Will haveing under floor gas tank affect warranty.

[Zydeco Joe]

Am in the process of having a under floor gas tank fitted and just wondered if this could in any way effect my warranty. The gas is not for the engine but just the normal cooking heating etc, Will not be fitting it myself. The van has the payload to have the weight of the tank just feel we need it for the longer trips we do like 3 months in Spain for the winter. Had the van a Carado T135 new this May. Any body on here had a tank fitted and if yes how are you doing with it. Think the extra space created by not having bottles in the gas locker would be a asset as the van is only 6 meters. The fridge looks like it uses a lot more than the last one did on a Auto Trail Tracker EKS a 2005 model, the new fridge is bigger but not by a lot but does use more gas and feels like its on a lot longer than the old one hence the use of more gas. Plus the cheaper re fill plus calor being only available in the UK. We do use a French Le Cube that is easy to change in France were we spend more time than the UK. B-)

[rupert123]

Not wishing to be rude but how the hell can anyone except the maker answer this one. Why not just phone them?

[Zydeco Joe]

I just wondered if and I'm sure many other people have gone this route with under floor tanks and to see how they got on but as you say I will phone them Monday just asking that's all. Thanks for your input.

[rupert123]

Zydeco Joe - 2018-09-22 2:06 PM

 

I just wondered if and I'm sure many other people have gone this route with under floor tanks and to see how they got on but as you say I will phone them Monday just asking that's all. Thanks for your input.

 

It bears no relation to your question but we had an underfloor tank fitted as standard equipment on our autosleeper panel van and it worked very well. The idea is a good one, we have had refillable cylinders since 2008 and would not be without them, good luck with your inquiry.

[Derek Uzzell]

Zydeco Joe

 

You should have a Fiat Motorhome Warranty booklet that defines the warranty’s tems and conditions.

 

My Ducato’s warranty booklet says

 

“The Warranty does not cover faults or malfunctions caused, wholly or partly, or aggravatrd by...modification of the Motorhome without the prior authorisation of the base Manufacturer”.

 

and it’s quite possible that the Carado warranty will have some sort of similar caveat.

 

As there’s no way that Fiat can easily gauge the potential effect on the Ducato base-vehicle of what whoever installs the gas-tank does, it would be optimistic to expect that Fiat would ‘authorise’ any modification that is not carried out by a Fiat Professional agent who has sought advice from Fiat beforehand. Similarly with the Carado warranty - it’s unlikely that any significant change to the conversion would be authorised by Carado unless the modification were done by a Carado dealership with Carado having agreed that it was acceptable.

 

Modifications (DIY or by professionals) are often made to under-warranty motorhomes that MIGHT impact adversely on the base-vehicle (eg. alterations to the electrical system) or on the conversion (adding sat-tv dishes, solar panels, awnings, tow-bar, etc.) Any of these could have a negative effect and it’s probable that few (if any) of the changes have prior authorisation from the base-vehicle manufacturer and/or the motorhome converter.

 

Fitting a gas-tank to a Carado T135 is bound to require changes to the gas system that was installed at the conversion stage, so - were there to be a resultant problem - it’s probable that the Carado warranty rather than the Fiat warranty might be involved.

 

Frankly, I believe you would be wasting your time asking Carado or Fiat about what effect fitting a gas-tank might have on their warranties (and whether they would OK the work). Realistically, the choice is either to not have a tank installed or rely on whatever guarantee the firm that does the installation work provides. You might want to contact your insurance provider about adding the the gas-tank - I doubt they’d care, but it would be best you ask them.

 

I hesitate to say this, but photos of the Carado T135 model suggest that its gas-locker is relatively small (2 x German 11kg bottles at best?) with a narrowish door. Will you really gain sufficient extra stowage space by freeing up the gas-locker to merit the cost of fitting an underfloor tank? I would have thought that carrying a 11kg user-refillable bottle in the locker (with perhaps a small Calor canister or your Le Cube container as an emergency back-up) would be a significantly less expensive approach with less risk of potential warranty-related issues.

[Zydeco Joe]

Thanks Derek for your reply.

As you say its not a large locker but we think it would take things like ramps, electric lead, small outside stove and spare gas for this, plus things like the small bag of tools I carry etc that would free up space in the garage that again is not massive but far bigger than we had in the Tracker. By not putting the ramps in the garage it gives space by the locker door to hang shoes up that we see in many a larger van and shoes do take a lot of space.

Was going to contact Ins Company think like you say they will not be bothered but you never know till you ask. But we are still a little reticent to take this step and are unsure but would like to be able to use re fillable bottles or a tank. Did think about what you say about using one 11Kg refillable plus the Le Cube that we can change in France. Many thanks for your input.

:-S

[colin]

You might want to read this on cars.

https://www.autotrader.com/car-shopping/buying-car-does-your-warranty-cover-modifications-224816

 

As I see it, if the fitting of the gas tank could be shown to have caused water ingress or corrosion where the fitting bolt throu parts on the van, or if a gas leak was shown to be caused by it, then you wouldn't be covered. If on the other hand a warranty claim is unrelated to the gas tank fitting you should be covered. But I'm no lawyer.

[Brock]

I'd say yes it will affect your warranty from the manufacturer whether Carado or Fiat but they would need to prove the tank has contributed to the warranty claim.

 

As an example, when I had a TV aerial fitted to the roof of my Hymer, it was made clear to me by the Hymer dealer that the water ingress warranty would not cover damp in the area where the aerial was fitted on the roof and the inside locker. The dealer was not seeking to do the installation; it was simply answering my question.

 

I would say you have to inform your insurer - it is very clear in my Comfort policy that I have to tell them about modifications.

 

[Derek Uzzell]

Zydeco Joe - 2018-09-22 5:59 PM

 

Thanks Derek for your reply.

As you say its not a large locker but we think it would take things like ramps, electric lead, small outside stove and spare gas for this, plus things like the small bag of tools I carry etc that would free up space in the garage that again is not massive but far bigger than we had in the Tracker. By not putting the ramps in the garage it gives space by the locker door to hang shoes up that we see in many a larger van and shoes do take a lot of space...

 

:-S

 

The T135’s rear garage (photo attached) must be quite deep as it extends beneath the bed.

 

I’ve seen the inner face of the garage door used to carry a set of ‘shoe pockets’ and the photos on this French forum website

 

https://www.escapades-nature-camping-car.fr/forum/viewtopic.php?t=943

 

show a pair of quite large levelling ramps hung on the inside of the garage door of a Rapido 640F (like mine) with modifications having been made to carry a pair of folding bikes on a slide-out arrangement.

 

I’ve double-floored my Rapido’s garage and I carry a rolled up cab-glass insulating screen in the lower section. The upper floor carries 4 load-spreading mats (for use when the groubd might be soft), a folding table and a pair of folding chairs. The garage’s rear wall carries a pair of levelling ramps (vertically just inside the door), a 25m and a 10m hook-up cable, and a cassetted water hose - all of these are in bags that hang from hooks or are retained by straps. The garage’s front wall carries a spare wheel with tyre and right at the front of the garage is an oblong bucket that holds a 10 litre water container for rinsing the WC cassette if water is not available when the cassette is emptied. I’ve considered adding a ‘loft conversion’ in the garage, but I’ve never been able to decide what I’d use it for.

 

As will be seen from the photos on the French website, the 640F model has lots of places where stuff can be stored if some thought is given as to what can go where, and I expect that would be true of a T135. You may have to do some ‘pruning’ of what you’ve carried in the past (I replaced the enormous Milenco Quattro ramps that I rarely used with shorter ramps that would fit tidily in the garage) but you really should be able to carry all the stuff you mention above without resorting to freeing up the gas-locker by fitting an under-floor gas tank.

[weldted]

We have a 2012 Elddis Aspire, fitted underfloor 55 litre (44 cap) tank, only warranty issue was then the thetford fridge may not be covered re any gas problems if running on auto gas. Tank bolted to chassis connected to existing piping under van so no holes drilled through floor. Fitted inline filter before regulator all fine. Locker that previously held two 6kg bottles now has second battery, ramps, hook up cable, jumper leads, tow rope, bottle jack, spare toilet fluid, oil, screen wash, car shampoo & polish as we are away uph to six months at a time the extra space is great. Phoned insurance to inform them no extra charge.