Day 65: Wed 22 May 24 - Jurien Bay

Wed 22 May 24 - Jurien Bay 

14 feeling like 9 Deg C (feeling much fresher), partly cloudy with a fresh ENE breeze to a very light SE breeze and 25 Deg C in the afternoon.

Aaargh - I woke at 0530 and noticed the fridge not working - this time on Gas (the past few weeks it has stopped while on 240v electricity). I removed the external vent cover in the dark, moved the connection around a bit and it was quickly up and running again. I made a few calls to Dometic after 08:00am to do some fault finding and discuss options. Essentially I had to get a multi-meter onto it to do some testing. I tried calling ahead to Geraldton to find someone available to do some testing, but I wasn't prepared to wait until July which was the advised wait time. To deal with our frustration after several calls that ended with 'sorry I can't help', we locked the van and went into town for breakfast at a cafe, which was sadly also disappointing. While in town, I asked around, and got the phone number for a local young Auto Electrician who I called and he kindly agreed to come out after lunch and run some tests for me. More detail below, but it is very difficult to test something for a fault when it is actually working. Ultimately, because he wasn't able identify any faults, he couldn't do any repairs that guarantee our problem is resolved. He genuinely wanted to help and get it sorted, and even though he came to me and gave up an hour of his day, he only wanted for $50 because he couldn't fix it. It seemed only reasonable that I give him $100 for his time and effort instead. It is becoming an expensive and frustrating process of elimination. After Joe left, Noel went for a ride into town to the butcher to buy some meat for dinner, while I made another call to Dometic to discuss the current situation and options. When Noel returned, I went for a pleasant 30km out and back ride along the Turquiose Way Trail, an amazing sealed coastal bike trail - the highlight of my day. Tomorrow, we will leave for Dongara for one night, normally about 130km north along the coast road, but because of road works, we will have to take a 30km detour. Needless to say, our planned trip to Lesueur National Park and Stockyard Gully Caves today, will have to wait until our next visit to WA. 

Jurien Bay Jetty Cafe

Jurien Bay Jetty Cafe


Joe - the Auto Electrician looking bewildered like everyone else who has looked at it. At least he used a multimeter to test it, and really was keen to help and get it going. It's a bit hard testing something for a fault when it's working at the time though. When he tested it, there was as much voltage coming out of the Clixon as there was going in, indicating the Clixon was fine at the time (Clixon is an overheat sensor that cuts out off power if overheating occurs). He also tested that there is sufficient charge coming from the house batteries to power the Fridge display and lights. He couldn't find anything obviously wrong, apart from one very minor loose connection, so he cut the ends off all three electrical wires and attached new connectors to attach to the Clixon. He also made a bypass connection should it fail again, but only when on 240V or when driving, not when on Gas. The end result is that if it fails again, it is more than likely a faulty Clixon - a $30 part, but Dometic won't send me a replacement until I confirm it is faulty. The only way I can confirm it is faulty is to use a multi meter to test the Clixon when it does fail, so today I bought a cheapy from Home Hardware if / when it does stop again.
If this all sounds confusing, that's because it is.

Afternoon bike ride along the amazing Turquoise Way Trail, a 14.2km (one way) sealed track stretching along the coast from Jurien Bay Marina south to the Hill River Mouth 


Afternoon bike ride along the amazing Turquoise Way Trail - Hill River Mouth 


Afternoon bike ride along the amazing Turquoise Way Trail - Hill River Mouth

Afternoon bike ride along the amazing Turquoise Way Trail - Riding back towards Jurien Bay

Afternoon bike ride along the amazing Turquoise Way Trail - Riding back towards Jurien Bay



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 109: Fri 05 Jul 24 - Merghiny Gravel Pit (Ceduna) to Port Augusta

Image
Merghiny Gravel Pit (Ceduna) to Port Augusta (450km)  It was 8 Deg and feeling much less, raining on and off from 4:00am for the first 100km, then cloudy and very windy for the rest of the day. At Port Augusta it reached 18 Deg with strong winds gusting in excess of 60km/h. The past few days have been tiring driving in the wind and rain with lots of heavy transport travelling in both directions, so it was nice to have a quiet start to our 450km drive today. This post is a little light on photographic material, as we have now covered the stretch between Ceduna and Port Augusta three times in the past 18 months, so we kept driving with minimal stops.  Coffee was had at the Minnipa rest area, then lunch at the Kimba roadhouse, before arriving at 3:00pm at the Discovery Parks Caravan Park in Port Augusta for an overnight stay.  We have a drive through site for the night for a quick get away tomorrow. From here we have settled on a couple of nights at Clare for a bit of a brea...
Read more

Day 111: Sun 07 Jul 24 - Clare

Image
Sun 07 Jul 24 - Clare  The overnight temperature dropped to 6 Deg with 54km/h winds which eventually eased by the time we climbed out of bed. No surprise though when we woke, it was raining again, and it continued raining until mid afternoon, so it was a day of forced rest which we both enjoyed. The day comprised coffee in town this morning, then a visit to Hill River Wines to buy a few local wines. I chose this winery out of all others because t hey are a young cellar door and they are family owned. The wines also tasted nice. Back at the van, we had a quiet afternoon resting and watching a documentary series about one of Australia's biggest and strangest art heists on SBS.  It's about an investigation into the art heist from the New Norcia monastery where we recently visited - it's very interesting. Check it out.  The clouds cleared late afternoon, so I mustered the motivation to go out into the cold (6 Deg) for a late walk, before we drove back into town for an Indian ...
Read more

Day 11: Fri 29 Mar 24 (Good Friday) - Madura Pass to Norseman

Image
Fri 29 Mar 24 (Good Friday) Madura Pass to Norseman (530km) It was 14 Deg with a very slight SE breeze and a light dew, reaching 32, clear and sunny with no wind at Norseman. It was a lovely morning, and a nice change waking to early daylight, so we took the opportunity to get on the road earlier than usual. Today was a long haul, 530km along very good road, but with not a lot to see. We were amazed at how green the countryside was, and particularly so around Madura. This is clearly a reflection of all the recent heavy rain had in the region. One other observation from our trek across the Nullarbor, is despite the various Camel, Kangaroo, Wombat, Cattle and Emu warning signs, we did not see any roadkill. Disappointingly, Noeleene went another day without spotting a camel (dead or alive). The traffic today was well spread out, and the majority was Heavy Transport Trucks and caravans - all well behaved, and surprisingly a lot of three-wheeled motorbikes.  We also spotted a couple mor...
Read more