Autocruise Accent 2011

[pmw290442]

Has any owner moved the water/heater conrol knobs situated on the floor at back of van to a more convenient place, i,e, where you can see what you are doing, particularly when bed is made up.

[Mel B]

Hi pmw, welcome to the mad house! :->

 

I have a 2012 Accent and the control is in the same place which is a blooming nuisance so it IS on my 'to do' list! :D

 

For the time being to ensure it doesn't get damaged I've made a temporary cover for it out of an old clear plastic sunglasses case. I'm going to moving it up onto the side of the wardrobe so it can still be accessed whilst in bed and then putting a couple of 12v sockets where it used to be in the 'hole' that it will leave so I can use my laptop and charge up stuff there. :-D

 

Whilst I think about it, I'll email you a diagram I did of the dials which might be of use to you - I printed one off and stuck it on the inside of the wardrobe door so I can quickly see where I need to twiddle the dials to without having to look at the manual! :D

[pmw290442]

Mel, many thanks. I do have diagram of those wretched knobs but it would be so much simpler to have them at eye level. One of my sons has just returmed from a ten day trip to the Outer Hebrides and just gave up trying to sort said knobs out and just boiled up kettle instead! Good to know that it is possible to remove said knobs. Husband and i are also in early seventies (still working sadly). I believe the 2013 Autocruises now have said knobs up beside control panel above side door but dont think we can afford to upgrade!! Now to find someone to move said knobs. Many thanks for you help. Pauline.

[pmw290442]

Just re-read your message. Sorry, very early retired probably didn't mean you were as ancient as us!

Pmw

[Derek Uzzell]

If the control knobs are to be resited (and moving them to an Accent's wardrobe-side looks straightforward enough in principle), then resiting the room-temperature sensor might also be considered.

 

"Combi" heaters have a remote room-temperature sensor (it looks like a little black dome) and it's very often installed in an unsuitable position. If the heater's control knobs are in a daft place, it's a fair bet the sensor will be too.

 

Truma's installation instructions for the sensor are as follows:

 

"When selecting the location, bear in mind that the room temperature sensor must not be subjected to any direct radiant heat. For optimum room temperature regulation, we recommend that the room temperature sensor be fitted above the entrance door. Please ensure that the room temperature sensor is always attached to a vertical wall. There must be no obstructions preventing the room air from flowing around the sensor."

[pmw290442]

Hello, we have never found the room sensor! Think the instructions for our motorhome pretty useless. It does show the room sensor but not where it is. Helpful to say the least. Although we have had our van since new, it sttill puzzles us most of the time. Obviouly we are too old to fathom things out. Have just spent half an hour reading other people's problems, so maybe its not just us.

 

Will certainly try and get knobs moved as having to get down on the floor and partly under bed does not go well at our ancient ages, 71 and 72,

 

Many thanks for replying to my post.

 

Pmw.

[gdf]

Hi

 

On ours the temperature sensor is on offside just inside the back door above the light switch.

 

Dave

[Mel B]

Our temperature sensor is in the same place as yours gdf - just inside the offside rear door above the light switch.

 

I've actually have now moved our Truma dials! I was out doing some bits and pieces in the van today so thought I'd have a shuftie at the wiring to see what I'd need to buy in order to move them, and whilst having a grope around under the seat locker lower section below where the dials were I could feel that the input cable coming from the Truma boiler/heater unit was actually fastened up in a 'bunch' to keep it 'tidy'. I therefore removed the clip holding it all together and found that there was lots of cable, about a metre in length. So I thought ... why not see if I can move the dials whilst I was at it ... so I did!!!

 

First I removed all the clips that were holding the cable in place (which were screwed down) between the back of the dials panel to where I'd released the excess cable from. I then unclipped the cable from the rear of the panel - there are 3 mini 'telephone' type connectors which just clip in, 2 of them just run from one dial to the other, whilst the 3rd one is the input lead and this is the one I removed. I then offered the cable up to see if it was long enough to reach to the new location for the dials panel, which it was. Next it was a case of removing the outer decorative cover of the dials panel, unscrewing and removing it (putting it all safely out of the way).

 

I also removed the outside fridge vents and checked in the void behind the fridge where it was 'safe' for me to make a hole in order to slot the cable through from the seat locker. I drilled a hole through from the seat locker side into this space and fed the cable through (care must be taken to ensure you do NOT catch any of the fridge workings etc), once I'd done this I fixed the cable in place in the seat locker using some of the original clips to keep it secure.

 

Then I went outside to the rear of the fridge and checked everything was okay (which it was) and looked at the top of the void to again see where the hole needed to be to feed the cable up into the corner of the wardrobe base above. I drilled a hole from the inside of the wardrobe into the void, then went round and fed the cable up through into the base of the wardrobe, and again fitted a clip on the cable in the void so it wouldn't move. I then double checked where the cable would reach to along the left side wall of the wardrobe to ensure it was long enough to mount the dials panel where I wanted, which it was.

 

The 'hole' needed for the panel was '8' shaped (two large holes, one above the other), so with a piece of cardboard and using the original 'hole' that the dials panel was located in, I drew the shape onto the card and cut out the centre to make a template. Ensuring that I'd left enough clearance for the outer cover to be clipped in place on the dials panel, I masked up the outside of the wardrobe wall and stuck the template on with masking tape - hole saws can suddenly break through the last part when you get near the end of drilling and easily cause a dint if you're not careful so sticking the cardboard template on not only showed where I needed to make the holes, it also gave some 'padding' to prevent any damage being done ... just in case! I then selected the correct size of hole saw.

 

Next I carefully measured the centre point of each of the 2 dial holes using a bradawl made an indentation at these points for the centre drill of the hole saw to 'start' in so it wouldn't slip, then I carefully cut out the holes. I screwed the dials panel in place and re-attached the cable to the rear, fitting some stick on cable clips to hold the cable in place on the side wall just under one of the shelves I'd fitted previously (removed whilst doing the work) and down to where it was fed through from behind/below. I made a cover to protect the rear of the dials with half a plastic sunglasses case, drilling screw holes at the top and bottom and a small cut-out piece at the bottom for the cable to go through and attached it to the inside of the wardrobe wall taking care not to snag or bend the cables. Next I used sealant to fill the gaps around the cable where it was fed through (in the seat locker and the wardrobe - this was because it went into the void behind the fridge so I wanted to ensure it was totally sealed from the inside of the van).

 

Finally I put the external fridge vents back on and clipped the decorative cover on the dials panel - all done!

 

Now we can reach the dial easily, and see it too, without having to grapple about on our hands and knees in the dark under the bed base.