1st service

[Craigyoung]

1st caravan service !! I'll Stick to A19 caravans like we used to with other van !! We've gettin ours back , scuffed and 2 x rear end dents , with scuff marks , scuff marks have waxed out , they say they've changed cupboard handles , still not kinda snapping shut !! The flashing light problems , they said that was down to the earthing cable not being connected underneath ??!!! So its going back to get dents sorted after we come back from ralley nxt week as well as warranty work not completed . Damp report read 5% & 6%.

Craig

 

[Hutch]

1st caravan service !! I'll Stick to A19 caravans like we used to with other van !! We've gettin ours back , scuffed and 2 x rear end dents , with scuff marks , scuff marks have waxed out , they say they've changed cupboard handles , still not kinda snapping shut !! The flashing light problems , they said that was down to the earthing cable not being connected underneath ??!!! So its going back to get dents sorted after we come back from ralley nxt week as well as warranty work not completed . Damp report read 5% & 6%.

Craig

Told you Craig, should have bought a shoddy Coachman, :woohoo:

 

[Gagakev]

1st caravan service !! I'll Stick to A19 caravans like we used to with other van !! We've gettin ours back , scuffed and 2 x rear end dents , with scuff marks , scuff marks have waxed out , they say they've changed cupboard handles , still not kinda snapping shut !! The flashing light problems , they said that was down to the earthing cable not being connected underneath ??!!! So its going back to get dents sorted after we come back from ralley nxt week as well as warranty work not completed . Damp report read 5% & 6%.

Craig

Told you Craig, should have bought a shoddy Coachman, :woohoo:

It's defo not Craig any more, it's SIR CRYING

 

[Craigyoung]

More like SIR MADALOTTT !

 

[Hutch]

Come on down to the Fest , your son will love the Karting track behind the caravan park. And its his birthDay week.

 

[Icaru5]

Hi Craig,

Being the proud owner of a van based on yours, I’d like to offer to play the part of Sir Chillalot here, by offering what will hopefully be a few little words of comfort ..

1) Flashing lights

Don’t worry about them, mine has done it too, but not always. It doesn’t bother me, and I don’t believe it’s in any way dangerous or detrimental to the longevity of the van. Insisting that the dealer must resolve it will undoubtedly result in multiple return trips and will leave a sour taste.

2) Cupboard Latches

You’re probably referring to the overhead lockers with the grey plastic spring-loaded latches. They’re made from very cheap soft Moulded plastic components which aren’t precisely manufactured or assembled, and rely on spring tension. However, if there’s any friction betweeen the spring-loaded triangular lug and it’s neighbouring parts, the force from the spring isn’t enough to fully extend the lug. Just unscrew the handle, remove the internal latch and give it a good spray of silicone lubricant such as GT85. Don’t overtighten the retaining screws afterwards either, as this can pre-load some of the plastic components. Again, really not worth wasting your energy and potentially your sanity in returning the van for this.

3) Damp

5 & 6% Damp ? - Where ? - The van’s side panels are made from a bonded GRP/Foam sandwich. There’s no damp there. How did they test ?

If there is any level of damp, my suspicion would be that it’s in the floor, and I would ask them to elaborate.

Glad to hear the scuffs have gone, but the dents don’t sound good. Hopefully they’ll sort those for you.

No doubt I’ll have to dodge a few bullets for suggesting that you don’t insist that the dealer rectifies points 1 & 2, but with minor “niggles” like these, I value my time and energy that would undoubtedly be consumed by multiple return visits to the dealer much more than my desire to argue a point, irrespective of my rights. The reported damp, and dents however, are a different story ...

Best of luck, and keep us updated !

Ic.

 

[Damian]

5% or 6% moisture reading is not damp, it is the natural moisture of the wood.
If wood was 100% dry it would fall apart.

Damp is a reading over 20% and higher

 

[Icaru5]

Thanks Damian,

I wonder if they informed Craig which wood they were referring to ?

In any case, having had this point addressed by Damian, that means no “real” issues there Craig, except of course for the dents caused by the servicing dealer. Certainly not great, but we have gone down from 4 issues to only 1

If it’s any consolation, during my first service which was carried out during the cold snap, the dealer left the water system pressurised, resulting in a cracked/broken and leaking shower tap, and water dripping out from under the wheel arch which I only discovered during the next outing

 

[Hutch]

Damp , nobody seems to care until above 15 % the rest just buy a shoddy Coachman like ours a good one so far. Love ours a great wagon. Get a good caravan no matter which make and if you get a good one keep it.

 

[Craigyoung]

Thank you everybody for your nice kind words ,
Lc , yes them overhead locker handle keeps are pretty crap , the point hardly touches where we need them to go into to secure the door. Will get them sorted after we are back . Regarding the lights , it was noted bulbs do not need changing not the fact that they were flashing when trying to light the gas which was a different matter ?!?!
Hutch , thanx for the invite again but ain't got the weekend off !!

 

[xtrailman]

The flashing LED problem is due to the pump.

If you have an inboard one you can get a third party suppressor from "Apuljack", but a decent dealer will know its a common problem and fit a suppressor across the pump pressure switch contacts, a Varistor usually, its a soldering job with instructions provided.

Sargent did supply the part direct, but recently have pasted it back to Swift, so your dealer needs to sort it.
http://www.apuljackengineering.co.uk/index.html

Locker catches are disappointing poor quality, but regular spraying with silicon helps, replacing them with some of the same isn't a cure.

 

[Craigyoung]

looking back over the previous posts they was supposed to put a suppressor into the system but for all they have said that the bulbs were fine and blamed it on the earth cable not being clamped underneath the van!

Thanks

 

[xtrailman]

There are plenty of posts on swift talk on the flashing led syndrome, I don't recall any mention of a poor earth being at fault, I'm not even sure the 12 volts are connected to earth, they being a two wire system.
Bonding I believe is for the mains, so any loose wire does require sorting.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Not withstanding that the technically correct name may not have been used, a loose "Earth" certainly could allow the pulses of an igniter to interfere with other nearby equipment. all battery powered igniters need to have a ground return for the high tension spark energy. Sparks need to be able to jump a gap to be able to ignite a flame, but they could also jump a loose ground connection so the spark will still work.

The normal function would be for the chassis of the appliance would be connected to the ground terminal of the igniters HT side. So when the spark jumps its going straight to ground. But if the ground connection is not properly made it could present a nigh resistance between HT ground and appliance chassis. Even though the typical spark has a very low current a high resistance can still produce a voltage rise on the appliance chassis. Because gas appliances are connected to the gas piping, it means that all gas appliances on the same system may receive a pulse of energy and that could be translated to the 12V systems and cause interference with other appliances.

LED bulbs are very sensitive and my flash, But its unlikely a filament bulb is sensitive enough to respond.

 

[xtrailman]

That's interesting prof.
However the problem is usually the pump pressure switch, it could be the ignitor is also responsible but I haven't read a single post to that effect, yet.

My dealer has just phoned me to say the varistor is now being posted out for me to fit.

 

[ProfJohnL]

That's interesting prof.
However the problem is usually the pump pressure switch, it could be the ignitor is also responsible but I haven't read a single post to that effect, yet.

My dealer has just phoned me to say the varistor is now being posted out for me to fit.

Can I just point you to this:-

... , it was noted bulbs do not need changing not the fact that they were flashing when trying to light the gas which was a different matter ?!?! ....

 

[Craigyoung]

You have now !!

 

[Craigyoung]

Finally got the van back after months of waiting for warranty work to be completed. Dents gone ! Went to pick up this morning & if I had did not have the mover on it there is no way that the tractor machine was getting it out of the gap. It took me 20 minutes to get it out from between two caravans and a motorhome at the front with about 6 -1o inch gap front and back when trying to manoeuvre it around! the handles had still not been adjusted so they brought out a bloke and he done them within 10 minutes and I have new bunk lights. Hopefully no more flashing! Not away for 5 weeks so we'll test everything out then