Suddenly our Jayco feels very small

jazzeddie1234

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May 19, 2016
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Planning to do a short test trip with our most recent addition, a smallish (not tiny) dog.... Wife pestered me for years and I finally gave in and now it's time to see how we all cope. Gosh a caravan feels small when there are 3 in there! Not helping is my non-existent packing list for short trips, especially after so many 6 to 12 month ones. What on earth can I leave behind :o
 
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Drover

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Been there done that, try not to get yourself in a quandry, easy to do, we trialled by going to daughters 350km away and a few short runs, discovered over the years we have trimmed the load down quite a bit and only threw out long stay camp items like awning floor, screens etc but now don't bother as can change mind and extend .......... Been wanting another dog for ages, trialled daughters Border Collie in van, managed quite well other than the hair stuck on mat and nose in face of a morning ...
 

jazzeddie1234

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May 19, 2016
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I just re installed my second battery and wiring in the ute tray to run the tray fridge. It's all labelled but what a pain for a short trip. I need to design a removable electrical panel so it's way more plug and play....
 
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Drover

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I helped one of my boys Ute fit out, we fitted Andersons all numbered, so it was just basically plug and play for quick easy install/removal and no sparks..... On my Colorado I did the same thing so the shed could be removed off the tray with power from battery under the tray and from engine bay all just unplugged.
 
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jazzeddie1234

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May 19, 2016
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Well we're back, reasonably sane, and the dog survived. Biggest changes were ; regular (and early) door opening for pee stops, walks without barking at everything, taking turns to shopping centres, reduced choices for eating out (ie the pub).

Discovered the dog has had a fairly sheltered life so all the new things, people, noises, other dogs, were a bit overwhelming and resulted in too much barking.

Now to unpack, wash the van and crack a beer... in no particular order
 

jazzeddie1234

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May 19, 2016
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And another rant about caravan parts rip offs....I decided to test the RCD (ok it's an RCBO for the electricians) and it didn't trip with the test button or the earth leakage tester. The replacement part is $47 plus postage on a popular caravan site, or $135 for the full CMS plug and play part. I had purchased a dual pole 16A RCBO for another job which has better specs than the original....and only $22 delivered
Now I have to buy another one for the original job :)
 
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Drover

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RV tax put on most plumbing and electrical bits for vans is alive and strong, most of the stuff is available at any hardware or electrical shop and its just standard household gear ............... like the PRV on a van HWS a caravan shop will sting you around the $150 mark for something if bought from a hardware or plumbers shop for $60 -$80, same specs just no RV Tax ..................... Double Pole power points can also be triple the price at a RV shop to those from a normal hardware or electrical shop, actually think they should be fitted in all homes really, save some more stupid people ..... it pays to shop around for sure and be aware most caravan stuff are standard fittings...................

Of course you had turned the power on to the van ??????? I checked mine once and it failed, I then discovered I had turned on the wrong power point in shed, I could then inform someone of the many $$$ I saved ..............................
 

jazzeddie1234

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May 19, 2016
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All reinstalled and tested ok. But why simply fix something when it can be modified?

The CMS housing took up a lot of cupboard space so I printed a recess to mount it in. Now it sits flush with the wall :applause:

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