Bourton hab door

by gassygassy Sat Sep 02, 2023 11:17 pm

Imagine my surprise, and what I said when I discovered that with the hab door closed you can't open the cutlery drawer! Words were said. Like "Oh, Golly gosh, look at this dear"

Anyway obviously the handle will have to go but surely someone here has fixed the problem. Do you fit an IKEA kitchen drawer handle to the door, or what do you do? Just remove it and close the door by pulling the window frame?

I guess this feature of outstanding first form junior school design is also present on other rear kitchen A/S models so I bet someone has fixed it.

by Caraman Sun Sep 03, 2023 8:12 am

I think it is something we just put up with - the cutlery drawer on coachbuilts with the end kitchen won't open fully when the habitation door is shut. This may only apply to models with the Metallarte Lippert habitation door. I don't know if the latest models are affected in this way.

by gassygassy Sun Sep 03, 2023 8:35 am

I'll let you know when it's fixed. Up with this I will not put!
And the bird bath 65 or is it 67 litre fresh water tank. I might remove the spare wheel and substitute another tank of the same weight.
And the silly little solar panel, that needs expanding.
And the silly satellite dish - that must weigh a bit. We don't watch telly so that can go.
I will of course install wall light switches instead of the touch lights on the ceiling. When did you last buy a house with light switches on the ceiling? How can a child use the toilet at night without you having to get up and put the light on for them? It's just a very annoying way of the manufacturer saving the cost of a 50p switch, 20p of wire and 8 minutes of labour, leaving out the wall switch.
Don't worry, I knew it was like this when I bought it [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I collected it yesterday and am finding odd things, like when I press the remote central unlocking button the electric step pops out and the awning light comes on. I can envisage a situation where that would be dangerous. Suppose you are parked on a roadside in town with traffic, you walk along the pavement towards the drivers door intending to get in, you open the central locking and a car or cyclist is passing close by and kerrunch as they contact the step. I would rather it didn't do that.

I am going to have to investigate the weight problem - if it is a problem. Originally it was 3650 but has been downplated to 3500. It has the sat dish, hab air con, spare wheel and I will go and have it weighed when we have loaded it, and see what happens.

by Paulmold Sun Sep 03, 2023 9:00 am

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by gassygassy Sun Sep 03, 2023 9:08 am

I suspect that a ?nice IKEA handle would fit. Or maybe take the original handle off and turn it round perhaps. Or get REALLY good at woodwork and carve one that fits out of a piece of driftwood. . . scratch head

by Caraman Sun Sep 03, 2023 10:01 am

I think you may be exaggerating the problems. I would use the van for a while before rushing into modifications. I have no issue with the touch sensitive lights in the ceiling or the habitation door step working in conjunction with the central locking (when the EC700 is not shutdown). As discussed before, I definitely wouldn't do away with the spare wheel. As for the cutlery drawer, it can be used when the habitation door is shut it's just that it won't open fully. If this really bothers you, 1 cm taken off the front of the drawer on the door side would solve it but it would affect the appearance. If your joinery skills are up to it, you could make the drawer slide out at an angle away from the door and then rebuild the drawer so that its front remains parallel to the unit. I don't believe there is anything sensible that can be done to the habitation door.

by PLOUGHLIN Sun Sep 03, 2023 10:20 am

gassygassy wrote:I'll let you know when it's fixed. Up with this I will not put!
And the bird bath 65 or is it 67 litre fresh water tank. I might remove the spare wheel and substitute another tank of the same weight.
And the silly little solar panel, that needs expanding.
And the silly satellite dish - that must weigh a bit. We don't watch telly so that can go.
I will of course install wall light switches instead of the touch lights on the ceiling. When did you last buy a house with light switches on the ceiling? How can a child use the toilet at night without you having to get up and put the light on for them? It's just a very annoying way of the manufacturer saving the cost of a 50p switch, 20p of wire and 8 minutes of labour, leaving out the wall switch.
Don't worry, I knew it was like this when I bought it [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I collected it yesterday and am finding odd things, like when I press the remote central unlocking button the electric step pops out and the awning light comes on. I can envisage a situation where that would be dangerous. Suppose you are parked on a roadside in town with traffic, you walk along the pavement towards the drivers door intending to get in, you open the central locking and a car or cyclist is passing close by and kerrunch as they contact the step. I would rather it didn't do that.

I am going to have to investigate the weight problem - if it is a problem. Originally it was 3650 but has been downplated to 3500. It has the sat dish, hab air con, spare wheel and I will go and have it weighed when we have loaded it, and see what happens.

DO you have the EC328 PSU? If so then there is either a EM40 or 50 unit with small jumper struts that control step operation. Remove the relevant jumper and step will not operate on unlock.

by Caraman Sun Sep 03, 2023 12:04 pm

On site I find it advantageous for the step to be out as it is a visual reminder that the van isn't locked and in my case the alarm isn't armed. If you are going to muck about with the habitation step, you will need to ensure it continues to retract when the engine is started.

by PLOUGHLIN Sun Sep 03, 2023 12:50 pm

Caraman wrote:On site I find it advantageous for the step to be out as it is a visual reminder that the van isn't locked and in my case the alarm isn't armed. If you are going to muck about with the habitation step, you will need to ensure it continues to retract when the engine is started.

If you disable step out on unlock or step in on lock, another option, step retraction on engine start is not affected.

by gassygassy Sun Sep 03, 2023 5:20 pm

I have got an EC700 Sargent box. I'll look in the user manual and see if it says what to do. Dangerous, I know. A bloke looking in the user manual? They'll have women playing football next. . . . .
I once was on a site with a panel van and the step was out. A motorcyclist clipped it as he rode past and crashed over sideways. It wasn't a big field, it was just in his line of turning round. I think he was OK afterwards but had a sore ankle. If it had been in he wouldn't have touched the van. Just a thought.
Today I was standing outside the open hab door leaning in to get something off the floor inside, and the step opened out and clonked me in the leg. I didn't do anything and I have no idea why it should suddenly jump out. Aslo I have noticed that when it deploys outwards the awning light and inside above-the-door light come on. Strange, I think we have aliens.
I will be going away and using it before I get around to doing anything. I don't recall a van that I have left as original. Lights, for example, I would far rather have a rocker light switch at elbow level than have to poke around in the dark at night trying to find the right place to touch. Spare wheels are a bit - do I need one? Yes, if I have a puncture. No, if I don't have a puncture. Do I need 100 litres of water more than I need a spare wheel? I would use many many 100 litre tanks of water in the time that I would get a puncture.
It will all depend on what the weighbridge says. If I only have 50kg allowance including wife and me, and holiday stuff then I will need to lose some weight.

by Caraman Sun Sep 03, 2023 5:46 pm

gassygassy wrote:...
I once was on a site with a panel van and the step was out. A motorcyclist clipped it as he rode past and crashed over sideways. It wasn't a big field, it was just in his line of turning round. I think he was OK afterwards but had a sore ankle. If it had been in he wouldn't have touched the van. Just a thought.
......

It serves the motorcyclist right. He shouldn't have been that close to the van.

by Caraman Sun Sep 03, 2023 5:58 pm

gassygassy wrote:.....
Today I was standing outside the open hab door leaning in to get something off the floor inside, and the step opened out and clonked me in the leg. I didn't do anything and I have no idea why it should suddenly jump out. Aslo I have noticed that when it deploys outwards the awning light and inside above-the-door light come on. Strange, I think we have aliens.
......

The step coming out without warning or doing anything needs investigating. I suspect when you lent into the van you accidentally touched the step button on the left of the door entrance. The awning light and inside door light come on briefly with the central locking. It might be possible to disable or reduce the time the lights are on using advanced settings. To access advanced setting hold the settings button down for about 10 seconds. The lights are LED and on for a short time so the power consumption is low.

by PLOUGHLIN Sun Sep 03, 2023 7:35 pm

With the EC700 PSU, step and awning light options are in the Dealer/Advance settings menu. page 7 of this pdf explains.

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by gassygassy Sun Sep 03, 2023 9:25 pm

Thanks ploughlin, I will investigate that. up!

I didn't accidentally press the step button, it is in a recessed (presumably) magazine housing area sort of box so it would be impossible to accidentally press it.
The step does auto extend when the central locking is opened, and it does close when the central locking is closed, which of course is correct, and it closes when the engine is started.
I'll look at the pdf for enlightenment. I would prefer it not to extend when the central locking is opened.

Here we go: from the EC700 manual
Sets the electric step automation feature
NONE – This turns the electric entry step automation feature off.
LOCK – This setting will cause the electric step to be retracted when the vehicle
doors are locked (by the remote key or the button on the dashboard).
UNLOCK – This setting will cause the electric step to be extended when the
vehicle doors are unlocked. This is the default setting.
BOTH – This setting will cause the electric step to be retracted when the vehicle
doors are locked and extended when the doors are unlocked

That's brilliant, thank you ploughlin. I'll change the setting and I've downloaded it for future refence.

edit: and I have to say it's one of the advantages of owning an AutoSleeper: obviously it is English, but the result of that is you can understand the technical handbooks and instructions as well as being able to send it back to the factory if anything needs doing that you or your dealer can't. Brownhills for example failed to fix a fault on my new Rapido, Rapido were unable to help me and directed me to the electric bed manufacturer in Italy. I fixed the fault myself in the end.

by Caraman Mon Sep 04, 2023 11:55 am

gassygassy wrote:...
I didn't accidentally press the step button, it is in a recessed (presumably) magazine housing area sort of box so it would be impossible to accidentally press it. ......

I sometimes activate the central locking when the key fob is in my pocket and something inside my pocket accidentally presses the button as I bend forward. This happens with my car as well. I wonder if it could have been that. If on 'advanced settings' you disable the step coming out when you unlock the van it won't bash you on the shins anymore.

by gassygassy Mon Sep 04, 2023 12:10 pm

Caraman wrote:I sometimes activate the central locking when the key fob is in my pocket and something inside my pocket accidentally presses the button as I bend forward. This happens with my car as well. I wonder if it could have been that. If on 'advanced settings' you disable the step coming out when you unlock the van it won't bash you on the shins anymore.

Yes I think it must have been that. I will disable the auto step feature, and I am reminding myself that I must hide a key outside somewhere because of the 'auto lock after 5 minutes' feature of the Mercedes base vehicle. apparently the key fob has an 'emergency key' which I think fits in the driver's door handle so I might just hide that underneath somewhere.

by PLOUGHLIN Mon Sep 04, 2023 1:00 pm

gassygassy wrote:
Yes I think it must have been that. I will disable the auto step feature, and I am reminding myself that I must hide a key outside somewhere because of the 'auto lock after 5 minutes' feature of the Mercedes base vehicle. apparently the key fob has an 'emergency key' which I think fits in the driver's door handle so I might just hide that underneath somewhere.

Also locks the glove box, but won't work the ignition to start. Better to hide the hab door key under the van somewhere as I am not sure if the Emergency key will switch off the alarm anyway.

by Caraman Mon Sep 04, 2023 1:03 pm

gassygassy - does your M-B have an alarm?

by gassygassy Mon Sep 04, 2023 4:41 pm

Caraman wrote:gassygassy - does your M-B have an alarm?

Dunno ! ! !. It would have whatever disabling features come with the MB chassis but I guess as it doesn't have the magnetic reed relay switches all over the place it hasn't got an aftermarket alarm. I could fit one I suppose, I could add it to the list of Things To Do. It's one of those things I object to paying a professional for because being an ex-electronics and comms engineer (as well as gas and fire) I can do as good a job as the best professional. I have done research on different contact resistance and conductance measurements, EMC testing, fuse tolerances, crosstalk and RFI in cables and so on. I co-designed a reversing sensor that I sold to Rover cars as an approved accessory. But if I install an alarm the insurance people will discount it because it wasn't done by a registered person. Even so yes, it would be a good idea to install one. My experience of other registered gas technicians means that I am aware that some people have the qualification but don't do the job properly.
I have seen car alarms wired in with SkotchLoks. Say no more.

by PLOUGHLIN Mon Sep 04, 2023 4:46 pm

MB don't fit an alarm as OEM. Try locking with your remote and unlaock the hab door manually and open door, you should soon know if an after market alarn is fitted. Is there a blinking light on the dash, not a MB fitment.

by gassygassy Mon Sep 04, 2023 5:23 pm

No blinking light, but a load of blooming incomprehensible information ! hugegrins

A lot of it is useful, such as the AdBlu tank gauge. So I believe I don't have an alarm.

Back to the subject, this Youtube video shows a Bourton door with a handle up and away from the cutlery drawer. I reckon this is the thing to do.
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Has anyone tried rotating the handle through 180 degrees? It looks as if it would fit, but knowing it is upside down might play on your mind.

by Caraman Mon Sep 04, 2023 5:46 pm

Are you sure that’s the same door that you have. I’ll send you a PM if you want to speak to someone in Lippert UK about the door you have. Personally I think your best solution is to rework the drawer rather than the door. It might also be worth looking at a new model to see if/how A-S have resolved it.

by gassygassy Mon Sep 04, 2023 6:50 pm

No, it's not the same door, but what I thought was that would be a sensible place to put the handle. At some time in the future I will do further investigations and see if I can relocate the existing handle or replace it with a slimmer version, but I want to go away in it somewhere first. When I am browsing some hardware store I'll look at their handles. Probably in France where they have delicious versions of B&Q.

by Caraman Sun Oct 15, 2023 7:16 pm

Just had my door handle turned through 180 degrees which allows the cutlery drawer to be opened more fully. This was done as part of a repair to the door's internal locking mechanism. The handle's top screw secures it to the door's inner skin and can only be accessed from inside the inner skin. The handle's bottom screw secures it to the door's inner skin and outer skin and has to be removed to access the top screw. This is done by drilling through the bottom of the handle's cover to access the bottom screw's head. Once this screw has been removed, the rubber sealing strip that runs around the edge of the door needs to be peeled back taking care not to damage it. A number of staples need to be removed taking care not to damage the door's inner skin. A Stanley knife is used separate the inner skin from the door which is held in place with double sided tape. It is then possible to pull the inner skin away sufficiently to remove the door handle's top screw. When reassembling a new door handle cover is required from Lippert, which is held in place with sealant. I don't think it's possible to remove the cover without damaging it.

by Caraman Mon Oct 16, 2023 7:51 am

In addition to the above the internal door catch above the door handle needs to be unscrewed and if necessary the connecting rod between it and the main door locking mechanism unhooked. IMO this is an awful lot of bother just to allow the cutlery drawer to open to about 24 cm when the habitation door is closed. I didn't measure it before but I suspect the improvement is about 5 cm. IMO this should have been carried out when the motorhome was assembled in the factory but I suspect the door was supplied by Lippert with the handle already fitted so it was easier not to. Lippert have a stand at the NEC this week with sales and technical representation should anyone wish to discuss this or anything else to do with the habitation door.

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