100kilo Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Have just returned from a pleasant trip to Cardigan. Half way home a familiar sound drew an oft used groan of anguish from Mrs 100kilo and myself - it was the sound of one of the kitchen drawers sliding in and out at every bend. If anyone knows of a source for these catches we would love to share the secret as it looks as if, at this rate, we are going to need a good stock up our slieves. This was the 4th handle catch to snap on us in 5000 miles! We were up at Brownhills for a needless recall which entailed a 410 mile round trip at their behest. Not only could they not fathom out why we were there but tried to worm their way out of replacing the first catch which had bitten the dust on our (then) 6 month old vehicle. They kept us hanging around for 5 and a half hours. Now, since I am in the mood for a good old grumble with good cause, I would fire of a few barbed comments at Hymer who have apparently cut corners on these vans with a batch of crude cost cuts combined with some irksome modifications in the habitation section. Appart from a power point in the bathroom there are only 2 more points in the whole vehicle. Both are next to the draining board which is about 6 feet from the rear of the vehicle. Nothing nearer to the drving area and nothing even to power a TV or DVD player for those who don't have 12volt entertainment. A stingy move, Then, discounting the massively oversized table, the lockers have a "shelf" beneath them on both sides of the van which are about 3 inches deep to provide storage for, I DON'T KNOW WHAT, they simply show to all and sundry the bits and pieces one might prefer to keep concealed. Just ill concieved improvements which fail to offer any reasonable benefit and too insecure to store valuables in either. Now to the outside. Despite the external locker space being reasonably generous the locks have little substance to them resulting in the missus pulling one of the barrels clean out. Oh. Nearly forgot the perpetual leak on the seal of the passenger door. GRRRRRRRRR and why did our van not come with a bedroom ladder? All for now Janet and John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tugga Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I know you are disappointed, but I have to ask, why didn't you look to see how many sockets your motorhome had, and regarding your 'Don't know what shelve's, why didn't you think about what you would use them for BEFORE you bought it? Surely you looked it over, discussed it with your wife and worked out how to use it before you commited to buy. I don't think any manufacturer recall is 'needless' as it costs them a lot of money and they don't do it lightly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 My Euramobil cutlery drawer catch, used to fail often.just remove it take a picture and post on here and someone will tell you where to get them.The Belgian dealer we used at the time sent us 5 *-) the factory is onto a good thing I guess, probably working 24-7 producing shoddy catches... we used to remove drawer and leave it on bed, or use a bungie cord. Try O'Learys for parts and even tables: http://www.olearymotorhomes.co.uk/ buy an additional smaller table or get yours modified extra sockets hardly dificult and most campers never have enough Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
100kilo Posted April 27, 2012 Author Share Posted April 27, 2012 Thank you for your opinion. We part exed an RV for the Hymer and wanted a good sized living space with lots of light, which is exactly what we got. We could have done with a power point nearer the front of the living area and some sturdy drawer latches. As regards the dopey shelves - once you try to store your odds and ends in them you begin to see exactly how untidy it makes your precious van look. Added to this is the locker himges to the doors above the shelves. The depth of the lockers is not great due to said dopey shelves and the hinges project down a good inch making it impractical to get large items in and out without fisrt undertaking a 2 round wrestling match accompanied by some blue mutterings. We actually love our van despite the aforesaid complaints to which I want to add another gripe ie the pathetic excuse for a kitchen sink plug hole. It becomes so deep and narrow that it catches any item of residue more than 5 microns wide and if Hymer with it's centuries of experience think that this van is entering the annals of truly great motorhomes they have another serious rethink coming to them. So, if anyone buys a van from a highly experienced producer and comes across a litany of boobs for their effort I hope they too will step up and take a pot shot as I have done. Yes I did say we love our 544 and I meant it. Regarding the moan about driving 400 miles for a recall - they could not tell us why they recalled us - that is why it was needless. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retread24800 Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 100kilo - 2012-04-22 8:58 PM the lockers have a "shelf" beneath them on both sides of the van which are about 3 inches deep to provide storage for, I DON'T KNOW WHAT, they simply show to all and sundry the bits and pieces one might prefer to keep concealed. Just ill conceived improvements which fail to offer any reasonable benefit and too insecure to store valuables in either. why did our van not come with a bedroom ladder? All Hymers have had shelves under the lockers since year dot, its hardly an innovation. You seem to have had a range of problems with a well respected Manufacturer that defies belief, I , for one, have never heard of so many door related failures even in vans that have been mistreated while hired out. If You have graduated to the Hymer from a US R.V you will find plumbing differences, but try comparing The German Reich plumbing 28mm pipe smooth bore and proper push fit bends and joints with that supplied elsewhere, then you will have reason to complain. I,m surprised that there's not a 240V socket near your TV locker maybe that was one of the modifications demanded by Brownhills for the UK market along with the missing ladder:-). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
100kilo Posted April 28, 2012 Author Share Posted April 28, 2012 Thanks for that bit of reality. Our RV was sited at Cabapino just north of Marbella. During the 2 years it was overseas we bought a really lovely 1997 E650. One could hardly fault it other than it seemed slightly underpowered in it's 2.5lt form. Mind you it didn't have any cooky shelves! or drains It did however, have power points fore and aft. I have accustomed my appreciation of this vehicle to include the anathema of self modification to include a new drain to to the silly sink, an extra socket for the telly and slide bolts to secure the errant drawers which, however lightly they are loaded seem perfectly capable of snapping. All this does not excuse any company, large or small for taking for granted their customer base. And, when all is said and done, the production management at Hymer who are probably painfully aware, these mickey mouse alterations cooked up to save a few eauro's, will lose customers who had to work damn hard to save up for years to buy an erstwhile stonking product. Or, are we all so cowed in our little Egland to complain at shoddy workmanship slipped into expensive purchases whilst saying "Ah but it's German/French/Swiss" workmanship. We pay luxury car prices for our vans while none of the luxury car makers would countenance passing off higledy piggledy changes without reflecting on the reaction of their market...............! And yes, we still both love our Hymer. Janet and John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tugga Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Is your B544 the one with the long bench and diner or the one with the long bench and the long L shaped bench (like ours)? Our motorhome is an 06 on a 56 plate and I have to say that we have no problems with the locker or drawer catches. The sink plugs are a bit strange at first, but thank heavens they do catch all the food bits as it stops the horrendous stench that can come from the waste water tank when food particles start to rot. We have no rattles at all when travelling, that has to speak for a lot. We don't have your useless shelves on ours either, we have the full locker door. We have found our motorhome to be very solidly built and the 2.8 Turbo Diesel engine is certainly powerful for the size of van and at 30 mpg we are happy with the return we get. We also found the table to be a bit oversized and stopped us from getting easy access to the under seat lockers so we took it out. We have an old camping table from our tenting days that we tend to use when we camp in the winter and we store it on the drop down bed when we travel and it sits in the door well when we are on site. We find that this works really well for us as we don't use the door when camped. If you decide to do something similar I would recommend that you buy one with adjustable legs as ours is a bit low, but we manage. We only had 2 elec sockets in the main body of the mh, one at the kitchen and the other at the far end (we use that for charging phones etc). We have one in the top bathroom cabinet for my hairdryer and hubby's electric razor. We also have one in the TV Locker along with 12V. You may find that as most TV's now are 12V with a power pack thingy for 240V that is why Hymer decided to leave out the socket there as it was possibly surplus to requirements in their eyes. We have had to put in an extra socket at the far end of our L shaped benchseat behind the drivers seat as we wanted somewhere to plug in the convector heater during the cold weather and a fan during the hot. OH did it and he said it was very easy to do. If you have come from an American RV I am sure you will find it warmer for camping in the winter because of the double floor - that also gives plenty of storage space. We have no draughts in ours and when its really cold we have some external silver screens to use. All in all we are extremely happy with our first purchase of a motorhome and wouldn't trade it in for all the tea in china, we love our Helga. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 When ordering a new van it is common to need to order extra sockets.....That being said you viewed your used van and bought it "as is". I mean come on Its not rocket science to add a few extra sockets *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crinklystarfish Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Catches / locks shouldn't self destruct quite so readily if used with some mechanical sympathy (they are purposefully lightweight and therefore not as robust as domestic items), and the door seal leak sounds like a genuine issue. The rest, to my mind, are minor grumbles and as much to do with consumer / dealer error as factory shortfalls. Given the build quality of some motorhomes, you are not in a terrible position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Plastic Cupboard & Draw catches!! *-)..........................I've had to replace 5 of them over the last 20 years................ :D Mind you think I might up grade to the old fashion brass ball bearing type ;-) Progress eh? (lol) (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Our Hymer is nearly 4 years old now never had any problems with the catches and never heard from any other Hymer owners with a problem. Our van only had 2 power points but if I had needed more I could have ordered them, 12v socket by the tV is fine as the van came with a 12v TV as standard and we never use hook ups. The large table & under shelf lockers must have been there when you viewed the van they are not exactly removable so why buy if you are so adverse to them. Our van does not have the shelf's but a previous Hobby caravan did have them and we found them very useful especially after putting non slip matting on them. No ladder for the bed! talk to your dealer all Hymers with drop down beds come with a ladder. Never had any problems with outside lockers or catches. One thing I will say about Hymer is their back up service is superb every minor problem has been fixed without query. Recently we had some small blisters on the habitation door where the finish has reacted with the aluminium even though the van was over a year out of warranty we reported it to our dealer who contacted Hymer the response was do whatever is necessary, result is it has just had £2500 new door fitted at Hymer's expense. But then again I did not buy from Brownhills. Hymer are at the top our our list next time we buy a new van as we know they value their customers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike88 Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 100kilo - 2012-04-28 1:16 AM Thanks for that bit of reality. Our RV was sited at Cabapino just north of Marbella. During the 2 years it was overseas we bought a really lovely 1997 E650. One could hardly fault it other than it seemed slightly underpowered in it's 2.5lt form. Janet and John Totally off topic but relevant to me. I'm off to Spain next week. What is the Cabapino site like for buses, food shopping and bars etc. Are all pitches in the shade? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolero boy Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 My my, a German van with problems.....I can't really believe I'm reading this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Yep sometimes German vans do have problems but they get sorted properly without any hassle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith T Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Not a Hymer,but a Burstner..... .maybe from experience, but when looking at motorhomes (especially with a view to puchasing!), one of the things we always check out is the provision of 240V power sockets. In both this one and o0ur previous Rapido, they were Ok, but we specified some extras, which were either factory or dealer fitted, in the locations we wanted them. I think we have got them about right, and by and large now have enough for our various needs. In terms of door/cupboard catches, I think we have done Ok - on the Rapido we replaced some of the 'brass' ones, as the brass colouring had work off over the years. Basically the cupboards in both were well designed, but we have added some shelving etc, again to suit our needs, and for both vehicles we have been abloe to get the matching wood/boarding from the dealers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Dave Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 I think everyone has small issues with any van the shelves are not really an issue just don't put anything on them. The catches and the drawers coming open, go to ikea and get some childproof drawer locks and screw them on then even if the lock fails the catch will grab it, they are quite cheap.as for sockets get one fitted its not a big job. We have done lots of little modifications to get our van just how we want it. Although i do think the designers of motorhomes have never had to use them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolero boy Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Lenny, as my old boss used to say...'sweeping generalization'. It really is amazing, the polarization on this forum..... campsite or aire, trailer or a-frame, hookup or self sufficient,,British or German van etc. Woe betide you if you find yourself on the wrong side of the 'forum police'. If anyone had ousted the same unsubstantiated remark about any other topic, the wolves would be salivating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Sorry Chris don't really see what you are getting at. If about my comment on mains sockets, it is easy enough to have more fitted when you buy the be it new or S/H so why winge about it afterwards, or my comment about I don't use hook ups was just clarify why it doesn't bother me. All my other comments were my own experience & others that I know with Hymers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolero boy Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 Sorry Lenny, I should've included this quote for clarity. It certainly is a'sweeping generalisation' to suggest that all issues with German vans are magically resolved in a way that could not possibly happen with a British van. I read some pretty bad stuff about customer problems at Brownhills, many of whom bought German Hymers. I'm not knocking German vans, I have been an Audi driver for the past 15 yrs and you get what you pay for, but I would never say that all my problems (very few) would be resolved in a way not open to other marques. An awful lot depends on the dealership and our Swift dealer is great. We don't see them that often as no bits (or paint) have fallen off.lennyhb - 2012-04-28 5:45 PM Yep sometimes German vans do have problems but they get sorted properly without any hassle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 http://motorhomefacts.com/ftopic-111295-0-days0-orderasc-.html Online comments about 'flimsy' Hymer motorhome/caravan drawer-catches go back to at least 2007. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 bolero boy - 2012-04-29 8:08 AM Sorry Lenny, I should've included this quote for clarity. It certainly is a'sweeping generalisation' to suggest that all issues with German vans are magically resolved in a way that could not possibly happen with a British van. I read some pretty bad stuff about customer problems at Brownhills, many of whom bought German Hymers. I'm not knocking German vans, I have been an Audi driver for the past 15 yrs and you get what you pay for, but I would never say that all my problems (very few) would be resolved in a way not open to other marques. An awful lot depends on the dealership and our Swift dealer is great. We don't see them that often as no bits (or paint) have fallen off.lennyhb - 2012-04-28 5:45 PM Yep sometimes German vans do have problems but they get sorted properly without any hassle. I'm as guilty as anyone when posting to forums that often what is in the mind does not come out the same in type. Perhaps what I should have said is:- In my experience and others I know, sometimes German vans do have problems but they get sorted. properly without any hassle. Talking of dealers, I have heard that Brownhills are no longer Hymer dealers and are having trouble selling existing stock even with big discounts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flicka Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 Hi Lennie Brownhills are still Hymer dealers, just that they have lost their exclusivity. http://www.hymer.com/cms/en/service1/dealers/Suche.html?country=GB&city=&radius=300 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flicka Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 Hi Lennie Brownhills are still Hymer dealers, just that they have lost their exclusivity. http://www.hymer.com/cms/en/service1/dealers/Suche.html?country=GB&city=&radius=300 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnP Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 I take it that the part which fails is the part fitted to the carcase of the cupboard and not the catch fitted to the drawer. If my assumption is correct why not fabricate some catch plates from aluminium angle. This is available in one metre lengths and in different sections from B abd Q . With a hacksaw, file and a suitable drill it should be possible to make some new ones to replace the weak plastic originals. Use the plastic one as a pattern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retread24800 Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 The only downsides are that a metal on metal latch would rattle, And if the door latch should fail in the shut position you would need to sacrifice the door rather than a plastic latch. (There's always a reason for everything.) I wonder if the OP"s Business (Bodybuilding/Fitness) could be a factor in this saga? :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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