Auto-Sleeper Warwick Duo Modifications

What's with removing the graphics? Don't you want people to know it's an Autosleeper. What about when you come to trade it in, I would have thought any dealer would be happier with an AS that says it's an AS or is it just me?

Thanks guys, getting more excited about picking our van up as the days go by.

Campievanner I hope your trip to Broadway goes well. I will never forget our one and only trip to Broadway a few years back. We planned to walk the Cotswold Way in April. We had arranged a hotel in Chipping Camden where we stayed the first night and were leaving the car there until we got back. We had a lovely meal and a great evening in general but on the walk back to the hotel it started snowing, which we weren't expecting.

Next morning we were up with the larks well pidgeons maybe and after a fine breakfast we strapped on our very large and heavy rucksacks and left the hotel to find a white world. The Cotswold Way took us to Broadway Tower where the snow was well over a foot deep, probably nearer 18" and none of the staff had made it up there that morning - no tea and a bun. We realised that we needed a rethink, so we decided to go down into Broadway village,the route goes there anyway and check in to a B&B for a couple of days to see how things developed. As we marched down the hill the snow got thinner and thinner till we arrived in Broadway where it was like an early summer day, sunny, warm and snow free. It was unbelieveable.

We completed the walk, the high points were covered in snow but low down was clear but when you think about it the Cotswolds are not the highest "mountain" range in the world. It really illustrated the effect of even moderate altitude on weather.

I will have to think of a catchy name. We are going to call our new van Marigold because of the colour - White Gold - so I will work out how to change the name shown to this forum. When we pick the van up I will take a piccie and put that up too.

Cheers guys and gals.

Paulmold wrote:What's with removing the graphics? Don't you want people to know it's an Autosleeper. What about when you come to trade it in, I would have thought any dealer would be happier with an AS that says it's an AS or is it just me?

The bonnet and below the rear doors looks like AS has given primary school children a set of graphics and let them decide. they were then left with a few and just put them anywhere they fit as there dosn't seem to be a lot of thought to moderation. We have kept the Stratford letters and will refit them. We have plenty of photos taken before we removed them.
Will take some photos at the weekend and put them on here (once I have read the instructions lol). The earlier model graphics were a lot more understated.

When we went to Broadway Tower we had left our van at Willersey and walked to fill the time in, we were up the Tower and there was a largish group of people and a Vicar. Turned out it was the anniversary of the plane crash during the war. Very nice to see so many people out honouring the crew. SO it is obviously that sort of place that you remember. Good for AS publicity photos too

Happy trips in Marigold. Still thinking of a name here too so at the moment it is known as Van Friend till the right names comes along.

It was total white-out when we were there, it was quite frightening. Must go there in moderate weather, Marigold I have a job for you.

Hi, Nimbus!
I have a problem with a smelly Truma Boiler. I was considering adding a 90 degree elbow to the particular boiler vent, to move the (aluminium/cardboard) flexible piping further away from the heat source. I notice you used such an elbow.
Question is - where did you get it!!

Cheers
John

Hi John - I got mine from LeisureShopDirect. Here's the link to the elbow [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I also bought an extra outlet and some tubing at the same time. If you're planning to install an extra outlet don't forget to order the back nut as the outlet doesn't come with it and you'll need it to connect the duct.

The elbow isn't designed to fix into the Truma outlet but it will fit with a bit of persuasion. To make sure it didn't pop out I drilled a small hole in the elbow to correspond with the hole already in the outlet and secured it with a tiny stainless self tapping screw. You might also need the small spring clip to secure the flexible duct to the elbow although you should be able to reuse the existing one, if it was ever fitted!

I installed the elbow to allow me to populate the blanked off outlet as there was insufficient space to bend the ducting. I still get a slight smell though not as bad as originally and I'm thinking of installing another elbow to the other top outlet. There are loads of different theories on the cause of the smell and I'm convinced that it is caused by the heat affecting the aluminium lining to the duct.

Good luck.

Hi Nimbus and All,
Wow, so many things mentioned here .
Yes my top duct pipe fell away as did the blanking plug on the Truma boiler. Found the blanking plug behind the fridge. I wondered why I had lovely warm feet in bed!! Hopefully no damage done.
Both are replaced and I'll keep an eye on them, but I like the mods with the extra duct and might do that eventually.

More important is the rubber gas pipe from the LPG tank to the regulator under the vehicle. We bought our Duo last May at 2 years old and 5K on the clock. Now it has 6K and after reading Nimbus's mods I took a look. Sure enough there is a split in the gas pipe at the regulator end where it bends. As reported this pipe is far too short putting excessive stress and strain on the bend so am not surprised at it failing.
AS have said they can't comment but that I need to check each year? Well, I don't have to check rubber engine hoses at 6K so why a gas pipe? Thanks to Nimbus I've ordered a new S/S pipe 750 mm long from Gaslow for around £39 delivered tomorrow ... wait for it, AS price for a 700 long one (S/S?) is £77 + del and no mention of Guarantee.
I've sent pictures to AS and advised them that I think with such low mileage and less than 3 years old (and had it checked by them at purchase last year) I shouldn't be having this problem. That it's a safety risk of gas leak, fire and explosion and hope they are going to write to all their customers to warn and suggest a solution. .... Holding breath!!
I think I'd rather fix it myself but with such an important component you'd expect AS to fit a S/S hose which has a 20 year guarantee.

I've also used Velcro on the hidden compartments behind the seats. really useful extra space. No sliding door leaks as yet. I turn the water pump off at night.

What's that smell? ..... Whoosh!!!!

Just out of interest, I can report that my 2014 Duo has a stainless steel hose from the gas tank to the regulator, so it seems that AS do, eventually, listen to feedback.

Just wanted to add a mod I did today to my Sussex duo
The fold up table supplied with our 2011 Sussex Duo is a joke, stored away above the cab, t get it out you have to unload everything up there ! and then there is no room to unfold it
So, Wifey says, what about doing something withat usless fold down shelf at the back ?
Eureka !!
So unscrewed the fold down shelf at the rear from the brackets, unscrewed the folding legs off the useless table then screwed the top to the brackets at the rear.
The table then folds up when not in use and is supported by a broom stick leg with a socket  on the underside when folded down, at the moment it is held in place with a bungy when folded up
The other thing we have had to do is to use a soft blanket across the rear doors held in place with cloths pegs at the curtain rail, this stops the howling gale that i have not been able to stop, also it shuts out the light that comes in though the usless curtains
Reading this you may think I hate my Sussex
I can assure you that is not the case, had it 18 months and LOVE IT !!
Just got home from a 3 month trip to Morocco etc and cannot wait to start planning the next big trip
Happy Daze

Good to hear Spospe. The AS guy didn't mention they'd changed the hose for a better one, probably hoping I'd pay their higher price for a new one.
Just to mention that you have to remove the outer aluminium cover to turn the gas off at the tank as Nimbus says. Unscrew the centre black knob to release the cover. Tap the cover in a few places to loosen it on its rubber seal as it tends to stick. The the cover will come away.

Once or twice I have put the heating on and the fan has almost gone to 'take off' speed, blasting out air and creating quite a noise until after a minute or two it settles back to a normal flow. Can I ask, is this normal? Maybe it happened when the duct and blanket plate came away. It doesn't always blast away like that, just now and then and only for a short period as if doing a quick warm up boost.

Off to check out chrisboyo mod  

Our Combi used to sound like Concorde taking off when on gas heating but it no longer does it. I think that it's normal but in my case I think I've a problem with the Truma pcb as I've had other strange things happen.

I agree with Chrisboyo about the table taking up excessive space in the overcab storage but I find the folding table at the rear really useful, particularly at night, where it's loaded with tv remote, phone, clock, water etc., so wouldn't want to be without it. Geoff Crowther, who also has a Duo, has mounted his table on the side wall within the washroom to make space for his hiking gear.

We're fortunate in not having a draughty rear door and I suspect that the fit varies from van to van. I've adjusted ours to ensure that it closes at tightly as possible.

And thanks to Wigley Woggled with info about the cracked gas pipe. And it's interesting to know that I was not the only one to have the blanking disc pop out of the Truma. I think that we were lucky in that no damage was caused as I read on another forum where this had happened had resulted in melted pipes and cables.

Common problems...
I keep meaning to replace the gas hose.
The sliding door leaks - we unwind the awning a few turns to keep the rain off.
The big table was too clunky so I took the legs off and replaced them with a Fiamma tripod.
I hate the graphics but the boss likes them.
The little table a the rear slides OK when run in - try some WD40.  I had to move the foldout support which was fitted too low so the the table sagged.
I have done the modification detailed by Nimbus to connect the fourth Truma outlet but the heater is still smelly on either hot water only, or heating and hot water when the air temperature is warm enough for the heating fan to go off and the hot water to get priority.  This seems to be when the unit also gets too hot and the fan comes on at full power as if cooling it all down. I assumed that this problem related to water heating only and made several posts about it with no great result.  The heater is also noisy when you start it up on gas - see my post on starting up on combined gas and electric.
Don't all of the blanking blugs fall out?  They certainly do not fit.  I also used two self tappers on my new Truma elbow as that did not seem to fit either.
The rear doors leak cold air - we stuff cushions up them while I am looking for some sort of sealing strip.
Despite all of the issues, we are also very happy with the Warwick Duo.
Pete

With regard to the mods
I have to date
1 - The heater blanking plugs fell out as did the heater hoses, so I fitted an addtional outlet pipe and screw fixed the others, no probs since then and warms up very quickly
2- The hinge and bracket to the rear shelf was very flimsy, we never used it, we put a small table between the seats, this gives a storeage area underneath for bits an bobs and we can then use this outside as well,
The table also has the effect of holding the seat / beds in place as we use them upside down so they are not held in place with the poppers, we find this gives a much more comfortable and wider bed not having the edge roll to get in the way
We leave the beds made up, Duvalays, at all times with fleecy throws over them that double up at night as blankets if it gets chilly.
3 - I found the space at the back of the bed, the jack and towrope etc now live there and the space under the passenger seat now holds an extra liesure battery. I also fitted a sola panal and spend more time off hook up than on.
4 - Not a standard fitting, but if you are fitting a bike rack make sure that it is securly fixed to the door, mine was fiited, by autosleepers, useing just the door edge clip fixing and last year on some Itaian roads we nearly lost the lot when the edges of the door started bending away.
On our trip to Morocco this year we saw this happen to another boxer van !! scary !
5 - I have fiitted an in line Whale water filter £20 that works well. I intend to fit an anti surge devise as my wife will never turn the taps on fully and the water pump is surging.
6 - While I have,as yet, failed to stop the draught to the rear doors, I am pleased to say I do not have a water entry problem with the side door, although to close it fully without slamming it i find it best to open the roof light first.
7- I will be changing the gas feed pipe shortly, I have one on order now
8- Has anyone modified the ends of the seats next to the rear doors to open for access to the storage areas, with the rear doors open, Saw this on another van conversion. Seems a good idea and saves grovelling about on the floor to reach hook up leads etc
9 - I am also thinking of fitting a rack for my 125 scooter. Has anyone done this ?
10 I am sure there are other mods I have done or thoght about but cannot remember them right now

Happy Daze
Chris

Thanks Chris, Nimbus etc

Can you tell me the correct length for the hose and how much to tighten it e.g hand tight and another half turn or whatever?

While at the NEC Show, we took a long look at the Warwick XL which has massive storage under the bed but can only be accessed by lifting the bed.
I did suggest that you don't want to lift the bed up every time you want a beer...
I asked them if they could do a Warwick XL with drop down doors and a slide out drawer like the Warwick Duo, but also access doors or drop down doors to get at the area behind the wheel arch which is longer on the XL.  Yes, they could do all of that.  Anyway the boss did not like the rest of the XL so that was that...

Pete

Chrisboyo,
Like your idea of an additional leasure battery under the pax seat. Been thinking of fitting one , but where? So, any tips that you can give would be greatful.
Questions.
Where to run the cables to hook up to the other battery under drivers seat.
Where to source the battery box.
Any info would be appreciated
Thanks
Tengah 74

Hi Pete,
As far as I'm aware the gas hoses [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] available in a number of lengths to suit your requirements. http://www.gaslowdirect.com/epages/cyujrhdmmu67.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/cyujrhdmmu67/Products/01-6020-SS/SubProducts/01-6020-SS

Where the price is shown select 'Hose Length' and the price will change to suit the new length.

The one fitted as standard by Auto-sleeper is approximately 450 mm long but I (and Nimbus) found this too tight a fit so I have fitted one 750 mm long and secured with cable ties in a couple of places.

When I contacted Auto-sleeper they quoted a length of 700 mm long not their original 450 mm  ... interesting?! So maybe the latest model has been changed to a longer S/S hose as has already been mentioned.
The S/S hose comes complete with rubber seals so they don't need to be tightened down too much. I think I hand tightened and then another 1/2 to full turn with the spanner but using the sensitivity of feel ... Hmmm seems about tight enough!
I then painted a strong washing up liquid and water solution over the joints to check for any gas bubble leaks. Doh! then I turned the gas on and did it again!   

Its really interesting to know what different people have done and reassuring its not just me.   

Nimbus mentions his Truma sounding like Concorde on take off while on gas heating for a short time ... well mines does it on electric hook up, not tried it on gas yet only to test it works after changing the hose. Its quite unnerving. There's a sense of panic and escape through the nearest exit!    Must be to blow the cobwebs away!

Thanks for advice on the gas hose.
My theory is that the Truma is getting too hot when it gives priority to hot water so blows itself cool.
Just got back from the annual habitation service at Marquis near Tewkesbury.
They report that part of the front skylight has gone - the outer skin of the plastic dome is just not there but the inner skin of the plastic dome still works.
The floor is very damp ( 60% ) in a patch to the rear of the step down from the cab i.e if you stepped through between the cab seats you would stand on it. The boss suggested that the van sits slightly nose down so the water has run from somewhere else but there are no unusual damp readings near the sink or the sliding door or the toilet to suggest a source, and the skylight does not leak despite the missing dome and the rest of the van reads normal.  The floor is covered in a wood plank effect vinyl which will have to come out so that we can investigate.

Just when we thought that everything was fixed...
Pete

Correction - the floor is wet.
This is not exactly a modification so I am probably going off the thread.
Anyway here is my first attempt at a picture...

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Any ideas?  Help, Pete

Pete - Sorry to hear that you've damp problems in the floor. As you live so close to the factory I would be inclined to take it to their service centre to get it diagnosed and fixed.

I've just been out to our van to see if there's any dampness and it seems to be perfectly dry. I also had a look to see if I could see any obvious way that water could get to that part of the floor and it might be possible that it's water leaking through the windscreen scuttle and running back between the plastic cab floor covering and the steel floor. Probably unlikely though and I would have a look at an unfitted Boxer panel van to see how it's put together. You could also lift out the plastic inspection hatch over the fuel tank which is between the cab seats to see if there are any signs of dampness in that area.

I'll be interested to hear the outcome and hope that can can soon get it sorted as it must be a worry to you.

Spoken to Nimbus re his water stain. Suggest that it may have migrated from the toilet area when tipping up the wash bowl when draining . This happened to me.Got to do it slowly.

Hi Pete,
Just been replacing the Sargent EC51 Control Panel on my Sussex Duo for a 12v problem we were having and noticed that with the panel off, you can see into the back of the sink unit in the bathroom. The water pipes for the tap can be seen and they have push connecters on them. Could be worth a quick check to see if you have a leak there   

Nick.

Thanks to everyone. I will start a new thread about this and get this thread back on message...

Pete

Here is my new thread "How to flood the Warwick Duo"
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Here is a small modification to get back on thread:

The windscreen scuttle on our 2011 Peugeot Boxer rarely drained and soon blocked up so I have replace it with a washing machine hose which goes straight down and vents near the front bumper valance.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The hose is advertised on amazon as "57 inch Length Elbow Drain Hose for Washing Machine" at £4.23.
The top of the hose has variable diameters - 35MM OD is about right.

Pete

Loss of 12v and 240v power on site.
Background....Picked up a Sussex Duo 3 months ago and had an alarm and battery master fitted by Vanbiz at Taunton. The van also has a sola panel on the roof.

Problem.....Took it away just after and found that when on site and hooked up to mains, along with a sola panel on the roof, we would lose power after about 45 mins. The Sargent EC51 panel would show a single LED light at the top of the vertical display, and power could be restored by switching on again at the on off.

On return we called Vanbiz for a chat and at first they thought it may be a conflict with the battery master and Sargent system, but them got a call from another customer with a similar problem , who thought he had fixed it via Sargent.

It transpired that the EC51 control panel that Auto Sleeper use had been updated in the last 12 months to, along with other thinks, stop this power loss.

Sargent explained that the previous panel had been set up to cut off if it took a power spike of 14.4 v to protect the battery and they had re designed it now to take 15v along with other upgrades. Other visible changes are that the main power indicators are now blue and not green and that it has an audible beep when you press the buttons. Both great as the panel is by the door and not easy to see in daylight.
They sent a new EC51 within a couple of days of ordering and the fitting is just plug and play. 

Have only had the opportunity to power the van up on my drive as a test so far but it just may have solved the problem.  Off on a trip next week so will give it a full test on site and re post the results.


If I can work out how to add some pictures Ill send them as well   

Nick.

I have done the modification to get at the space behind the rear wheel arch.
I decided to put the jack and stuff into the loft and use a 6 tonne hydraulic jack instead.
That fits behind the rear wheel arch along with useful blocks of wood and tools.
Question which I think someone has already posted about but | cannot find it...
This is in the tool kit ( 2011 Peugeot Boxer) but was is it? RTFM no help.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The new storage area just needs some fabric to finish it...

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Pete