Hobby Van.

[Brian Kirby]

Question please.  The above is catalogued as having a Dometic RM 7290 fridge.  That would make it a bit old fashioned, with manual piezo gas ignition, and no thermostatic control while on 12V. 

If anyone has yet got one of these vans, could you please confirm whether this is the case, or if, as seems more likely, it is the RM 7291 fridge - which is the MES (manual energy selection) version with manually selected electronic gas ingition and thermostatic control on 12V?

Many thanks.

[Brian Kirby]

Hope I haven't rubbed salt into too many wounds with this query!  I've just been told the first rhd ones haven't arrived in UK yet.  Apparently they're now due some time in June!  Story is that Ford Transit orders currently stand at 120% of plant capacity.  Oh dear!

[b6x]

Brian,

 

Prior to ordering the Twin we looked into a Hobby Van. Was told by the dealer to expect delivery early 2008.

 

Look very nice vans though. Unfortunately couldnt even get to see one in the flesh, so decided against ordering (and the wait)

 

Will be looking for one in the second hand market in a couple of years,  so if anyone does get hold of one,  well done,  and look after it.  :o)

 

Steve

 

[Nobby]

Brian Kirby - 2007-05-20 10:43 PM

The above is catalogued as having a Dometic RM 7290 fridge.

 

If this is indeed the case, then I'm not at all surprised by this from Hobby who sometimes have a somewhat idiosyncratic way of doing things.

 

When I bought my Hobby 650 in 2002, I was surprised to find that it had an all manual fridge, especially as they are by no means a cheap van. Having said that, I like the manual fridge and being belt and braces would forever be checking an MES model to make sure that it was doing it's job properly!

 

For those who don't mind (or even prefer) a left hooker, Hobby Van's can be found in Germany at the moment. This one's been in stock for a few weeks - http://tinyurl.com/2dc4s7

 

The Hobby Van and Hymer Van both look like very impressive vehicles in a compact package. With a Ford! :-D

 

Nobby

[rwhites1]

Looks like my dethleffs globevan 1 on ford should arrive on thursday/friday at dealers ordered january.Similar layout to hobby & hymer van

 

[Derek Uzzell]

Brian:

 

As I'm sure you are aware, Hobby's 2007 catalogue indicates that, in addition to being fitted to the "Van" model, a Dometic RM7290 93 litre fridge is also installed in the Toskana D-615 AK GFLC design. And, when one refers to Hobby's website, this information is repeated.

 

Studying the floor-plan section of the catalogue reveals that these two vehicles are unique in the current Hobby range for having a compact kitchen 'bloc' that carries individual sink and hob units, with the hob (with fridge beneath) nearer to the rear of the vehicle than the sink. It appears from the floor-plans that this layout may well bring the base of the fridge into conflict with the vehicle's rear wheel-arch. Based on that theory, I'm going to guess that there's a subtle difference between RM7290 and RM7291 fridges in this critical area that allows Hobby to use the former but not the latter. (Good stuff eh? Just proves I can hypothesise as well as you if I put my mind to it!)

 

If you want a quick answer, you might try contacting the owner of the Hobby Van being advertised for sale on Page 350 of MMM June 2007 - Tel: 07933 775494.

 

(Hobby-related, but nothing to do with fridges, I was told yesterday that the furniture door-opening arrangement Hobby has switched to for 2007 can produce surprises for the unwary. As I understand it, the handle arrangement on certain of the doors gives the impression that door-opening just involves pulling on the handle (ie. the doors appear to have no positive-locking mechanism). In reality, the door is closed in the normal way by pushing on the handle but, to re-open the door, you first have to push on the handle (to release the lock) before pulling it.

 

This is perfectly fine as long as you know about it: however, if you are unaware of the push-to-open feature, jerking hard on a closed door can easily result in damage. This had happened to the guy who warned me about it, when an acquaintance being given the guided tour of his new Hobby had innocently yanked on a door handle and seriously damaged the lock. The Hobby owner said he dreaded what would happen if a 2007 Hobby were left unattended on a dealer's forecourt and Joe Public got his greasy mitts on it.)

[Brian Kirby]

Derek

Thanks for spotting the van for sale, I'll do as you suggest and ring.

Re the fridges, according to Dometic they are of wheel arch type, and are identical in size and shape, the only differences being in the energy selection method.  Thanks for the hypothesis, and you are largely right - except, I'm afraid, in respect of any restricting features of the 7291 or 7295 variants, that would prevent them being fitted in lieu of the 7290.  Apparently, they all go in the same 'ole!  All they need, I'm told, is a 12V supply from the leisure battery for the electronic ingnition circuit and interior light.  That's why I'm so puzzled that both vans appear to have "old technology" fridges fitted.

Thanks again.

[Derek Uzzell]

OK - I never had any confidence in my original theory, so Hypothesis II is that Hobby has fitted RM7290 fridges for 2007 so that 2008 models can be upgraded with 7291s.

 

This is much more credible in my view, as they did much the same thing for the entrance-steps on T-Series, with 'special order' manual Omni-Steps being fitted to 2004/2005 models, while 2006 models got the standard electric OmniStep that any right-thinking owner would have wanted in the first place.

 

The only difference (other than the cost) between fitting a manual slide-out Omni-Step and the electric equivalent is that the latter needs a 12V supply from the leisure battery and an operating switch. Sounds familiar?

[Nobby]

I have this picture in my mind of the Hobby factory - they are the biggest caravan manufacturer in Europe and yet I think they build the motorhomes in a shed round the back from all the bits they haven't used on the caravans.

 

I have seen several 650's all of a similar build period to my own and I have yet to see one that is the same in many details as any other. The same is true of the 750's also. This is even true of the paint colours, especially the blues. Next time you see some lined up on a forecourt - take a look! If you ever have to find a paint match for your Hobby, then be prepared for a long haul and don't expect any reliable help from anywhere. I once spoke to the chap who does Hobby paintwork for Brownhills and he pointed me in the direction of several hues produced by VW, Honda and Mercedes amongst others.

 

Of course, none of this is a complaint - I love my Hobby precisely because it so idiosyncratic. :-D

 

Nobby

[Derek Uzzell]

An intriguing observation, as I feel exactly the opposite - that Hobby export into their motorhomes as many of their caravan bits as possible.

 

Lucky you to have paintwork. Most of the external colouring on my motorhome involves sheets of adhesive plastic film. On the other hand, as Hobby's reputation for patchy paintwork quality is generally recognised, perhaps I'm better off with sticky plastic!

[Nobby]

Hi Derek,

 

That's pretty much what I was saying about the parts - just that the motorhomes probably get the odds and sods that are left over, resulting in loss of continuity! I must point out that my tongue is firmly in my cheek on this but while Hobby's retain their general designs longer than most, detailed items seem to change frequently.

 

I believe that you have a 'T' series Hobby. If that's the case, then I know of at least one other chap who had a T600 where almost all of the paint bubbled and peeled off, resulting in a total refinishing exercise being necessary (under warranty). He's sold it recently but is replacing it with another Hobby by direct import.

 

The paint finish is actually not too bad on mine and when I had a small repair done a few years ago, the sprayer commented favourably on that fact. However, it took him longer to match and mix the paint than to actually do the repair work and gave me a small pot of the blue just in case it may be needed again.

 

Regards,

Nobby

[Brian Kirby]

Don't know if this will shed some light on Hobby paint, but it seems this problem extends to Burstners as well!  I wanted a small quantity of touch-in for a minor scratch.  The upshot of a lot of enquiries was that small quantities of paint aren't imported into UK, due to restrictions on carrying flammables.  In bulk they go as cargo on suitable vessels, but apparently paint is banned on passenger ferries and in the tunnel.  Thus no retouching kits in UK.  In Europe, it's OK, just not in UK. 

OK, you'd think, just give me the colour reference codes, which are supposed to be international, and any factor should be able to match the paints.  Not so!  Burstner could quote the numbers, but not their origins.  After a lot of research assuming DIN standards, I discovered they were quoting from a Swedish colour system, but the codes were out of date.  They'd all been changed due to revised formulations following the introduction of water based paints.  Burstner apparently being unaware of this! 

Eventually, I found a paint factor who had the Swedish codes, and could provide an aerosol can mixed to measure.  However, due to the formulation of the colour, the minimum quantity that could be mixed was 1 litre.  I was given the balance in a can, told to keep it, as it wouldn't go off, and he'd fill another aerosol from that anytime I wanted it.  Oh, and it worked!  Don't scratch your van!

[Peter Pan]

Brian

I took delivery of my Hobby Van on 11th May, possibly the first to be registered in Britain.

I will confirm the model of the refrigerator tomorrow but I can confirm it is manual selection between gas/230v/12v.

[Brian Kirby]

Thanks Peter.  Lucky old you!  Tried it out yet?

[Derek Uzzell]

Nobby:

 

Regarding the T-600 paintwork problem vehicle, I'm guessing that you are referring to the postings by "Magnor" on the motorhomefacts website. I believe his T-600 was a very early model, which may or may not be significant. Hopefully the fault was a one-off, as I've heard of no similar occurrences and mine seems to be OK in this respect (so far!!)

[Nobby]

Hi Derek,

 

I think that's probably him although my contact with him is away from the forums. I do know that, other than his specific paint issue, he was impressed with his Hobby - certainly enough to persuade him to buy another.

 

Pleased to hear that you don't have the same issue - such a thing can really take the edge off ownership.

 

I'll certainly look forward to hearing of any experiences from Hobby Van owners on here as it looks like a concept I may go for in a few years when I come to change.

 

Nobby

 

 

[Peter Pan]

Brian

 

The refrigerator is the Dometic RM 7290(L).

 

We took it out last weekend for a couple of nights by the Kennet & Avon canal to find out the faults.

And what happened I hear you ask? Well the only real problem was the Gaslow system which had a gas leak & a faulty regulator valve. Brownhill s fixed that on Saturday morning. Other than that, it was really a matter of our getting used to how things work ( our first motorhome).

 

Apart from the missing spare wheel that is!

Any other new Hobby Van owners checked to see if the spare wheel is present?

 

So far I am very pleased with our choice. It is a pleasure to drive, easy to manoeuvre. The cruise control is a great feature. I was getting 33 mpg on a 60mph drive along the A303.

 

Also very pleased with the CAMOS rear view camera. So far Wendy has not needed to leave her seat to guide me (but it was an empty 3 acre field).

 

Next weekend we are departing for a 2 week tour of Yorkshire to give it a through shake-down. I will give a progress report after the adventure.

[Brian Kirby]

Thank you Peter.

Strange choice of fridge, I think Derek must be right.  They'll use fitting a better variant on next year's models as an excuse for hiking the price!

Don't worry about the spare, none of them has one.  Just check you have the emergency inflation kit!  I guess it might be possible to mount a spare somewhere in the garage, if its absence makes you really uneasy.

Thanks again, and enjoy!

[Derek Uzzell]

It would be interesting to know if there is actually space beneath the Hobby Van for a spare wheel as Hymer's Van 522 (on the same mwb chassis and with a similar lowered-floor garage design) carried its spare within the garage. This might be trickier with the Hobby as the 'wardrobe' significantly intrudes into the garage's internal space.

[Keith T]

It's quite likley there is no spare wheel - we are purchasing a Burstner Marano, and no spare wheel is supplied - an aerosol can instead. I beleive it's called cost (and weight) saving!

There are ealier threads concerning this, and we are hoping to have the Ultraseal product installed in all 4 road wheels straight away....this claims to prevent puctures in the first place, and we've been quoted about £60 in total.

[techmec]

Re spare wheel.

colleted Globevan 1 last week. spare is can of sealant and electric inflator.