Aaaargh Chausson

[mikejkay]

I bought my S2 largely because of the layout and the large shower room and, overall, I am pleased with it. My biggest problem is the width, with the large mirrors sticking out. This, of course, is due to the base vehicle and nothing to do with Chausson. By comparison with other marques the build quality is not so good. Having said that, the cost was significantly less than a Hobby or Hymer.

[mikejkay]

Mikebeaches - Yes I expect that I could have these "niggles" sorted under warranty but the time/effort/expense of taking it in might just as well be spent fixing things myself with the bonus that I aquire knowledge of how the the van is put together. So far:

 

Smashed n/s wing mirror - now repaired with reinforced epoxy resin and protected with mirror guards c/w with forward facing reflective panel. Knowledge gained - how far the mirror projects, how the mirror is put together and that the terminals on the lower mirror can be on the wrong side of the mirror.

 

Fitted Fiamma security lock on habitation door. Knowledge gained - just how thin the wall construction is.

 

Replaced 6kg gas bottle with 13kg bottle. Knowledge gained - UK 13kg bottle is a very tight fit and the tail is too short to allow it to be connected with the bottle outside the van.

 

Brass hooks fitted to secure the shower room door in both the open and closed positions.

 

In/out thermometer fitted to fridge. Knowledge gained - how the trim fits and what's between the hob and the top of the fridge.

 

Still contemplating security locks for the rear locker door and the cab doors, NASA (or similar) meter for batteries. Badly fitting lockers doors and catches are still on the list but low down.

[pepe63xnotuse]

Mike..

I'm still not quite sure why this inability to connect up the gas bottle, whilst it is outside the locker, is such a issue...?

...and I would've thought that if a hose was comfortably long enough to do that, then by the time you'd loaded the bottle into to locker, then there'd be a good chance the hose would've gained some degree twist..and therefore would really need loosening off and allowed to "sit natural", before retightening again anyway... :-S

 

If you think your Chausson is poor...I can but guess that you haven't had an '07 Compass? (lol)(...our previous Compass 120 Avantgarde ,although "tidy" enough on the surface,behind the scenes the build quality was atrocious .. :-S )

 

 

[mikejkay]

I like to connect up my gas bottle outside the van firstly because it is easier so to do, secondly i can be more certain that the connection has been properly made, thirdly because I can check for leaks (mattches seem to go out inside the locker for some reason) and fourthly I have reached an age when damaged knuckles take an inordinate amount of time to heal.

 

Never had any problem with kinked hoses with the Pilote.

 

Long ago discounted any British made MH. Last MH was a Swift Mondial which I sold on PDQ.

[hughman]

mikejkay - 2013-04-29 1:54 PM

,thirdly because I can check for leaks (mattches seem to go out inside the locker for some reason).

 

Please say you're joking - matches !!!!!

 

[mikebeaches]

mikejkay - 2013-04-29 11:47 AM

 

Mikebeaches - Yes I expect that I could have these "niggles" sorted under warranty but the time/effort/expense of taking it in might just as well be spent fixing things myself with the bonus that I aquire knowledge of how the the van is put together. So far:

 

Smashed n/s wing mirror - now repaired with reinforced epoxy resin and protected with mirror guards c/w with forward facing reflective panel. Knowledge gained - how far the mirror projects, how the mirror is put together and that the terminals on the lower mirror can be on the wrong side of the mirror.

 

Fitted Fiamma security lock on habitation door. Knowledge gained - just how thin the wall construction is.

 

Replaced 6kg gas bottle with 13kg bottle. Knowledge gained - UK 13kg bottle is a very tight fit and the tail is too short to allow it to be connected with the bottle outside the van.

 

Brass hooks fitted to secure the shower room door in both the open and closed positions.

 

In/out thermometer fitted to fridge. Knowledge gained - how the trim fits and what's between the hob and the top of the fridge.

 

Still contemplating security locks for the rear locker door and the cab doors, NASA (or similar) meter for batteries. Badly fitting lockers doors and catches are still on the list but low down.

 

Sounds like you've been gaining quite a lot of knowledge mikejkay. :-D

 

But I know what you mean....

 

Ah, the sticking out wing mirrors - they certainly make me nervous at times; but thankfully mine are still intact. As you say, not Chausson's fault, rather the design of the X250 cab. They do give good rearward vision, however. I've just stuck some hi-vis reflective tape on the back of mine, hoping that oncoming traffic will spot them more easily. Have to see how it goes. And I'd been thinking about fitting white mirror guards for the same reason, and some extra protection, but haven't done that.

 

Understand exactly your point about the bathroom door. Ours was troublesome when we got the van and I must admit Highbridge had to have 2 goes at fixing it. But at the moment it's all sorted and we're happy with the way it's working. The magnets hold the door closed when travelling, so no need for extra hooks to lock it.

 

Unlike many MH owners, after two-and-a-half years of ownership we've managed not to fit / screw on any extras. A few felt pads applied to keep cupboard doors quiet, the reflective strips on the mirrors (which peel off easily) and some protective vinyl cut to shape and loose laid on the floor. And that's about it.

 

Often consider fitting extras, but so far managed without. We've travelled in France quite a lot, and around the Outer Hebrides too - perfectly happy with the standard set-up. Carry plenty of tackle on board and like the fact the payload allowance is high.

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest JudgeMental]

hughman - 2013-04-29 2:36 PM

 

mikejkay - 2013-04-29 1:54 PM

,thirdly because I can check for leaks (mattches seem to go out inside the locker for some reason).

 

Please say you're joking - matches !!!!!

 

I think a joke but as a precaution please invest in a torch. Have always connected bottles in situ with as short a hose as possible. As for wall thickness its pretty obvious when you open the the door

[mikejkay]

Damn! Only caught one.

[colin]

mikejkay - 2013-04-29 1:54 PM

 

I like to connect up my gas bottle outside the van firstly because it is easier so to do, secondly i can be more certain that the connection has been properly made, thirdly because I can check for leaks (mattches seem to go out inside the locker for some reason) and fourthly I have reached an age when damaged knuckles take an inordinate amount of time to heal.

 

Never had any problem with kinked hoses with the Pilote.

 

Long ago discounted any British made MH. Last MH was a Swift Mondial which I sold on PDQ.

 

I find by far the hardest thing is getting a cylinder in or out of the locker, OK I use two of the larger 13kg UK cylinders in place of the recommended 11kg EU cylinders, fitting the hose is easy when sat in back of van no bruised knuckles, this means the hose is allowed to have least 'strain'.

p.s. Who the hell uses matches nowadays? surely you would use a disposable lighter?

[Derek Uzzell]

mikejkay - 2013-04-29 1:54 PM

 

I like to connect up my gas bottle outside the van firstly because it is easier so to do, secondly i can be more certain that the connection has been properly made, thirdly because I can check for leaks (mattches seem to go out inside the locker for some reason) and fourthly I have reached an age when damaged knuckles take an inordinate amount of time to heal...

 

The reason you got into the habit with your Pilote of connecting your gas-bottle when this was on the ground outside the motorhome was, as much as anything, because the design of the Pilote made this practicable. I note that the design of the Chausson Flash S2 includes a very low-set gas-locker that (in principle at least) could allow you to do the same if the gas-hose were long enough.

 

It's probable, though, that most motorhomes' gas-locker position is not like that (even the gas-locker on other Chausson models) and - for those motorhomes - to connect a gas-bottle as you would like to do would require a very long hose that would be extremely difficult to feed back into a space that's usually minimally sized.

 

I believe it's recommended nowadays that a motorhome's gas hose be restricted to a length of 450mm if the vehicle has a 'fixed' gas-locker, or 750mm if the gas-bottles are in the 'sliding drawer' arrangement that a few motorhomes have. As it won't be practicable with most motorhomes to connect up a gas-bottle outside the gas-locker, and nomal practice is to fit a shortish gas hose, it's likely that few motorcaravanners will have developed your external-connecting technique. So I don't think you should consider the standard hose arrangement on your Flash S2 a fault.

 

As has been said earlier, long gas hoses are available (even stainless-steel core ones) as will be evident from this link

 

http://www.gaslow.co.uk/pdf/Gaslow-Retail-Price-List-2012.pdf

 

However, as your UK 13kg bottle is a really tight fit in your S2's locker, even if you fitted a hose long enough to permit you to connect the bottle externally, I think you'd have a helluva job getting the bottle back into the locker afterwards.

 

If you want to carry out a leak-test after you've connected up a gas-bottle, you could consider adding a 'pressure gauge' to the system

 

http://www.thegaslowcentre.co.uk/magento/gaslow/english/lpg-gas-equipment/lpg-gas-level-indicator-gauges.html

 

These are pretty useless for confirming how much LPG remains in a gas-bottle, but they do make gas-leak checking straightforward.

 

(There's always the option, of course, to go for a refillable gas-bottle. That would avoid you having to remove/replace exchange-only bottles and should simplify use of the motorhome outside the UK.)

[mikejkay]

It's not so much that the bottle is a tight fit in the locker than it is a tight fit getting it through the door. Once in there is plenty of space for excess hose both above and alongside the bottle. I have a contents gauge fitted. Even with a new, hopefully full, bottle it only reads half full!