malcy Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 I went looking at a starburst yesterday (2008) & came away scratching my head.The truma heating & hot water system seemed to be capable of working off both gas & elec at the same time i.e. part gas part elec to varying degrees, or just gas or elec.The water filler cap incorporated a carbon filter & had to be filled by a form of suction pump, I think? It could also be filled with a hose direct from a tap through a fussy looking inlet all of which left me a bit flummoxed. I,m thinking at this stage that there may be two many bells & whistles on this van for my liking or am I just out of touch. One other thing. It didn,t have a space heater which begs the question of what battery capacity would be best suited to keep these systems running,the battery was sat in & filled a dedicated recessed box set into the floor. Does this mean a second leisure battery is not feasible? We mix & match on our travels sometimes using club sites & C.Ls. & sometimes wild camping. Have any of you experienced difficulties away from ehu & if so after what period of time? If any of you can shed any light on any of these matters I would be grateful for as you may have guessed by now I am a bit of a dinosaur in anything 21st century,though I do still have my own teeth. :D One more thing how do you get an emoticon into your script,as you can see I chose one with smiley teeth & I got :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 Not sure why you should be "flummoxed" by the heating and water systems on a Starburst, as you've described them accurately in your first paragraph. Truma combination air/water heaters tend, by their very nature, to be hard on 12V power, so, if you plan to be static for long periods in cold weather, you'll need plenty of leisure-battery capacity. Impossible really to say how long you could go without recharging the battery, as it would depend how much use of the heater you were making, how much other 12V 'kit' you were employing, etc. As far as emoticons are concerned, you won't see the 'graphic' in your text, but :-S you will see its textual equivalent (eg. brackets, hyphens, and so on). I just select the ones I (?)want and then cut-and-paste *-)them from wherever the beggar have :'( decided to perch themselves to where I want (lol) them to go. Suggest you experiment by replying to this posting, playing around with emoticons and then previewing the text to see whether you've been successful. (>) :-D :-S B-) :'( 8-) >:-( (!) :-( (^) (lol) 8o| :D :-| (?) :-> :$ *-) :-( >:-) :-o ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worky Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 hya Malcy - we have a 2008 Starburst, had it from new, our first motorhome and to be frank I think you're worrying too much about things that may seem strange at first - nothing wrong with that - we were the same at first. You mention the fresh water filling point as a "fussy looking inlet", I can reassure you its really easy to connect the hose to tap, push end of hose into inlet and start filling and if you go inside the van to the control panel and select relevant screen you're able to see percentage of tank as it fills. If you don't want the bother of using a hose the other connection is for a Whale electric pump where you can just draw water from a container. If you need any other info or reassurance feel free to PM me or if you're near Worcester you're welcome to drop by Cheers Clyde Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trigrem Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 Hi Malcy, We have had a Starburst for 4 years, best motorhome we have had, Number 5. Last one was also an Autocruise, a Starfire. The water system seems logical to me, on other vans I have had I went to the trouble to fit a 12 volt socket near the water inlet so I could fill from a container when on site, it saves moving the motorhome from its pitch to service point, even assuming there is one. The Truma heating may use a lot of power depending on use but it is only the fan so that is up to you how often and how long you use it. We have Diesel heating and hot water, the fan consumtion would be approx the same but we have also the added problem that firing up the diesel heater takes a lump out of the battery, We have fitted a second battery. Had no problems on C &CC temp holiday sites for up to a week in May to Sept, In winter we tend to use sites so then use mains power. Any other questions contact me. Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 Oh how I wish we had a goog old fashioned reliable gas convector heater with blown air facility in our Starburst instead of the power hungry Eberspacher diesel! Just blown air powered by gas would be good too as no matter how much juice the blower takes it is nothing like the power surge required to fire up what is in effect a miniature oil fired boiler! I am not keen on the water filler arrangement fitted to Autocruise as it is unneccessarily complicate and prone to leakage. If you prefer to stay on site and uses an aquaroll or similar rather than drive to a tap it makes better sense but for most of us the good old fashioned filler cap and open tube into which you stuff your hose pipe works better in my view. That said I still feel that the Starburst is one of the best non fixed bed layouts going and with the Alko chassis as long as you are aware of the low ground clearance and huge turning circle caused by the long wheelbase the ride and handling are second to no other chassis layout in quality. I would be more concerned with the legendary Fiat gearbox issues and the build quality of newer vans than the intricacies of the habitaional gubbins! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dshague Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 we did five days at a show early last year had heating on gas and battery no problem.as for the water connector its easy to clip in and use .i have a extra hose to add to existing one in case i cannot get van close to a tap you will find most modern vans use this system .as for the carbon filter you dont have to use it if you dont want to . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 dshague - 2010-02-09 9:02 PMwe did five days at a show early last year had heating on gas and battery no problem.as for the water connector its easy to clip in and use .i have a extra hose to add to existing one in case i cannot get van close to a tap you will find most modern vans use this system .as for the carbon filter you dont have to use it if you dont want to .I'm not aware of that? I believe it to be quite the opposite ... unless I've got hold of the wrong end of the stick (or hose!). :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malcy Posted February 10, 2010 Author Share Posted February 10, 2010 Thanks for the replies every body. I.ve decided against this particular starburst as it came with with Fiats reversing problems,but in every other respect it passed with flying colours. The filler cap now seems logical enough to me now that Ive had time to dwell on it, as does the gas/electric heating system (to many birthdays I suppose). Can I ask tracker & trigrem where there second leisure battery is located as the van I was looking at had provision for for one battery only in a compartment recessed into the floor Thanks Clyde don,t mind if I do.Tea with two sugars please. :-) For you Derek. :D :-| >:-( :-S :-> *-) :-) :-) :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 There is no dedicated place for a second battery and the other underfloor lockers are not deep enough unless you make up a raised lid to avoid contact with locker contents as well as having to create a secure point in the locker. Options are to 1] create a secure mounting in the locker close to the original running the battery longitudinally or 2] the same with the battery transverse but using a raised platform to get it clear of the existing battery locker lid or 3] create a remote secure point behind the passenger or drivers seat - this leaves the lockers clear and uses an unsued space - but you may lose the swivel capacity of the seat. It is better to avoid long runs of cable if possible and if you have any doubts leave it's fitting to an auto electrician. You may also need to buy two new identical batteries to avoid the issues that I am having with my batteries at the moment. But at least you will then have a spare battery which is always a handy thing tgo have with any van! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trigrem Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 My second battery is located in the locker which has access to the present battery. Secured in a battery box which again is secured to the floor, there is a plastic pipe connected to the outlet point on top of the battey which feeds throuigh the floor to outside. This position gives a short run of cables to connect the two batteries together. Both are 110 AH. I do not have a carbon filter fitted to my van. I fitted an Aqua Pure filter and seperate tap near the kitchen sink.Mpg varies between 28 and 32, depending on which way the wind blows and how many hills in the alps I climb, but I am never in a hurry, 55-60. Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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