Updates

It is now August 19th, I had a few more problems with the motor home, after the alternator problem, i laid motor home up for the winter.
The yearly MOT was due so I decided to check over the last MOT certificate, I then discovered I could check over the previous years MOT certificates, i could go back 6 years, I downloaded them and started to look for recurring faults, I noticed the off side wheel bearing had needed to be changed twice over the previous 6 years, it might be a good idea to keep an eye on that, two concurrent failures were due to headlight beams being out, one headlight pointing at the sky the other pointing to the ground, I decided to have a look to see what the problem was.
Both lights were loose, the adjusting mechanism wasn't holding the lights securely, The mechanism was in 3 parts, a long bolt for adjusting, a nylon actuator and a threaded piece on the headlight, both the bolt and the piece on the headlight both had a bulb on the end, to clip into a nylon actuator. the problem was the end of the bolt end actuator had snapped off, someone had tried to fix it with fibre glass paste.
I checked out and looked on the internet, I could not find anyone who made or supplied the nylon actuators.
next stage was to see if I could repair it myself, I tried several methods none worked.
I was doing some house chores one day, I was dusting with a feather duster, on the end of the duster was a plastic hook that was fitted onto a bullet shape end piece that slipped over the feather duster stick. I pulled it off, looked at it and wondered if it would fit on the end of the actuator, it did, i looked at the second feather duster which was a bigger one, but the stick was the same thickness, I took the end piece off.
I had some plumbers putty which sets hard when exposed to the air it is used as a crack or hole filler in water pipes.
I rolled a piece of putty and pushed it into the end piece, when it set I drilled a hole into the end piece after cutting the hook off.
I took the actuator off and glued the end piece to the actuator. when it had set hard I took it out and placed the actuator onto the bolt and screwed the bolt in, i heard it click into the hole and I I heard the head light piece click into the other end of the actuator, as I adjusted the bolt the head light moved up and down and was solid not loose anymore.
I did the same with the other headlight, now they were both firm.
The motor home failed on minor things, including adjustment needed to align the headlights, which the service people did for me.
They kept the motor home for a few days and fixed everything that needed doing,

Alternator

I decided to look at the alternator today, I did the normal checks and discovered the alternator drive belt was very slack, I might as well  tighten it there and then.
This particular alternator has two bolts holding it in place one is the pivotal bolt and the bottom one is the adjusting bolt, I slackened off the adjusting bolt no problem, but, when I come to slacken the pivotal bolt it was really tight, It was a socket 17mm that fitted the nut, I used brute force but it never shifted, I tried an old trick that has got me out of trouble before although I was taking the risk of snapping the ratchet in my socket wrench.

I found a piece of tube cut it to length and placed it over the handle of the socket wrench and used brute force to undo the stubborn nut, I could see someone had had a go at this nut before as there were some round edges on the nut, as I pushed on the tube I felt the nut crack as it moved, then the whole bolt started moving, I looked in my tool box for an open ended 17mm wrench but I did not own one.
Above you can see stubborn bolt.

I looked up Halfords to see what they had and found what I was looking for, a 17mm ratchet spanner, and a  socket bar to help with stubborn bolts.
Once I had bought these, it was back on the attack to undo this stubborn bolt, I put the ratchet spanner on the bolt and the bar with 17mm socket on the nut, it came undone easily, mind you cracking the nut earlier might have helped.
Now to tighten up the drive belt I lifted the alternator with a piece of tube and done the adjusting bolt then the pivotal bolt. Nice and tight just a little slack in the drive belt.
Next job was to start the engine and see what the Battery charge light does, The motorhome started straight away. I have an alternator tester which I plugged into the cigar lighter, brilliant four lights alight so the alternator was charging but the battery light was still flickering and glowing. I turned the headlights on and the charge lights dropped to two lights and the battery light glowed very bright. I knew I had alternator trouble, I  turned the engine off put voltage meter on battery, it was just over 12.8 volts.

I checked the wiring to make sure no broken wires earthing out everything seemed alright.
I have found an alternator for the motorhome, I shall order it tomorrow, and fit it over the weekend.
I have to pick up Sheilas sister Valery tomorrow from Inverness airport, Valery is staying with us until next Tuesday so I shall not have much time except at the weekend maybe.

Roof top camping

We had an Austrian family come on the site for a day, with a van and a trailer, the trailer was loaded up with bikes, what fascinated me was the tents on top of the van roof and a tent on the trailer.

We are back home now after leaving on Sunday morning and arriving back early afternoon. On the drive home the charging light was glowing bright, and not flickering as it was before, I have checked the voltage and the alternator was pumping 14.8v into the battery, when the engine was switched off I had 12.9 volts in the battery. I did notice that the alternator belt was slack so I might get away with tightening it up.
Otherwise it means a new alternator which I have found on the web.
talking about finding parts on the web I have found a parts specialist for my motorhome so I can order the parts I need for doing my own maintenance.

I have some other checks to do before we set off again, The water heater, and the fridge too, I might get away with using the gas on the fridge until I decide which way to go as regards fitting a new fridge.
The passenger seat like the drivers seat is on a metal box and is a little  high for sheila her legs are an inch or so off the floor, and it makes her a little insecure. so I am going to make a wooden foot rest for her.
Also I am working on an idea for foot boards in the shower tray.
One success, was the bio gel washing liquid in the cassette toilet no chemical smells, just a nice flowery odour and it works a treat on breaking up the solids even after a couple of days.
Now i am planning another trip away a little further this time maybe down to Loch Morlich and Glenmore forest for three or four days back home for three days then off again to Rosemarkie on the Black Isle for dolphin watching, the campsite is right on the beach overlooking the Moray Firth.
the have a resident pod of Bottlenose dolphins that swim past at least once a day.

Rain and more Rain

Once again its raining here, we sure have had some these last few days, it doesnt help with my internet connections.
Quiet a few campers left this morning and a few have come onto the site, there are some very expensive motorhomes here just now, in fact its like being camped at Cape Canaveral at the moment, we have two large Caravans and a Motorhome with Satellite dishes on their roofs pointing towards the sky. I wonder if they can get the internet with them.
I have freeveiw TV on my laptop but I havent watched much since last Monday.

Last night we had lots of rain again plenty of it, When I took Tara for her morning walk the path was flooded with water draining off a field like a river.

Relaxation

We are on holiday, so we like to relax, after the morning chores are done, Sheila will play her games on her pad or on her computer, she communicates with her friends and relations. she also likes to sit and watch whats going on around her.
I like to write, especially this blog,taking photos of my surroundings and when we are near anything historical I enjoy visiting them.
My other passion is hiking with Tara my dog and chilling out with her, she is great fun and a good friend to have around.
Although at this site we do not get much chance to hike just a small walk for dog walking. Google Earth is another medium I use to explore roads and wild camping spots, also I have electronic maps of the areas I am due to explore. my electronic gadgets I use fro relaxation are as follows my iPad, iPhone Sandisk clip mp3 player 8GB, also I have an Archos MP4 tv palyer but the tv was non digital so that died but I have downloaded loads of music on there, mostly Country and relaxation music, depending on my mood, it has stacks of room on there about 74GB, I have used about 6GB so far. also i have my MiFi we use for getting wireless from 3g

Sheila has her main computer at home so she uses her laptop whilst away, she also has her Samsung Galaxy which she uses for games like Angry Birds, which she enjoys playing with, a very dear friend mentioned the game to me I play it and passed the information to Sheila and downloaded it down to her Pad.

Everyday story of camping folk continued

I was chatting to another guy this morning, he was asking about our motorhome and mentioned he used to drive one before buying a caravan, I mentioned that I would consider a caravan but the thought of towing one scares me.
He said that towing didn't worry him, then he told me he was 80 years old and still going strong, I think Sheila would like to have a caravan, but when I asked her where would we park it, as we have a small area allocated to us which we use for her car.
Also I want to wild camp and I think that would be hard with a caravan.
Yesterday late afternoon another autoquest motorhome pitched opposite us. This one was a little longer than ours and about 3 years younger than our one, the lady driver was very good at parking the motorhome considering we don't have the luxury of power steering.
This morning I talked to the lady and her partner, another lady, we compared notes, they asked me if I had any problems with the motorhome, I said so far only with the fridge tripping out electrics. I also mentioned the slight flicker on the battery light on the dash, they told me they have the same on there motorhome, and keep an eye on the zig box which tells you the state of motorhome battery and starter battery. And like ours it's mostly in the green.

Every day life of camping folk

Speyside campsite attracts lots of nationalities. We have German and Danish campers here at the moment. But we all have one thing in common, well some of us do, we like to gossip, swap stories and talk about where we have been and what our plans and dreams are.
On Monday a lady camper van driver turned up and pitched opposite us. And yesterday whilst out walking with Tara the lady was out walking her dog a 14 year old spaniel, we passed the time of day and started talking about our motorhome and camper vans, she had bought her van when she had retired 6 years ago, and loves every minute of it, her ambition is to drive around Scotland and England, she thinks the v camper she drives has been round the clock twice since she has owned it and it's still going strong.
We then turned to places we had been like she had been to Applecross which until a few years ago the only way in was the drovers road over the top of very high hills. I mentioned that is one place we would love to go but I would only go by the new road, she replied the new road was just as bad as the drovers road, you need nerves of steel up there with hairpin bends and a vertical drop on one side, no I said Sheila would not have that, she would be jumping into my lap all the way there, it's bad enough on a narrow road road when a truck comes in the opposite direction, she then said the road is single lane all the way up.
She then asked me had I done the outer Hebrides yet, I said no but I intend to, it's a trip worth doing she said, try and book an island hopping ticket it's much cheaper, and gives you the freedom to travel all the way up and back to the mainland up on the west coast of Scotland, she recommended going from Skye from a place called Uig which has a campsite you can use before getting the small ferry across.
This little bit of information had got me intrigued and I am intending going next spring, when the long days start.