Dandy Review

Tow Itch wrote: New on Preloved. Dandy 5 no mention of an awning but it does have a heater.

I think these may be the people who bought the Destiny featured on Preloved last week.

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Spoke to Endecay about taking a ride up on the bike to view this alas the bike wasn't serviceable but went up anyway.

So the appraisal:

Looking for the stamping it was an 88 model.
The damper slid in freely.
A couple of holes in the cover.
Then the holes in the side that Rob had mentioned.
They appear to be interaction between the steel frame and the alloy skin. My physical chemistry is not good enough to remember which should rot the steel or the aluminium. My practical experience non existent. Land Rover owners to add comment here?

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I checked the wheel clearance and the gap was just under 2" So not exactly the best I've seen but not scrubbing on the arch.

The bases of the beds looked like the ply had been varnished. Was this done on some but not others, or a customer mod?

We then erected the Dandy and there were two small puncture marks in the roof again that Rob pointed out.
These were on the edge between the insulated bit and the cord at the edge.
Opened up the insides put the kitchen into place.
I was a a bit dubious about the electrics I couldn't work out what the 240v plugs were doing mounted to the walls as sockets.
Then realised that they were been used as 12v sockets. While not up to spec they are far more robust and available than proper 12v
sockets. See also the RCD.

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The clever 240v plug / socket arrangement was used to provide power to the sink for the tap. Silly me i never checked for what converted 240v to 12v or where the battery connections were. The sink was not the standard whale pump and microswitch on the tap but had a pressure sensor. This had failed but was jumped to a switch on the side of the sink.
There was a mark on the front of the kitchen where a drawer fold flap had been gaffer taped in an earlier temporary repair.

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Then just looking round the unit interior one of the bed boards had lost large points of its wood patterning. The cushions were a bit flat and there were areas under the beds where condensation would have formed that had become stained with mould or mildew.

We then went and explored the awning without erecting it..
The zip problems Rob had mentioned were 4" of the stitching coming adrift and a 2" cut to the door.
Both these are quite minor and I might have missed one if not both.

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All in all quite happy with this. It would have benefited with a good clean and a tidy up. Almost exactly what you are told to look for yet at £400 and with a seller who had pointed out all the faults I would not have felt too inclined to haggle.
Might have been slightly cautious about the amount of clearance on the wheels but I could be flattering myself.

Jumped up into the unit to check the floor for any deflection none. Then thought I'd look underneath to asses the frame and floor from underneath.

Slight surface flaking from paint on the steel. Better than freshly painted!

Then I saw it and to be honest wouldn't have seen it if Rob had looked over it first and changed the tyre.

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That isn't just a tyre wearing on the inside. It's the reason why the tyre has scrubbed on the inside.
What you can't see is that the tyre is slightly off vertical.
I don't think I'd have noticed the slew from vertical if the tyre hadn't give it away.
The suspension arm is just beginning to twist. I've seen this before I had an unbraked trailer I had to replace the Indespension units on.

If I hadn't noticed this and recommended Nick to buy the 5 I would have felt guilty but I don't feel especially bright by condemning the unit of someone who has pointed out virtually every fault to me. Who if they had been calculating could have replaced a tyre and had me over 19 times out of 20.

The only consolation I could give was that Rob had nearly looked at the Destiny from Liverpool. (By way of the South coast) Now that would have spoiled his day.


The 5 is not that wonderful that many would want to pay £250 or so for new suspension unless it came for pennies.
A 5 is bigger than Wingnut wants.
Sell the awning but that needs a few stitches and TVS have a minimum charge. ( If you get this awning and want it stitching I'll tack it on to a job I need)
Heater. If Rob ends up breaking or Wingnut does have it for his Sankey the Riviera is worth £50? maybe more if it was a good week on eBay.

If anyone can come up with a good way for an honest bloke to flog his Dandy I'd be well pleased, because I'm not best happy at the moment. Mind you I don't know what would have made me happy.
Yes I do know what would have made me happy. If I'd been buying it for myself and some piece of lowlife was trying to have me over I'd have laughed all the way down the street and taken the rip unmercifully on here.

Helen.

You don't want another Dandy do you?

I do Kevin but I want a 6 we have a 4 and 5 berth already

So that's a bullet dodged then...?

Quote
They appear to be interaction between the steel frame and the alloy skin. My physical chemistry is not good enough to remember which should rot the steel or the aluminium. My practical experience non existent. Land Rover owners to add comment here?




Chemistry 101. Iron is 0.44 volts below hydrogen and aluminum is 1.7 volts under hydrogen, so galvanic dissolution begins in the presence of an electrolyte (anything other than distilled water !).

Anodizing the aluminium will help. Hard Coat will help more. Powder coat will help even more.

mike wrote:Quote
They appear to be interaction between the steel frame and the alloy skin. My physical chemistry is not good enough to remember which should rot the steel or the aluminium. My practical experience non existent. Land Rover owners to add comment here?




Chemistry 101. Iron is 0.44 volts below hydrogen and aluminum is 1.7 volts under hydrogen, so galvanic dissolution begins in the presence of an electrolyte (anything other than distilled water !).

Anodizing the aluminium will help. Hard Coat will help more. Powder coat will help even more.

So I realise that there is a potential difference between two metal plates contained within a solution. I just cant remember whether there would be an electron movement from the Aluminium to the Steel or vice versa.
Then I get further confused as the then apparent direction of flow of electrons might be the opposite of the apparent transfer of metal. (Or am I getting further confused with where we have a metal salt in solution for plating)
Just give me the easy answer please, does steel act as a sacrificial anode for the aluminium or vice versa? I was looking for the practical Land Rover owners answer because I realise steel isn't iron and that aluminium's oxidisation layer changes the way that it appears to behave.

Tow Itch wrote:

mike wrote:Quote
They appear to be interaction between the steel frame and the alloy skin. My physical chemistry is not good enough to remember which should rot the steel or the aluminium. My practical experience non existent. Land Rover owners to add comment here?




Chemistry 101. Iron is 0.44 volts below hydrogen and aluminum is 1.7 volts under hydrogen, so galvanic dissolution begins in the presence of an electrolyte (anything other than distilled water !).

Anodizing the aluminium will help. Hard Coat will help more. Powder coat will help even more.

So I realise that there is a potential difference between two metal plates contained within a solution. I just cant remember whether there would be an electron movement from the Aluminium to the Steel or vice versa.
Then I get further confused as the then apparent direction of flow of electrons might be the opposite of the apparent transfer of metal. (Or am I getting further confused with where we have a metal salt in solution for plating)
Just give me the easy answer please, does steel act as a sacrificial anode for the aluminium or vice versa? I was looking for the practical Land Rover owners answer because I realise steel isn't iron and that aluminium's oxidisation layer changes the way that it appears to behave.

I dont know but it sounded good probaly like you if i had to guess i would say the aluminium would go first,i should know the answer from my old interest in landrovers and i feel sure the bolt holes in the aluminium panels bolted to the steel would disintegrate

May have missed something in the review if so then sorry but all in all if it could be bought at a price that kept it at say £600 with new suspension units then it could give some one on a tight budget a good few holidays with the opportunity to sort the rest of the items as a running repair project,we must remember this is 25 years old and a long way from dead.

Helen wrote:I do Kevin but I want a 6 we have a 4 and 5 berth already

John can have his bed made up all day as well and still seating for four adults or 6 with the grand kids

mike wrote:

Tow Itch wrote:

mike wrote:Quote
They appear to be interaction between the steel frame and the alloy skin. My physical chemistry is not good enough to remember which should rot the steel or the aluminium. My practical experience non existent. Land Rover owners to add comment here?




Chemistry 101. Iron is 0.44 volts below hydrogen and aluminum is 1.7 volts under hydrogen, so galvanic dissolution begins in the presence of an electrolyte (anything other than distilled water !).

Anodizing the aluminium will help. Hard Coat will help more. Powder coat will help even more.

So I realise that there is a potential difference between two metal plates contained within a solution. I just cant remember whether there would be an electron movement from the Aluminium to the Steel or vice versa.
Then I get further confused as the then apparent direction of flow of electrons might be the opposite of the apparent transfer of metal. (Or am I getting further confused with where we have a metal salt in solution for plating)
Just give me the easy answer please, does steel act as a sacrificial anode for the aluminium or vice versa? I was looking for the practical Land Rover owners answer because I realise steel isn't iron and that aluminium's oxidisation layer changes the way that it appears to behave.

I dont know but it sounded good probaly like you if i had to guess i would say the aluminium would go first,i should know the answer from my old interest in landrovers and i feel sure the bolt holes in the aluminium panels bolted to the steel would disintegrate

My understanding is that this would depend on the nature of the relative metal oxides. Steel (iron and carbon alloy) is mostly iron and therefore subject to iron oxide (ferric form rather than ferrous) aka rust. As you know, rust flakes away exposing more of the metal to reactive elements.

Aluminium, however, is a relativey highly reactive metal but once oxidised is as stable as can be. Chemical grade aluminium is kept under oil. It can be 'cut with a knofe' using a reasonable degree of force and the cut faces of the metal oxidise almost instantly.

This key difference between the two is why you build aircraft out of aluminium and not iron/steel.

By the way, did you know that aluminium and mercury react together and this is why you cannot take mercury thermometers on planes