I Had A Dream

Dreams, you know all about them.   Predicting the future, reliving the past, subconscious renditions of your deepest darkest desires?

Well last night I had a dream and it was special in one rather troubling way.  Let me explain.

The dream started off simply enough.  As with many of my dreams it involved travel.   In this instance I was contracted to take a group of half a dozen would-be off-roaders on a simple course using a long wheelbase Landrover Defender – not the 110 but the longer, roomier 130.  The course was through the woods which surrounded my old school, a boarding school in woodland overlooking the East Coast of Yorkshire, England.  

Obviously I knew the woods well and in my dream I had just gone round the course on a quad bike to make sure there were no difficulties or obstructions.   So I loaded up this excited, talkative twenty-somethings and we set off with me driving.

We had gone maybe a quarter of a mile and then as I rounded the second turn I came across a great mass of large boulders completely blocking the path for around fifty yards.   I slowed and looked at this unexpected change to my plans.   The boulders were sandstone, roughly rounded and probably one metre in diameter.   There were hundreds of them and they made my route impassable.   

Now I’m quite a good off-roader myself and well acquainted with the abilities of my favourite vehicle so I began to edge forwards picking my was between and over these boulders.   Suddenly one tipped as my front wheels mounted it and the heavy vehicle vehicle slid down a short but steep slope towards a large pool of water.  We were stuck.   I couldn’t drive further forward and my tyres couldn’t find purchase on the rocks behind me. What to do?

I’m not sure that I’m alone on this but when a dream starts to go wrong then I automatically dream a way of putting it right.  So this is what I did.  I ‘noticed’ a large old-fashioned lorry, a ‘Commer’ or something similar, royal blue in colour, just a few yards to the side of me.  The guy driving it shouted to me asking if I had a tow rope.   I hunted around my vehicle, dodging the feet of my passengers until I found a brand new bright orange towrope.   I threw it to him.

…and this is where it gets weird.   Everything went black.   I’m guessing my dream state was somehow interrupted.   When my dream re-commenced I was still in the same vehicle with the same people only now my potential rescuer was in a bright red compact, something like a Fiat Cinquecento, and ‘she’ was telling me to drive round the corner so she could hook me up and tow me out.  The road was now black gravel, flat and even as could be.

I distinctly remember my confusion at this altered state and I remember calling the office on my mobile and asking them what they were playing at.  Because in my dream state something else had altered my reality.  I hadn’t dreamed’ a solution to my problem of being stranded.   I had the solution in the blue lorry.  Something or someone else has changed the reality of my dream to provide a different but illogical solution.  Obviously if I’m not stuck in some big boulders there’s no reason to tow me out so the Cinquecento was superfluous.  

I remember being both puzzled and pissed off but the dream continued.  At the end of the course was a small grassed area where we set up a barbecue and I cooked one of the greatest meals in modern times.   Ribs, steaks, chops, corn, tomatoes, vegetables – everything cooked perfectly and enough for all.  

Eventually I woke and the dream began to fade.  The illogical contradiction was still fresh in my mind and so I am writing this down immediately to make that memory permanent.  

My question is this.  Are we really in control of our dreams or is something else monitoring and interfering on occasion?   Am I actually part of the ‘Matrix’ or like ‘Inception’ are there different levels of consciousness, of reality?

Water System on Tribute 670

There is an irritating feature on the water system for the Trigano Tribute 670 which may well have been intended to protect the boiler from frost damage but ends up being a severe pain in the you-know-what. I’m talking, of course, about the Truma automatic frost protection device located under the bench seat close to the boiler.   The intention is that, if there is the potential for icy weather, the device activates and empties the boiler of water to save it icing up and breaking.  

The original Truma automatic boiler protection valve

The problems with this are:

• It is set at too high a temperature so dumps the water well before any danger of frost.  
• It is difficult to reset – if the temperature doesn’t rise significantly the valve cannot be closed
• It is bulky, preventing the installation of anything but the smallest leisure battery.
• If the pump is left on then it empties the whole water system and as the pump keeps on running when empty there is the potential to damage it.
• It can potentially leak – we found that during the night there was an intermittent burst of the pump running for less than a second.  We think we have traced the problem to this device

I’ve been looking at a remedy for some time.   A number of people have tried to jam the device closed with wedges, clothes pegs and suchlike.   My feeling is that the device itself is unnecessary.   Most competent motorhome users know it’s a good idea to drain the water system when the vehicle is unused over the winter.   If using the motorhome in the winter most of us will probably use some form of heating to keep the vehicle above freezing.   The problem is that this device is situated at the lowest, coldest point in the motorhome and will therefore activate well before frost becomes a problem.   

We found this once when travelling in Holland.   We were comfortably snug on the campsite with mains power providing energy for low level heating.   We were woken in the middle of the night with the pump emptying everything onto the grass.   By the time we had groggily switched off the pump and tried unsuccessfully to reset the device all our water was gone.   It has happened more than once.

The Solution:

If you feel halfway competent there is an easy way to replace this bulky nuisance – fit a manual dump valve.   The part I got was from Caravanparts.co.uk.   It cost around £36.   You may be able to get it cheaper elsewhere.   The Truma part number is 70142-05. It looks like this:

Manual boiler protection dump valve – John Guest fitting

This is the process.

Preparation

1. Clear space around the bench seat including removing the table and cushions
2. Empty the space under the bench seat of all the stuff that you’ve put there since you bought the van – most of which you may never have used.
3. Remove the battery.  You are working with water next to a powerful electrical supply – you have been warned.

Removal

1. Place an old towel or similar around the valve.   No matter how careful you are water will leak out and you don’t want it sloshing about in that space.   It also helps to stop screws, collets and other small bits rolling away under the boiler or between the wood floor and the van floor.  Believe me they will disappear if you don’t. 
2. Undo the two screws holding the old unit to the floor.  Put them somewhere safe and remember where you have put them.
3. Insert a small flat head screwdriver under the horizontal part of the retaining clip and lever out the clip. This releases the actuator from the pipework.  Withdraw the dump valve from its position – you will notice that it either brings with it, or leaves behind, a clear plastic drain tube.   If the tube remains behind then you can fit the new unit straight onto it.
   

4. Remove the adaptor joining the pipework.   This is where it gets interesting.   The connectors on the pipework for this motorhome are all ‘John Guest’ fittings.   They are ingenious but not easy to figure out.   Luckily there are videos like this on YouTube to show you how it’s done.   They are essentially push-fit connectors with a locking ring which stops them coming loose.  The locking rings are secured by little red plastic collets.   

Locking ring collet

5. Remove these little red clips and put them somewhere safe.  I lost one of mine and had to buy a new set of ten from eBay.  If you lose yours I have nine for sale.
6. Push the locking ring towards the body of the connector while simultaneously pulling on the water pipe you are trying to remove.   It takes a bit of practice but eventually you feel the pipe coming out of the connector.  Do this for both sides and this will release the the adaptor and leave you with two ends of blue 12mm water pipe.

Replacement

1. The replacement process is very much the reverse of removal.
2. Push both pipes into the connectors of the manual valve.  Push them hard.   Then harder.   You may think you have them firmly seated but they seat in two distinct phases.   The second phase – another quarter of an inch – is crucial in sealing the connection.   (I found this out by trial and error.   The first – boiler side – went in easily and I could feel it seat and then grip as I pushed it further.   The second – delivery side – is a short piece of pipe at a ninety degree angle.   I thought I had pushed it in far enough but when I turned on the pump water went everywhere so I had to start again).
3. Test your connections.   Add some water to the system and start the pump.   Keep your hand on the pump switch until the system gets to full pressure.   If there is any sign of a leak switch off the pump immediately and let the pressure drop away.
4. Slide the little red plastic collets back onto the locking ring to ensure the connection stays sealed 
5. Screw the new valve to the floor using the screws you have carefully saved earlier.

Finished installation showing valve closed

…. and open

6. Replace the battery if you removed it (RECOMMENDED) and reconnect the power leads.
7. Put back most of the stuff you took out, replace the bench seat lid,  cushions and table.   Run the system up to pressure and open the taps to remove any air.   Make a strong refreshing cup of tea and congratulate yourself on a job well done.

Aftercare

I would always check the new valve a few times over the next few days. Even the smallest leakage can result in the wood floor rotting or the van floor going rusty.   Check the dump valve works by pushing the yellow lever to the vertical.  Don’t forget to put it back to the horizontal when you have checked it.   All you have to do now is remember when winter is coming, to drain the boiler and leave the yellow lever in the vertical position.  Happy camping!

WARNING:  Whether you replace the valve or not, from our experiences it is ESSENTIAL that you turn off the pump whenever the motorhome is unoccupied – even if going for a walk.  That way you are unlikely to return to the van to find it sitting in a puddle of your discarded water supply.

Bad Weather Stops Play

… or rather starts it again. There are always two ways of looking at things so, when Storm Dudley was followed by the more threatening Storm Eunice I looked at the pros and cons of our day’s plan. Seriously ‘Dudley’? I cannot say the name without adopting a silly Birmingham accent and pretending my nose is blocked. Before we go any further I must point out to all my many readers (both of them) that I’m not suggesting that the Birmingham accent is in any way silly only that my inept portrayal of it is silly.

So the weather closed in, the wind got horizontal and the rain became the English version of ‘torrential’. We had planned on going out for a walk, some shopping and a drink. The first was almost impossible since I was pretty sure that if I stretched my arms wide in this wind then I would achieve wingless flight. The second was really unnecessary as we had most things we needed and could manage until the storm died away. The last was important, our local hostelry was almost certain to have a couple of new real ales for me tp try but…. in this weather, and with a substantial collection of home brewed beers and wines to hand?

As often is the case when I’m at a loss as to what to do I switched on our TV and searched for some YouTube music to entertain me while I sat down to write. There is an á cappella group called Home Free I noticed a few months ago and which impressed me with the fine singing and basso profundo vocals. I had subscribed to their channel and put it on to stream while I sat and contemplated life.

One of the first songs which came up was a delightful rendition of the Crosby, Stills and Nash song ‘Hopelessly Hoping’. The harmonies and presentation were flawless. You can hear it here at

I suddenly realised that I wanted to write about the group and their songs. These guys are all from the USA and from various states including Minnesota, Georgia and Texas. The group was formed in 2001 by two brothers Chris and Adam Rupp and after a succession of changes which included Chris leaving and Adam Chance replacing him. The music is country music with a Deep South influence typified by this rendition of ‘Man of Constant Sorrow’ which featured in the film ‘Oh, Brother Where Art Thou’ starring George Clooney. You can hear it here.

Another favourite is this sparky honkytonk song, ‘Hillbilly Bone’. Enjoy this here:

While I’ve added what I think are the correct links you may need to go to YouTube and search for these songs by Home Free. In any event playing the music loud banished the sound of the wind and the warm sun of their setting warmed my heart against the cold rain.

I hope you enjoy.