Dr Mark's Tardis

I usually carry a 7kg ref propane cylinder for cooking and water heating. When it's running low I can squeeze a second one in the locker. So, travelling to Spain, where the bottles are incompatible, I decided to take one larger bottle. If it lasts until Morocco then I can discard the British bottle and swap to local ones with a local regulator. The bigger bottle was a tight fit, a very tight fit. No, actually it was too big. At 320mm in a locker 300mm deep. Why was it that size? and what would I do. Well it almost fitted by bending the thin metal lining of the locker. Only the wooden frame stopped bending enough. So I cut away some of the frame an refitted the lining. Job Done. And why? Well it's an American designed and built camper ..... so no reason at why our bottles would fit. Luckily I bought the bottle a few days before we set off, while I still had access toy tools.

How to access our data files and photos on the move? We can't rely on fast internet access everywhere we travel. But all our files including photos amounts to over 100GB We do have key files on Microsoft OneDrive. But the main storage is external hard drives. 1) to use 2) a backup hidden in the TARDIS 3) A back up in the UK that will get slowly out of date. I've finally worked out how to access them from smartphones as follows: A) an OTG On The Go cable to plug into the smartphone. B) A Y cable USB 3.0 DUAL POWER Y CABLE LEAD 2 x TYPE A Male TO 1 x TYPE A Female C) An app "es filer explorer" The Y cable provides owner to the external hard drive while allowing a data connection to the smartphone via the OTG cable. However the android phone can't read the file system on the HD so that's where the es explorer app comes in. It's quite a good app apart from the adverts. An alternative is to use the Toshiba stor.e wireless device. Which I also bough...

Just for the record: the TARDIS is a mix of base vehicles. In the parts catalogue they can be found from the PIC code, as follows: 13214124 original vehicle A2CD13BA  VIP = A2CD13BA D50005 Air suspension 13034424 2800 engine A4DBA6BA Clutch on 6.5t 14911111 Snorkel and accelerator and cab mounts

31 August 2017     MOT passed 126197 miles Weighbridge    Total 4760    Rear  2820    Front 1940 All loaded up and ready to go. Earlier in the month Gearbox oil changed 2 ltr TECHNYX SAE 75W-8 Rear Diff oil change 2ltr petronas tutela axle fluid 85-140 Transfer box and front diff checked. Air filter changed Part number now 500055021 £24.12+ from Vexi Crawl through tidied up MiFi aerial up and working Rain deflectors on cab windows

After the problems with the brake hoses and overheating brakes  I decided to replace the brake linings. Now this used to be a standard process and the old hands at any garage will know how to do it, but won't have to tools any more. Now linings are generally bonded in place and sold as a unit on the shoes. Old linings: Not so the Iveco, it is riveted and linings can be purchased, Iveco part numbers: set of 4 linings 1906055 £113  rivets 1118477 52 at 6p each prices from Vexi (the rivets were stock clearance, normal price is 52p each!) Where to go for the riveting? That proved harder than expected. Having agreed with a small Warwick company that they could do them and had the tools and decades of experience, they made a hash of it. So I cut off the rivets and sent the shoes to Digraph Ltd in Nuneaton, who in turn send them to a specialist in Rotherham. Very pleased with the results: I'd like to add an expert guide to refitting brake...

Holmfirth, camping, Holmfirth folk festival and GNUF in Huddersfield. That's Great Northern Ukulele Festival. Then a coupel of days driving through the Dales. beautiful campsite, Holme Valley Camping and Caravan Park walking distance to Holmfirth and a convenient bus ride to Huddersfield. Top tip: you MUST approach from the A6024. sat nav 53.5884, -1.775176 The campsite Walk into town along the river Holme Moss car park Karen cycled? The mast at Holme Moss Overnight stop at pub Derwent Water Arms Lazy day near the flour mill

We seem highly reliant on USB charging, mostly through the micro USB ports. That's used for our phones/satnav/ battery pack/ tablet/ mediaplayer/etc... Recent problems resulted in throwing away some unreliable cables and buying two new USB chargers: Standard type Anker powerdrive : which seem to have a very good reputation. And less conventional: Dual output DC to DC converter Which should give a 3A charging from a very wide range of input voltages from 8V to 22V so that's anything from a flat leisure battery to solar power panel. Epoxy encapsulated to waterproof and shockproof. I've got it permanently wired up in the camper. The quiescent power use should be minimal, but I'd prefer to put a switch on just in case.

Great night out with Canoe club. Curry night king Babas Bath Street in Leamington Spa Followed by TJ's and then Kelseys . As planned I had been drinking and needed to stop the night. No trouble: convenient parking space in Leam Terrace

Just finished the last interior wall. The one round the new crawl through.

Just for the record, fuel filter ( 1902138 about £6) change this month. I never really thought it was important with low mileage and clean UK filter. But after a question form the MOT man about blocked injectors, I thought I would make sure. Also bought a spare for the big expedition.

Just for the record, oil change and new filter on Filter part number 2994057 £6.94 + from Vexi 7 litres of 40/15 semi synthetic oil from Eurocarparts. Oil everywhere, I think I took more care with a funnel arranegment last year. Neighbour has an oil sucking unit that would have been much cleaner and easier: Sealey 6.5L

Do the injectors need cleaning? Engine does not start on the first click of the ignition key. Rough idle at start A bit more engine vibration than before MOT man says there is diesel in the exhaust I tried Wynn's injector cleaner cleaner, (£6 from Halfords) despite very mixed reviews and advice. Added to 60l of Deisel so it took a  while to work through. Conclusions: No immediate effect (hardly surprising) Starts immediately now smooth idle at start So a success? Or should I take the injectors out..... .... ?

Here is a record from the MOTs of our mileage each year (roughly January to January). A similar list exists of mileage given for the insurance each May. Year Mileage Annual 2010 98,133 2011 103,305 5172 2012 109,684 6379 2013 111,654 1970 2014 114,735 3081 2015 119,538 4803 2016 121,521 1983 2017 124,317 2796 2018 2019 2020

MOT passed first time And here is a page of all our mileages 2016 was a good year, in large part due to me retiring and almost finishing three major projects - the crawl through, locker and deadlocks. Chance through up two other unexpected big jobs - the timing belt and brakes. Jobs for 2017 Finishing off           Locker           Crawl through Fix intermittent radio done I think Fix unreliable USB charger done new ones bought Fix unreliable fuel gauge done, pins on sender unit Painting camper Panting chassis Build Pneumatic controls Get Diesel injectors refurbished. Probably not needed Fix some awnings Reversing camera Get air suspension seats working Lining rear brakes done