Devastated

[Heethers]

l all, picked up our 7 month old Lunar Clubman SE on Boxing day drove to Blackshaw moore CC some 13 miles, set the caravan up and turned on the heating system it took an hour or so to get the water running, due to how cold it was in the van, l was in the process of sorting the toilet out when from inside the van their was a scream, eh up l thought one of the dogs was in trouble no such luck the wife had discovered a crack in the shower compartment on the bulk head wall some 12" up from the shower tray running from the shower door two thirds across shower bulk head side, my immediate response l dare not print, After we had calmed down l inspected the damage and came to the conclusion that it was due to contraction by the severe frost we had over the last two weeks why l don't know, the thing that makes me think this is that the grab handles to the back of the van are secured through the shower compartment, the shower side is also fixed between the shower door, l also remember when raising the leg before leaving l heard a noise that was unfamiliar but put this down to the plastic leg feet braking free due to them being stuck to the ground due to frost.
l can recall a post on this forum where something very similar happened, has anyone else had this problem, l spoke to leisure sales yesterday but only sales staff no service personal in until after the Christmas break which is understandable, he thought the same has me that the weather was the problem and that it would be covered under the warranty,
The one thing that’s worrying me is how they repair it has it looks has its formed in one piece, if its Davec material l am sure a new side can be cut and hot gunned welded in position has their does seem evidence of hot gun welding.
We now have to wait for a service to evaluate and will let you know the out come, the one thing l am sure they will ask did you carry anything in the shower when travelling, that we never do has the first thing that goes then is the shower tray as reported on this forum.
Regards
NigelH

 

[Parksy]

Hi Nigel
What a nasty shock, hopefully your dealer will carry out a good repair before the summer so that you can continue to enjoy your caravan. The weather conditions have been extreme so let's hope that the problem is covered under warranty. Let us know what happens and good luck.

 

[Heethers]

Thanks Parksy, l am sure it will be covered under the warranty, up to now Leisure Sales at Sandbach have been brilliant no reason to think any other, we will talk to them tand arrange a date when all the outstanding issue's can be sorted. We have booked 5 long weekends away before the middle of March but on the main CC sites so showering won't be a problem, hopefully it will be sorted before the spring when we intend to try the CLs, after all why have a top of the range van if you don't take adavantage of the lower site fee's and the facilities your van offers.
NigelH
Ps wished the Japs made caravans never had any trouble from all my Shoguns and had 3 up to now

 

[Steve L]

Hi Nigel.
This December has been one of the worst i can recall for both snow and frost. We had to endure a new min temp for Shobdon Herefordshire of -16.9C and daytime temps of -8c. So it's no real suprise that plastics are brittle, but to experience your problem must of been quite shocking.
Now while you have good faith in your dealership and that has obviously been built up by good rapor, I would be a little guarded as to wether the manufacturer will share the same view. This is because of what you have described of the possable cause. The weather!
The manufacturer might try to claim "act of god". I do sincerley hope they are supportive and do a good job of repairing your van.

I've got a couple of small cracks in the GRP side panel of our Abbey 540, which were definately not there when we bought it 18 months ago but as the van is 5 years old and has changed hands twice, I doubt I would get any joy out of Swift on the cracks. Fortunately they are small and I have the skillset to repair GRP myself. The repair area is an ideal site for a decal (sticker), so matching colors will not be needed.

I've got to move our van a week today, to our over winter site, so I hope we don't have a cracking experience too.

Good luck with your repairs and hopefully my scepticisum will be unfounded, but it's best to expect the worst and then it can only get better.

 

[mcghee]

i would guess that the plastic became dangerously brittle due to the low temperature, and your suspicions i think are correct. when you wound up the feet and altered the stress on the various components the plastic has not had enough flexibility to cmpensate.

at 7 months old this must surely be a warranty issue.but how do you prevent it happening again? you could warm the van for a couple of hours before hitching up. but you can't really keep the heating on while in transit, and i suppose the damage is every bit as likely to occur then.

 

[Surfer]

I was under the impression that caravans were built so that you can tour around with them. Does this mean that you cannot tour a cold country, i.e. Scandinavia, Germany etc with your British built caravan in the winter months?

 

[Heethers]

Just an update on how things are progressing, sent a pictures of the cracked shower to the dealer who forwarded in on to Lunar, dealer raised paper work to Lunar for a warrenty claim, the dealer sent me an email Tuesday confirming that Lunar have agreed to repair or replace the shower by the Shower manufacturer under warranty at the same time has the other warranaty issues are dealt with, a date will be decided when they receive the front blind which is on order hopefully in the next couple of days, well pleased a real weight off our shoulders. Leisure Sale's of Sandbach have been excellent in supporting us in these warranty claims.
Regards
NigelH

 

[Surfer]

We had a Lunar CSL and the shower tray needed replacing. We then bought a Lunar 640 and after several months the bottom part of the shower tray had to be replaced so probably a common problem on Lunars.

 

[Parksy]

It's good to hear of something working out well for a change.
Well done to the Leisure Sales for minimising the worry by not hanging around

 

[Heethers]

Update on my Lunar Clubman, took it in to the dealers yesterday, Shower cubicle to be reskinned centre blind replaced, hindges to the sink to be replaced,front nearside geab handle to be replaced. and Aldi heating to be refilled and bled with glycol.
True to their word my dealer said it would all be completed by the end of Jan, hope everything is ok when l pick it up at the end of next week, l have been well impressed with the Dealer and Lunar on the efficency of dealing with my claims, l will let you know next week if everything was done correctly and to my exceptance, l am sure it will be.
Regards
NigelH

 

[Heethers]

l all talked to the dealer yesterday everything completed apart from the centre window blind, now due in today from Lunar will be completed next week.
Some interesting news on what caused the split in the bulk head shower side, if you remember,l put it down to severe frost, not so, when PSS removed the panel they found a staple that fastenen's the hardboard to the caravan frame had missed the frame competly so it was protruding through touching the panel, consequently when the van was in motion it eventually caused it to crack, obviousley the fitter didn't take care operating the staple gun, cost Lunar big bucks in the warranty claim.
l will be picking the van up middle of next week, a pity has we lost this weekend at Losehill CC.
Nigel H

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Heethers, I echo Parkeys posting about good service, I think is very sad that you have to go through the experience of the fault, but as you point out it is a wonderful demonstration of the cost of failing to make something properly first time round.
As a pure a guestimate based on your postings, for the cost of installing one staple (parts labour and amortisation of tooling perhaps £0.01 which is the same cost as doing correctly, compared to the all the time (yours, the dealers and Lunars) parts and inconvenience, easily circa £1000
I seriously doubt the fitter that actually made the mistake will be individually corrected, but I do hope that the company management use the information in their employee training sessions to help emphasis the need for care when doing even the most basic of tasks.
An experienced fitter knows by the feel of the reaction and sound of the staple gun whether the staple had missed its target. Supplied with a proper tool the fitter could fairly quickly removed the offending staple and, and the problem could have easily corrected Even though correctio at that time may have cost say £0.10 in time and materials, it represents a ar better financial proposition than allowing the fault to get to the customer.
The real trick for the manufacture will be to redesign the process so that it is impossible for the fitter to miss the target, or use slightly shorter staples so the cannot interfere with the shower wall.