The next edition of the club magazine has been finished by our Editors and looks fantastic. It should be arriving through your door soon! If you are enjoying the club magazine and have a story about a trip, an upgrade, a restoration or just a tip, send a contribution to our Editor at editor@vwt2oc.co.uk.
Type 2 Detectives Maintenance Day by Simone Smith
What can I say… this was excellent. If you are not technical minded (I am not and although my fiancée is, I was starting to find that I wasn’t able to help on issues, but after today I can) and want to help on your camper, then do a day at Type 2 detectives.
Andy and Paul were brilliant, very clear and great teachers, we were showed around the workshop and then explained what they do. They included everyone and made everyone feel able to fix or service their vehicle.
They showed us an engine with clear explanations of how it worked, and labels were on the different components, so we could understand things fully. They explained a few stories about what could go wrong, and how they fixed them. They also showed that the scary wiring system isn’t that complex once it had been explained and showed what to do in situations that may occur. Also, you could buy a wiring diagram (which is totally worth getting) (Editor notes that you can get these online and the Bay window 1972 to 1974 wiring diagram is on the club website in the “Technical articles” section because I had it for Eric!). They included everyone and made everyone feel able to fix or service your vehicle.
We were shown:
Andy and Paul walked us around the underneath of a variety of vans on ramps, then explained components, common faults and visual checks to keep our vans healthy.
We were well feed and watered – seriously, the choice of food and variety of drinks was excellent. All staff were friendly and welcoming. We would pop in to say Hi, and have a drink if I was ever up this way … and you should too … totally worth a look.
I thoroughly enjoyed the entire day, I have come away with extra confidence of what to do if I was on my own in my Rusty Leigh and had issues or broke down. I also liked that we were told a few times throughout the day that we could just call them and they would talk us through any breakdown (which is so reassuring) also what essentials tools to keep in the van, that you might not think about. (Editor notes that the Spare parts list is also on the web site in the “Technical articles” section)
Although we were told that Paul had a spare engine in his van when he was on his travels … smart man, we believe he didn’t need it lol!
At the end you were given a boot camp bible to take with you covering what you have been taught to you on the day and we were offered a comprehensive health check for our vehicle at a later date, convenient to both you and the workshop at an amazing cost.
I will pass on Type 2 detectives’ information to anyone who needs it, and when my stepdaughter is ready, we will be sending her to one of these workshops so she can get a better understand of our T2 camper.
Thanks again for an excellent and acknowledgeable day.
One not to be missed. our Annual get together at this lovely camp site. Here you can have your say on how your club is run. Its not all about the admin either as the majority of the weekend is set phasers to chill.
In my humble opinion one of the best shows of the calendar and my personal favourite. Organised by the wonderful Leicestershire & Warwickshire Volkswagen Owners Club the event hosts classic air and water cooled models side by side. This is a one day event Sunday only but camping is available on both Saturday and Sunday nights, details of booking can be found on their Web Site.
Ingredients – Serves 4
2 heaped tbsp crunchy peanut butter
3 tbsp chutney
2 tbsp soy sauce
Juice of 1 lime
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tsp red curry paste
400g chicken thighs, bones removed and meat diced
Oil for frying
Coriander leaves (optional), roughly chopped
Rice
Before you leave home, combine the peanut butter, chutney, soy sauce, lime juice, onion, garlic and curry paste with 100ml water in a food processor. If it gets too stodgy, add a splash of water and give it a stir. Keep it in an airtight container otherwise the smell will permeate everything!
When you are ready, roll the chicken cubes in a little oil and thread onto skewers. Grill on high for 3 minutes on each side or until the chicken is cooked through and starting to colour. If your van does not have access to a grill or BBQ, skip the skewers and shallow fry. Pour the peanut sauce over the chicken and grill for 1 minute more or remove as much oil as possible from the pan and cook in the same pan. The sauce will caramelise slightly – the more caramel and sticky the better!
Serve with rice and coriander sprinkled over.
This one comes up regularly at club events – you want to do solar.
A solar panel makes energy from the sun using photovoltaic cells and sends these down 2 wires as if it was a battery. BUT. Sunshine changes through the day and you need a way to flatten out the power to something nicely controlled and also stop the power going the other way and coming out of the panel. This clever gadget is a solar charge controller and comes in 2 varieties, the cheap PWM controller (pulse width modulation) and the more expensive MPPT controller (maximum power point tracking).
This article is only about the MPPT controller.
If you find a bargain priced MPPT controller online, it is probably a PWM controller with an inflated price – avoid any controllers that are not from large brand names. The key players at time of writing are EcoWorthy, Epever, Renogy and Victron for MPPT controllers.
The monitoring image shows an MPPT controller operating normally during the day. The solar panel is generating 67 watts at a voltage of 19.5 volts meaning 3.43 amps of power. A traditional PWM controller would send those 3.43 amps down the wires to your battery and all would be well.
The MPPT controller tracks the voltage of the battery all of the time and converts the voltage from the solar to fractionally above the battery voltage, allowing the amps to increase. In the image, the voltage is converted to just above the 13.0 battery voltage, giving you 4.96 amps into the battery.
Those 4.96 amps compared to the 3.43 amps is an increase of 45% and is a real world example. You can expect to get around 30% increase in charging power across the day as lower sunlight will reduce the uplift percentage. This can be the difference between fully charging your leisure battery and not.
A single 100 watt solar panel with an MPPT controller is sufficient to give us an off grid experience from April to September unless the weather is totally awful. This is for the compressor fridge, lights, water pump, phone charging and if we take it, also the TV.
With electric hookup now often £5 per night plus usage at 50 pence per kilowatt hour, going off grid really is a cost effective way to go. With an MPPT controller, it helps to keep the battery topped up, improving its life expectancy.
Organised by your club this will help owners to service and maintain their vehicles.
This course is based at Type 2 HQ in Cambridgeshire.
This is a pre booked event only. Spaces are limited
The next edition of the club magazine has been finished by our Editors and looks fantastic. It should be arriving through your door soon! If you are enjoying the club magazine and have a story about a trip, an upgrade, a restoration or just a tip, send a contribution to our Editor at editor@vwt2oc.co.uk.
Yes, it is that time again. Hurray! Finally, after the long winter in our non-mobile houses, we can get out our beloved vehicles.
Checklist
Hopefully you all followed the article Time for bed to help put your vehicle to bed for the winter. Now that spring is in the air and we are starting to think about getting out and communing in nature, this is a key time to get things ready.
Doors locks – there’s nothing more annoying than a failed lock. get it fixed now before the season really gets going. Door lock issues can be very straight forward but a simple lubrication can be key. Pun intended. A non residue lubricant is best to move the dirt away as WD40 can leave enough gunk to create issues. We favour silicon spray. A little into each lock.
Windscreen wipers – did they perish in the cold winter freezing them to the windscreen. Inspect and replace now.
Water – check the radiator if you have one. Ensure that the bottles that you emptied in the Autumn / fall have no mice, carefully hidden Christmas presents or mildew. Clean with a weak Milton solution if it is drinking water or food related.
Batteries – check the charge on each battery with a good meter. A flat battery can indicate an earth leak. A failed battery needs careful investigation.
Carburettor – Or equivalent. Check for good operation, no stuck flaps or other deterioration over winter. If you are a professional, this will be straight forward. If you are an amateur, a test drive very close to home will highlight problems! But only after the other checks.
Brakes – your vehicle should roll easily, otherwise this can indicate jammed brakes. Parking in gear for long periods of time can be better for your brake health than a jammed set of brakes. Check the brakes for operation. Check the brake fluid level. If it has been more than 5 years, change the brake fluid as it is hygroscopic and slurps up water incredibly quickly. Water is not a good fluid for applying the brake pads to the disks.
Seals – inspect all door seals for any signs of damage, water ingress or other problems and sort them out now. Glue any loose bits back down with the correct glue.
Windows – ensure that they all open and close fully. Or at least as fully as they did last year if applicable!
Ignition – Once you are feeling confident, get in to your pride and joy and turn on the ignition to number 2. Look at the lights on the dashboard. Check there ARE lights! Are they what you expect / are used to seeing? Have you got fuel (for those with a working fuel gauge)?
Crank it over – don’t expect it to start immediately but things should kick into life within a few seconds.
A little test drive on your driveway will allow you to test the brakes, maybe the steering and other important parts. Softly, softly.
Stay local, take your phone with you and warm clothing. Just in case!
Once you get home, assuming that you have a big smile on your face, make a list of snags, get indoors, put the kettle on and start planning for your summer.
Check out the events page and come and see us at a meeting soon!
If, like me, work (school staff) gets in the way of a weekend away, don’t miss out on some fabulous days out. Winter or summer get some use out of that VW. You don’t have to go far.
We live in a small market town near Skegness and often just drive into the Wolds for the day, but it’s not the only local gem. Within 30 minutes we can be parked at Gibraltar point, a marvellous nature reserve with long or short walks, within an hour to an hour and a half we’re parked on the front at Cleethorpes, in a field next to a castle, walking along a river or wandering around the ruins of an Abbey!
Yesterday (Saturday), we took two of our children to Cleethorpes. My Daughter Elizabeth has quite severe Autism and loves our days out. We had a wonderful walk to the ice-cream kiosk and along the Prom’. Then it was back to the T3 for cheese on toast before a steady drive home.
You’ll be surprised how many of us just don’t bother with or even know what is on our doorstep. Get your maps out and take a look, you’ll be pleased you did. And why not put the word out, meet another VW, I’m always up for an impromptu meet up that’s only up the road.
Happy days
Neil.