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MODIFICATIONS and SUPPLETIONS
parking sensor
Initially it was believed that after a while sufficient feeling has been build up to estimate the distance between the back of the
camper and objects. However, even after 4 year experience a small collisions have been taken place when driving backwards. The
camper is equipped with a reverse running camera. But this device, however, is not seeing objects close behind the camper. In order
to prevent more collisions four ultrasonic sensors have been mounted in the bumper at the back. The control unit is located in an
unused battery box. The belonging display has been glued at the sun screen of the reverse running camera (it is always nice to see
how things, which are not related to each other, fit so well). The display shows the distance graphically and numerically and a
sound signal indicating the distance can be activated. A large part of the installation time was devoted to connect the control
unit with the display. A suitable path had to be found for the cable. Furthermore is was necessary to lenghten the masked seven
leaders cable. The system is powered when the reverse running light are on.
LPG gas system
Since a few years it is allowed to use LPG for cooking and heating in campers. The advantage of this facillity is that the cylinders
can be filled at a petrol station. This is much more universal option over Europe in comparisson with the propane gas cylinders.
Furthermore the LPG is cheaper and it is rather heavy work and time consuming to replace and fill the ptopane cylinders.
The gas case can contain two cylinders of 27ltr. Because the cylinder can be filled at any time only one cylinder was replaced by a
LPG cylinder. A transparent cylinder of synthetic material is used as a reserve tank. To reduce the weight there was choosen for an aluminium
cylinder. It seems that LPG is less clean than propane, so that it is recommended to install a filter in the low pressure section.
This was quite a complicated operation because of the lack of space and because of 10mm conduit-pipes are used in the camper where the filter was
designed for 8mm tubes. Furthermore the opportunity was taken to make an external connection to enable cooking in the open air or to
operate a gas barbeqeu. This requires several connections so that great care was needed to got a perfect closed system.
Although it is possible to mount the filling adapter directly at the cylinder there was choosen for an external adapter. This seems to be
more acceptable at the fuel stations abroad. Furthermore the LPG cylinder has been tied up stronger because this seemed to be recommended
in some countries.
Originally the LPG cylinder is equipped with a analog device to show the degree of filling. This device has been replaced by an electrical
device, so that is becomes possible to watch the gas stock on a display in the camper. The display was located at a spot at the dashboard, so that
a quick view is needed to decide if it is necessary to fill the cylinder, when a petrol station is visited.
life time battery
It is interesting to know the actual capacity of the batteries. When the battery is new the capacity is known, but how good are they
after e.g. 4 years. Since we are spending the nights mostly at campings the house keeping battery is not often used for a long term.
But nevertheless the capacity decreases and will reach a point that the capacity becomes unacceptable low. In order to get a better
insight in the actual capacity a measuring system has been developed. In this system the battery is loaded by about 5A, being some
light spots in the camper. The battery voltage is measured and digitized by an interface connected to a computer. The digitized voltage
is plotted in time on the screen. A typical output is shown in the graph below. The start voltage is related to the charger in drop
charge mode. Next the charger is shut off, resulting in a somewhat lower voltage. Then the 5A load is switched on, resulting in a more
or less linear decreasing voltage in time. The load is based on the initial voltage (12.8V). Since I=V/R the load will be decreasing
somewhat with decreasing voltage. After about 9 hours the load was cut off by the low voltage (10V) control system of the camper
electronics (to prevent battery damage by too much unloading).
Next the 5A load is cut off and as can be seen the battery voltage is still about 11.6V. Next the charger is switched on, so
that the battery is charged again. After some hours the battery is filled and the charger is switch in to the drop charge mode, which was
the beginning of the cycle as described previously.
This battery is 4 years old and exposes about half the initial capacity (90 Ah). It is interesting to see how much the capacity will
be decrease in time. Moreover this measurement would be most interesting if the test is also performed with the new battery.
This will be a research item when the battery is replaced by e new one.
UPDATE
In May 2011 a new battery has been purchased (PBQ; agm; 100Ah). This battery has been tested in August with a 5A load. As can be seen the
capacity is good in agreement with the specifications. This test will be performed each year, in order to show the decrease in capacity
in time.
temperature measurements
Several temperatures which are of interest were not measured as a standard option. Therefore a system has been installed which can
measure the temperature at 4 location. The signals of the sensors are transmitted wireless, so that no cable network is required to
make the information visible on a central display. The system consists of a simple, so called weather station, which is positioned
at a good accessible place near the door of the camper. One temp sensor (for indoor measurement) is on board, and 3 external sensors
can be read. The three additional sensors are used to measure the outdoor temperature and in the deep-freeze and the refrigerator,
respectively. At the display the external temps are given one by one, with a cycle of a few seconds. The outdoor sensor can also be
read when laying on the bed.
Additional information given by the control unit is: DFC time; history atmospheric pressure; sun(moon)rise and sun(moon)set.
additional heater
Although the camper is equipped with a gas heating system it is convenient in some cases to be able to
use an electrical heater. In summer time mostly little heat is required, so that switching on of an electrical
heater for a while is more simple than starting the gas system. But in particular in the winter period
when the camper is parked in the open air it will be better for the interior if the air is heated up
now and then. In order to avoid dragging with heaters a simple ventilator heater has been build-in
in the camper. The heater can be set on 1000 or 2000 Watt and is controlled by an adjustable thermostat. After visiting
more than 100 campings, the capacity of 1000 Watt was never a problem.
For safety it contains a reversible overheating switch and a non reversible melting element.
It was found
that there was enough space underneath the refrigerator to house the van heater and control unit. A point of
concern was the height. Because if too critical the van can be blocked due to deformation. For that reason the grip has been
canibalized somewhat. In order to operate the refrigerator a 220V power line was already there. Fortunately
the capacity of the power line is strongly oversized.
Some holes were made in the cover sheet for passing the warm air and giving access to the control panel. Since
the space already contains an additional heater using the cooling water of the motor, no extra provisions had
to be made to guarantee sufficient air circulation. However, originally the air was suctioned via gaps from the
wet room. Since this not always smells nicely the gaps to the wetroom could be closed now.
A special option of the home made control system is that the operation of the heater can be made dependent
on the temperature difference between inside and outside of the camper. The idea is
to keep the temperature into the camper always a few degrees higher the the outside temperature, in order to prevent
condensation of moist. To obtain an indication of the costs, an hour counter device has been added.
In the normal mode the build in thermostat of the van heater is used to control the
temperature. Of course the electrical heater works only if a 220v power supply is available. When the power is
disconnected the control unit always goes in the off mode. Human action is required to switch the heater on
when power is connected again.
The heating system described before was not found to be convenient to keep the camper free of freezing in winter time.
The problem was that the analog control system was not so accurate and displays a rather large hysteresis. It was
therefore difficult to adjust the temperature critically. For that reason a universal digital temperature control unit with pin
connector has been installed.
The on and off temperature can be adjusted independently. Since the device has a remote sensor a fixed place was prefered.
This was most compactly achieved by using a recessed pin connector. An additional fan heater is used in this case. The temperature
in the camper can be watched at my desk using a wireless thermometer.
forced cooling heat exchanging element of the refrigerator
The cooling of the heat exchanging element is originally based on natural convection. Since it is planned to visit warm countries it is not sure that the natural convection is strong enough to keep the temperature sufficiently low all the time. The heat exchanging element consist of a tube with sliced metal sheets in order to increase the cooling surface. It was easy to mount three fans (canibalised from old computers) with some metal aids on the slices. A forced air flow can now be generated. A home made electronically temperature switch has been implemented, so that the fans are only spinning when the exchanging element is hot. At normal temperatures the fans can be switched of, so that no additional noise is generated. It is believed that the fans are also improving the operation somewhat at normal temperatures. The effect, however, is difficult to measure. On the other hand it was found up to now that the refrigerator operates also satisfactory in warm countries without a forced cooling system.
combustion gasses gas oven
The camper is equipped with a gas oven. Although this is a nice tool, it was not used very often up to now. The main reason is that the combustion gasses are flowing to the interior of the camper. In particular in the colder seasons when the windows are closed the smell is quite strong. Actually it would not be difficult to make an outlet in the roof of the camper, but apparently there was some reason not to do this. I am not happy with an additional hole in the roof, also. However, recently I discovered that is was easy to direct the combustion gasses to the open air. The back side of the oven is covered with a plastic case, in order prevent that combustion gasses of the cooling system enters the interior. The back side of this cover is close to the vetilation opening for cooling the heat exchanging element of the refrigerator. By making a hole in the cover and mounting a ventilator the combustion gasses of the oven is directed to the open air. The outlet of the ventilator is so close to the cover of the ventilation opening that it is hard to believe that combustion gasses of the cooling system enter the interior of the camper. Nevertheless the fan is equipped with a flap to prevent air flow in the reversed direction.
power supply navigator and mobile telephone
The navigation system and the mobile telephone are connected to the screen by a sucker. As a result the cables with adapters has to go down to the connector in the dash board. This is disorderly and looks not very fine. A better solution has been made by placing the adapters in a space behind the cabin light. A continuous 12V power supply during driving was available in the cabin light unit. Since the devices are placed at the upper side of the screen, almost no cable is visible now.
Damage prevention power supply connection
When located at the parking place at home the camper is always connected to 220V power. Of course the connector has to be disconnected when leaving the parking place.
But with Murphy's law ("Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong") in mind is looks to be wise to incorporate an additional safety. For that reason an extra connector
is added. This connector will be disconnected when the cable is subjected to mechanical tension. When traveling around this safety is not applied, because the departure
protocol is in that case more clear than when leaving from home. Up to now, however, the safety connection has not been activated.
UPDATE: Because a cables has been drawn to the gas cabinet it was easy to design an electronical warning system, to prevent driving while the 220V power cable is
connected. A 12V power source of the radio interface is used, because this point is only on when the contact lock is activated by the key. Close to the gas cabinet
there is a 220V power point. By means of a relay the beeper is connected to the mass. The beeper is activated when both the 12V and 220V are on.
some minor electrical suppletions
In the standard camper actually only one 220V plug connections was available (in the kitchen area). This appeared
not to be a convenient location in many cases. Therefore some additional connections have been made. One of them in the basement underneath the bed (eventually for heating the bed when using the camper in winter time), one close to the camper door and one in the front area. The second location is convenient when using electric light when sitting outsite in summer time.
Furthermore an additional 12V light spot has been supplied. A lack in the design was that there was no good light
for reading a book when sitting in one of the turned pilot chairs.
Finally an ampere meter has been inserted in the 220V power supply cable. Actually the 12V power circuit was equipped with an ampere indication, but not the 220V supply. On several campings the 220V power supplies have a limited
capacity, so that it is good to know how much ampere the different devices will need.
installation 12 to 220 converter
For several low energy applications it is convenient to have a 220 power supply during driving. Therefore a 300 watt, 12-220 volt
(sinus wave) converter has been installed in the camper. The converter is positioned in one of the two (unused) battery boxes
in the back of the camper. The 220 pin conector and a simple control panel is located just behind the drivers pilot chair, so
that some cables have to be laid out from the back site of the camper to the front side. It was succeeded to lead the cables out
of sight using the appropriate canals. However, quite a lot of panels have to be removed to get access to the required locations.
The converter can be switched on by a remote controlled input. This option is used to force that the converter is commonly on, only when the
camper is driving. In this case the power supply of the back light (most close point) has been used to switch on the converter
(we always drive with light on).
Nevertheless sometimes it will be convenient to have 220 volt when not driving. In order to prevent that it will be forgotten
to switch off the device a timer can be activated by bottons on the control pannel. If not switched off manually the timer will cut
the power after 2.5 hour.
storage of the mat
Sometimes it is convenient to have a mat in front of the camper door. However, this mat becomes dirty
and the question is where to store the mat during driving. A solution was found at the back of the camper.
In contradiction with the actual trend this camper is equipped with a spare wheel. Actually this appeared to
be so unusual to day that a self made structure has to be made to store the wheel. This structure
is also used to make a place where two mats can be stored. Eventually the mats can be used, also, to prevent
slipping wheels if parked on a slippy surface.
improving spare wheel storage
In contradiction with the actual trend the camper is equipped with a spare wheel. Actually this appeared to
be so unusual to day that a self made structure had to be made to store the wheel. Although never tested the system
was not expected to be very convenient. The wheel was hold by two separate edge profiles. By removing 4 bolts the wheel
will be available. However, it should not be easy to place the wheel back. To improve the system the two profiles are
connected to each other to form a frame and two hings were applied to enable rotation of the frame. Now two bolts have
to be removed to get the wheel. The wheel can be placed back at the inclined frame, where the hings allow lifting
of the wheel.
water level
In order to have a convenient night it is preferred that the bed is horizontal. This can be checked by a water level.
Water levels are commercial available which measures the level in two directions. The point is where to install this
device, so that it is visible when sitting on the drivers chair. The best place found was on the rail of the
passenger chair. A bold was there already, so that the water level could be fixed easily after it was mounted on
an additional rigid platform.
improvement table
In order to be able to change the table size the flap consists of two hinged parts. A conflict arises when a few matters are located at the top. The matters have to be placed somewhere else in order to fold out or fold up the flap. Dry matters can be put away easily, but filled cups and e.g. cans should be moved to the kitchen area. This is not convenient. Therefore an additional leaf has been constructed in the support unit of the hinged flap. Now cups etc. can be placed temporarily at that leaf while folding up or out the flap.
fly certain
The fly certain consist of a number of strings which covers the opening of the camper when the door is open.
Since the door is rather thick a problem appears when the door has to be closed. This was solved by using two
short chains, so that the certain could follow the contours of the door. However, there was still the
problem that the strings are jammed in the locking mechanism. This was solved by using a strong magnet.
When the door is open a good sealing can be obtained by clicking the rail of the certain to the magnet. On the
other hand more space can easily be made by disconnecting the magnet (strong magnets can be cannibalized from
hard disk drive units).
The certain can be removed easily, but it is also possible to wind it up by means of an additional chain.
paper role
In the kitchen a device was wanted which keeps the paper role. Commercial devices are often rather robust and
has additional functions, which are not required. Therefore a simple device has been made. Be aware that a brake is required,
because without a brake the paper is winded off during riding.
making the bed more rigid
Although the bed looks fine it is not rigid enough for our convenience. Therefore a simple solution is
applied to make the bed more rigid. A beam (aluminum pipe or wooden beam) was fixed to the bed segments
by means of cable ties.
drying the laundry
A commercial available drying frame has been mounted at the bike carrier. The frame is foldable, so that it can be in place all the time.
improvement of some structures
In a first view the interior of the camper looks quite well. However, my first step on the embankment in
the basement underneath the bed results in a crack, and when I was sitting down a little bit hard on
the bank after a biking tour I hear a crack also. In order to keep the weight of the camper as low
as possible the factory uses rather thin wooden sheets in the construction. To increase the loading
resistance some improvements have been made. A detailed example of the improvement of the bank is shown, but
also in the basement underneath the bed some extra support has been implemented. Now it is possible
to put my wait (still carefully) on the embankment.
modification belts bike carrier
Four belts are used to fix the wheels of the bikes to the bike carrier. Originally rubber belts are delivered with the carrier. However, after a few years the rubber cracks and breaks finally. Since the rubber belts are not found to be convenient in use, an alternative solution has been created. The part of the rubber which is connected to the carrier is still in use, but the belt is replaced by a textile band with a clasp. The openings in the rubber band allows a good combination with the textile band.
Water system
filling
The camper has a 120 l water tank, which can be filled via an opening at
the outside of the camper. A problem is that at home the camper is parked
very close to a hedge, so that the filling opening is not good accessible. Therefore
an additional opening has been made at the roof of the tank, which can be closed by
a screw cap. The water hose can be connected to this opening by valves and it is also possible
to fill the tank with a water can. The opening can also be use to discharge the water
in the tank using a siphon. This is faster than using the original tap, and the water
can be directed to the sink hole.
A question could be; why not using the large opening. The problem is that the large cap is
sealed by a rubber ring, which has to be tighten rather heavy in order to guarantee
no leakage. Due to this it is rather hard to open this cap again.
A special tool
was made for this. However, recently it was found that the cap
turns much easier when the rubber ring is covered with teflon tape.
drying the tank
If the camper is not used for a long term it is recommended to dry the water tank.
Even when the large cap is removed this will take a long time. In order to shorten the
drying process a ventilator connected to a short pipe can be used to force the air flow
in the tank. If the water is discharged as good as possible the tank can be dried
in a few hours.
cleaning water system
If the camper is used again after a term of rest it is required to clean the
tubes to the taps. In order to flush the system without using the internal pump an additional
connection is made after the pump. The water hose can now be connected to the water
system so that water system can be flushed simply. A cheap timer has been purchased, so that the time of the water flow can be adjusted in advance. The timer can also be
used when filling the water tank.
It is now also possible to clean tubes and boiler with additives without using the water storage tank. For this work a simple additional pump is used. The clean water tank is always discharged and dryed with a cloth and air flow, when not used for a while.
Following the specifications of the boiler the pressure of the water tap is somewhat too large. Therefore also a
pressure reducer is inserted in the supply system. The pressure is set to less than 1 bar, so that it is also not
possible that the water tank is oveloaded during filling.
In order to remove water from the tubes (in case of freezing) the additional connection can be used to blow air in the system. Up to now rather good results are obtained by a simple aquarium pump.
Finally a connection has be made outside the camper, so that it becomes possible to connect permanetly to the tap at home or to taps which are sometimes available at camping sites.
parking place
We are lucky that the camper can be parked at our own area. This appeared to be very convenient. The camper
is accessible at each moment, so that maintainance, modifications and repair are easy to perform. The camper
can be made ready very quickly for departure, so that there is a low treshold to use the camper. Ofcourse it
means that the camper is in the open air for the whole year. However, after several years no signs are visible that
this should be bad for the plastic protection sheets. Probably most sensitive is the roof, in particular
because at one location some water is accumulated. For that reason the roof is cleaned regularly. Eventually
the roof can be covered in winter time by a waterproof cloth.
In order to be able to place the camper next our home some modifications had to me made in the
garden. In the first instance a small hedge had to be removed in order to create an entrance. Two strips were
made with concrete tiles (40x60x5 cm) at a distance of about 160 cm apart). The level of the tiles are adjusted
to force that raining water is following the center of the screen (this guarantees the best discharge of water
without wetting the motor compartment). The space between the tile strips is covered with sand, in order to guarantees
a rather dry floor. The area underneath the camper is too dark for vegetation. It has te be prevented that vegetation
is touching the camper because it stimulates corrosion and it is a path for insects like ants to attack the camper. Up to
now there was no indication that ants are entering via the wheels. Probably the smooth braking disks could not be passed.
Finally two doors were installed to be able to close the entrance. Since we are situated in a so called "living
district" there are no special walking ways for pedestrains. Therefore no special permisssion was required to
drive from the street into the garden.
UPDATE: improving parking place
Actually the parking place was not very optimal. Since there were only two strips it is quite humid underneath the camper.
This can stimulate corrosion. Furthermore it was not convenient to wash the camper and also during raining it becomes rather muddy, because of the vegatation was gone.
The parking place has been improved by covering the whole area by tiles. In total more than 10000kg of material was handeled. The strips of larger tiles are still there, where the space between and arround is filled with smaller tiles. Also a cresspool has been made, which is connected to the sewer. Now the camper can be washed at the location and raining water is discharged. Since the soil was open the
opportunity was taken ta make a fixed water tap and power supply close to the camper. This makes it easy to flush the water system
regularly.
sink hole for water discharge
In order to discharge the water of the dirt water tanks a sink hole has
been made at the parking place. The discharge tube is connected to the sewer pipe
underneath the floor of the house. When the camper is parked on its place in the garden
a tube segment has to be placed in order to discharge the water of the dirt tank.
An unsatisfied situation was that there are two more significant water outlets (the outlets to empty the water tank and the boiler). This water was not collected so that it was dropped on the tile path. This was not improving the stability. Therefore a tube system has been mounted underneath the camper so that the discharged water from boiler and tank outlet is led to the outlet pipe of the dirt water tank. Now al water can be drained away at one location.
damage prevention discharge tube
The outlet of the discharge tube of the gray water tank is most close to the street surface (14 cm). As a result the tube is very sensitive for damaging; e.g. it was damaged a few times when parking backwards agains a kerbstone. During the latest repair a system has been designed which enables increasing of the distance to the street. In this design the end part is not fixed by glueing the tube segments but instead, a commercial available connection element is used with o-rings. After discharging the water the outlet can be turned over 90 degrees. This increases the distance to the strees with 7 cm. The rotation is so smooth that the pipe will also rotate when touching e.g. a kerbstone. It remains to be seen if this solution is helpfull.
additional burglary prevention
Unfortunately several weak point, such as the camper door and windows are inviting thieves to attack the camper. However, probably the most weak point are the standard locks of the cabin doors. Because this is the same locking mechanism for many campers, specialists are able to open these doors in a few seconds almost without making any noise. For that reason the doors can be locked with an additional commercial available lock.
Also an alarm can be activated which detects movements inside the camper. Question is in how far people are still impressed by an alarm of a car.
Fortunately up to now not any attemp has been performed to enter our camper.
clock for at night vision
When I awake at midnight I like to see what time it is, without doing all kind of actions. For that reason a clock has been installed above the head end of the french bed. The digital radio controlled clock has been mounted underneath one of the storage cases. Because in a battery powered device no permanent light is available some modifications have been made to make the light continuous. Since a battery should be soon exhausted the clock is connected to the 12 volt system of the camper via a 12V to 1.5V DC -DC converter. A 12V connection point was available in the double floor of the storage case above the bed. Since the light was initially to strong a variable resistor has been build in to control the intensity. It feels good to see that the you can sleep on for a while when you awake in the middle of the night. An additional option is a build in temperature sensor. It helps you to decide if the heater has to be switched on before leaving the bed.
testing the gas system
In order to be sure that the gas system is save it has to be periodically investigated on leakage.
Several methods are available for the investigation. One of them is to measure the pressure drop in time after pressurizing the system.
In this method the valves of the gas cylinders are closed. The required test pressure is about 150 mbar.
It was found that this pressure could achieved approximately by means of an aquarium air pump.
After pressurizing the system and closing the tube to the air pump the pressure is monitored by a digital precision manometer.
If the absolute pressure is measured a correction has to be made for changes in the atmospheric pressure. And also temperature changes are influencing the pressure.
The air pump and manometer are connected by means of a T-bar to the outlet of an un-used valve. Be care that there is no leakage in this provisional connection.
Next the pressure is followed in time.
Depending on the volume of the gas system some pressure drop is allowed. This seems to be approximately 5 to 10 mbar per hour.
Beside leakage, visual inspection of rubber tubes, rubber rings and the colour of the flames is required.
Finally the date of some components have to be inspected in order to decide if the have to be replaced.
How to feed the cat
When leaving home for a few days it is convenient when the cat can get his food.
Therefore a feeding machine has been developed, which can supply 7 meals.
The machine is controled by a clock, in order to supplies two times per day the food.
The operation can be monitored at distance with the mobile telephone by means of a
webcam. If in operation the feeding times are at 8:00 and 18:00.
TROUBLE SHOOTING
battery connection
Since in the showroom the camper was all the time connected to 220 power supply it was found at home that the
domestic battery was not working well. After a lot of measurements it was discovered that there was a bad contact
in the connection of the cable with the battery. The problem was that the shrink tube to protect the connection
between cable and ring runs for a rather large part over the ring. Because the wing nut is completely made of plastic
only the under site of the metal ring can make electrical contact. Due to the isolation material the ring will be wiped
up after getting some pressure of the swing nut. This problem could be solved easily by removing the isolation
from the ring. Difficult to find, but easy to solve.
door not open
After a few days during the first holiday it appeared not longer be possible to open the camper door. The
lowest one of the two locks could not be unlocked. This problem was solved as soon as possible by un-screwing
a part of the lock at the inside and by bending a part. Once at home the problem was investigated in more detail.
After removing the cover the control system of the locks was good visible. It was soon clear that a bold
was un-screwed by itself (see arrow right figure), so that the lock could not be controlled by the bar. The
bold was still there so that this could be repaired easily. Most of the work was to bring the bended part back
in its original shape.
water leakage in the motor compartment
A problem of the latest models of Fiat is that there is not a good sealing of the front screen. Water which is
running from the screen is infiltrating in the motor area. This causes that several parts of the motor
becomes wet during raining. Perhaps this is not a big problem if this happens now and than. However, in the case
the camper is always parked in the open air, it is not a nice view that al parts in the motor compartment
are wet after each raining period. Up to now the most effective way to prevent leakage was using tape to close
the gap between the screen and the sealing. It looks perhaps not nice, but it is very effective. A problem was to find a suitable tape.
Several types are sucking up water and becomes puckered. Types with a textile core are shrinking when heated by the sun. The best
solution up to now appeared to be tape of thin aluminum foil.
Another problem were two small
compartments (left and right) to catch raining water. The outlet are spraying water over components in the motor
compartment. Furthermore the outlet holes were so small that they blocked very soon so that the bearing of one of the
wipers is under water all the time. Overflow causes also wetted components. This problem has been
improved by significantly increasing the diameter of the outlets. Also a funnel with a tube has been installed underneath the outlet,
so that no longer motor parts are wetted. To prevent accumulation of dirt a piece of a fly certain has been used to cover
the side compartiments. This looks to be a successfull modification. Almost no matter is accumulated now at all. Finally a small spout has been constructed on both sides,
so that most water is directed to the center compartment.
The center compartment for catching water is equipped with a sufficient large tube. However, that tube was ending
at such a place that still water was spraying over several motor part. Therefore the big tube has been redirected and lengthened somewhat, so
that the water is discharged directly to the street.
Finally a solution is found to prevent water leakage of the air inlet. In particular when the motor cap
is opened after a raining period water is spread over the engine, but probably there is also some leakage in closed position.
This problem is solved by mounting a spout underneath the air inlet. The water is now drained away so that it is not wetting the engine.
Since the spout is now available it was easy to catch the small amount of water which passes
the join of the gutter underneath the front screen. However this amount is now neglectable because the join is closed by means
of silicone compound and aluminium foil.
The plan is to protect the front with a cover in winter time. However, the smooth shape of the
front of the camper roof causes that water is running around the profile. In this situation the water will
infiltrate underneath the cover. As a test draught strip with an appropriate profile was used to prevent the water
following the profile. However, this profile seems to be just too small. So I am still looking for a better solution.
rain protection
Since the camper is in the open air for the whole year some precautions have been taken to prevent infiltration of water at some places during raining. A large overall cover is not prefered, because it is time consuming and has some disavantages, also.
The leakage of front screen was successfully stopped by means of aluminium tape.
Another problem are the cabin doors. Without prevention raining water is infiltrated between the glass and the sealing. This will cause that inside space of the door will be wetted regularly and algae will grow on the sealing. This area has been protected by plastic folio. The folio is jammed by the door at the upperside and the mirror and door handle are used to jam the folio at the down side.
The camper has to sliding windows. They are moving in a spout which is covered with textile. This spout will be wetted all the time resulting in growing algae. To keep this area dry a front panel has been designed which is installed during parking only. Furthermore an aluminium profile has been glued at the bottom side of the window to prevent permanently water infiltration at that part.
Next the camper door can be infiltrated by water which is running down of the window. This is prevented by a sheet which touches the window by some tension. The sealing with the window is optimized by menas of the rubber of an old screenwiper. Since the whole door is made of plastic, the water infiltration is not so critically.
Finaly an unwanted situation is that some water is accumulated at the roof of the camper. At the moment the wet area is cleaned so now and then in order to prevent growing algae. A possible solution is the use of a shiphon based on e.g. a textile rope.
Since the camper is used regularly during the whole year, it is important that the aids can be removed quickly. Removing of the protection tools takes only 5 minutes.
sticking of a door
The door to the wet cell was sticking. Dependent on the flatness of the parking area it could be
rather difficult to close the door. Attempts to increase the space by pre-stressing the rabbet temporarily did not help.
A more effective method was found by pre-stressing the rabbet continuously by means of a wood screw. In this case
the wooden sheet which supports the bed was used as anchor sheet. Now the space between door and rabbet can be
adjusted easily by tighten the wood screw. If the anchor sheet is bending after a while some additional
reinforcement can be added. As additional support the bed has been equipped with a snatch, so that the anchor sheet
is prevented from bending too much.
protection safety switches
After be surprised for two times by a 220V power cut off a solution has been made to prevent this problem.
The origin of the problem were three safety switches for the 220V power supply, which are located in the basement
underneath the bed. When putting some matter into the basement it can easily happen that it touches the switches,
so that they are moved into the off position. A simple solution has been made by covering the panel with a
transparent head. A hinge makes it possible to lift up the cover in order to have a good access to the switches.
Fixing cover connector
The 220V connector at the outside of the camper is covered with a flap. When the connector has been removed the
flap will close the opening. Although there is some kind of locking system it happen quite often that the flap
is not fixed well. The waving flap is then vissible in the back vieuw mirror. This situation has been prevented
by fixing a magnet at the flap and a metal part at the counter part. Now the flap is fixed automatically as soon
as the connector has been removed.
missing part
The bed can be lifted up to get access to the storage basement. To make the uplift easier two gas cylinders
were installed, in order to decrease the weight of the bed. The mounting of the cylinder to the construction rail,
however, was not very well. They are moving along the rail, making that the effect of the cylinders was not
very reliable. After some investigation it was found that a metal plate was missing, so that it was impossible to
fix the cylinders sufficiently well to the rail. This could be solved easily.
cold air flow
During one of the last trips with the camper a cold air flow was detected coming from the perforated cover of the speakers, located in the cabin doors. It feels unpleasant, because the cold wind stikes against the leg of the driver. Actually it was not detected so strong before. But during this trip there was a strong wind perpendicular to the driving direction. The origine of the air flow is a perforated location in the door.
Since the door is only sealed at the cabin side air can flow free through the perforated area. Probably a precaution to prevent accumulation of condence moist into the door compartment. Therefore it looks not wise to cover the perforation.
However, after removing the perforated speaker covers it was good visible that gaps where available through which air could pass to the cabin. This problem could easily be solved by closing the gaps with tape. It is not such a nice view, but when the cover is placed back it is not longer visible.
damaged water tap by freezing
Although the water system was dewatered and the (cold/hot water) taps were set open in neutral position still some damage has happened in the tap of the kitchen. A ceramic disk with holes appeared to be broken, so that leakage occurs when the tap is opened.
Fortunately the broken part concerns the hole of the outlet, so that there is no leakage in closed position. It also means that the pressure is low in this area. And so the stresses, so that the part could be repaired by glueing.
Because a small amount of residual water causes damage, the tap looks not very resistance agains freezing.
It seems therefore necessary to remove the interior of the tap in a next cold period. Since this is not a very convenient action the tap will be replaced in the near future by a tap with a conventional closing system (rubber disk).
protection button
A conflict was observed between the button of a door of a case in the kitchen and a drawer. When the button was not in the lock position the drawer could be hitched by the button. This has happened very often so that the button was damaged some what.
Two modification have been made. In the first instance the hings of the door were made to rotate more smoothly, so that the door is not remaining always in a slight open position. Secondly a small wooden blok is mounted underneath the button, so that the drawer can not longer be hooked by the button.
turning table leg
The table of the camper has a lot of freedom in orientation. The table-flap can be fold out, rotate and shifted. Also the height can be adjusted. However, the handle to fix the vertical motion was located at the same site as the bench. So you knees are hitting the handle when sitting there. Furthermore the handle remains an obstruction in the case the table-flap was moved in such a way that the space between flap and bench was at largest. This was in particular annoying when working on the water system, which is located underneath the bench. It was found that this could easily be improved by rotating the table leg over 180 degrees. The leg was fixed on the floor by six screws. Now the handle is directed to the drivers chair. Even when the drivers chair is rotated the handle is much less an obstruction than it was in the original position.
cap clear water tank
The cap which closes the outside filling input of the clear water tank was extremely difficult to remove. In particular when the cap was not removed for a longer time your fingers were almost broken to turn the cap. A study of this problem shows that the rubber ring causes a lot of friction. This friction has been elimineted by greasing the back of the ring with some butter. Actually the friction became now so low that the lock did not work. Therefore also some sliding planes of the locking system were greased.
repairing crack in bumper
As a result of a collapse with a snow wall, which was hidding a concrete wall a crack was formed at the back side of the camper. The crack is repaired by stabilizing the plastic cover at the back side using polyester and glass fibre. If once stabilzed the crack was made somewhat wider and the space is filled with white polyester gel. Next fine sand paper was used to smooth the filling. And finally a polishing pasta and wax were used to make the surface as smooth as the environment. Except a slight change in colour, the repair is almost invisible.
repairing water pump
The camper is equippd with a Shurflo water pump. This pump is pressure controled. A membrane in the pumping house is touching a micro switch, so that the pump is switch off when the pressure has passed some value. Fortunately the day before departure it was discovered that the pump was not working. An investigation showed that one of the flat contacts of the micro switch was completely eroded. Although some modification of a commercial available switch was required it was quite easy to replace the switch.
Also an additional modification has been made to limit the pumping time. This is to prevent that the whole water tank is wasted in the case that e.g. a tube has been collapsed. The limited operation is achieved by a timer. At the moment an operation time 17 seconds is adjusted. As soon as the pump starts the timer is set. If the pump is not stopped within 17 sec., the timer will stop the pump. A red light is switched on and the timer can be set again manually by means of a pulse switch.
lock refrigerator
The door of the refrigerator can be locked, so that it will be kept closed during driving. The lock consist of a rotating snap,
which can be controlled by a plastic slide.When locked, the snap is fixed by a pin. A problem was announced when the door is closed,
while the snap is in closed position. Thanks to the shape of the snap the pin can rotate the snap too much resulting in damaging the
plastic construction. If the damage is too much the snap rotates too far, so that it can not be controlled any more by the plastic slide.
Furthermore, it is not longer possible to close the door at all. To solve this problem three modifications have been performed:
- a metal sheet is added, so that the snap cannot easily damage the plastic construction.
- an additional buffer is added, so that the pin cannot pass the critical point
- the critical point is changed by flatening the rounded shape of the snap
ignition switch gas cooker
The switch of the electronically ignition system of the gas cooker did not work well. After activaton the switch did not
coming back in the off position, automatically. This becomes rather irritating after a while. After some searching it was
found that a suitable switch (701120)could be supplied by Conrads.
The ignition system is always powered, so that care has to be taken that the contacts are not touching metal parts.
If so, a fuse will be blown up.
dead engine
On a Sunday morning, when ready for departure the engine should be started. However, surprisingly nothing happened when turning the key. The lights of the instrumets were on, but were going off when attempting to start the engine. Since the camper is always connected to 220 power when parked at home, and the battery was not older than 2 years, it was believed in the first instance that the battery charger was out of order. Therefore an attemp was made to start the engine with an additional battery via starting cables. The additional battery, however, was not in such a good condition so that the attemp fails. Before taken further action it was decided to measure the voltage of the system. It was found that this was more that 13V, which indicates that the battery must be well charged. However, when activating the starting engine the voltage drops to zero. Finally the idea comes up to measure directly at the electrodes of the battery. It shows that the voltage was still more than 13V, even during starting.
The problem was the conduction between the ground electrode and cable was not good. Because of the too large diameter, the (quick fix) terminal could not be connected tight enough, so that slight erosion hampers the conduction. Some jerking of the terminal was sufficient to improve the conduction sufficiently in order to start the engine. However, the quick fix terminal has been replaced by a conventional terminal, which can be fixed by a bolt and nut.
warning light on
At the third day of our 4 weeks holiday to Italy a warning light keeps burning. At that moment we were close to Briancon. Following the manual the symbol refers to a disturbance in the injection system. It was described, however, that the warning was not fatal, so that it was allowed to continue driving. Possibly the power could be decreased and more fuel could be consumed according to the manual. Since there could not be observed any change in the behaviour of the engine I had the idea that it was a disturbance of the warning system itself. However, to have such a warning light in the beginning of a holliday did not feel fine. Therefore I called the Fiat support number to ask what to do. They advice us to go to a sevice station (the most close they could find was in Gap) to examine the problem. At the service station they were willing to elaborate the problem at same day. Visually the cable to the injectors and the injectors themselves were treated with some compound. Furthermore a computer was during quite a long time connected to the engine in order to reset the warning system and to update the software.
When after 2 hours the repair was finished they give us the key and we could drive away without paying any costs. It appeared that they had carried out a factory recommended mofication, which is costless for the owner. The question remains why Fiat has not offered earlier to carry out this modification. Apparently the user needs to ask for it.
UPDATE
After about 20000 km the warning light was on again. However, there was not any feeling that the engine behaves unusual. In the mean time I have find out that the problem is caused by a bad contact of one of the connectors, which powers the injectors. Probably this is a result of the close fit of the connectors and a too low pressure between the contacts. When looking at the interior of the connector it can be wondering if the flat contacts are thick enough to get sufficient contact pressure.
This problem can be solved easily by sliding the connectors in and out for a few times. Eventually some contact spray can be supplied. If the problem will reveal again some extra filling will be supplied, such as e.g. thin strips of copper.
Last edited July 2011
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