autocruise wentworh wash room

[penny]

Does anyone have any idea where i might get a replacement washroom sink unit (top part only) for my autocruise wentworth, 2001 model? Seems swift, new owners of autocruise are no longer suppoeting spares for my van.

[Terrytraveller]

Hi Penny,

 

Might help if you can display a photo of the sink, lay a tape measure across the sink top when you take the photo.

 

I have the Autocruise Stargazer and its the same flimsy sink top as the Starfire and a few other models by Autocruise, but may be different for the Wentworth.

 

Regards Terry

[lizken]

Hi Penny

I think all Autocruise washroom fittings were supplied by Cirencester Plastics, so a call to them may help.

If I am correct, please let me know, as I may need one for my Valentine, one day.

Regards

Ken

[Derek Uzzell]

Penny:

 

It's quite possible, even if Autocruise had not fallen on hard times and been taken over by Swift, that the factory would not have been able to supply the washroom spare parts you need for your Wentworth. This type of item can be notoriously hard to come by, as it is often custom made in small batches for a particular motorhome model and, once that model has ceased production and time has passed, all original stock will have been exhausted.

 

Cirencester Plastics have certainly provided bathroom-related plastic products to several UK motorhome manufacturers, so, as Ken advises, this company should be your first port of call. Their website is:

 

http://www.cirencesterplastics.co.uk/

 

If all else fails, Cirencester Plastics offer a bespoke service that should be able to reproduce the parts you need, but this would be expensive.

 

(Caravan Accessories (CAK) Tanks Ltd (advert in MMM) offer a variety of sinks, though the photos in the CAK catalogue strongly suggest that these are Cirencester Plastics products.)

 

If you can do as Terry suggests and provide a photo of what you need, then that's bound to be helpful to anyone you get in touch with.

[ron.]

Interesting thread this, as I've just discovered hairline cracks around the plug hole of our washroom sink in our new Autocruise Starburst. I was thinking that I might have problems getting it repaired under warranty (it's always our fault isn't it) but it sounds from the posts that it is a known Autocruise weakness.

 

Problem with the Starburst is that the sink is part of the complete wall unit and the thought of the entire wall having to be removed and replaced by your average dealer is not appealing. I've read somewhere that plastics can be welded these days. Anybody know if this extends to items such as sinks, whilst still making a neat job of it? Unlikely, I know, but .....

[trigrem]

This may not apply in rons case but I remember reading somewhere that certain chemical mouthwashers should not be used in plastic sinks of the type used in motorhomes. They evidently cause cracks to appear around the plughole

[Derek Uzzell]

trigrem:

 

I think this 'mouthwash' thing is a semi-urban myth (or perhaps it's an urban semi-myth?)

 

If I remember correctly, it was first mentioned in MMM "Interchange" some years back, when a Hymer owner wrote in to say that the washbasin in his motorhome had cracked not just once but three times. Brownhills were flummoxed and had replaced each failed basin under warranty but had now said "Enough is enough and, if it happens again, you'll have to fork out for the repair costs." The owner's wife had then noticed on the labels of the bottles of mouthwash they were accustomed to use a warning that it could damage certain types of plastic material. They had concluded that this was the cause of the cracking.

 

Now, if my memory serves me right, Interchange's editor George Collings made little comment about this conclusion and I thought at the time that there was a definite whiff of scepticism in the air. (As GC occasionally contributes to this forum nowadays, he may wish to shoot me down on this!)

 

I have seen similar warnings on mouthwash containers myself, but I'm very dubious that, unless left in a plastic washbasin in a concentrated solution, mouthwash could cause real harm. Unsurprisingly, I've not got much practical knowledge of what motorcaravanners get up to in the privacy of their motorhomes' washrooms, but I always flush the washbasin well with plenty of clean water after I've spat the mouthwash into it and I've assumed other people are similarly fastidious.

 

My own feeling is that leisure-vehicle washroom fittings formed from lightweight thermoplastic materials are just plain crack-prone, particularly when the gauge of plastic is thin at a heavily-stressed area (like a basin's plug-hole). And, if the connection between washbasin and water system is made by someone muscled like King Kong, then that probably won't help either.

 

Ron:

 

Regarding welding plastic washbasins, it might be worth having a word with a motorcycle dealership as they are likely to have experience with invisible repairs to the expensive plastic bits that festoon modern bikes. Bit doubtful that the thin plastic of a washbasin could be successfully welded, but repairs to a plastic shower-tray were mentioned recently. See:

 

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=12533&posts=4

[ron.]

Good point Derek regarding our motorcycle friends, I'll have a word and then decide which way to jump.

 

Probably best if I could get it back to Autocruise themselves but I fear all has changed in that neck of the woods. Several changes they had agreed to do whilst converting, fitting a normal fresh water filling unit, a more central rear panel window, etc, went begging when Swift took over.

 

It can't be mouthwash in our case Trigrem as we don't use the stuff - much prefer a good wine for that sort of thing!

[Terrytraveller]

I bought a new Autocruise Starfire in 2001, frequently cleaned the grey plastic washbasin with Pledge furniture polish. After 12 months and using a magnifying glass, I noticed the washbasin crazed over the entire surface.

 

At work – operators on the machines I serviced cleaned the Perspex windows with Pledge, these windows crazed over in about 12 months too.

 

In 2003 I exchanged the Starfire for a new Stargazer which has an identical sink, I cleaned the washbasin with Dettol which has isopropyl alcohol as the active ingredient. Dettol with isopropyl alcohol has not damaged the sink in four years in the Stargazer, so I consider it safe to use. I am not sure whether isopropyl alcohol is now used in Dettol, the label on my bottle doesn’t list it under that name, but still use it with good results and no damage.

 

I know from many years of using isopropyl alcohol (stocked by many chemists) on different plastics and paints, including the plastic headlamp lenses, car paintwork, will do no harm to many materials and/or surfaces.

 

It would be interesting to know what everyone else uses to clean the motorhome plastics and how long they have been using the cleaner. Crazing of plastic surfaces in the early stages, may not be seen unless the surface is examined under strong light and a magnifying glass is used.

 

Regards Terry

 

 

[ron.]

We only use neutral detergents (i.e. a chemically safe grade of washing-up liquid) for cleaning in and out of our motorhomes. I know that it takes time and patients but if done early and often it works - and is safe.

 

As you have discovered Terry, some of the contents of seemingly quite mild products leave a lot to be desired. Even worse, the current trend for the unscrupulous is to market super-duper products which contain little more than watered down industrial strengh chemicals. The problem is that the ill effects only show up over the course of time, when your surface coatings go flat, graze, etc.

 

Work on the basis that if a product is not neutral (around 4.0 - 7.5 on the PH scale if I remember correctly) then it will contain a variable degree of risk.

[Trev F G]

The blistering and subsequent cracking of vacuum formed vanity basins by certain mouthwashes is not an urban myth.

My letter was published in MMM may 2008 on this subject. The damaging mouthwash is Dentyl ph alcohol-free; the container bears an ambiguous warning which was originally "avoid contact with polystyrene" and is now "aviod contact with any plastic" which is the ambiguity because the container is plastic.

I have replaced the basin of my Autocruise Starquest four times and have replaced the shower tray with a bespoke glass reinforced plastic one.

The cracking of the shower tray was probably caused by a chemical cleaner.I now use washing up liquid or Fenwick's Motorhome cleaner having been assured by their Materials Scientist that the product is suitable.

If anyone is interested in the shower mould let me know.

[penny]

:-> thanks Terry, am following up Cirencester Plastics lead, very promising!

[penny]

penny - 2008-08-03 4:27 PM

 

Does anyone have any idea where i might get a replacement washroom sink unit (top part only) for my autocruise wentworth, 2001 model? Seems swift, new owners of autocruise are no longer suppoeting spares for my van.

Thanks to all who responded to my plea, The Cirencester Plastics lead is promising and hopefuuly will be able supply a replacement. Thanks also for the 'mouthwash' info' - although not responsable for my problem will be aware for the future.

Ron,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Pennys owner!