Lunar Lexon Shower Cubicle Split

[Richard_374245576]

I've got a 2010 Lunar Sussex Donnington, a special edition version of the Lunar Lexon SE with the rear washroom. I've just used it for the first time this year and noticed a horizontal split in the shower cubicle. It is at approx thigh height and starts at a fixing screw behind the shower door and extends right along one side of the shower cubicle - the side fitted along the rear of the van. I've contacted my dealer and triggered a warranty claim.

Anyone else had experience of this and how would it be fixed. It looks like the shower cubicle is one complete moulding so the whole thing should be replaced - but how can the repairer get the cubicle in there. The washroom door is not wide enough ?

Any thoughts ?

 

[Bay343]

Richard, I would be very interested to know how you have got on with your shower cubicle split.? I have just returned from a week away and I have exactly the same issue. My van is a 2010 Lunar Quasar 546 (triple bunk, side bathroom).No split at the beginning of week and then saw what I thought was a scratch which turned out to be a split about waist height right through one of the shower side panels. No one has used the shower this week which I cant understand. Nothing has been dropped against it, nothing is stored against it so Im at a loss as to how this has happened. There is quite a void behind this panel, as it is only 'spot' glued to the outer wall of the van, could it be down to expansion with the warm weather be a stress fracture? Have contacted my dealer but no one available untill after the weekend so ill have to ring on Tuesday

 

[Richard_374245576]

I'll certainly let you know how I get on although I am suffering the same frustration as yourself - no one can deal untill after the holiday.

My theory is that as the split starts at a fixing screw on the door frame the cubicle was slightly damaged at that point bwhen it was installed. Perhaps the screw hole wasn't big enough or it was not lined up properly. Anyway I think the split could have suddenly extended when I went over a bump - a bit like a chip in a windscreen can suddenly develop into a crack.

Let's keep each other informed so we can compare........

 

[DerekBrad]

The repair of a shower cubicle was, in my case, straightforward (for the technician who did it) He simply cut to size (full wall) a sheet of the white plastic and then fixed it it over the split panel with double sided adhesive tape, then went all round the edges with a pure white sealant. Excellent job and difficult to spot.Since yours will be covered by warranty you'll have no bother, but just out of interest for other caravanners, my warranty work was carried out at the storage site by: www.plastic-shower-specialists.com . I too had wondered how a complete cubicle could be positioned but soon saw how the professionals get over problems ! Hope you get sorted ok
Regards Derek

 

[GeorgeandAde]

I too have noticed a horizontal crack in my shower cubicle.
Its a 2009 Bailey Pageant Sancerre.
Noticed it the weekend before last when I brought the van home to wash and polish it.
As you walk into the shower cubicle,its on the left hand side,about waist height and is about 18inches long.
Cant for the life of me figure out how it happened as there is nothing stored in the cubicle,in fact,we only bought it last September and only used it once for 3 days.
Never even used the shower.Used the site facilities.
I have taken some pictures of it and will visit the dealer this week to try and sort it out.
As we always use site facilities and have a lot of short breaks booked between now and September,I will try to talk them into having the van in to repair it at the end of September.
Not sure how they will respond to that though.
Adrian

 

[Richard_374245576]

Adrian

Sounds as though your split is in the same place as mine. does yours by any chance start at a fixing screw ?

Richard

 

[GeorgeandAde]

Hi Richard.
Mine starts either side of the (I think it looks like a toothbrush cup holder)and travells about 12-15 inches either side.
Will post a picture although its not too clear and its taken looking down.
I have noticed on another forum that someone had the same problem.The repair was carried out by "cold welding" the split.Not sure if that could be done to ours or not.
Adrian/sites/practicalcaravan.com/files/images/003%20%282%29_0.JPG

 

[DerekBrad]

Adrian, The answers to your questions concerning shower repairs are in my previous post on the same subject !!
I would certainly not accept a weld of the actual split ! Get the job done properly. Stop worrying...it's a simple repair.
Regards
Derek

 

[emmitdb]

Greetings,
If only to allay worries re the shower cubicle, on the last Lunar we had before this one, we had a crack develop in the shower side wall.
Under warranty, Lunar sent a techie down from Hull ( I think it was Thomsons but can't be sure) and he replaced/recovered the offending side with a new panel and then masticed around not only that panel but the whole of the shower compartment edges. (The seams were going slightly 'yellow'
When he had completed the job, the shower looked as good as new.

 

[xtrailman]

Having read the above, i will be looking at removing the unused "cup" holder from our shower.
We always use the shower, but find the holder useless.

In our old senator we had a built in moulding under the shower, which also acted as a access plate for the shower connections, we used that all the time.

 

[Heethers]

If you look back in January's posts we had the same problem caused by a staple that was protruding through the hard board, our dealer and Lunar did the job under warranty no problem. It seems that the who ever fitted the wall board on the back of our 2010 Clubman SE missed the wood, consequently when towing the staple was in contact with the plastic causing it to split, looks like other manufactures work force can not take proper care when assembling caravans. The repair was done by a specialist company renowned for shower repairs, may even be them that make them, either way they did an excellent job.Looking at the posts from Lunar owners it seems the technicians need retraining has l have been assured by our dealer this is the cause of the showers splitting
NigelH

 

[GeorgeandAde]

Cant really see the need for a cup holder in the shower cubicle.....soap dish yes....but a cup holder?
A "tinny holder"now that would be a different story....ha ha.
Thanks for all the advice.
Keep records of all correspondence,insist on a proper repair.(might even ask them not to replace the cup holder afterwards).
As the split has appeared behind this,it could be the cause of it and may possibly happen again as Heethers mentioned about technicians workmanship.
Adrian

 

[Richard_374245576]

Lunar are sending some-one to repair tomorrow...........

I'll report when it is done.

 

[GeorgeandAde]

Called into my local Bailey dealer today and have arranged with the dealer to investigate the split when I take it in for its annual service on June 20th.
I too,will report back here on what the outcome is.
Oh......I was informed by the receptionist that the "cup holder" fixed to the wall in the shower is actually a soapdish holder which fits into the holder.(didnt think of that)

Adrian

 

[Richard_374245576]

Guy from Hull arrived at my home yesterday morning and made a super job of fitting a complete new rear wall to the shower. Drilled the end of the split first to prevent it extending. He agreed that the split, emanating from a door screw fixing, was caused by screwing through the shower wall without pre-drilling.

Seems this guy spends about three days a week on the road mending shower walls and trays. Absolutely astounding that Lunar is willing to pay for this rather than improve their installation practices.

 

[GeorgeandAde]

Hi Richard.
Glad youve now got it sorted.
Is the wall of your shower cubicle in one piece,or 3 seperate pieces + the door?(mine is all one piece).
I think mine has been caused by the soap dish which is screwed onto the rear wall.
When I take it in to be fixed,I am going to ask them not to replace the dish holder afterwards.
I will buy a suction type dish incase it happens again.
Adrian

 

[Steve L]

The old saying "spoiling the ship for an apath of tar" comes to mind.
But this isn't a joke for you poor sods who have shell'd out thousands on a new caravan. Fortunately warrantee's cover the event.
As a process technician and engineer, it never suprises me that manufacturers turn a blind eye to a production fault rather than "bastardise" (jargon for make a bulletproof plan) the process. That's mainly down to the fact that they would then have to do a product recall which has a detramental affect on future sales. You see, nobody remembers the good things that happen but if you make a mistake, it takes years to win back confidence. Just think about the "leaky lunar" jibe back in the 70's and 80's or the best one was Jerald Rattner who famously branded one of his own products "total crap" while on television.

I had to repair the shower tray in my Abbey Freestyle 18 months ago. It was not covered by a warrantee, so I had to do a DIY fix as a new shower tray was both too expensive and too difficult to fit while still living in the van.

I had to cut the rim of the tray away from the toilet plinth to avoid a total strip down of the rear of the caravan. Having got the tray out, I could see the cause of the two 200mm long splits in the ridges of the tray floor. The high density foam pad had collapsed and didn't support the floor profile. I glassfibre'd the splits and an area 100mm around them to add strength. then I bonded the foam pad with silicon sealant to the tray base. Because all the work was hidden on the underside of the tray you have to get on your knee's to see the fine crack line. It was a big job that took 3 days to do, but was worthwhile in the end because it is still 100% fixed todate, and considering we are full timing, that is a lot of use after repair. I would guess that I have done a 10 year repair based on general touring use.
My philosophy is that if it's broke, you haven't got anything to loose by having a go to fix it, but a whole lot of knowledge to learn and a heap of money saved in your pocket.

I fixed mine for £15 of glassfibre kit from halfords and 6 tubes of everbuild 336 mastic that I had lying around. Compare that to £128 for a new tray and about £200 to fit and you'll see what i mean.

 

[Heethers]

Steve you are correct. If Lunar monitors this forum which l think they should their is a simple fix, retrain your guys in the use of the pneumatic staple gun, bound to save you pounds in the long run as its the staples missing the frame work that’s causing you the problem when they miss the frame work and don’t remove them they protrude through and touch the skin of the shower eventually after towing they crack the skin from continuous vibration on the shower, ask the company that has to repair them for their report, come on Lunar its not rocket science. If PC asked for the report from the dealers on this failure and printed it, Lunar would soon do something about it but advertising revenue springs to mind. If this was a safety problem like the wheels falling off the caravans it soon would be highlighted in the Magazine’s and something done about it. Mine is fine now after it had a full side replaced but the inconvenience and the cost of taking it to the dealer was not what l expected from a 19k van less than 8months old.
Whinge over
NigelH

 

[craigstaiano]

We had a similar problem with our Lunar Lexon 530 and thats a 2011 model and we'd only used it a few times. Plastic showers fixed it but i quite agree with previous posts that this should be nipped in the bud at the manufacture stage

 

[GeorgeandAde]

Just an update on my shower wall split.
Took it in for its annual service yesterday and collected it today.
I did inform them that we always use the site facilities and providing the work was eventually carried out,we were not in any hurry.
Anyway,collected it and they told me that they have done a temporary repair for now and (with mutual agreement)will have the van back on 26th September(after all our main holidays are over)to completely replace the shower wall under warranty.
Job done

Well...almost.
Adrian

 

[Heethers]

You don't need to take to the dealers the company that does the repair for Lunar under warranty will come to your home and do the repair.
NigelH

 

[GeorgeandAde]

Thank you Nigel.
Just wondering if Bailey may agree to do the same,although it isnt a repair but a complete new pvc panel to be installed around the 3 sides.
Adrian

 

[JohnnyV]

Hi,
We have a 2009 Lunar Delta TL and the side panel on the shower split horizontally in April - when I spoke with the dealer he said that they had had 4 x more the previous week - our shower has no screws it is a plain panel - I wondered if it was a stress crack caused possibly by the extremely cold weather followed by the very hot weather in April, along with the movement caused whilst towing. The dealer thought that this might be a possibility as all of the vans seemed to have the problem at the same time - maybe a duff batch of plastic.
They are arranging for the panel to be replaced by the manufacturers via Lunar under warranty.
regards
Jon