Kemerton

On a recent holiday in Cornwall, we experienced two problems with our new AS Kemerton. One was the Thetford Fridge. The display panel claimed it was on gas, but clearly it wasn’t when later we found the food de-frosted. The fridge failed also to switch to any other supply. After many phone calls to the dealer, Marquis, we were advised to remove/reinsert the permanent power fuse. This was the only method to re-boot the fridge-it did the trick. The second was making up the double bed [no option for two singles on our model]. There are two additional cushions provided which you insert to make the double bed. These are clearly too large for the purpose & needs great effort to squeeze them into place. By doing so we found that the metal strut under the rear extendable seat, near the swing door, digs into the inside of the van, just behind the front passenger seat, causing facial damage. Marquis has witnessed the problem and is now in the process of taking the issue up with Auto-Sleeper. Hope this info has not deterred anyone thinking of purchasing a Kemerton-it’s a beautiful motor.

Mel Battersby wrote:On a recent holiday in Cornwall, we experienced two problems with our new AS Kemerton. One was the Thetford Fridge. The display panel claimed it was on gas, but clearly it wasn’t when later we found the food de-frosted. The fridge failed also to switch to any other supply. After many phone calls to the dealer, Marquis, we were advised to remove/reinsert the permanent power fuse. This was the only method to re-boot the fridge-it did the trick. The second was making up the double bed [no option for two singles on our model]. There are two additional cushions provided which you insert to make the double bed. These are clearly too large for the purpose & needs great effort to squeeze them into place. By doing so we found that the metal strut under the rear extendable seat, near the swing door, digs into the inside of the van, just behind the front passenger seat, causing facial damage. Marquis has witnessed the problem and is now in the process of taking the issue up with Auto-Sleeper. Hope this info has not deterred anyone thinking of purchasing a Kemerton-it’s a beautiful motor.

Our van is an AS Kemerton. We bought it just a few weeks ago and its 18 month old. 

Previous owner made up two boards which are nicely upholstered and fit up near the front seats to expend the length . This has enabled us to set up two single beds which in our opinions works better as if one wants a wee in the middle of the night its easier to get out and to the bathroom. For the record I'm 6.4 and find it really good.
I think some alteration has been made to the cabinets above the Gas tap to enable getting better length on the side nearest the big sliding door . 

HTH. Oh and we love our van which is our first go at Motor homing !   

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We also have a kemerton and are delighted with it. We had various other larger motorhomes in the past but this is definitely the favourite. Our only problem was the thetford fridge which from new refused to work on electric. We had a new circuit board installed and no problem after that. The layout and space in the van is second to none in our opinion.

judy wrote:We also have a kemerton and are delighted with it. We had various other larger motorhomes in the past but this is definitely the favourite. Our only problem was the thetford  fridge which from new refused to work on electric.  We had a new circuit board installed and no problem after that. The layout and space in the van is second to none in our opinion.

Coincidentally our service history tells us our van has had a new circuit board fitted to the fridge ..

We have a Sussex EB, Marquis version of Kemerton. Had it for 2.5 years no problems with fridge but we do have some scoring by the bed rails on the trim it the door pillar behind the passenger seat.

Interested in you single bed arrangement 'Charliefarlie' would you be able to post some photos of the adaptions.

 Biker51

Biker51 wrote:We have a Sussex EB, Marquis version of Kemerton. Had it for 2.5 years no problems with fridge but we do have some scoring by the bed rails on the trim it the door pillar behind the passenger seat.

Interested in you single bed arrangement 'Charliefarlie' would you be able to post some photos of the adaptions.

 Biker51

Yes mate no problems . The van is all loaded and ready to go next week though so rather than unpack the beds and bedding plus the adapted sections I will take some pictures later this week and post them up. 

Mel Battersby wrote:On a recent holiday in Cornwall, we experienced two problems with our new AS Kemerton. One was the Thetford Fridge. The display panel claimed it was on gas, but clearly it wasn’t when later we found the food de-frosted. The fridge failed also to switch to any other supply. After many phone calls to the dealer, Marquis, we were advised to remove/reinsert the permanent power fuse. This was the only method to re-boot the fridge-it did the trick. The second was making up the double bed [no option for two singles on our model]. There are two additional cushions provided which you insert to make the double bed. These are clearly too large for the purpose & needs great effort to squeeze them into place. By doing so we found that the metal strut under the rear extendable seat, near the swing door, digs into the inside of the van, just behind the front passenger seat, causing facial damage. Marquis has witnessed the problem and is now in the process of taking the issue up with Auto-Sleeper. Hope this info has not deterred anyone thinking of purchasing a Kemerton-it’s a beautiful motor.

What would be handy is if you could share the location of the permanent power fuse ? May be a good idea to re boot the fridge periodically? 
Also a picture of the scratches caused but the tight infill cushions please ?

I can't edit the above post so will add here.

I have just been down to check the door pillar for damage caused by the tight infill cushions. I'm assuming you mean on the door pillar trims right behind the passenger seat and where the large sliding door closes up too. On this one there are no marks. 

The previous owner no doubt never used the infills no doubt electing to use the adapted boards instead. We did use them though and no damage yet. 
That said we will be making up two singles so this should mean no damage in future. 
Would still like to see the pictures just so I know we are singing from the same hymn sheet ? 
cheers

Photo of the damage to the door trim caused by bed runner.

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Biker51 wrote:Photo of the damage to the door trim caused by bed runner.

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Not nice mate and that would pee me off ! It is a very easy to replace molding though so that's something ..

You are right though the infill cushions do take some thumping into place !

Hope they sort it for you ! 

On my Kemerton the seat runner almost touches the door trim. I guess there is about half an inch clearance. I don't think the infill cushions, although a tight fit, are a factor in any damage to the trim. I suppose the fact that the vans are hand built may be the cause of some misalignment in the fitting stage. Still not good enough though!

Frank

Thank you for your replies. The permanent power fuse I was told to remove/reinstate by the technician to re-boot the fridge was number five, [my wife claims]. Situated in the charger unit under the settee, behind the drivers’ seat. The service manager at Marquis has witnessed how the infill cushions was difficult to insert when making up the double bed and how they contribute to the scoring of the trim by pushing the bed rails further into the trim of the door pillar, behind the passenger seat. The damage done to the trim is almost identical to the photo Biker 51 has kindly provided. The ideas Charliefarlie has come up with, including single bed arrangements & saving much needed space, are excellent. Can’t wait to put those ides into practice.

Correction...permanent power fuse to re-boot fridge on the Kemerton is the five amp fuse, on the second row down on the right of the power/recharger unit when facing the back of the van...sorry for the confusion.

Hi, we’ve just bought our first van, a 2012 Kemerton and very please with our first weekend outing just before national lockdown 2. I wondered if anyone could tell us what the two odd cushions are for? We have 2 long ones to go between the bench seat and sliding travel seat when making into a bed, but we’re left with 2 almost similar size cushions with a hard wood back to them. They don’t seem to be arm rests and none of the other cushions are stiffened with wood.Both are the same length and thickness but one is slightly higher.
Can anyone throw any light on this mystery please? Thanks!

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They look homemade rather than factory supplied. The only factory supplied cushions for the Kemerton are the infill pieces you describe for making up the bed.

My guess is they are designed to enable two single beds to be made up, which requires an infill piece between each front seat and the seats behind. The fact that they are wood backed and of different widths is the clue. They have to bridge a gap, hence the wood, and the gap is different for each side of the van. 

I recall other Kemerton users mentioning such a modification on here. The 6m Kemerton wasn’t designed with a two-singles bed setup, hence some homemade mods were conceived. The Kemerton XL allows such an option with its extra 40cm of length.  

Hope you enjoy your Kemerton. We find it the best layout for us.

Tim

Wow this thread is five years old..now re-visited.

Hi Chris. Its a bit of a mystery for me too. On our 2014 Kemerton when making a double bed we use the large bench backrest to fill the gap between the bench seat and sliding travel seat. We were supplied with two narrow cushions also for filling the remaining gap left by removing the bench backrest. All I can assume is someone has made these additional cushions, especially the ones in your last pic. The extra cushions might be be ideal for making two single beds, if you can arrange them to fit securely.

Sorry Tim replied before me

The link below will help you I think. Scroll down until you find pictures that show cushions similar to yours being used to achieve a two-singles set up.

More generally, if you look at some of my posts over the past 2-3 years you’ll see the mods we’ve made to our Kemerton.

Tim

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Mel ... great minds think alike!

Tim

ChrisM - take a moment to say hello....

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Many thanks Tim and Mel for your replies and the interesting link. I’ve tried the cushions between the cab seats and single beds and while one fits perfect the seems too thick and long. But I’m sure you’re right, they are for using as two single beds. So mystery solved! Thanks again for your help.
Love our Kemerton and this forum seems to be full of ideas and useful information, already found other interesting items in Tim’s link to keep me busy for a while. Once lockdown is over I can’t wait to go out on our next adventure. Cheers all
Chris