First outing didn't go to plan!

[Ijkelly]

After collecting my new campervan on the 9th of November, we booked a tester at a campsite near Cambridge to try out our new toy, But things didn't go to plan starting with the trip down on the A1, something hit our windscreen with the almighty crack I think it came from the other carriageway as there was nothing in front of me, I had the sick feeling in my stomach as I scanned my windscreen and saw a slight chip in the centre.
We carried on and got to the site at roughly dinner time and on entering the site I filled up the freshwater tank with the fill up pipe I purchased, Second hazard the pipe came out of the vehicle and shot down my shoe filling my shoe with water.
We eventually got cited and I connected the electric hook up cable , my partner suggested a nice cup of tea to try and calm down (after all we are relaxing aren't we), this is where the tap temporarily buzzed then stopped, no water came out.
I got out the owners manual to try and find the fuse for the tap I also checked the shower at the rear which also was not working,(i had tested these before at home and they worked fine) eventually I gave up ,the fuse was okay but it was getting dark plus it was also raining so Lynne fetched some water from the campsite tap near the service area. We eventually had a cup of tea and went for a nice long walk through the woods close to us on coming back I watched the Formula One and had a couple of peronis then walk to the local village and went to chippy.
After setting up the bed in the downstairs we had a lovely snug sleep with the heater on and woke up nice and refreshed, for the cup of tea and some breakfast we packed up set off to see our son in Girton before heading home later in the day.
Overall we've had a steep learning curve, but I suppose all your adventures have ups and downs, hope there's more ups than downs in the next few to come.
I know my partner is thinking of naming our cali and she is thinking Elizabeth ,Lilybeth or lizzy to do with what's happened this year in memory of our queen.
bye for now
Ian and lynne.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

After collecting my new campervan on the 9th of November, we booked a tester at a campsite near Cambridge to try out our new toy, But things didn't go to plan starting with the trip down on the A1, something hit our windscreen with the almighty crack I think it came from the other carriageway as there was nothing in front of me, I had the sick feeling in my stomach as I scanned my windscreen and saw a slight chip in the centre.
We carried on and got to the site at roughly dinner time and on entering the site I filled up the freshwater tank with the fill up pipe I purchased, Second hazard the pipe came out of the vehicle and shot down my shoe filling my shoe with water.
We eventually got cited and I connected the electric hook up cable , my partner suggested a nice cup of tea to try and calm down (after all we are relaxing aren't we), this is where the tap temporarily buzzed then stopped, no water came out.
I got out the owners manual to try and find the fuse for the tap I also checked the shower at the rear which also was not working,(i had tested these before at home and they worked fine) eventually I gave up ,the fuse was okay but it was getting dark plus it was also raining so Lynne fetched some water from the campsite tap near the service area. We eventually had a cup of tea and went for a nice long walk through the woods close to us on coming back I watched the Formula One and had a couple of peronis then walk to the local village and went to chippy.
After setting up the bed in the downstairs we had a lovely snug sleep with the heater on and woke up nice and refreshed, for the cup of tea and some breakfast we packed up set off to see our son in Girton before heading home later in the day.
Overall we've had a steep learning curve, but I suppose all your adventures have ups and downs, hope there's more ups than downs in the next few to come.
I know my partner is thinking of naming our cali and she is thinking Elizabeth ,Lilybeth or lizzy to do with what's happened this year in memory of our queen.
bye for now
Ian and lynne.

But did you sort out the fresh water problem?

 

[kurienp]

We eventually had a cup of tea and went for a nice long walk through the woods close to us on coming back I watched the Formula One and had a couple of peronis then walk to the local village and went to chippy.
After setting up the bed in the downstairs we had a lovely snug sleep with the heater on and woke up nice and refreshed, for the cup of tea and some breakfast we packed up set off to see our son in Girton before heading home later in the day.

Now, to be fair, lets not forget:
- you had a cuppa tea in the evening
- you watched the formula 1
- you had a couple of peronis!
- had a good sleep
- woke up nice and refreshed
- you had breakfast and another cuppa tea
- and then a good drive to Girton

Now that is a great first time out experience

The windshield and the tap can be repaired in due course.

Enjoy your adventures.
PS: great idea on the name.

 

[flying banana]

if your shower AND tap don't work then it's the pump in the tank. it's stuck.get it swapped out under warranty. a tip to stop the hose shooting out when filling is wedge it in with something. a piece of kitchen roll works for me. get windscreen chip repaired asap before dirt gets in the ding. it will make a cleaner repair.
now many more trips ahead.

 

[Sad]

We had an issue with the kitchen tap not working, fixed under warranty. Did you get an error message on the control panel?

 

[larrylamb]

woke up nice and refreshed,

Well that's a first, initial night's sleep is usually followed by moans and groans about the rock hard bed.

 

[yossarian]

I've tripped the pump protection on my van before. I accidently left the shower attached and shower valve open while switching off the pump. This allowed air to suck back into the pump and when I next ran the pump the control panel reported "pump protection active" or something like that.

I think I was able to clear the error on the control panel (it was a while ago).

 

[The Tall Luthier]

Search the forum for threads on taps not working. It’s often an airlock thing, easier to fix out yourself than to visit a dealership.

At least you have a story to tell, just think how ordinary your post would have been without the hiccups.

 

[kurienp]

Second hazard the pipe came out of the vehicle and shot down my shoe filling my shoe with water.

oh, and on dealing with the shoe - put it in front of the heater for a short while and soon it will be bone dry simples.

 

[Ijkelly]

Thanks for all your replies really enjoyed reading them it does lighten the mood and it is all about having fun.
First the tap and water pump it did turn out to be air locked I think ,as I did have an error message on the control panel, once I cleared it and run the shower and tap for a minute or two it did seem to come back and has been okay ever since.
Second my shoe did dry out as I left it at the front of the Driver seat on the floor and it was dry the next morning plus I had some dry fresh socks so I was not that bad.
Third the windscreen is more a scuff than a chip doesn't really look that bad so will probably live with that for now.
And as for what Larry Lamb said the bed was a tad hard but after all the excitement of the hiccups had I didn't seem to notice the mattress being like a plank .
also i was impressed with the diesel heater as it was only on number 2 and we were both sweating like hogs.
We are off to Chatsworth house camping Park this weekend and looking forward to our next adventure.

 

[Trevorthecamper]

After collecting my new campervan on the 9th of November, we booked a tester at a campsite near Cambridge to try out our new toy, But things didn't go to plan starting with the trip down on the A1, something hit our windscreen with the almighty crack I think it came from the other carriageway as there was nothing in front of me, I had the sick feeling in my stomach as I scanned my windscreen and saw a slight chip in the centre.
We carried on and got to the site at roughly dinner time and on entering the site I filled up the freshwater tank with the fill up pipe I purchased, Second hazard the pipe came out of the vehicle and shot down my shoe filling my shoe with water.
We eventually got cited and I connected the electric hook up cable , my partner suggested a nice cup of tea to try and calm down (after all we are relaxing aren't we), this is where the tap temporarily buzzed then stopped, no water came out.
I got out the owners manual to try and find the fuse for the tap I also checked the shower at the rear which also was not working,(i had tested these before at home and they worked fine) eventually I gave up ,the fuse was okay but it was getting dark plus it was also raining so Lynne fetched some water from the campsite tap near the service area. We eventually had a cup of tea and went for a nice long walk through the woods close to us on coming back I watched the Formula One and had a couple of peronis then walk to the local village and went to chippy.
After setting up the bed in the downstairs we had a lovely snug sleep with the heater on and woke up nice and refreshed, for the cup of tea and some breakfast we packed up set off to see our son in Girton before heading home later in the day.
Overall we've had a steep learning curve, but I suppose all your adventures have ups and downs, hope there's more ups than downs in the next few to come.
I know my partner is thinking of naming our cali and she is thinking Elizabeth ,Lilybeth or lizzy to do with what's happened this year in memory of our queen.
bye for now
Ian and lynne.

Oh no…. We also managed to a massive chip on our maiden voyage having picked up “Trevor “ in October. Happy travelling x

 

[Perrythecalivan]

We bought our van ‘Perry’ in August and spent our first night only 20 mins from our home, we discovered our hook up cable had a euro plug so couldn’t hook up but we learned we could live pretty well without it. We had the worst nights sleep of our lives so quickly purchased a mattress topper. I also found the kitchen cupboards annoying as had to keep taking everything out to find things so we invested in the drawer pack - game changer!
It’s been a fun learning curve! Jill & Nick

 

[Ijkelly]

Hi everyone I managed to find some secondhand VW wheels, they are white alloys I don't know what they are called but I kind of like them being retro looking i not sure if you can buy the originals any longer, i think they do a copy on the internet on a German site. I can't wait to fit them on my new California ocean in the spring or summer. I found them on eBay the original colour was VW ibis white i had them acid dipped, refurbished and powder coated in candy white. I also bought the centre chrome discs from VW which were quite expensive but I think they finish the wheels off really nice, you can also just put small centre vw discs and black plastic caps on the wheel bolts if you prefer that look. The final purchase was the tyres I went for Bridgestone Turanza T005 255/45R18 103H XL.
so the outcome was, wheels cost £400, refurbish work cost £200 and tyres £630 Total comes to £1230 I think to purchase new wheels with tyres are in the region of £3800 so quite a good saving although £1230 is still a lot of money, ill leave some photos of them and post some once fitted.