Wardrobe drawer in Bourton

I am trying to access the Truma Combi heater in my Bourton and it looks like if I remove the drawer underneath the wardrobe it should be easily accessible. Has anyone removed this drawer and is it a straightforward matter of pulling it out and lifting as per standard kitchen units? I have tried this but am afraid to pull too hard just in case.

I want to check if there is insulation around the boiler because our hot water seems to cool very quickly and our last 2 M/H's also had Combi 6Es and I seem to remember that the water would stay hot for several hours. Also the wardrobe and the drawer become very warm when the heater is on, probably OK in winter but not really wanted in summer.

Also if anything needs reset on the Truma I will need to know how to get at it.


Dave.

If is like the drawer on my Nuevo then you have to remove the screws from the drawer runners at each side then the whole drawer lifts out. On mine anyway the drawer cannot be removed in the normal way like a kitchen unit drawer.

Moggy may be correct, but I think you might have the lift up type.

Our previous 2010 van was like Moggie's, but the new one has a lift out drawer. It is a very snug fit though, and getting it out is a bit nerve racking as it needs quite a bit of force.

You should be able to see the little wheels in the track if it is a lift out.

Dave

I have removed the drawer on my Bourton as you say by just pulling and lifting, it can be quite awkward to remove and refit, for some reason Autosleepers seem unable to fit a drawer properly under the wardrobe, all my last3 vans have had drawers that either collapsed or dropped or simply shot out when cornering and I think they employ Stevie Wonder to fit them, on my present Bourton I have had to fit a cam lock to stop the drawer flying out on cornering.
Don

Agreed - it does just pull out and on my 2012 there is no need to remove any screws.  But it is a tight fit and you may feel that you are going to break something.  It removes just like a normal kitchen drawer but the clearances are compromised by the fact that the front is at an angle to the sides.  Once out it is nearly as difficult to replace!

Another tightly fitting thing is the two plastic covers over the fuses on the EC328 at the back of the wardrobe.  Courage and grip and they do come off.

Thanks for the replies, the drawer appears to run on wheels on runners as Gromit suggests so will try to pull and lift, there dos not appear to be any other way without some serious dismantling.

Also my drawer has a positive press to release catch on the handle, so can't see why PadraigP has a problem, must be a different catch?

Dave.

PS: Just read post from inspiredron thanks, sounds like the Lancashire has a different wardrobe layout but the drawer could be similar.

Hi Dave. Regarding the second part of your post, I started this thread a while ago.
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I put as much lagging as possible round the water heater, but to be honest it's made little difference. The surrounding woodwork still gets very warm, but only on EHU. I think this is because the water heater is not governed by the thermostat on EHU like it is when on gas, so the water temp rises to the pre set max of 70 degrees.
Al.

I am puzzled. When we bought the Lancashire we looked at the Bourton. Apart from being on the Merc the only difference was the length of the beds and the storsge of the table AFAIK. The wardrobe front was still angled out towards the rear to line up with toilet. The 2015 seems to look the same from Marquis pictures. So removing the drawer looks the same as mine.
Oh, and my drawer has the same handle with a locking button so that it can't pop out - unless it was not closed properly.

The reason the drawer pops out is because whilst in the closed position the drawer drops off one of the runners as it has been a very poor fit as was my previous Surrey model and the locking button cannot hold it due to the lowering of the drawer on one side, the cam lock ensures that when this happens the drawer cannot come out.
Don

Don,
I had the problem of the runner (right hand side when looking at the drawer) popping off an causing the drawers to drop on the right side. Solved in by unscrewing fron right side runner and building the back of it with gorrilla tape, then screwing the runner back on, making it stand away from the side of the outer drawer. This solved it. Hope that helps.

Many thanks I will try that, it is so annoying when the drawer drops, mine drops on the right hand side as well.
Don

Claytaa beat me to it.

I did exactly the same, except I used a sliver of veneer instead of gorilla tape. Does the same job, and no dropping out of the track since.

Dave

These are small things that should be picked up in quality control (here we go again) easy to put right but winds me up on a £60k plus camper!

Agreed.

It is a tricky drawer to fit and get working smoothly, but they must be aware of that (????) and should take a bit of extra care.

As you say, not a monumental problem, but irritating to say the least.

Like the habitation battery slap dab in the middle of the underbed locker, and the heavy lid of the overcab locker with no stays or anything to hold it up!

They shoot themselves in the foot quite un-necessarily.   A bit more care and attention to detail (with brain switched out of neutral!) and there would be far less customer complaints.

Dave

Yep!

And when I asked they said it was not possible to fit any sort of hold-open device as there's nowhere to fix it.

Ours now has a small gas ram at either end, which works perfectly!! I just had to make a couple of little wooden brackets to hold the lower end fixing of the gas rams. It was not exactly difficult, and once programmed into their automated gadgetry it would be no problem at all.

The gas rams cost just over two quid each from eBay - including postage!!

Dave