Cold Air coming in new Autotrail

BOND

BOND

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Nov 30, 2013
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Location
Swindon
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29,222
MH
2014 Commanche
Exp
Starting March 2014
Hi all
We're hoping to travel Scotland soon so went away last week in the very cold weather (-3) to test a few things & noticed two problems.
1, lots of cold air coming from around the front seats & hab door:eek:, it got so bad that I put blankets down to stop the chill.
2, the heater on electric is pretty much useless in cold weather, the bedroom gets warm but the front vents give cold air even when on max. Is it because the foil cardboard tubes are so long?
Anyone had/having similar issues?

Any help appreciated (y)
 
If it's a Truma blown air system the electric element is generally seen as a booster rather than the principal heat generator, according to many previous posts by those in the know. If you want it really warm - use gas. (Mine doesn't have an electric option by the way so I'm never faced with the dilemma of which source to choose!)

Concerning draughts - I seem to recall comments about vents in the floor pan of the original Fiat base beneath the seats - others will advise I'm sure. I don't think there should be any draughts from the hab. door: any obvious signs of misalignment?
 
Vehicle is designed as a chassis cab with big air vents in the bottom of each door. As a motorhome, these vents may not be needed
 
Our 2012 Autotrail/Fiat chassis also has a cold area in the front of the cab.

I am sure the electric heating is only good for plus temperatures. Anything below zero would need either gas or both to cope with it and keep the van warm.

Not sure where the draught comes from but it is definitely there. I usually just throw a blanket over the seats to the floor.
 
On our last van the hab door was very vented at the bottom with a big hole covered in mesh. I taped most up leaving a drain hole and this improved matters greatly. The cab doors also needed a bit of work too. As mentioned, there are some one way vents in the cab floor under the driver/passenger seats. Some converters will replace the vents with sealed gromets but some dont. You have to climb under the van to see them, and then just seal them yourself.

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It's been mentioned that there are higher output heaters available but have to be specified when ordered from new. Are the dealers passing this information on when an order is being placed?
 
We've just been away for 3 weeks, never used the gas, just electric heating, had to turn it DOWN on several occasions, temps down to -5 at times. 2004 Autotrail Cheyenne. Truma heater.
Cheers, Dave(y)
 
There can be a strong drought from underneath the front seats where the body joins the cab. If you remove the plastic front covers on the seats and put your arm to the back you will notice the chassis box section which can be very droughty. This can be blocked off with any soft material and an improvement will be noticed straight away.
 
Are you using external insulated screens ie silver screens ?? They make a big difference,
You could hang some material to seperate the cab from the back, we do this when travelling in winter through France, makes a huge difference..
The blown air can loose a lot around the vehicle and if you are just using electric and on a low setting it may not be enough.
I usually find a blast with the gas fire heats things up and then the electric just to keep things topped up.
Autotrails are not winterised vans, no double floor etc...
 
rolandrat said:
There can be a strong drought from underneath the front seats where the body joins the cab. If you remove the plastic front covers on the seats and put your arm to the back you will notice the chassis box section which can be very droughty. This can be blocked off with any soft material and an improvement will be noticed straight away.
Click to expand...
Great tip - I'll go & look now & while I'm there I'll crawl underneath to check the one way vents. Let you know if I find anything.

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I think there are quite a few things you can look at based on our experience. Put the heater control to recirc so stopping air from coming in via the heater. Block up the vents in the doors & the plugs under the seat on the passenger side as previously mentioned. Look at the join between the cab & the body, I can see the ground outside looking down behind the cab seats! Get a small radiator & put it on the floor between the front seats & leave it on all the time!
 
The hab door on my autotrail had not been adjusted properly and 'leaked' an inordinate amount of wind in !
Set to with screw driver and a bit of patience and no more drafts from that area..
As others mentioned, LOTS of holes in and around the cab area.. I even put gaffa tape over the vents in the doors ( louvred vents actually on the end of the door where it closes to you cannot see them until you open the door..
A little time and effort will cure most of the ills (y)
 
Also another culprit can be the seat belt covers on the side pillars - these can also cover some 'gaps/holes' in the base of the cab so cold air can travel up the covers and into the cab.
 
tonka said:
Are you using external insulated screens ie silver screens ?? They make a big difference,
You could hang some material to seperate the cab from the back, we do this when travelling in winter through France, makes a huge difference..
The blown air can loose a lot around the vehicle and if you are just using electric and on a low setting it may not be enough.
I usually find a blast with the gas fire heats things up and then the electric just to keep things topped up.
Autotrails are not winterised vans, no double floor etc...
Click to expand...
Yes we have the Silver Screen & even used the internal blinds. The heater was on max all day but the front vents never got warm - your right about a blast with gas to up the temp but soon as you turn it off it gets cold in the seating area.
Has anyone changed the flimsy cardboard heater pipes for anything else?
 
We have a 2007 Dakota and yes there are draughts coming from the front cab but like others, we put a large blanket across the ledge under the overcab lockers down to behind the front seats. This makes a great difference and we have never felt cold in the van, it was down to -3 for some nights recently down south. We always have the internal blinds down and the curtains over if it is quite cold.

We only have the Truma heater (electric) at half a kilowatt and that it is fine for us. However, have had to switch the heating off during the night as it got too warm on some nights. I've found the insulation in the van very good and we are always toasty during the very cold weather.

I believe there is a rigid partition available to buy, that fits behind the two front seats.......there is a metal clip behind each of the front seats, we wondered if these were designed to clip this partition on to.

Maybe someone more knowledgeable might be able to confirm what these clips are for. We have Silver Screens, but so far haven't bothered to use them, but they would certainly help with the condensation inside the windscreen.

Bill

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Ok, I've just quickly crawled underneath, the near side has 2 one way vents that I can see with flimsy rubber, there may be more, the offside has 2 solid blanks & If I shine a torch up under the vehicle I can see some faint light. Anyone know the rules about removing the vents?
The doors have no vents at all, the only holes are drains unless there's something behind the trim panel.
The dust under the seats looks like its 10yrs old not 10mths!
Oh, and there's a few sharp edges:mad:
 
BOND said:
Yes we have the Silver Screen & even used the internal blinds. The heater was on max all day but the front vents never got warm - your right about a blast with gas to up the temp but soon as you turn it off it gets cold in the seating area.
Has anyone changed the flimsy cardboard heater pipes for anything else?
Click to expand...


Our pipes are corrugated plastic not cardboard ones.

Bill
 
BOND said:
Yes we have the Silver Screen & even used the internal blinds. The heater was on max all day but the front vents never got warm - your right about a blast with gas to up the temp but soon as you turn it off it gets cold in the seating area.
Has anyone changed the flimsy cardboard heater pipes for anything else?
Click to expand...
Hi Bond,

It's not a good idea to use internal blinds as well as external screens, as they will only serve to cause condensation on the screen. External only in winter. (y)

Good luck with curing the draughts. :)

Cheers,

Jock.
 
I think the difference is in the age Bill, yours would prob beat mine hands down on lots of things - except the profit they made;)
 
JockandRita said:
Hi Bond,

It's not a good idea to use internal blinds as well as external screens, as they will only serve to cause condensation on the screen. External only in winter. (y)

Good luck with curing the draughts. :)

Cheers,

Jock.
Click to expand...
Thanks Jock(y) - I did notice condensation on the screen for the first time.

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the vents under the seats are there for a purpose and that is to provide ventilation for the batteries. By all means add insulation around the base but think twice about blocking the drop vents entirely.
 
rolandrat said:
There is a plastic plug to replace the rubber flap on the chassis, the Fiat part number is 1355707080 and the price is/was £3.80 inc vat.
Click to expand...
Thanks rolandrat (y) - I'll get on it tomorrow.
 
this is not your problem, but I often forget to close the central dash vents when we arrive on site, I like fresh air when driving, but they let a real gale through if the wind is in the wrong direction
 
Fiat parts online £7.66 incl VAT plus postage. The other price goes back to 2010

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WE had a rear lounge in the Bessacar and the front of the van (bathroom and kitchen) got red hot whilst the back was tepid at best. Then Mark (CLS) pointed out there was a diverter flap on the top of the fire under the 'false floor' in the wardrobe - problem instantly solved - we didn't have a clue that was there till then! Is there something like that on your van do you think?
 
On electric it takes ages to completely heat our van, even on full at 2kw. On gas it warms the van in about 20 minutes. The gas is much more efficient, switching the cab vents to recirculation is a good tip, makes a big difference.
 
When on ehu we use an oil filled radiator it does the whole van and safe to leavo on all the time and dosnt have much drag on the sites electric as heating an element unlike fan heaters that are noisy and need a lot of oomf
 
Wildman said:
the vents under the seats are there for a purpose and that is to provide ventilation for the batteries. By all means add insulation around the base but think twice about blocking the drop vents entirely.
Click to expand...
The so called vents under the seats are nothing to do with batteries on an AutoTrail as they are housed on the side of the chassis behind the skirt. The holes are pressed out during manufacture. I'm on my fourth AutoTrail and I think I know a little about the good and not so good points about them.
 
I might add that I was referring to AutoTrail coachbuilts and not van derived models of which I know nothing about.

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