Hobby-and Warranties

[Sophie2]

OK Derek-thanks :-D

[Thebroons]

@sophie2

 

Can I ask a couple of questions.

 

We now have the m/h and are very happy.

 

On my old m/h there was a switch for the water pump but on the hobby the pump runs when the 12v switch is turned on. Am I missing something.

The fresh water tank is under the seat near the table but I can't find a drain plug. Again am I missing something.

[Sophie2]

Hi. Glad you are happy with your purchase

 

Yes-in common with newer vehicles, if you activate taps this activates switch for water pump. However I have a separate control panel over hab door also where you can isolate 12v altogether. TBH I normally leave this on except when at home and I haven't hooked up to electrics.

 

Where is your truma boiler? mine is in cupboard in garage, and switch for drain valve is at base of boiler. I don't think there's a separate drain plug for fresh water tank-not on mine anyway.There's a separate lever in outside toilet compartment to drain off water used for toilet flush.

 

Presumably you have manual/instruction book? I think you said yours is a T70- exactly which one-any other model designation?

[Derek Uzzell]

Motorhomes generally have two types of pressurised water systems.

 

One type involves a ‘submerged’ water-pump that is located inside the motorhome’s fresh-water tank, with the pump being triggered by micro-switches on the water outlets (ie. taps, shower).

 

The other type has a pressure-sensitive water-pump located outside the motorhome’s fresh-water tank, with the pump switching On and Off spontaneously according to the water-pressure within the system.

 

There are variations to this rule of thumb, and on certain models Hobby has used a system that involves a pressure-sensitive water-pump located outside the motorhome’s fresh-water tank, but with the pump triggered by micro-switches on the water outlets (ie. taps, shower). This arrangement has certain technical advantages, but I don’t know whether it’s fitted to current Hobby motorhomes, or to the vehicles owned by Sophie2 or Thebroons.

 

It SHOULD be straightforward to establish whether water outlets have micro-switches as there will be thin wires emerging from the underside of the taps. Similarly, it SHOULD be straightforward to establish whether a ‘submerged’ or pressure-sensitive water-pump is present as the former is pretty quiet and the latter is pretty vocal.

 

As far as I’m aware all motorhomes will have a control panel (often over the living area’s entrance door) with a switch dedicated to turning the water-pump On and Off.

 

If turning the control panel’s water-pump switch On results in the water-pump running and the system uses tap micro-switches, this means that one or more of the taps is not fully closed.

 

If turning the control panel’s water-pump switch On results in the water-pump running and the system uses a pressure-sensitive water-pump, the water-pressure within the system has not reached the point where the pump will turn itself Off. (Obviously, if there is no water in the system, the pump is going to run!)

 

The Hobby owner’s manual SHOULD cover draining the water system. It would be normal to drain the fresh-water tank either via a ‘plug’ accessed through an inspection/cleaning point in the tank’s upper surface or via a drain-tap external to the tank.

 

Truma combination air/water heaters will have an anti-frost safety/drain-valve separate from the heater and only intended to drain that appliance. In principle it would be possible to use the motorhome’s water-pump to empty the fresh-water tank by pumping it through the heater’s anti-frost safety/drain-valve, but it would be a perverse approach (even for Hobby!)

 

(Bit surprised that Hobby would be installing toilet models that incorporate their own flush-water reservoir, as the Continental European ‘norm’ is to use water from the motorhome’s fresh-water tank for flushing. As a Siesta T70 HGE has its toilet in the shower compartment, it should be simple (and cheaper) just to link the toilet to the shower’s water-feed.)

 

 

 

[Sophie2]

On ours there is no separate water pump switch on the control panel-just a "12v" switch (push button) which (obviously) controls the whole 12v system, lights etc.

 

Inside the access door to the thetford cassette, there;s a tap marked "fresh water" (though in German ;-) ) I've assumed this was to empty the part of the pipes that took water to the toilet only- but it seems clear now that it is the tap to drain the whole of the fresh water system??

 

The manual doesn't make this clear so far as I can see. (whenever I've opened the tap there's only been a small amount of water drained - there's never been a need or occasion to do a complete drain.)

 

So the answer the "Thebrooms" query seems to be "open the external cassette toilet door and there should be a tap there" :-)

 

[Derek Uzzell]

I notice that there’s a Hobby motorhome owner’s manual on-line that (I think ) should apply to your motorhome.

 

https://www.hobby-caravan.de/fileadmin/user_upload/kataloge_und_service/bedienungsanleitungen/ba-rm-siesta-optima-2015-en.pdf

 

As you rightly say, there is evidently no dedicated switch on the control-panel for the water-pump, but I note that it is possible to turn off the interior lights without turning everything else off.

 

The water system (Section 8.1) apparently includes a submersible water-pump located within the fresh-water tank, hence there will be micro-switches on the water outlets.

 

Emptying the fresh-water tank is covered in Section 8.5, saying that the drain-valve will either be behind the gas-bottle container ‘flap’ or behind the toilet-cassette flap. Emptying the complete water system is detailed in Section 8.6

 

(It seems like a reasonable manual for a motorhome, though the translation into English could do with a bit of polishing.)

[Sophie2]

Thanks for that Derek- whilst I have various booklets for the individual "add-ons" specific to our vehicle our vehicle it's good to see the official manual!

 

Yes the tap next to the cassettes toilet in the left hand photo shown at 08-5. Lights are controlled by separate control panel just inside hab door on right.

 

Some interesting translations- eg Filling the Water System " Unlock the petrol cap and turn it counter-clockwise to open it." :-)

[Derek Uzzell]

You said earlier about the drain-valve by the cassette toilet “...whenever I've opened the tap there's only been a small amount of water drained”.

 

Although the picture in the Hobby manual suggests that the hose from the fresh-water tank to the drain-valve has a relatively small diameter, if there’s a reasonable amount of water in the tank that water should (mostly) drain out.

 

A full large fresh-water tank and a narrow drain-hose will result in emptying taking ages, but if your motorhome has some sort of blockage in the system (eg. plastic swarf in the drain-hose or drain-valve) that is restricting the water-flow, it would be sensible to rectify this now rather than discover later that the tank cannot be drained properly.

 

[Sophie2]

THanks-I'm fairly certain it is properly draining & the reason there's not much draining is there isn't much in there. I don't particularly like driving with loads of water in tank so tend plan to keep only a small amount in there when on the move.

 

Fair point though and I'll keep my eye on it. Thanks

[Thebroons]

Many thanks for the comprehensive replies and the user manual link.

 

We received many books (mostly German) with the m/h but no manual.

 

Funnily enough I did see the tap through a small hole in the toilet cassette locker floor but never linked it to the fresh water drain.

 

Our model is the siesta t70hgq.

 

As for the original question regarding the leisure battery we have used the m/h for 4 nights wild camping and even with a couple of hours tv, lights , heating etc the battery voltage never dropped below 12.3 and the solar panel quickly recharged the next morning. So all is good.

 

Again many thanks for the help received.

[Derek Uzzell]

Thebroons

 

Assuming that you bought your 2015 Hobby Siesta T70 HGQ brand-new, an English-language owner’s manual should have been provided with it - clearly the appropriate document exists on-line.

 

Suggest you go back to the vendor (Dicksons of Perth?) of your vehicle and ask them to get you a manual as these motorhomes are quite complex. (You could download and print the on-line manual of course, but why should you?)

 

If you only have German-language documentation for maor appliances like the heater, fridge, etc. English-language equivalents are likely to be available on-line or from the appliances’ manufacturers.

 

I noticed in passing that you said on the Caravan Club forum in March 2016

 

?"Unfortunately not close to a (Hobby) dealer but there is a Hobby appointed warranty/repair centre 10 miles away...”

 

This thread began with a complaint about Hobby warranty-related issues. You need to be very careful to ensure that any warranty work on your motorhome is officially sanctioned by Hobby, and if obligatory servicing (eg. water-ingress testing) is not going to be carried out by your motorhome’s original vendor, that such tasks are performed by an authorised Hobby agent.

[Thebroons]

The m/h was preowned so the online manual is handy.