modifying drop down bed

[brewster]

We have a Chausson Flash 22 with manual drop down bed. Due to ill health we are now struggling to push up the bed back into the roof. Does anyone know if it would be possible to add some sort of motor or wind up system. Don't suppose a caravan mover type motor might work??

[pepe63xnotuse]

Hi..

 

I don't pretend to know how your bed "works" but was an electric-lift a factory option?..if so, that would be my first route to explore..

 

Edit: Just a thought, So it doesn't "wind" up but just has to be pushed up then?...

If it wound up, I was going to suggest seeing if something like a battery drill would be man enough to wind the crank spigot?....

[Guest Had Enough]

You may be out of luck. A review in MMM said this:

 

'The most important feature of these motorhomes is the drop-down sleeping accommodation. These beds are sometimes electrically operated – fine so long as they work, useless gizmos when they fail. I’m pleased to say these two are manually operated, though a little muscle power is needed when raising them: surely there have to be some jobs left for the male of the species?'

 

It implies to me that they are heavy and that electric power may not have been an option, but it's still worth checking with a dealer.

 

Does it feel heavier now than it did when you first bought it? If so it may have gas-filled struts, which are supposed to ease the strain. These struts can need re-gassing or replacing after time.

 

I'm off out now so haven't time to check further but we've one or two experts who will know for sure if electric power is an option and if it has struts that may need replacing and I'm sure they'll be along soon.

 

 

 

[Guest peter]

You could always use an Acrow prop.

Or...........

If your roof has an attachment point for a hook, you could use 2 mini sail blocks from a chandlers and rig it up to lift the bed by just pulling on a cord.

[Derek Uzzell]

Welcome to the Out&AboutLive forums, Adele.

 

On-line images suggest that the manually-operated drop-down bed of a Flash 22 uses a ‘sprung-reel’ system, with the bed descending vertically on fabric ’straps’ (a bit like car seat-belts) and being located by wall-mounted guide-rails. It’s evident that, even when in fully-lowered position, the bed remains high - demanding a ladder to get into it - and tthat quite large storage lockers are attached to the bed beneath its head and foot ends.

 

Apparently (from on-line comments) the drop-down bed of later-model Flash 22s had an electric lowering/raising mechanism. It might be possible to retro-fit the electric system to the manual bed, but it would be necessary to compare the two to confirm that. I suspect that, even if the later mechanism could be installed, it would be a prohibitively expensive exercise.

 

I believe a Flash 22’s bed needs pushing up vertically from beneath to raise it into the roof, so I’m unsure if Peter’s ‘sail block’ idea would be practicable. All I can suggest is that you make sure that the bed’s manual lowering/raising system is functioning as well as it can (eg. that the bed slides very freely in its guides) and that you minimise the bed’s overall weight by selecting light bedclothes (eg. a down duvet) and put nothing heavy in the lockers attached to the bed’s underside.

 

Obviously I don’t know how much difficulty you are now having raising the bed, but if the bed + lockers’ weight can be kept well down, and you can perhaps optiimise the method you use to raise it (eg. like standing on a portable step to allow you to exert more ‘push’) you should find raising the bed easier.

 

As Had Enough advises, it would be worth asking a Chausson dealer whether anything can be done to make raising the bed less challenging.

[lennyhb]

Sound like the gas struts may have had it, in our Hymer the the bed bed just sails up to the roof with the lightest touch.

 

Have a word with SGS Engineering they can re-gas your struts or supply new struts, or check your existing ones.

[Derek Uzzell]

lennyhb - 2015-04-09 8:38 AM

 

Sound like the gas struts may have had it, in our Hymer the the bed bed just sails up to the roof with the lightest touch.

 

Have a word with SGS Engineering they can re-gas your struts or supply new struts, or check your existing ones.

 

Gas struts - what gas struts?

[Brian Kirby]

Derek Uzzell - 2015-04-09 7:41 AM

 

Welcome to the Out&AboutLive forums, Adele.

 

On-line images suggest that the manually-operated drop-down bed of a Flash 22 uses a ‘sprung-reel’ system, with the bed descending vertically on fabric ’straps’ (a bit like car seat-belts) and being located by wall-mounted guide-rails. ...................................................

 

As Had Enough advises, it would be worth asking a Chausson dealer whether anything can be done to make raising the bed less challenging.

Sprung reel recoil systems tend to suffer from fatigue in the springs after a while, for which reason I would expect there to be provision for re-tensioning the springs. After all, this is even possible in the humble pull down window blind. So, I too agree with Had Enough that a visit to a Chausson dealer would be worthwhile.

 

Also, it is always possible that the original tension was inadequate for the weight that it could realistically have been expected to counterbalance.

 

It should be remembered that this is only a counterbalancing system. If the tension is too great the force required to lower the bed will appear excessive, and if too little, as now seems the case, it will be the force required to raise it. If the dealer can adjust the tension, I would therefore suggest taking the van with the bedding and normal cupboard contents in place, so that the right balance can be struck.

 

Ultimately though, you may have to do as Derek advises, and compromise on what is carried on, and below, the bed - in order to keep the load within the working range of the springs.

[pepe63xnotuse]

Ah!...so they're "similar" to roller shutter springs then?...if so, maybe there is scope to wind in a bit more welly?.....not tooo much though, eh..

 

* muffled voice*..- ."...luv!....is it me..or has our bed got considerably less headroom than it used to have.....?.." (lol)

[Derek Uzzell]

I have attached a photo of a Chausson Flash 22’s manually-operated roof-bed in its lowered position. Beneath the bed’s right-hand end can be seen one of the two storage-locker sets that are attached to the bed’s underside, but the bed’s lowering/raising mechanism is completely hidden by the bed’s side and end curtains.

 

There are on-line images of the electrically-operated drop-down bed fitted to Flash 22 models (and equivalent photos for the electrically-operated bed used with the Flash 22’s Challenger Genesis 52 twin) and these show the ‘reel’ system I mentioned earlier. But I can’t find any images, nor any description, of the lowering/raising mechanism used with the manually-operated bed, so this may be quite different to the ‘reel’ system.

 

Without knowing what type of mechanism is used to counterbalance the weight of the manually-operated bed and keep it stable when lowered, it’s really not going to be practicable to advise Adele whether the present system can be modified to make bed-raising easier.

 

If would be helpful if Adele can briefly describe what mechanism is used with her motorhome’s bed.