So far so good....

[Mike7692]

Hi folks,

Just thought I'd give a little update of life so far FT living in the van.
As I mentioned before we are not touring yet but living on a medium site which as of right now has 9 of the 38 pitches in use - 7 of which are long term staying with 3 hardly ever around, lots of wildlife on and around which is much better than anything on that thing we used to be tied to in the house.....the TV!!!

Took a week or so to find our routine in the mornings, I still have to have the 4.45 am alarm! My wife used to walk 3 miles to work everyday so to counteract the lethargy she felt she rises just after me to cycle with me to work then back to get herself ready for her own drive to work. I'm back first so get the job of cooking dinner which I quite enjoy before we go to Bootcamp 3 times a week. I do think that the exercise regime helped us find an evening routine and away from the tv again. Unfortunately my wife has been put on notice for redundancy & will be leaving on the 11th of September just as we take a trip up north to visit one Big Momma. Sue was looking to leave for a more local job but everybody wants to do it on their own terms but hey ho what will be will be and the beauty of our lifestyle now is we can get by on my wage alone should she remain out of work for a short period.

My last post here was regarding the smell that seemed to be filling the van when we got home, I used some soda crystals and hot water and it seems to have disappeared, but when we leave to go up north there will be some cheap cola bought to slosh around for a decent rinse out!! Some recent inclement (that's an understatement!!) weather has broken a main awning pole so I'm trying to source a replacement as yet no joy. It's a 2009 Ventura Freedom freestander with an annexe if anybody has any ideas or suggestions. Another question for you guys is the fridgefreezer seems to ice up at least once a week which can't be efficient. I find myself emptying it and scraping (carefully) the fins in the freezer compartment to clear it, but also some items seem to begin to freeze in the top part of the fridge. I have noticed that the hinges on the freezer door have cracked - 1 has actually broken - I'm guessing that if the freezer door is not shut properly that will not help with the icing of the fins. It seems to keep things very frozen at the bottom but some things start softening or don't completely freeze at the higher points in the freezer??

All in all we're loving the life in the van....a great big wildlife garden to go with it....and the simplicity of a smaller space but not claustrophobic after 6 weeks - seems to have flown by! When we visit my daughter in her house, on her estate that's when everything feels built up and imposing! Do we miss the house is a common question to which the answer is a big "hell no!!"

All the best to everyone waiting to venture into 365 living - you won't look back - and stay safe everyone who already is!!!

 

[Steve Freeman]

Ammonia solution is good for smells.
If you use cola, use diet cola - no point adding sugar and stickiness to the waste tank; it's food for bugs...

 

[chrisjones18]

glad you are loving it.
I would just stick to the soda solution and not use cola of any kind-----the soda solution worked. ok
both full fat and diet fizzy drinks are full of sugar/glucose of some description, the label that says "no added sugar" only means "no added sugar from the original recipe" its a con.
cant help with the freezer but it wont be right if the door wont close properly

 

[Steve Freeman]

Err, if it says zero calorie, it is surely, by definition, carbohydrate free, right?
But using cola is nuts - best to get rid of it by pouring it down a convenient drain somewhere, or even better buy a proper drink instead!

 

[vwalan]

dont know what fridge freezer you have , but some combined frides with a freezer compartment .are only for keeping already frozen food in them for a couple of weeks .
if you turn the temperature switch so it freezes better it will then freeze the fridge .
the question is what star rating is it?
my neighbour had one he fiddled and fiddled trying to get it how he wanted in vain.
my new one is the same but i can just freeze if need be or just freeze hard then turn the temperature switch a bit warmer.
my other under counter fridge freezer with a proper freezer seperate bit is fine . just should i get really no sun i cant eat all the food quick enough so remove it unless two or more are using the trailer.
as for the tanks . clean plates etc with a tissue before washing . try not to let bits go down the plug hole ,and only empty when the tank is almost full . the flow of water gets rid of bits in the tank, have a read here,
https://sites.google.com/site/cbruni/

 

[Steve Freeman]

yes that's right - no absorption freezer has a decent star rating (to my knowledge) for keeping food very long, and will only freeze small quantities of stuff. If you don't mind the noise and have mains, compressors work far better.

And right about the tank too. Also, if you wash up in bowl, and are near a drain, throw the water away directly, not into the grey tank - it's full of food bits, and the detergent+fats-in-solution will sludge up the tank.

 

[vwalan]

i find the smaller table top mains compressor fridges are noisier than the full size ones .
yes i can hear mine . but its not a problem.
my old secondhand one i had first was the best one . almost quiet and would run on quazy inverters etc the modern ones get a bit fussy. i run the newer ones on pure sine wave .
i had a three way fridge when i first converted the trailer but it would always stop working when temperatures outside got hot . i had seen others with the problem.
once i realized solar worked so well there was no question .
solar ,batteries ,inverter ,house fridge .
works a treat . and you have leccy for other things .
washing machines ,drills,grinders , food mixers . juicers etc .
there is no doubt normal converters dont really build their vehicles for fulltiming . more for holidays once a year and a few weekends .
but a bit of changing here and there you can get round most things .

 

[chrisjones18]

Err, if it says zero calorie, it is surely, by definition, carbohydrate free, right?
But using cola is nuts - best to get rid of it by pouring it down a convenient drain somewhere, or even better buy a proper drink instead!

you would think it has no sugar/glucose , check it out if it has e951 or otherwise known as aspartame which is the most dangerous chemical sugar substitute you can get, so your right in "put it straight down the drain" you are so much better off with the full fat stuff if you must drink it.
if it lists 8 ingredients or more it is because they by law have to list 8, so they add something in a very small quantity that is not bad so they can legally leave out the bad stuff.
don't buy anything with a list of more than 8

don't google aspartame as you wont go anywhere near the stuff again ..........

 

[chrisjones18]

check it out...............aspartame

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/07/22/aspartame-diet-soda-autism-link.aspx

 

[Steve Freeman]

Yes I know about aspartame, but luckily bacteria can't feed off it in your gray waste, which was my entire point ! But sadly it doesn't kill the bacteria either.

I don't eat any aspartame myself. And I avoid these kind of drinks - they all are a bit too acid and eat your teeth. If I'm going to erode my teeth, I'll do it with wine please! Never pour wine into your grey waste though - in fact, for security reasons, always consume it all within 30 minutes of opening it...

The sugar content of a can of non-diet kids drink is about 7 teaspoons, so these drinks either kill you with chemicals or make to you fat and rot your teeth. Mind you, the sugar on your teeth is not as bad for them (in terms of plaque growth) as potato starch. Best not to eat coke and crisps, then.

I imagine with so many Americans being so fat, it's probably true that this alone causes 1000 times the deaths or illnesses (like diabetes-II) that aspartame does, though. Aspartame does not however contain carbs, and any weight increase is not because of the substance itself.

Americans do like to litigate though, don't they? There are groups suing the sugar industry too! There might be people with dentures suing the potato industry too, for all I know... Although I do realize the article was about misleading advertizing that I do entirely agree with.

I'm not too worried, though, as we all have a choice, and fat is a choice....

My choice is to use *ammonia every few months, as I choose not to have smelly wastes!

Now, where did I put that dangerous wine?

[* never, ever drink ammonia as part of a calorie controlled diet]

 

[vwalan]

where do we stop worrying though ?
do you eat potatoes ,peppers ,aubergines ,tohttp://www.diagnosisdiet.com/nightshades/matoes etc .

 

[Steve Freeman]

I don't worry, but then I do go about shouting at seagulls and nibbling at rat poison in the night....

I have no intention of living to 103, helpless, and treated like crap by an illiterate teenager in a home... So I'll risk enjoying tomatoes, peppers, pasta, curry, fish, beer & wine [**and about 90 other things deleted here**] and maybe I'll die too soon from it all.

On the other hand, there plenty people in UK towns getting ill from poor air quality, nitrates and pesticides in their drinking water and the like, and luckily most of us on this website can avoid a lot of this...

One important thing about not worrying is to know that 90% of all websites are about spreading dis-information (and if a US site, it's 98%), either because someone makes a profit from it, or it is just malicious or dumb.

In the US alone, you will that, if you look, 100% of everything bad for you and/or dangerous, or something to be scared of, or "my snake oil is better than your snake oil", or a crime in the eyes of Jesus... This is partly why I left!

Now, with all this "information" out there, especially in the US, you'd believe that all the people reading it must by now surely have become healthy, slim, and happy, and living long and interesting lives. But you know what? It's not like that....

Avoid obvious rubbish food, avoid scaremongers, and be happy enjoying life...

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All the above text is now "in print" on a website, so it must all be true. The author accepts no liability for anyone suffering increased enjoyment, or lack of fear, and in no way condones the consumption of food or drink..

 

[Mike7692]

Thanks for all the info guys. Cheap cola had been suggested by a lot of people but will probably use an alternative now. As for the fridge...it does freeze excess raw food sausages etc but the higher up items start to soften a little probably because of the door not fully closing...I have sourced a couple of hinges which I will order as the current ones have broken still holding it but I guess that's why it's not closing properly

 

[Steve Freeman]

Jokes aside, I really wouldn't use any kind of cola.
The only conceivable cleaning agent in it is phosphoric acid, which will strip teeth and clean metal, but is not really any good for bacterial sludge (that's what is in every grey tank). I suspect it mostly just masks the smells for a while. And the cost per litre is crazy.

 

[hpold]

Thanks for all the info guys. Cheap cola had been suggested by a lot of people but will probably use an alternative now. As for the fridge...it does freeze excess raw food sausages etc but the higher up items start to soften a little probably because of the door not fully closing...I have sourced a couple of hinges which I will order as the current ones have broken still holding it but I guess that's why it's not closing properly

It willwork better if there is adequate ventilation if you have a computer ventilator place that in the side cabinet and conect to a 12v supply . They are quiet and you then swich it on or off or leave it permanently on you will find that your fridge works better . Depending which way you wire it it can be a blower or extractor . You can get them cheap at any car boot market .

 

[Mike7692]

Jokes aside, I really wouldn't use any kind of cola.
The only conceivable cleaning agent in it is phosphoric acid, which will strip teeth and clean metal, but is not really any good for bacterial sludge (that's what is in every grey tank). I suspect it mostly just masks the smells for a while. And the cost per litre is crazy.

I have got those little plug hole filter things on all sinks & we don't wash up in the van as a rule so there shouldn't be too much crap in there also its also emptied as Alan said when its quite full

 

[vwalan]

have you got a flat bit of rubber over the shower drain though .
very often the shower as a very ineffective water trap. as you move it dries out . smells can come up from there . even if not using the shower sometimes a cup of clean water tipped down the shower drain fills the s bend or trap so its ok. but a rubber mat works best.
have you tried a couple of fillups with a good calgon powder .

 

[Steve Freeman]

The original Calgon was powdered sodium hexametaphosphate, but it was banned 'cos it put too much phosphate back into the water supply.

Nowadays it's a water softener that contains zeolite (works like a mild detergent) and polycarboxylate (which disperses particles in suspension and helps avoid friction), so it should get your sludge out. It's not very strong on bacteria or de-greasing, and is not cheap if you buy the actual Calgon brand. Best look in Lidl or Aldi for a lower priced equivalent.

Soda crystals (Sodium Carbonate Decahydrate) should also work in a similar way to Calgon, and you can get these in the usual supermarkets or Amazon. It degreases and softens water, but I'm not sure about it as a particle dispersant.

I realized that on my van, the shower had a very short u-bend, and just as Alan said, it got dry when moving. I bought a longer one from Wickes or somewhere for not a lot - it took 2 mins to fit and works a treat.

I also use those Oxo stainless steel plug hole sink strainer cover things in the shower and the sink to stop bits going the plug hole - look up OXO Good Grips Shower Stall Drain Protector on Amazon etc. They come in different sizes. It's the nearly flat ones, not the whole plug thing.

 

[vwalan]

another thing that can bring fumes from the grey tank is driving with a window or roof vent open . even the through vent roof vents are a culprit . they suck the fumes into the van .the vent on the tank allows air to enter the tank . the plug holes allow the suction to drag fumes into the van .
no roof vents and i try not to move with windows open in my trailer.
but it can still happen .

 

[chrisjones18]

No s bend on sink or shower in mine, no smell either.
the loo smells a bit if I forget the vaseline on the rubber seal (its split) .....note to me, buy a new one you tight git.