Glad Have An 'older' Van .. Are You ? (2 Viewers)

Ambilkate

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Our van has been great its a 2004 model but was registered in 2006. its never given us any real problems only the weight issue which we remedied with air assist but body wise and mechanically cant fault it. We want an older model Hymer @scotland Jim like yours or similar so if anyone is selling one let us know x
Kate x

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Forestboy

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Jul 31, 2007
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Oh dear, you've bought complex electrics off the Italians.

Fear not, it will look exquisite as you pose on the M1 awaiting the breakdown truck.

No I couldn't bring myself to do it as much as the test ride blew me away just knew it would break down, already reports of electrical problems with the new MS on the bike forums.
Went with something else hopefully get it this weekend. Bang on 600 miles by Monday and get first service and full power on Tuesday.
Test ridden so many new bikes in the last 2 weeks it's becoming a blur.
Post a pic in the bike group when I get it.
 
Feb 27, 2011
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Got a self build and I deliberately avoided fancy control panels and integrated electrics/electronics. Everything is operated by either toggle switches or battery isolator switches.

Nice and simple to fix and I carry lots of spares
 

ABZSteve

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Jan 8, 2014
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I love my 15-plate Q5 with all of its gizmos
My wife loves her 15-plate Ecosport with all of its gizmos
We both love our 15 plate Moho with all of its gizmos
If the cars go wrong, back to the garage. I had a new Merc break down on me. Mercedes sent out a technician and a pick up and arranged for hire Merc all within 2 hours and that's how I like it (y)
I have filled the Moho with tools that I hope not to ever use and if something goes wrong and it is not obvious then back to the garage or someone else to fix (unless it's the leisure battery fuse :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:)
In three years time we will go through the same process again (me likely sooner ;)) Perhaps not the Moho, but who knows???
Each to their own with their finances and level of DIY experience. Crack on with your preferences one and all (y)

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Oct 12, 2008
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100% with you Jim! I wanted mine old, as I am rubbish with electronic things. I listen to Max's engine just the way I listen to my car's engine. I know when something goes wrong, or at least not completely right. I like the ON and OFF buttons simple way of working. I like wood and old fashion style when it comes to layout. Plastic (or looking like plastic) is not really my stuff. I wish I could keep Max all the time , but I know it won't be possible, one day rust will have him and I fear the day I'll have to change for a more modern one, working with digital thingies and having no keys to start the engine! I don't want another car mainly because I hate the way new ones work . My 76 years old mum likes her speed control and all on her all red race car Hyundai , I think I'm older than her in my head!!!! I'm so happy with Max , and as you said Jim , everything works perfectly as it should! (Of course I am not talking about the "rats episode" ... Not Max's engine fault!)
This is the one I wanted first....... Just ... didn't work
as planned ....
2.jpg
 
Oct 5, 2012
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5 years, feel free to ask me about the Carado!!
Oh dear, you've bought complex electrics off the Italians.

Fear not, it will look exquisite as you pose on the M1 awaiting the breakdown truck.
But old and British sometimes is not good.....remember Joe Lucas???

  • The Lucas motto: "Get home before dark."
  • Lucas is the patent holder for the short circuit.
  • Lucas - Inventor of the first intermittent wiper.
  • Lucas - Inventor of the self-dimming headlamp.
  • The three position Lucas switch - Dim, Flicker and Off.
  • The Original Anti-Theft Device - Lucas Electrics.
  • >Lucas is an acronym for Loose Unsoldered Connections and Splices
  • Lucas systems actually uses AC current; it just has a random frequency.
  • "I have had a Lucas pacemaker for years and have never had any trou..."
  • If Lucas made guns, wars would not start.
  • A friend of mine told everybody he never had any electric problems with his Lucas equipment. Today he lives in the countryside, in a large manor with lots of friendly servants around him an an occasional ice cold shower...
  • Back in the 70's, Lucas decided to diversify its product line and began manufacturing vacuum cleaners. It was the only product they offered which did not suck.
  • Q: Why do the British drink warm beer? A: Because Lucas makes their refrigerators
  • Alexander Graham Bell invented the Telephone.Thomas Edison invented the Light Bulb. Joseph Lucas invented the Short Circuit.
  • Recommended procedure before taking on a repair of Lucas equipment: Check the position of the stars,kill a chicken and walk three times clockwise around your car chanting:" Oh mighty Prince of Darkness protect your unworthy servant.."
 
Nov 28, 2010
156
122
Torrevieja, Spain
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14,564
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Laika Ecovip H720
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December 2011
We brought a new Hymer Tramp coach built 2013 big mistake , drawer catches breaking as we went around corners, cupboards dropping down,electic bed not working , fly screens not retracting , exhaust and back end catching just not enough ground. Traded it in for a 2006 Hymer b660 , which you open the bonnet and the oil,fuel and air filters are in front of you so much easier to work on only problem I have had with it is the reversing camera, but the overall build quality so much better.

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Puddleduck

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Thomas Edison invented the Light Bulb.

Not strictly true...... as my hubby is related to Joseph Swan he gets VERY annoyed when people say Edison invented the light bulb.

"Starting in the early 1800s, inventors looked for ways to convert electricity into light. Sir Humphry Davy, an English physician, successfully passed an electric current through platinum strips in 1801. Unfortunately, the strips evaporated quickly and Davy was unable to create a light that lasted more than a few minutes.

In 1809 Davy created what would become known as the Arc lamp. He made an electrical connection between two charcoal rods connected to a battery. The light from this was very bright but small.

For the next 50 years, others sought ways to lengthen the amount of time the light source would remain. In 1840 Warren de la Rue, a British scientist, placed a platinum coil in a vaccum tube. When he passed an electric current through it, light was formed. This design was efficient and the light lasted longer, but platinum was very expensive which made it impossible to be distributed on a commercial level.

In 1841 Frederick de Moleyns of England was given the first patent for an incandescent lamp. His design used powdered charcoal. He heated this material between two platinum wires in a vacuum bulb.

Joseph Wilson Swan was born in 1828 in England. He worked as a physicist and chemist. Swan wanted to produce a practical, long-lasting light source. He used a carbon paper filament in his light bulbs. In 1878 he received a British patent for his light bulb. Swan began placing light bulbs in homes throughout England. By the early 1880s he had started his own light bulb company.
Thomas Edison was busy in the United States. He experimented with thousands of different filaments. His goal was to find materials that would light well and last for a long time. He brought in various metals and supplies from all over the world.
  • When the question is asked,who invented the light bulb, Joseph Swan and Thomas Edison are usually given credit. However, both of these men worked off of previous inventions. Historians estimate that over twenty inventors worked toward the creation and design of the light bulb.
  • It is appropriate to credit numerous inventors that lived during the 1800s. Even after Swan and Edison, others continued to improve the light source. The light bulb as we know it today, is a result of much time and effort.
 
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scotjimland

scotjimland

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Jul 25, 2007
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old and British sometimes is not good.

true.. for example, some old 60s cars were a nightmare, . and old TVs , who would want a CRT TV today... no one except a museum.. not all new stuff is bad.

so I agree, old isn't always better.. but the pendulum has swung the other way.. at some point, probably in the mid 80s to mid 90s, cars, white and brown goods were greatly improved.. as were caravans and motorhomes.. the era of the classic Hymers.. it started to swing , everything had to have a 'microchip' .. even the humble toaster didn't escape.. it was the 'buzz' word of the century that all manufactures wanted on their products..

I once asked on here about Hive, and why would anyone would need to control their gas central heating while on holiday.. .. still waiting for a sensible answer..

It used to be that products were developed to fulfill a need or solve a problem.. now we invent gizmoes, then look for somewhere to use them.. or blight yet another product that worked perfectly well before it was 'upgraded'

My first car, 1964 Austin Mini.. launched in 1959 , was as basic as it gets, could be repaired by 'Jo under the arches' .. with an 850cc engine that did around 45 mpg .. has that improved much in the past 50 years ? Nope.. hardly at all.. and the new ones are not nearly as reliable..
 
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Oct 12, 2008
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This looks sad and not quite right somehow.
Things always happen for some reason, I felt really sad though when I was informed it had gone while it was supposed to wait for me , but then ....I wouldn't enjoy my sweet little Max, would I ? !!!!!!

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Puddleduck

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I once asked on here about Hive, and why would anyone would need to control their gas central heating while on holiday.. .. still waiting for a sensible answer..

Maybe you would need to turn it on if you'd left it off and there was a cold spell forecast.

When my Mum and Dad went to my sister's they turned off the heating - then Dad was taken into hospital and the temperatures plummeted so I had to travel over 200 miles round trip to turn the heating on so the pipes didn't freeze.....
 

GJH

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Aug 20, 2007
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Maybe you would need to turn it on if you'd left it off and there was a cold spell forecast.

When my Mum and Dad went to my sister's they turned off the heating - then Dad was taken into hospital and the temperatures plummeted so I had to travel over 200 miles round trip to turn the heating on so the pipes didn't freeze.....
When we go away we just turn the thermostat down so that the GCH only comes on if it gets colder than we would expect for the time of year.
 
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scotjimland

scotjimland

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Maybe you would need to turn it on if you'd left it off and there was a cold spell forecast.

When my Mum and Dad went to my sister's they turned off the heating - then Dad was taken into hospital and the temperatures plummeted so I had to travel over 200 miles round trip to turn the heating on so the pipes didn't freeze.....

a frost stat would have done the job ..

simple, cheap and reliable.. KISS :)

I've also been told it's useful as you can turn the heating up before you get back from a holiday.. but that can be done with most CH programmers.. KISS :)

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Puddleduck

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On and off for many years.
When we go away we just turn the thermostat down so that the GCH only comes on if it gets colder than we would expect for the time of year.

Ours is underfloor and thermostatically controlled. It would be nice to be able to turn it down to a lower temperature when we are away and be able to turn it up a day before we came home but we can't if we are away for more than a month :).

Dad turns everything off when they go away, gas, water and electric - so even the freezer has to be completely emptied. He always has and always will. I think he still lives in the 1930s at times.
 

Puddleduck

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he is a KISS fan :LOL:

It's all digitally controlled in their house - on or off using the index finger! And it doesn't matter who is inconvenienced and by how much as long as it is all done as he wants. He never uses the programmer or the thermostat on the heating as he just turns it on and off when he is too hot or too cold. Doesn't trust these new things :)

When I told him how long it had taken to get to his house from ours with the roads full of people going to New Year Parties and then coming home he just said "Well you weren't doing anything else important." Martin and I both had a go at him about leaving the heating on in the winter but he ignored what we said.......

My sister's fridge/freezer (and ours) has an alarm to warn you that you have left the door open..... his solution to switching the alarm off? Unplug it (and don't plug it back in - just leave a note that it was making a noise so it got unplugged rather than make a quick phone call to find out what the problem is). I did feel for my sister - a freezer full of food spoilt and they also managed to break the washing machine..... think she was glad when they left.

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GJH

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It's all digitally controlled in their house - on or off using the index finger! And it doesn't matter who is inconvenienced and by how much as long as it is all done as he wants. He never uses the programmer or the thermostat on the heating as he just turns it on and off when he is too hot or too cold. Doesn't trust these new things :)
Jill's Dad is similar. He uses the room thermostat to turn the heating on and off and doesn't use the timer on the boiler at all :)
 
Aug 6, 2013
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The only thing wrong with complex electronic systems whether controlling habitation kit or the engine is the price of parts. There isn't a circuit board anywhere on any vehicle that costs more than £20 to make - probably considerably less. If manufacturers and retailers sold these parts at sensible margins then failure (apart from inconvenience) would be irrelevant. The knock-on effects would be that parts substitution (what passes nowadays for fault-finding) would not have much effect on the final bill, parts would be stocked rather than needing to be ordered, roadside assistance services would carry common parts, users could keep spares, etc. And perfectly good appliances (including cars) would remain viable for considerably longer. It's ironic that whilst BL cars (and others of the '60s & '70s) rusted away long before their mechanical and electrical parts were worn we are now in a position where electrics are too expensive to replace long before anything else has corroded or failed.
 

Terry

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Got a self build and I deliberately avoided fancy control panels and integrated electrics/electronics. Everything is operated by either toggle switches or battery isolator switches.

Nice and simple to fix and I carry lots of spares
I haven been saving all the fancy bits I dropped on for my self build -Put them all on/in and beginning to wish I hadn't -Not complete yet but used it last weekend at Southport -Started engine to go and checked fridge had gone off gas onto 12v (y) went to SP and parked up did a quick look and fridge light was green -all OK so I thought ,came in at 2.30 am and glanced at battery state to find it had dropped half way down the green bit but thought nothing of it-next morning still batts half down green so decided to give the F/F another look ing at :LOL:Turned out that the fridge sensor had detected the engine had turned off and the Victron unit also did this but within 200 msecs bangs the inverter bit on and detects the F/F needs 240v so away it goes -Because I am a numpty I cannot turn F/F off or anything (dead easy now I know) I end up disconnecting the L/Bs until the fridge decides it likes gas then I can reconnect the LBs:rolleyes:They all tell me it's a great bit of kit but I am not so sure I think it's a little too smart for in own good --I avoided putting a Sargent control panel in simply because everyone we fit Paul finds something does not work as it's supposed to -so we opted for and cheapo £40 unit and lots of light switches for turning stuff on and off (y) nothing fancy but it works (y)(y)(y) even if I don't yet know what switch is for what -I will get around to labelling them one day :D
terry

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Aug 27, 2014
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I looked at a new coachbuilt (not A-class) Hymer in a dealer recently. Same layout as mine, although mine isn't a Hymer. I decided I actively preferred my 9 year old motorhome - I keep it in good condition but if the odd mark happens, either inside (inevitable with 3 kids!) or outside, I'll clean it up as best as I can and not stress about the fact that my new £40k+ motorhome isn't perfect now. I also won't stress about depreciation - it will depreciate of course, but nowhere near as fast as a new one.

Mine is one of the very last of the old X244 shape Ducato's, at least by this point they seem to have sorted most of the gremlins. From what I understand they introduced a few new ones with the first X250's. Mine isn't a modern design of van and having driven an X250 panel van recently mine does feel a bit old fashioned, but what the hell - it does what I want it to, and a full noisekiller kit has sorted the one real bugbear I had with it compared to a new van!

But each to their own, and for those of you that love new shiny vans please keep on buying - I'll need to buy another "new to me" van one day! P.S. Fit lots of expensive extras please - I like those too!! ;)
 
Apr 13, 2012
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Mobilvetta Euroyacht
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1996, then break 'til 2011
All mod cons............cooker, fridge, central heating, hot water, shower.....toilet!..........
017.JPG
24 years old............ no turbo, no ecu, no central locking, no electric windows or mirrors......the only 'extra' fitted since new (by me) a reversing camera and will cruise all day at 60mph............if I am in a hurry (not often)

(y)(y)(y)(y)(y)
 

Allanm

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We have a newish van with all the smart stuff, it's only the non electrical fittings that we have had problems with, but luckily, not too many.
But I know what you mean about all this technology causing problems. When I fitted an electric starter motor to my Land Rover, I noticed after a couple of days, an annoying rattle.
I traced it to the starting handle on the metal floor at the back. Until I had the starter motor fitted, the handle travelled on the passenger seat for easy access!

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