Well, we've gone and done it ! (1 Viewer)

[Alex and Lesley]

I must say that although we have not bought from Dickson’s of Perth we have had contact with Chris who I must say is a gentleman and is a very genuine agreeable person, so none of what you have said is a surprise at all.
We actually bought a Frankia through SMC and collect it in April but Dickson’s of Perth will be servicing it and dealing with any warranty requirements at SMC’s behest, Nicki Dickson who looks after the substantial workshop is as good as his brother as well. I hope that you have many good times and adventures in your new vehicle.

 

[Geistguy]

I have to agree with the above, Nicky is super efficient, Chris is perhaps the nicest dealer I've dealt with. Nothing seems to be too much trouble for anyone at Dicksons.

Can't wait to collect our new Pilote

 

[Geistguy]

We finally collected our new Pilote p700gj yesterday, the delay since ordering in June is entirely our fault and we cannot thank Chris at Dicksons of Perth enough for his patience.

Dicksons transferred our Oyster system, tv ,large Liesure battery and gas bottles making a very neat job. Handover was very thorough and in depth.

So far we are really pleased with the build quality, everything fits well and seems high quality. Our previous van ( a Geist ) was 10 years old and it's amazing how the industry has adapted technology in motorhomes, digital panels, Bluetooth, Android capability to name but a few. All very user friendly and intuitive.

The beds are mega comfy and I'm assured the catering department is excellent.

The new style Remis blinds are thankfully rattle free.

So far - 2 very happy campers !

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[Southdowners]

Congratulations. Hope you have many years of adventure in your new motorhome!

 

[DavidG58]

Nice one,

do you want any help with a new forum name now

Pilote peeps ?

Hope you have continued good health and safe travels

 

[Alex and Lesley]

Brilliant to hear @Geistguy, really hope that you continue to enjoy your new vehicle.

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[Dazzler1969]

Congratulations on the new addition! We collect our 650GJ next Wednesday and we are more exited about collecting this than our Bailey Motorhome which was our first.
Off to Cornwall on the following Friday for a few days as a tester and visit the outlaws.
Darren

 

[Geistguy]

Update. so far I have to say we are very happy with our decision, everything seems very well put together and solid.

We do have one minor issue, perhaps owners of newer Pilotes have a solution ;

The control screen (Xperience type) by the habitation door controls almost everything, the button marked "aux" allows you to use the radio and makes the USB ports live but when it gets dark the reversing camera light is permanently on. If the "aux" is turned off the camera light goes off but we lose the radio and supply to the USB ports.

Dicksons are in contact with Pilote but perhaps someone already has the solution.

Thanks folks.

 

[Geistguy]

Yet again superb service from Dicksons, they have emailed instructions for the fix to my problem on my previous post. Apparently a small number of Pilote vans have had the radio connections wrongly wired, it's a simple matter of swapping over a wire. Dicksons have agreed that my local garage can do the work and they will pay the bill.

I've said it before but Dicksons of Perth really are brilliant !!

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[Blue Knight]

Yet again superb service from Dicksons, they have emailed instructions for the fix to my problem on my previous post. Apparently a small number of Pilote vans have had the radio connections wrongly wired, it's a simple matter of swapping over a wire. Dicksons have agreed that my local garage can do the work and they will pay the bill.

I've said it before but Dicksons of Perth really are brilliant !!

Good news indeed. The dealer will have fitted the radio and the reverse system so I reckon one of their tech guys affixed the wrong wire by accident.

I'm pleased you got it sorted.

 

[Geistguy]

Thanks for the reply Blue Knight, because the radio function is incorporated into a "tablet" screen and controls Bluetooth, Android, etc it is fitted by Pilote who also fit the reversing camera. The "fix" instructions came from Pilote.

I think this must be a minor error by Pilote during manufacture.

It doesn't really matter though as long as it's fixed.

 

[Blue Knight]

Thanks for the reply Blue Knight, because the radio function is incorporated into a "tablet" screen and controls Bluetooth, Android, etc it is fitted by Pilote who also fit the reversing camera. The "fix" instructions came from Pilote.

I think this must be a minor error by Pilote during manufacture.

It doesn't really matter though as long as it's fixed.

You're right - I was being a ficko and thinking of the old system.

Just like my school report, I'll try harder next time

Other than that you've got a great van there; our previous 2017 P740GJ was fantatsic.

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[Dazzler1969]

Thanks for the reply Blue Knight, because the radio function is incorporated into a "tablet" screen and controls Bluetooth, Android, etc it is fitted by Pilote who also fit the reversing camera. The "fix" instructions came from Pilote.

I think this must be a minor error by Pilote during manufacture.

It doesn't really matter though as long as it's fixed.

I collected my 650GJ last week and spent a few days in st ives, just back and have the same problem with the panel being lit when you have aux on! Also a small problem of everything resetting when on 12v supply only, it’s fine on mains hookup. Looks like either a software problem or a wiring fault? Contacting SMC tomorrow. Other than that she drives lovely and is very well put together.
Below a pic of st ives from the site, nice but slightly windy....

 

[Geistguy]

Updates on my original thread and comments ;

Dazzler 1969, you have to isolate the 12 volt system when on hook up and do the reverse when coming off mains supply, this is a new one to me but stops the resetting. This is done by operating the top switch on the left of the entry door on our model - remember though that down position is off and up is on - French style !

Payload, with 75% water, 50% fuel and fully packed we weighed in at 3180k. All that was missing was wife and dog at a total of 130k (a big dog) so well within limits giving approx 200k spare. Pleased with that.

Faults, reversing light problem fixed by local garage and Dicksons paid the bill, and easy fix just requiring changing a wire behind the radio.
We upgraded to a 140ah battery but seem to be slow recharging via the solar panel. Last van had a smaller solar panel but same power battery and charged quickly so need to keep an eye on it.

Apart from that we are very impressed with our new van .

 

[Blue Knight]

We upgraded to a 140ah battery but seem to be slow recharging via the solar panel. Last van had a smaller solar panel but same power battery and charged quickly so need to keep an eye on it.

Apart from that we are very impressed with our new van .

What type of battery did you add. Also, what's your solar reg type and is your reg and Elekroblock set to the correct battery type etc

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[Geistguy]

Not sure of the make but it's a lead type Liesure battery, it is set to the correct "type" on the van control panel. It was fitted by the dealer so assume all should be correct. The control panel does show it's charging at currently +0.8a and 12.9 v capacity but only showing 66% of full charge. I'm not very technical but the 12.9v and +0.8a seems good, I may be worrying without reason.

Thanks for your suggestions, when we are home I will get my own auto electrician to check it out.

 

[Blue Knight]

It was fitted by the dealer so assume all should be correct.

My previous P740GJ was dealer configured from new but the installation guy had made a right buggers muddle of it and I had to change the lot. They got my current set-up wrong too (just a small mistake this time) but even so I wouldn't trust any dealer fits.

Good luck as I'm really not sure how to interpret those figures. We would need to bring in the heavy folk for that @Lenny HB @pappajohn

 

[Lenny HB]

Good luck as I'm really not sure how to interpret those figures. We would need to bring in the heavy folk for that @Lenny HB @pappajohn

Not sure of the make but it's a lead type Liesure battery, it is set to the correct "type" on the van control panel. It was fitted by the dealer so assume all should be correct. The control panel does show it's charging at currently +0.8a and 12.9 v capacity but only showing 66% of full charge. I'm not very technical but the 12.9v and +0.8a seems good, I may be worrying without reason.

Are you refering to Solar or Mains charging? How much solar do you have?

I would expect to see the battery voltage while charging rise to 14.2v hold there for a few hours then drop to a float voltage of 13.6-13.8v. I would only expect to see 12.9v if there was no charging.
Just from the solar even with a single 100 watt panel with bright sunshine at this time of year you should be getting 4 amps or more.

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[Geistguy]

Solar charging with Pilotes factory fitted 120w panel. Dealer only changed the supplied 100ah battery to our own 140ah which was only 6 months old and had hardly any use, a straightforward swap over I would imagine.

Very bright sunshine and a short 5 mile drive have improved the battery from 60% to 73%. I have attached photos showing the current status.

As I said earlier I think I may be worrying too much.

 

[Cheese toastie]

Hi Geistguy,

I’m new to using the xperience screen, so I’m hoping you can help. I don’t have a sleep button on the main screen, is this something that has always been there? I can only access sleep from a settings menu using a mouse, which means that the screen remains on at all times and doesn’t go into standby, this doesn’t seem right?? We have turned everything off in the van on 12v but it still says we are drawing 2amps, this seems a lot to power an lcd screen, any ideas welcome

 

[Geistguy]

Hi CT, new to the Xperience set up myself and finding some aspects of slightly confusing, although the more I use it the easier it seems to get. Our screen shuts down a short time after using and then just shows the time. I would assume this is the factory set up. I've no idea why you are using 2 amps when everything is shut down, are you using the Pilote tablet in the cab ? This uses the Liesure battery when parked up. Your outside light and locker lights, If fitted, are off ?

At the moment we are parked up in sunshine and the solar panel is charging at +2 amps so can't compare any usage.

Sorry I can't be more help.

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[Cheese toastie]

Thank you, it helps to know that the screen should be going into standby rather than remaining on and that there should be a sleep
Button on the main screen. I will get back in contact with Pilote and see if they can work out if it’s a software issue.

 

[Geistguy]

Not sure if there is a sleep button, ours shuts down automatically, since my last post I've noticed that the timedisappears after about 10 minutes leaving a totally blank screen.

 

[Cheese toastie]

Can I ask the green button with the moon and zzz on it, what does this do? or is it something that you don’t use as the standby mode is adequate. Will try to find who to contact a Pilote as it definitely doesn’t do standby, and thanks to you, as we were never told, the little
Black power switch is to be turned off on hook up...and on when on 12v..everyday is a school day

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[Geistguy]

I've no idea what the moon and zzz symbol is, could it be for when heating is put on timed ? We haven't used that function yet but please let me know if you find out.

 

[keithchesterfield2]

I travel with a great little device in my Pilote.

Every few miles it hands me a Mint Imperial, a Chocolate Eclair or a Werther's Original - every Pilote should have one.

Mind you, she doesn't come cheap .....

.

 

[Cheese toastie]

Oh no....the sweet fairy was an optional extra we didn’t order, but she would be definitely have been more useful than the screen

According to the manual the green button turns of the aux and the lights...so you can’t charge anything overnight...that seems like a really stupid button! A bit like not fitting an external temp sensor either, as that doesn’t work on our screen either. Definitely should have chosen the sweet fairy option

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[Geistguy]

Have to agree the moon button seems a bit stupid, can't see why you would ever need to use it.

I did take the sweetie dispenser option, very expensive and need lots of maintenance !

 

[Dazzler1969]

I had the sweetie option but it’s picked up a fault of it’s own! Keeps going in to sleep mode, I then have to prod it which generally ends in being verbally abused! It seems that some of these options are more trouble than their worth.
Darren

 

[Dazzler1969]

Hi, j

Thank you, it helps to know that the screen should be going into standby rather than remaining on and that there should be a sleep
Button on the main screen. I will get back in contact with Pilote and see if they can work out if it’s a software issue.

Just been having a little play with mine, if you use a mouse via the USB port and right click it takes through to settings.
Click on the cog
Click display
You should see sleep ( it will say what it is set to, mine is sleep after 5 mins)
Click on sleep and adjust to what you need.

Hope this is of some use
Darren

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