david lloyd

Mike, I’m not sure exactly where the Eberspacher ECU is located but the second guy who did ours had his laptop plugged in somewhere under the vehicle near the heater itself - think there must be a box or junction. He did say the reading was just over 8v despite there being +12.5v available at the leisure battery and that just isn’t enough to start the heater in diesel mode. Hope you find someone willing and capable. David

It’s quite disheartening Mike - the first Eberspacher repairer we went to with this problem diagnosed low voltage and sold me a pair of new leisure batteries. Next trip out the fault was still there. As I mentioned earlier we found another Eberspacher repairer near where we were staying and this guy proved to be more thorough. He used a laptop to interrogate the heaters ECU for an error code which came up as low 12v feed. Further investigation revealed the poor six way connector next to the leisure batteries and once this was removed and the wiring to the Combitronic connected direct to the batteries all was fine and had remained so. They may very well be correct saying the unit itself is too old to repair but my example shows the fault was nothing to do with the unit. The first Eberspacher agent was a large auto electrician’s but the second traded mostly on regassing air conditioning - just goes to show some people are not onlY more capable but are also more interested in solving a customers problem. David

They sound similar to the readings on mine with just the solar panel feeding them. My starter will go down to 12.5v as it doesn’t automatically get any of solar feed but I can switch the panel between starter or leisure when on EHU so am able to keep all topped up. David

“the policy is loaded” seems a particularly apt phrase when it comes to insurance! David

Me too Keith. I was shocked - my insurers, Caravan Guard, increased the premium by £69 then wanted £90 for European cover (which was always included prior to Brexit) and another £70 for European breakdown. After a search C&MC came in with best price at £80 cheaper than CG including European cover. Their breakdown cover is quite expensive though so, as I was renewing my wife’s car breakdown insurance (£19) with Britannia Rescue, I asked for a quote for European cover on the motorhome. The nice lady advised that if I change my policy to cover both of us travelling in any vehicle it would come to £37! And cover the motorhome in Europe. Bargain. Talking about timing though, Martin Lewis advises not to wait until renewal time to get quotes as the nearer the date the more it increases. This was born out with my C&MC website quote which had risen by £30 just a couple of days later when I went to take it out. But their website states quotes are valid for 30 days so a call to them confirmed they would do it for the original Price quoted. David

Insurers are always going to win aren’t they? Some policies undertake to pay out for the full value if a replacement if written off in the first year or maybe two but, after that, their normal T&C’s usually only undertake to pay market value! David

Your circumstances raise a particular question. We have had (new) vehicles in the past that the insurers have insisted were fitted with tracker systems before they would provide cover. I was led to believe this requirement was usually based on the value of the vehicle - in my case it was over their threshold of £70,000 - I did say at the time we’ll adjust the value to £69,950 but they said that as I had already declared it to be the higher figure that would have to be the sum insured. Our 2006 Pioneer Renoir does not (and did not need to have) a tracker fitted for insurance purposes but, if we still had the Hymer, I wonder at what point the monitored tracker system would no longer be a requirement as the value fell over the years. Simply put, Robinhood, if you are only fitting it as a requirement for insurance purposes is that still the case six years on? David

And also well done for persevering not many do that either but glad it has worked out well for you. David

Having recently experienced an unnecessary activation of my autonomous emergency braking system on my MG4 EV it’s one thing I would definitely ditch. With a car following (too close it has to be said) I consider it more dangerous than my own intuition of when to brake in an emergency. Others are correct though. When it comes to resale most of the goodies in the pack would help seal the deal at a better price. David

As Derek says, interesting MoT history of this is the same motorhome. I have never thought about doing such a check but it does give an interesting insight. Failed in 2013, 2017 and 2023. Not particularly bad in itself but, in that time span (2013 - 2024) it had only done 5000 miles and doesn’t seem to have been in for MOT between July 2019 and August 2023 so been stood a while. David

Just for more info Mike, there was a thread on here by Kevin915 dated 7 April 2023 (sorry, not sure how to post link but if you use the search facility using kevin915 you will find it) in which he had trouble getting his water to heat on a 2005 Autocruise Starburst and this did indeed turn out to be the black Duco thermostatic valve. He was looking for a replacement but there was no update to say how he got on. David

Mike, although you can select either heating, hot water or both using the buttons for heating and water at the top of your panel the temp selected will be the same for both. This is set using the up/down arrows when you have any of the heating modes on your display. We have not found this to be a problem as the actual temp of the water at the tap can be regulated by using the mixer facility - even on the shower head. As you say, there is a thermostatic control on the hot water tank but I believe this works in the same way - that is, whatever it is set at that is the same for heating or water. So, set the thermostat on the tank at the temp you would like the hot water at (bearing in mind you can use the mixer taps to regulated how hot it is at the sink or shower) then use the temp setting on the control panel to set the heating temp inside the van. Ours is not particularly accurate and we find that if the panel is set at 26c for the heating the blower usually switches off with the van at a comfortable 18c - you just need to experiment till you find what suits you. I think that if you set the water temp too low on the tank thermostat it just takes longer for the heating to get up to temp inside the van. It’s probably also worth mentioning that our system has had what looks like a domestic (Honeywell) thermostat fitted at some time. Not sure why but it may be that the black Duco knob I think you are referring to either stopped functioning or does not operate well. The replacement has easy to read settings - currently at 60c as you will see in the picture. Hope all this helps. David

You might also try O’Leary Motorhomes near Beverley East Yorkshire who deal with caravan/motorhome spare. They usually purchase surplus stock from converters when models are superseded. There is also Magnum Motorhomes based in Lincolnshire but they deal more with Autotrail parts and generic fittings. David

Designers eh? I was going to suggest the easiest resolution may be to tee off the black warm air duct and fix this to a (flapped) outlet at or near the base of the offside sofa facing into the aisle. Certainly this is the most oft seen place for a heater outlet on this layout. But, I now see that the bed base is constructed in such a way that the entire front lifts up with the bed base to access inside the locker beneath - which makes it easier to access whatever is in the locker but the traditional drop down flap would have allowed a heater outlet to one side of it. David

Just to clarify Mike, as far as I know the 240v works like a domestic water cylinder element - there is a short element inside the calorifier - but this does rely on signals from the 12v control panel to switch it on/off. If there is a voltage drop to the control panel (and the constant recycling of the panel on start up was a symptom I had) then this could be the reason for it not operating on 240v. Just one other point, my 240v side is wired into a fused spur near the Eberspacher unit under the bed - if yours is it may also be worth checking that fuse. Hope you get sorted. David

Mike, my 2006 Pioneer Renoir has a Combitronic system. Firstly, the hot water calorifier is filled from the fresh water system. After (or whilst) you fill the water tank switch the pump on and open the hot taps in turn - this will draw water into the calorifier. The tap will spurt a little initially but gradually run properly. The hot tank is now full. I also had a problem with the Combitronic not firing up and took it to an Eberspacher service agent who found poor 12v supply and recommended new leisure batteries. On our next trip out the fault recurred and, as I was near another Eberspacher service agent, took it in again. He also found poor 12v supply which was obviously not the batteries but traced it to a faulty connector block at the leisure batteries which supplied the Combitronic panel. This connector was removed and the wiring fitted directly to the batteries - I have had no further issues with it starting up on either diesel or 240v. Just to add that the 240v side also depends on a good 12v supply to the control panel. If your batteries are in good condition I would next check any joints/connections along the 12v supply. Hope this helps, David

I didn’t get any such service from the main Peugeot dealer who twice diagnosed my motorhome starter problems without managing to find the true cause. Incidentally, the ‘old’ battery they did surmise must be duff is still holding 12.5v in my garage after over 12 months with just a top up charge every 3 months or when I can remember! David

Like Tracker we used Duvalay over recent years but prior to that comfortable full size sleeping bags. In our two berth (side settees) we use the mattress topper part of the duvalay with the sleeping bag on top as we find the bags much warmer in winter. Bedding is quite bulky so we leave our bedding in place on the settees but with a cover over to keep them clean and the whole thing keeps the upholstery in good condition too. David

For what it’s worth I hope they don’t fold as, out of the two main clubs, their local district organisations organise Temporay Holiday Sites in some pretty good places. Fairly priced, no frills, no need to book (usually), perhaps the nearest thing we will get to ‘freedom‘ camping in this country. David

Brian, I’m not sure when Euro 5 came in but my Pioneer Renoir is a 2006 and Euro 3. Globebuster’s brother in law has a budget of £5k - £6k (although Globebuster has been looking at MH’s around the £10k mark). My Renoir is in the £20 - £25k price band so he may struggle with the budget for a Euro 5 model? David

Buying from a dealer is not everyone’s first choice due to the higher prices but, they often do get older Motorhomes in p/x which they usually pass into trade immediately to recoup the small amount (relatively) they laid out in it. Many of these are often well looked after by long time motorhomers who only buy from dealers and is less likely to be a scam. If you make contact with some dealers with your requirements they may very well be prepared to sell at a better price than they would get in the trade. It may very well be that there is limited or no warranty but that would be true of buying private. Sometimes worth keeping all options open. Good luck with the search. David

John, it has not been mentioned but, while you are contemplating which batteries to replace the Banners with, you may also wish to consider whether you want to carry on with flooded batteries that require regular checking and topping up (many Banner batteries are of this type) or now go for a maintenance free type such as Varta or Yuasa - I have used both and had excellent results. I once had a vehicle with the leisure batteries beneath the front seats. Could often smell battery fumes and investigating further found them to be Banner wet acid but the only way to top them up was to remove the seats. Never used Banner since. David

I’m not sure of any factual evidence but it would not be implausible for the Management Committee to delegate responsibility to the (paid) management team for making day to day decisions on such things as sponsorship which may not be questioned until or unless something went wrong. Any Msnagement Committee would then likely ask pointed questions. I think this whole issue feeds into the general feeling that the Club is operating as a business rather than a members Club. David

Think your perception is spot on Rich. A clear example of how the Club could really benefit motorhomers in particular is to invest in creating an aire de service adjoining the sites just for nomadic motorhomers and even install LPG dispensing pumps (many sites already use bulk LPG to heat facilities) for those with bulk tanks. Even businesses like dealerships realise the business case for doing so. Instead, the Club has stopped stocking even bottled gas at many sites - this was a benefit organised and operated by the site wardens rather than the Club so I am unclear what the motivation for that was? Health and Safety? The aire proposal runs counter to their main objective of filling every available pitch with caravans or Motorhomes and charging as high a price as the market will stand. It seems though, that even this strategy may not be working for either of the main clubs. I received a code from CAMC for a free night stay if booked before 31 December last year so my four night stay at York is only £115 instead of a mighty £154. And, as I mention above the site is only half full. Both clubs are offering up to 40% discounts for things like midweek stays etc so why the sudden clamour to sell pitches? As you may gather, my personal view is running the enterprise as a business is nit working as well as running it as a club for members by members. David

Think I’ll just stick to what I’ve done for over 25 years and drain down between trips or, if the next trip is not too long away, leave a form of low heating in the MH. Never been tempted to put any form of chemicals in the fresh tank. David