Toilet roof light

As the wind was howling round the van last week, I thought the toilet roof light sounded like it was open.  When opening the flyscreen I was really surprised how much the roof light is vented. Having discussed this with my wife, she went to take a look. "Have you seen this", she said, pointing to a little blind I'd never seen before, above the fly screen.

Well, I didn't know we had one of them   .  No doubt there are a few more revelations to come, probably just before we sell the van...............many years from now, of course

If your toilet roof vent is the same as ours take note that the blind and the fly screen are very fragile. The netting on ours is already torn in one place - how I cannot imagine as it is always clipped closed. You will also find that in autumn an awful lot of tree seeds and other debris gets in through the huge amount of venting and theer is no way to clean the unit.  Finally, one of the flimsy plastic clips that hold the vent closed has broken, and they cannot be replaced.  Luckily they are not needed as the amount of spring tension is more than sufficient to hold it closed without the clip.

Ron, I did notice how fragile the screen is. I guess the venting has been worked out by A/S but it does seem rather a lot. Closing the little blind did make a difference, especially during those nocturnal sojourns, if you know what I mean 

In this day and age of much improved materials, I can't understand why these roof vents, screens and blinds are made of such fragile plastic. Plus they deteriorate even more as they're exposed to sunlight.
Have you ever tried to break a Lego piece? Now that's what I call a tough plastic. I have some that's been played with by 3 generations. Indestructible.

Perhaps that's why they built a complete caravan out of Lego at the NEC show.

To cut down the cold draughts, thereby improving the temperature in the  darned cold washroom of our Winnie, I put bubble wrap sheets into the space above the mesh of the rooflight. The heating is good for the living room area, cold in the cab and washroom otherwise. I'm certain that A/S designers are not motorhome users, otherwise many "design faults" would not exist (such as darned cold washrooms for naked bodies that have just left the shower, or naked body parts having used toilets etc). I've also added a 1kw oil filled radiator in the little room.

Respectfully, Barry and Pepi.

My toilet compartment has a hot air outlet (or heated towel rail). Don't all coachbuilts have this?

stoneb wrote: I'm certain that A/S designers are not motorhome users,

They are users. The MD has camped with ASOC during the ASOC National Rally several times as has the Customer Services Manager.

Like Peter L. our bathroom has one outlet and a heated towel rail which keeps it all nice and toasty when the weather is cold. 
I guess it all depends on the van layout and where the boiler is located which in some cases probably limits the effectiveness of the blown air heating getting into some areas. But you can, to some extent, influence the air flow to certain areas of the van via the flaps (part closing or opening) on the warm air outlets in order to try and achieve a more balance overall heating effect.
At the end of the day life is a compromise!
Liam

Having been in a terrific hailstorm last year with big marble sized stones,  we were standing by with towels waiting for any or all of the rooflights to break.. Not so, they were all fine. I do expect the supports or locking mechanism of the Broadway one to crack every time I open or close the bathroom rooflight though as it seems to be putting a terrific strain on them and they do seem flimsy. I find it quite awkward to open and close and this puts more strain on it.

Oh, you lucky people to have a heated towel rail! One of these would have been of real benefit. Our's however has 2 blown air outlets, one in the shower, one at low level below the washbasin. Unfortunately, a lot of heat is lost from the pipe that carries the warmed air to the washroom. After it leaves the heater, the pipe travels underneath the floor (about 3 mtr/10 ft) to the back of the vehicle, where it re-enters through the floor to the air outlets. This pipe really would benefit from additional insulation because of the heat loss. To make up for it, we either leave the washroom door wedged open, or for toasty-warm, put the electric oil filled radiator in there instead of its being used in the cab (it's not wall mounted).

I offer my apologies to Peter Brown above, A/S's MD, and CSM for my generalisation, but I did say 'designers' Peter, not the MD or CSM. Hopefully, you can accept why I made the comment, given my above explanation? Winnie certainly is a lovely vehicle, but equally, there is room for improvement.

Respectfully, regards from Barry.

Could you not insulate the pipe? It seems that it would be exposed to the elements, especially water, if it runs under the van.
You can buy waterproof foam sleeves ( I insulated all our water and waste pipes with some) that may go some way to keep the air warmer as it enters the bathroom. We are lucky in that we have the heated towel rail and warm air outlet in the bathroom, also, the duct pipes from the heater are very short ensuring there is minimal heat loss before it comes out into the van.
As per the comments about A/S staff being users, there is a world of difference between a couple of staff camping at a rally ( I assume in good weather) and spending a few weeks away from campsites, living in a motorhome and using it for what most are designed for. 
When I had someone from AS come and look at my van a while ago to arrange for some repairs, he commented about the high mileage and seemed pleased that we used the van extensively all year round. "Thats what they are designed for" he said.
Well, as long as you don't use it in freezing conditions without modifying all the waterworks and hot conditions without modifying the fridge vents..........

Ajrm, thanks for recommending to insulate the under floor pipe, trouble is it's rather like an old fashioned tumble drier outlet pipe, about 4" diameter and, from memory, held to the underside of the floor with U shaped clips and screws - all 10ft of it, and not in aa dead straight line.

This really is something that should not be left up to the customer to fix, it should have been sorted out before going into production. Remember, I paid £68k for a premium brand motorhome that turns out to have a poorly heated washroom coupled with a roof vent that is mechanically fragile and allows winds to blow in like heck, AND, I discovered this in winter-time in Spain / Portugal (where it's much warmer than in UK)!

Regards, Barry.

Webasto have insulation available to improve efficiency of their blown air ducting. Might be worth considering.

http://www.webastomarine.co.uk/shop/vclose1.asp?prd=63243&cat=9120005045

I missed reading this thread until now. I'm glad I did: didn't know about the metallised blind up there - I'd assumed it was the same as the one on my Clubman. However, because of the fragility of the mechanism for the blind and the drop-down  fly-screen, I don't want to have to close the blind repeatedly. So to ensure daylight, and insulation, I've taken Stoneb's lead and inserted bubble wrap above the fly-screen. Shoud improve insulation marginally.

Cymro wrote:I missed reading this thread until now. I'm glad I did: didn't know about the metallised blind up there - I'd assumed it was the same as the one on my Clubman. However, because of the fragility of the mechanism for the blind and the drop-down  fly-screen, I don't want to have to close the blind repeatedly. So to ensure daylight, and insulation, I've taken Stoneb's lead and inserted bubble wrap above the fly-screen. Shoud improve insulation marginally.

Ah, glad it wasn't just me 

I thought the blind worked pretty well and the mesh screen clicks shut ok. During the summer I opened it quite a lot to open the roof light........but still missed the blind