fit and hopefully stops me losing it again! 😁

Vanlove Insider - Weekly Newsletter

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Although it's a Mailchimp posting it's not possible to add to the "other blogs" heading. It's always quite informative. This Week's Vanlove Insider

SEPOCT26

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When in hospital recently I had plenty of time to sit down with nothing to do, I had a bit of time to look at the maps etc to look at the two big trips we have this year. This one with the superb name of SEPOCT26! The other is SP26!! The idea behind this one is a trip that takes in Aulendorf, where Malibu Molly was born. I had thought of taking in Schloss Neuschwansteig and F üssen. After, I was thinking of going into Austria and the Gr ößglockner. At the moment the mapping software, despite the correct date being entered, can't map a direct route over the passes and into Italy. The same is happening with the Stelvio Pass!  

SP26 - Another possible plan?

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This plan is a little different. We are in Spain and subsequently France for the best part of four weeks. I don't want to be driving  everyday and mileage isn't the point. This planned route is to get an idea of the mileage from when we arrive in Santander to when we get for a possible meeting with friend's in France. None of it as far south as the Mediterranean coast. All we have to hope for is good weather.

The Vermin vs The Arsenal

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There are a few games I simply can't watch on the TV. This is one of them. The stresses and strains are way too much, usually. Today different. I was busy during the day and had the game recording on the Sky Q Box. I could watch it later....  Another thrashing of a really poor Tottenham side. Both games this season 4-1! Eze scored three in the home game, and two today! Gyökeres got the other two yesterday. Next home game? Chelsea on Sunday March 1st. Will I be able to go? 

The Cornish Company Scones

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I ordered the four pack of scones for Claire's birthday that's on the 24th February. They arrived yesterday as I ordered them back in January so we could take them to Cromer this week. Due to being in hospital for 11 days and not being fit enough to travel I had to cancel. Still. The scones are really good. They come with the pots of jam, one each per scone, plus Rodda's cream, biscuits and Cornish Tea. https://thecornishcompany.com https://share.google/tbQJDbE7htS60voa6