Help needed pls

[ANDY_374418504]

Hi to all

I picked our new 2009 Swift Charisma 570 up last week and we went away in it last weekend for the first time.

Whilst we were away I noticed 2 things:

1. The electric heating was not getting hot enough when the fan was switched on - I was running it on full thermostat power at 2000w with fan set to 3 and the air was coming out luke warm in the rear of the van (nearest the heater) and cool in the front of the van. I previously had a Sprite Major 5 with the same system and got hot air out of the front and back vents.

2. I noticed water dripping from undernearth the drivers side wheel arch onto the shock absorber. I did a little investigating behind the panels that I could access in the van (kitcen area is situated on same side as where leak was coming from) and could not find any water in the van. However I noticed that the water pump kept coming on briefly at different periods during the night when we were all in bed, suggesting that water was leaking and the system was topping itself up as a result.

I therefore dropped the van off at the dealer on our way home on Monday (Discover Leisure York) for them to investigate.

I had a call from them today to say they could not find any problem with the heater and could not find a leak. They have said that I should pick the van up tomorrow.

Can anyone suggest what I should do as I do not want to pick the van up and have the same problem / trouble taking in it and out of the dealership.

Water was definetly leaking, my own thoughts are that maybe it could be something to do with the fridge? or perhaps the leak needs time to build up before water starts to leak from the van ie the technicians have only filled the van up with water, seen no leak and have assumed all is OK.

Also with the heater, the van is slightly bigger than my old one but surely you should be able to hot air out of the vents.

Regards

Andy

 

[SwiftGroup_374327846]

Andy,

If us to get involved if you want to email me aspacey@swiftleisure.co.uk with your details and your chassis number we will look into this for you and talk to your dealer,

Thanks

Andy

 

[James_374408700]

Hi Andy,

Got the same problem on our new Swift van regarding heating.

The problem appears to be the blown air pipe to the bathroom goes under the floor for approx 4 metres and although the inner pipe is insulated from the outer pipe the latter still gets quite warm and therefore loses a lot of heat by the time it reaches the bathroom.

I have just received some rubber insulation material today to encase the whole pipe and am hoping this will significantly reduce heat losses. This same material was fitted as standard to our old Fleetwood caravan and seemed to work well but then again Fleetwood did goes bust!

I do like a warm bathroom !!

Regards

Jim

 

[ANDY_374418504]

Hi Andy,

Got the same problem on our new Swift van regarding heating.

The problem appears to be the blown air pipe to the bathroom goes under the floor for approx 4 metres and although the inner pipe is insulated from the outer pipe the latter still gets quite warm and therefore loses a lot of heat by the time it reaches the bathroom.

I have just received some rubber insulation material today to encase the whole pipe and am hoping this will significantly reduce heat losses. This same material was fitted as standard to our old Fleetwood caravan and seemed to work well but then again Fleetwood did goes bust!

I do like a warm bathroom !!

Regards

Jim

Hi James

Thanks for the reply, where did you get the insulating material from and are you going to fit this yourself or will the dealer do it for you?

Regards

Andy

 

[James_374408700]

Hi Andy,

Got the lagging from WWW.pipelagging.com.

76mm Armaflex in 2 metre lengths.

I have gone for the 'selfseal'.......bit more expensive but the two meeting edges at the slit have adhesive applied to them so all you have to do is slip over the pipe and remove the tear off strip and push together.

The existing pipe clips will not be large enough to accomodate the increase in dia. Either just insulate either side of the clip or cut some thin ally strip and make your own (this is what Fleetwood had done).

I will do the job myself

 

[James_374408700]

Hi Andy,

Got the lagging from WWW.pipelagging.com.

76mm Armaflex in 2 metre lengths.

I have gone for the 'selfseal'.......bit more expensive but the two meeting edges at the slit have adhesive applied to them so all you have to do is slip over the pipe and remove the tear off strip and push together.

The existing pipe clips will not be large enough to accomodate the increase in dia. Either just insulate either side of the clip or cut some thin ally strip and make your own (this is what Fleetwood had done).

I will do the job myself

Andy,

Forgot to say that I got the 13 mm wall thickness.

Regards

Jim

 

[ANDY_374418504]

Andy I have sent you an email - the onboard water pump is also a bit erratic / noisy, is this normal?

Regards

Andy

 

[xtrailman]

Andy

Poor ducted air heating is nothing new, and unless used with a 3kw fire, ie gas, then the ducted air is practically useless.

I use a separate fan heater in the rear shower room.

There should be a diverter valve behind the fire, so you can balance the air flow, front and rear.

If your water leak is below the fridge area, and there is no pipe runs close, then i would say that the water is coming from the fridge, the water is normally collected (on mine) in a small reservoir from which the water should over time evaporate.

This can possibly be seen by removing the outside bottom fridge vent, they are made to be removed.

Regarding the water pump, you should be switching it off a night, otherwise you will get the odd time that it cuts in. Even with the water surge damper fitted.

Check to see if your inboard pump is mounted on rubber feet, this should remove some of the noise/vibration, but you will always hear it, that's why they used to be fitted outside?

 

[charlie_374349329]

Please see my entry re damp in Bailey Ranger and the service I received from Discover !!!!Get it checked at an independent dealer...Theres a good one in Brighouse if you live anywhere nearby

 

[Glenn_5132962]

Is the blow air heating on new caravans really as bad as people on here make out? Is this another retrograde development such as noisy onboard pumps as opposed to silent submersibles? The FanMaster blow air on my 1998 swift is fantastic on electric only. We only ever need to use the gas fire on the coldest of winter trips, ie when its below freezing. The air coming out the ducts is so hot you can hardly put your hand in front. When we go out for the day we hang all our wet towels etc from the mornings showers in the bathroom & by the time we come back they've all been dried. All my ducting is internal in the bed boxes.

 

[James_374408700]

Glenn,

You said it "all my ducting is in the bed boxes"

You have no heat loss at all. All the heat goes inside the van.

There lies the problem with external pipes that are not insulated enough.

I have always found 2kw quite enough to keep things toasty when there is no heat loss.

Jim

 

[ANDY_374418504]

I had absolutely no problem on my Sprite Major 5 even on 1000w let alone 2000w, maybe this had no external ducting (I cant remember), the Charisma definetly has.

I think it is pretty poor that Swift do not insulate the pipes themselves.

Jim, if I follow your advice and insulate the internal piping do you think this will lead to any warramnty issues?

Regards

Andy

 

[James_374408700]

Andy,

I presume you meant External piping.

My philosphy has always been that if I do anything to my van and there is a warranty issue what would an independant expert say about my modification..

I can not see any problems in this modification. But that will be your decision.

It was fine for Fleetwood to use this insulation

Have just completed half the job and the selfseal pipe insulation is brilliant. Have made new saddle clamps to replace the original Truma ones. (B&Q Aluminium sheet cut into 1" strips wrap around and 1 screw either side). Easy!

Jim

 

[SwiftGroup_374327846]

Just to confirm, all our external blown air pipe is insulated,

Andy

 

[xtrailman]

The external heating duct/pipe on my bailey is insulated also, but the heat losses along with the length of the run, make the heating unusable at the start and finnish of the season.

I use the fitted fire on 1kw, with no ducted air, just as a convection heater, and use a domestic fan heater in the rear washroom set at 1kw.

This works for my van, you have to find what suits yours.

 

[James_374408700]

Andy,

Yes the pipe is insulated but only a thin layer of insulation exists between the inner and outer pipes making it almost useless. If it were effective the outside pipe would remain cool. Still this is a step in the right direction so well done Truma.

I presume cost will determine the amount of insulation provided.

Jim

 

[ANDY_374418504]

Andy / Ash

Thanks for your call last week.

As discussed, I went away in the van this weekend to see if what the dealer was saying was correct and unfortunately I am still having problems with the water pump / leak / heating.

I would therefore like to take you up on your kind offer of sending an engineer out to look at my van please.

You have my contact details from my email to you last week.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Regards

Andy

 

[xtrailman]

Andy

Please let us know the outcome.

 

[Heethers]

l find that if l use the Truma heating on electric l set the fan between 1 and 2 setting, the thermostat between 7 and 8 as instructed in caravan manual, any higher fan speed results in look warm air.

NigelH