FITTING A SOG -MY WAY

This is how I fitted my SOG system to our motorhome.

I take no responsibility for how you fit yours this is simply a guide to how I fitted mine.

1) Picture 1 shows the actual SOG system. In my opinion it seemed a lot of money for what was is the box. But as my wife says you pay for all the other stuff that goes in to producing the product.

2) Picture 2 The first thing i attempted was to cut the hole for the extractor fan. This was carried out using a hole saw. Very difficult to prevent it from slipping but with a bit of perserverence eventually it was carried out.

3) picture 3 locating the extractor fan, This was done with some simple measurements. Once located it was then screwed in.

4) Picture 4) for a break I decided to locate and replace the pressure valve. The valve removes very simply by screwing clockwise as far as it goes, turning back 1mm and then simply pulling out.

5) Picture 5, there is some adjustment required for making sure that the cassette will refit after the change of the pressure valve. The instructions with the SOG are adquate to show how this is done. Basicaly its a straight cut.

6) Picture 6 Locating the micro switch. This is a bit fidly but with a bit of help from someone in hte van opening and shutting the waste flap it can be done. There is a little bit of advice here. When the flap is shut there is a tendency for the flap to spring back slightly as the micro switch pushes against it. This is normal. When the casette is located in to its place this prevents this from happening.

7) Picture 7 the micro switch located and fitted, the wiring was very simple and the feed was taken fromthe electric flush. A couple of cable ties keep it all nice and neat.

8) picture 8) The Sog all fitted and working properly. A little test is carried out by lighting a joss stick, holding it to the toilet and then opening hte valve. If it is all working properly then the smoke should be sucked in to the casette.

Hope this helps.

Time for improvements

Well it's that time of year again. Back from skiing, christmas seems like it was miles ago. The dark nights are still here and it's cold and wet in the morning.

I have spent the last month deciding whether "nessie" should stay or if I should change her for something slightly bigger. Well george and harley are not letting me change her and Nikki wont release the funds. I therefore have decided that she will stay with us for another couple of years (not nikki nessie).

I therefore have decided to make some improvements.

The first thing I have decided to do is to remove some of the door graphics. The graphics that say the name of the motorhome in a discusting orange.

I done this by using a hairdryer and some wd40 (gods own weapon) to remove the sticky residue. Nikki was worried it might leave it looking like an ex BT van that a builder has brought. Thankfully using the method I did the graphics came of lovely with out a single trace of ever being there.

We are going to the Newark show in a few weeks so I wanted to make th eimprovements prior to going. I have therefore ordered some accessories to fit prior to going.

I have ordered two Omnister roof lights. These new ones have a transparent dome allowing full light to come in from the roof. The current ones are solid and therefore let no light in to the motorhome. I was quite keen to put in a big heiki roof light but Nikki having witnessed my DIY skills for the past 15 years was not keen for me to do to much cutting up of Nessie. Therefore I have opted for a straight forward replacement of the two roof lights I have. I have purchased these from Olearys motorhomes whom once again give excellent advice and are allways available if you need a little bit of extra help. The rooflights are £63.95 each and I brought a couple of tubes of sealent to go with them.

The second modification is a drivers swivel seat. This will be to create more room in the van. One thing we did notice whilst skiing was that when you can not get outside it's getting a little cramped inside as the boys are getting bigger. The seat swivel will create extra room and also an extra place to sit for me. I have read all the fitting instructions and hope it does not give me to much trouble fitting.

Thirdly, after much thought there is going to be a SOG toilet system. A system that will do away with chemicals and therefore will eventually pay for itsself. But more importantly it is designed to get rid of unwanted toilet smells. It alo means I can empty the toilet more regualy without worrying about toilet fluid being wasted. The reports on them are very good but it wont be untill we have lived in the van for a week or so that we are able to assertain its benefits.

I have also ordered some little suckers to keep the toilet role holder and toilet brush nicely stowed. This was all ordered from outdoorbits.com total cost was about £180. I have my old wheels and tyres advertised on ebay as a way of recouparatiing some of the outlay for these bits.

It is my intention to post photos of these upgrades as and when I fit them in order to assist others with the pitfalls of doing these improvements.

We have got the first two trips of the year planned. In March we will be heading off to the Newark show with the http://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/ to join in there rally on the 14th-16th. We are then back for a week and then off to Scotland after the easter weekend. We are heading off to the isle of Skye for a few nights. probably 5 nights in total, looking for ht emost baron campsite we can find to just sit back and admire the views and do some seal watching.

So stay tuned to laugh at me fitting my upgrades and see you all soon.

panagah

Day 14

Well nothing much to say about this one really,. Just the long drive home to Cheshire. All in one day, stopped off for some wine . etc.

Arrived home at 10-30pm. Unloaded all the van and now comes a long period of sulking whilst I plan our next trip.

So what Have I learned?

Well skiing is fantastic. A really nice family pursuit where all can join in.

I set out to do this trip in a way that I could justify having a motorhome and not going on a package deal. A package deal would of worked out about £1800 plus spending money and ski clothing etc.

We spent about £250 on ski clothing, £ 400 0n Diesel, £200 on a site, £100 on a ferry crossing, £250 on ski passes, £130 on Skis and Boots. We were able to come and go as we pleased. We could spend more time in France looking at it's beauty, and of course be completely independant.

We had an absoloute blast and really enjoyed ourselves.

Sometimes all you need is memories. When I sit back in my rocking chair I will be able to remember great parts of this trip. That to me is what it's all about what ever way you decide to do it. Just do it

Paul

Day 13

Awoke with a plan. Always a dangerous thing when you are a motorhomer. Todays plan is to go to Luxembourg. Then follow that by coming back in to France to find an aire. Why Luxembourg? well cheap tobacco, beautiful scenery, and a nice city to go to lunch in. So off we set a nice drive with no problems saw us arrive at Midday. I then proceeded to use a bus lane whilst there, one of those whereby you cant get out when you are in. Eventualy we found somewhere to park and opted to get a junk food lunch some tobacco and then let the boys play in the fantastic park in the city.

We then headed off back to France, through some of the most horrid part of France I have seen. Its on the border with Belgium. The sort of area where by if you played twister you could be in three countries at one time.

We headed back through Belgium, surely the worst roads in Europe. We then found another little gem of an aire in Charleville- Mezieres. We parked up for the night and bedded down. Ready for the jaunt all the way back to Cheshire the next day.

Day 12

Awoke early and decided to attempt to get to the Vosges Mountains. This is the nearest ski resort to the UK in France so I wanted to have a look in case it was any good. A long old drive not using any toll roads and through the Lorraine region. This is once again a stuning area of France. The Vosages mountains were nice but very little snow about, not that we wanted to ski more just a peek at what we night do next time.

We attempted to find an aire but the one we had earmarked had been hyjacked by some Gypsies. Not a good idea to bunk in with them we thought so continued to look. We then came accross a couple of houses in the pictures just to prove that it's not just the Brits that overdo the xmas lights!!

Eventually we found an Aire in a little village called Fraize. The aire was ok but it was shared between lorries and MHs. On this occasion a lorry had decided to park right accross the MH bays meaning we would have to use the lorry bay. The aire was not to bad just quite a lot of road noise.

The locals were friendly enough and seemed quite surprised to see English people when buying our bread in the morning. On the whole however a very poor nights sleep due to the noise and although only a desperate measure to stay at this aire due to the time of day, I shall not hurry back.

Day 11

Awoke in the middle of the night to what must be every skiers nightmare- RAIN.

Although there was still good skiing to be had at high altitudes we decided to take the opportunity to return our ski gear and check out. Walking on the site was like walking through a massive slush puppy it had turned awful.

We decided to move off to Annecy having a look at Le clusacz ski resort on the way and take in a mountain pass or two.

The views continued to be spectacular with snow still all around. The roads were good and although difficult in some places they were mostly just good fun to drive on.

We stopped at Le Clusacz for a look. Although it looked ok, it did not seem to have the character of Pralognan and was a great deal bigger.

We arrived at Lake Annercy whilst still light and looked for an aire. We found a little gem of an aire. There was an English MH parked in there, this was the first English Mhs we had met on our trip. However as I got out to set Nessie up an Austrailian greeted me. Bev and Dave were from OZ and touring France for 4 months. We got chatting and one thing led to another and we shared a beverage or two with them in their van. They transpired to be a really nice couple and were having great fun in their MH in France. They tried to convince me that OZ would be a great place to live but I am sure that I will stay serving the people of the UK, (sorry Dave ya taxes are to high lol). I do think that MH comes in to it's own when you meet others. You share a drink with a stranger a story or two about your travels, swop email addresses and bingo a stranger becomes a friend. I never had that with my caravan or on any package deal. It must be the similar personalities that are attracted to MHing.

Now Lake Annecy is raved about by many, for me though I fail to see the attraction. Maybee it was because it was winter, maybe because I had just come down from the most spectacular part of the world I have seen? Nice yeah ok but not a place I will be itching to revisit.

Day 10

No lift Qs. Not that there were any real ones anyway. But everybody seems to of gone home. We had the mountain all to our selves. Snow was good up high, and there was good skiing to be had. It was this day that I will remember most. Probably due to me being overconfident. I had now mastered off piste jaunts, red runs and part of a black one. However on an alleged green run, I had the mother of all crashes. Not going particularly fast, my skis got tangled up and went from under me. I landed flat on my face literally. Smashing my arm in to the icy ground, thinking for a moment it had broken. Initally very winded I attempted to get up but couldn't. Not to worry the nights in shining armour ie my two children would stop and help me get up. NO! they laughed as they skied past me calling me a wooose or something similar. Leaving me on the floor. Not nice considering how much I had payed to take them skiing.

Any how I got up and the only thing really hurt was my pride. I skied down to the bottom of the slope and packed my things away.

We had a nice family night in with some old fashioned games.

day 9

High Winds continued and we were unable to get high up the slope due to the cosure of the chair lifts.

We stayed on the lower slopes and done plenty of little off pistes runs to keep ourselves amused.

Nikki met us at the end of the day and we went shopping in the Market. Brought some lovely cheese and jam. Took it home and had a French night. Cheese wine bread etc.

Filled ourselves up and had a little tipple before retiring to bed.

Day 8

Decided to have a break from skiing today due to the very strong winds. We went sleging instead. The boys would not let me on their sled so I went out and brought my own. The boys were also convinced to have their first shower of the holiday. The shower and the shower room was nice and warm. However the feeling of getting ya kit off in such cold temps does not do you any favours. WE percervered however and got done.

There was a deffinate change in the weather. The high winds were southerly meaning the unthinkable was starting to happen. The snow was mealting!!!!

day 7

Today we all went skiing together. Yep thats right we all went skiing. Nikki whom had never even seen a pair of skis prior ot this holiday decided she would give it a shot and boy did we laugh. Nikki very quickly mastered the button lift. The plan was as follows.

I go up the button lift. get off, wait for Nikki to get off, we would be half way up and that would make for a nice gentle run down. George would follow behind in case Nikki fell off, and Harley would follow George for extra re-assurance.

Now Nikki had mastered getting on the lift and was soon following me up the button lift. I stepped off, turned to the side and waited...... Nikki on getting to my height,stepped off and ------ well --- never turned sideways, and then proceeded to start going back down the hill, backwards, screaming past the Boys, and still laughing whilst doing the splits at quite a speed backwards. It was one of them moments that will live with us forever, a moment when the whole skiing world of Pralognan appeared to stop skiing and watch my wife making a complete fool of herself, untill she finally crashed and came to a rest. Luckily for Nikki the boys had managed to steer themselves arround her as she went back past the button lift. A kind French couple whom looked very concerned went to see if she was alright, however the fact that we were both laughing our heads off assured them that all was well. I spent an hour trying to teach Nikki to ski, all to no avail. After an hour she decided to return her equipment and wait whilst we went off up the mountain. Now call me soft but this is what makes a good relationship in my eyes. I never forced Nikki to come skiing, she wanted to. I never forced her to give skiing a go but she did. She tried, she failed, but at least she tried. She refused to allow her self to sit in the van all day she came out and had a laugh with me and the boys. That's my girl and thats why we all love her so. Well done Nikki, next time get some lessons at the dry ski slope first!!!

Me and the boys were now feeling confident enough to have ago at some red slopes as well as a few jaunts through the woods to do some jumps on the way down. Skiing was now natural to the kids and their fearless ways. Me on the otherhand just on occasions closed my eyes and went for it as to not be undone.

day 6

celebrated new year by being in bed by 11pm, skiing is hard work!!!

Nikki took George for a walk around the town at midnight. No drunks, no rowdiness, just a nice chilled New year.

Sent a few emails to peolpe to wish them a happy new year.

The most amazing thing about this place is that due to the lack of light poloution the stars are so bright and visable. I saw constilations I have not seen since I was a kid.

Happy new year to all, health, wealth but most of all happyness.