Mandy Thompson (1 Viewer)

[mandymops]

Hi,
I have dreamed of having a tiny motorhome all my life and have finally bought an ancient bedford Rascal Nipper. I don't know whether he's even big enough to be called a motorhome but I didn't realise how complicated it all is. Can't even get my leisure battery charged.I'm sure it's simple when you know how but everything I do seems to go wrong Am almost ready to throw the towel in and in need of serious encouragement.

 

[slobadoberbob]

Firstly welcome to the forum

Hi,
I have dreamed of having a tiny motorhome all my life and have finally bought an ancient bedford Rascal Nipper. I don't know whether he's even big enough to be called a motorhome but I didn't realise how complicated it all is. Can't even get my leisure battery charged.I'm sure it's simple when you know how but everything I do seems to go wrong Am almost ready to throw the towel in and in need of serious encouragement.

Welcome

Someone will be along to help you am sure.. lots of people on this form that have bags of knowledge.. so do not give up.

Bob, Sue and Ezzie the St Bernard

 

[ShiftZZ]

Welcome, so glad you found us here.. You will get loads of help...

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[MHVirgins]

Hi,
I have dreamed of having a tiny motorhome all my life and have finally bought an ancient bedford Rascal Nipper. I don't know whether he's even big enough to be called a motorhome but I didn't realise how complicated it all is. Can't even get my leisure battery charged.I'm sure it's simple when you know how but everything I do seems to go wrong Am almost ready to throw the towel in and in need of serious encouragement.

Mandy, hang on in there, someone will come along very shortly and guide you in the right direction:thumb:

They are so knowledgeable on here, good luck with your new purchase:thumb:
Margaret

 

[MHVirgins]

See, what did I tell you, Bob and Shiftzz first to be of assistance:thumb:

Margaret

 

[slobadoberbob]

OK lets have the first stab at it

Hi,
I have dreamed of having a tiny motorhome all my life and have finally bought an ancient bedford Rascal Nipper. I don't know whether he's even big enough to be called a motorhome but I didn't realise how complicated it all is. Can't even get my leisure battery charged.I'm sure it's simple when you know how but everything I do seems to go wrong Am almost ready to throw the towel in and in need of serious encouragement.

OK lets have the first stab at it... others will give advice as you will see.

You should have two batteries (could be more) one is for the engine (chassis) and the other the house or lea sure battery. This can be charged a number of ways... from the engine via a split charger, so as you drive power is supplied from the alternator (or dynamo) to both the chassis battery and the house battery.

Your vehicle may have an EHU (Electric Hook Up) point this is where you plug a mains lead in to the vehicle that allows 230v mains to charge your house battery. I am presuming you have some form of an old ZIg type power unit on board ...controlling the internal lights etc., Try and explain to us if the battery is stand alone or has wires that go to some form of control unit???? also how old is the battery? has it had a bench charge in recent times? ... do not dispare, these sorts of issues are common when you start out..

Bob

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[Reallyretired]

Hi :welcome: to the Fun.

Although I've had a lot of vans in my time I've never had one of these. There used to be an elderly lady who wrote lots of articles for MMM who travelled all over in one of these (though it might have been the almost identical Bambi). I've always thought it an ideal MH for one as it is tiny enough to go anywhere, probably 30-35 to the gallon.

After such a long life there are bound to have been quite a few changes, DIY or otherwise) to your MH and I would suggest you couldn't do better than coming on a MHFun rally where there will be people with centuries of experience (collectively of course) quite willing to sort out all your problems.

Rallies are listed on the front page.

 

[callumwa]

Hello Mandy, and Welcome to FUN,:thumb:

Just relax, take it easy, and take the time to get to know your van...

Take any problems you may have one by one, and ask away.
There will always be someone here with helpful advice for you.

Before long you will be having a great time with your little "Rascal"......

 

[Viennese]

There is an Enthusiasts Club

see http://www.rascalenthusiasts.com/

Surely they can help if no one on here can....

Best regards

Catherine

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[f6c]

welcome

Welcome aboard

 

[Hollyberry]

Hi,
I have dreamed of having a tiny motorhome all my life and have finally bought an ancient bedford Rascal Nipper. I don't know whether he's even big enough to be called a motorhome but I didn't realise how complicated it all is. Can't even get my leisure battery charged.I'm sure it's simple when you know how but everything I do seems to go wrong Am almost ready to throw the towel in and in need of serious encouragement.

Oh I know how you're feeling. These motorhome things are VERY challenging. I keep telling myself it will all be worth it and all the things so far that haven't worked/gone wrong are just teething problems (well I keep chanting that anyway!!)

There is LOADS of support here. Always people who'll help. Hang in there and I'm sure you'll get everything working.

 

[1_man_and_his_dob(lo)]

Hello :thumb:

How have you tried charging your leisure battery so far? With EHU cable, by driving around, or both?

Posting links to other motorhome sites might get me in trouble, but there's another site aimed more at smaller motorhomes, like Romahomes, Bedfords & Suzukis where you're more likely to get suggestions from owners of similar vehicles. You're not a subscribed member here so I can't send you a private message - try Googling for small, motorhome & forum and you should find it soon enough .

(Hope that's OK Jim....delete as appropriate :Blush

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[Carol]

Hi Mandy, welcome to Fun, stick with it, take it one step at a time keep asking any questions no matter how small they may seem, does not matter of the size or age of your motorhome/van on here, just one big motorhome family, join in and enjoy. You will find the £10 you pay for yearly sub will be repaid over and over. :welcomefunster:

 

[mandymops]

amanda

Thanks everone for your advice. I am no further with the van but at least don't feel so alone. I have tried charging the leisure battery with a 200 mile drive and an automatic trickle charger (see I'm learning the lingo) but it just shorted every time.No charge in battery so am off to buy a new one. Also need a carpenter as previous owner thought that a 4' bed was sufficient. May wield the drill myself though. Then I need to make all the cushions and curtains.....Ah well,should keep me out of mischief. Teenage daughter imagines I'll have it done by next week!

 

[Carol]

Good luck with the new battery hope it does the trick for you, sounds as if you will have your van looking good with your new cushions and comfy bed, keep asking the questions sometimes the right answer comes along

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[wkdtroll]

Welcome, so glad you found us here.. You will get loads of help...

Hi Mandy

I got a load of abuse when I posted a similar question a few years ago - but don't worry someone will be along to give you some advice - soon - I think - yes they will - well maybe........

Welcome to MHF, happy camping!

 

[Reallyretired]

Any electrical problem you need one of these.

Link Removed

Not necessarily that particular one as you can get cheaper. You can then see exactly what is happening with your battery charging etc.

 

[mandymops]

Mandymops

Ok-next dumb question-I have found an electric hook up wire in a locker (exciting) but search as I may,I cannot find anything on the van to plug it into. Any clues?

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[rangi]

There's more than likely a Flap somewhere outside, if you lift it you should find a blue plug. You will more than likely need an adapter on the other end to plug into your house supply. You should be able to purchase it from your local Caravan store. There might even be one in your Rascal somewhere, search everywhere, under seats as well! found a set of snow chains under mine!


Advice is free on 'ere m'dear:thumb:

 

[slobadoberbob]

As said look for a flap

Look for a lift up flap on the body.. it should be about 3" x about 4" this is where the blue three pin plug goes into.. the other end you would either have another blue plug that fits in to a site tree (Tree as in electric tree) or it may have a house plug for connecting to the power at home.... most caravan shops sell different pig tails (short lengths of wire that allow different combinations... in France you often come across a two pin plug still these days as well as the blue type three pin).

Most EHU (Electric Hook UP) is via a hatch as no one has a window open to run a power lead in.. so look for anything that looks like it is a hatch of opening .. also look low down as it may be hooked up under the sill of the living area. (Habitation area). If you have a control panel inside which shows state of charge of the battery then there is bound to be a flap.

Batteries go flat and cannot often be bought back to life.. you need to get as bigger amp battery as you can to fit in the box or cradle that is there for the battery.. look for 100amps up.. the bigger the amps (more power) the bigger the battery will be and also more expensive. Leisure batteries tend to be more expensive. When you get it.. do not run the battery down past 50% otherwise you may not be able to recharge it to full again.

But a visit to one of the shows, will soon have people helping you to work out what the camper does.

But keep asking and someone will answer.

Bob:thumb:

 

[hilldweller]

I don't know whether he's even big enough to be called a motorhome

I'm not sure it's big enough to qualify as a motor vehicle.

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[catspyjamas]

Welcome to the fun :thumb:

I have a small motorhome myself (a Nu Venture). Small is beautiful! Don't worry, everything seems so difficult to start with but you soon pick things up.

I agree with everyone else - it's well worth paying your subs and joining. Great community, loads of advice, meets so that you can put faces to names.

 

[B-well]

Amanda welcome, as stated before there is a wealth of knowledge within this site, try visit to library arm yourself with motorcaravan books to familiarise yourself with the different parts around a vehicle, so that when a funster tells you about the crows foot ankle bracket you will know how to identify this. DO NOT if asked to find the 710 cap try to find this.



710 cap is the OIL cap upside down

 

[mandymops]

Mandymops

I must explain. My camper was an impulse buy,sight unseen. The fellow who handed it over knew nothing about it... Daft? Yes... Breaking every rule of buying a vehicle? Definitely! My only defense is it was tremendous bargain and I decided to gamble. Now you may understand my excitement when I finally located its tiny engine. It's hiding under the tiny passenger seat. Who would have thought? I didn't dare to ask all of you.

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[slobadoberbob]

now is someone having us on I wonder?

I must explain. My camper was an impulse buy,sight unseen. The fellow who handed it over knew nothing about it... Daft? Yes... Breaking every rule of buying a vehicle? Definitely! My only defense is it was tremendous bargain and I decided to gamble. Now you may understand my excitement when I finally located its tiny engine. It's hiding under the tiny passenger seat. Who would have thought? I didn't dare to ask all of you.

Engine under the passenger seat right... OK, is that the one with the wheel where the hamster goes round and round that is connected with an elastic band to the intermediate pulley that joins to the panel that lifts up so you can put your feet through the holes to run fast to make it go over 5 mph I wonder.:shout:

Bob:Blush:

 

[Reallyretired]

Looking at others for sale the mains input seems to be on the offside behind the rear wheel. I would hazard a guess the leisure battery is probably in the offside bed locker. There aren't many places to hide things on a nipper anyway.

 

[mandymops]

Mandymops

That's the one Bob. Now I know who to come to when I have problems. Purchased new hamster today and retired old one. And thanks Reallyretired. You were spot-on.Socket was lurking behind spare tire in the nearside outside locker. Am giving 'Boris' an internal make-over as I think it may boost his confidence. I really don't fancy the dirty,heavy jobs though.

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[slobadoberbob]

said someone would be along and sort it

That's the one Bob. Now I know who to come to when I have problems. Purchased new hamster today and retired old one. And thanks Reallyretired. You were spot-on.Socket was lurking behind spare tire in the nearside outside locker. Am giving 'Boris' an internal make-over as I think it may boost his confidence. I really don't fancy the dirty,heavy jobs though.

As I said, someone will be along and sort it.. it is a case of just keeping at it.. sometimes longer that others... sense of humour is required with a motorhome regardless of the size... but it is good fun once you sort all the issues...


Have fun

Bob p.s is the new hamster called Boris or is it the motor home