Nancy's going in for surgery

Our 'van Nancy (named by a previous owner) is off to the Autosleepers factory next week for major reconstructive surgery.
We took her to the factory a few weeks ago to have a new Heki 2 blind fitted and had the habitation service done at the same time. Unfortunately they came up with a 100% damp reading on the nearside panel between the cab and main body.
Mark has ordered a complete new bulkhead panel and won't know if she requires further work until the top cupboards are taken out. I'm more worried about the floor, as over the last few days, I can actually see water seeping along the base of the bulkhead panel (running just above the vinyl flooring).
Mark seemed pretty confident that all will be solved and will be good as new, once they've resealed the joint cover strips on the outside.
I was a bit relieved when he told me that they normally only have to renew half of the bulkhead panel, as the word "normally" tends to suggest that they are somewhat used to carrying out this procedure.
We've arranged to leave Nancy with them for 4 or 5 days and are looking forward to a successful outcome and bringing her home for some gentle recuperation.
Any get well soon cards gratefully appreciated.

nuevoboy.

Hope all goes well with the repairs, Marks team do a really good job.
The Bell Hotel in the village provides really good bar meals and morning coffee,also B&B  if required.
Boaby

Hi Nueavoboy.    I know the feelings of stress you must be suffering having been there myself a few months ago when those at Marquis, Newbury misdiagnosed the quite serious damp/wet problems in our Broadway. I was informed by one of the staff there that Mark from AS had visited the base and put them right as to where the cause of the problems were. They eventually sorted the problem out but what a lot of worry and no m/hme for over six weeks. You are going to the best folk to get the problem sorted. I think I shall be off the folk at Broadway on our return from the sun.

Best wishes.

Mmm, sadly it would appear that it's not an uncommon problem.
We were talking to a chap in Broadway the day before our hab service who was experiencing similar problems with his 'van. His Marquis dealer had sent his 'van up to their Tewkesbury branch, where they are supposedly the damp experts. I'm sure he said it hadn't been rectified properly and was having to go back.
Mark at A/S seemed convinced that his service staff were the only real specialists. I'm certainly hoping so!

Shortly after picking up our Nuevo I found damp on the wall just behind the bulkhead frame down towards the floor. Took it back to Cotswold Motorhomes where it was dried out and the outside seal (the one that goes from the skirt right up and round under the awning) resealed from top to bottom. They then sprayed it with a contraption they had made themselves to simulate constant rain for two days. All has been fine ever since. So yes it does seem to be a common problem.

Hi Paul, I'm glad you got yours sorted ASAP (though I'm a bit mystified how it wasn't picked up when sold to you).
I'm pretty certain the water is getting in to ours from the same place. Where that moulded seal overlaps the overcab  seal looks a very likely spot for problems.
I'm amazed we didn't spot any signs of ingress on Nancy, as we use her every single month of the year and had no idea that the bulkhead panel was breaking down. It's only obvious by seeing a few pimple-type marks showing on the surface of the panel, although with all these storms we've been having this month, we can see moisture penetrating along the base of the panel.
For various reasons, we'd missed out on a regular habitation service and have learnt a valuable (but costly) lesson there.

nuevoboy wrote:Hi Paul, I'm glad you got yours sorted ASAP (though I'm a bit mystified how it wasn't picked up when sold to you).

We picked it up end Sept/beginning of Oct after rather a long dry spell. Habitation check gave damp readings which showed no where had a reading in excess of 17%. Even when I discovered the damp, the reading was only around 25% after a lot of rain so perhaps it wasn't coming through too badly and we caught it before it did too much damage. When I delivered it to the dealer it was a Sunday and only one salesman was there, no-one from the service dept, and his attitude to my suggestion as to where it was coming in was met with 'I worked at AS and I know how these are made and it cannot be from there'. Needless to say when I collected it, the service guy said it was as I suspected.

I think I know who you are referring to.
We once asked him about cleaning the curtains.
His one statement was that they are notorious for shrinking if you give them a wash.
After experimenting with mild bleach solutions dabbed on, we gave up and washed the curtains in the machine.
Result.....gleaming clean and no shrinkage.

I wonder which department he worked at in A/S?

Well, Nancy is back with us, but only after having major surgery (in fact the operation took 4 full days).

Mark's team took the nearside sofa and bed frame out in order to provide the new bulkhead panel and after doing so, lifted the vinyl flooring to reveal that the damp had spread halfway across the width of the van. On ripping up the flooring, they discovered that some of the support rails were rotten too.
On removing the top cupboards and side panel they found that the nearside window had been leaking and on removing the wallpaper-type covering, yes you guessed it, the side panel was in a right mess too.
It also transpired that the awning light backing was letting in water, as was one of the awning mounting brackets and the water filler inlet.

The vast majority of the problem stemmed from water running along the seal (ha!) above the cab, tracking along to the rubber side seal and down inside the rubber.

As well as the new bulkhead panel, new floor rails were installed, around half of the floor was renewed, as well as a new wall board beneath the window. The other leaking points were all resealed.

The up-facing over-cab seal was ripped out and a new flip seal was provided, once plenty of Sikaflex was pumped into the gap between the over-cab panels.

Mark kept us up to date with the work and had photographs taken, showing the extent (and horror) of the damage. Talking to one of the guys who carried out the work, like us he wasn't expecting anywhere near the extent of the problem, as he couldn't detect any hint of any damp smells as he started working on Nancy. (Don't forget we had regularly used the van every single month, and had no hint of a problem prior to the habitation check).

Obviously the bill for all this work was a bit of a shock (over two grand) but we are happy in the knowledge that Nancy has survived this major operation, which was more than just cosmetic! She's been in recovery since her discharge and we've been gentle with her whilst sleeping with her for the last three nights. Thankfully she's now back at home where we can carry out more loving care for her.

We are truly thankful that Mark and his team at Autosleepers are true professionals and are capable of carrying out operations such as this.

If there's any moral to this tale, it must be to make sure you have regular habitation checks, and if you're confident of using a damp test meter, check for yourself.

nuevoboy.

OMG as they say. I can fully understand your shock of the extent of the damage. As I was reading through your post I was dreading getting to the cost but to be honest I thought you were going to tell us a much higher figure if that's any consolation. May you get many more years use now. I for one will be getting my damp meter out at least every month.

Delighted to read you have your van back on the road again and your satisfied with the work carried out by Marks team at their workshop.
We're you able to take advance of the ASOCs 10% discount at Willersey , I saved £75 4years ago paid half of the VAT 
Boaby

Reading these posts i am surprised that members seem to accept the damp as maybe a common feature of AS. Its nice to know that AS can fix these leaks at a sensible price. Are they not concerned to  complain to the factory and expect some improvement?  Failing that a more generous warranty period? Should AS supply a damp meter with every new motorhome?

Regards

Micky

Thanks for your replies folks.

Regarding an ASOC discount, as a former member I confess I did wonder whether I could have rejoined after the hab check, but felt that it was a bit unfair and selfish to try and do so (although the possibility of a £300 saving certainly gave rise to the thought).

In answer to mikethebike's post, I'm sure A/S learn from design issues (faults?) and I suspect that the type of system in place on current vehicles wouldn't give the same problems. I don't believe members accept damp as a common issue on A/S vehicles.
OK on my Nuevo, it's apparent the construction method causes problems. However, I imagine this was a new technique developed to replace the monocoque versions and didn't manifest itself for quite few years.

Incidentally, when I picked Nancy up, there was a chap having his Romahome serviced and we chatted for a while and he told me that his model was the last of their monocoque vans. Basically it's an upturned boat without any top seals. Apparently, like A/S, Romahome have too found them too expensive to manufacture and the only other 'van I've seen lately was a beautiful imported La Strada Nova, which the owner told me started out with a base price of around 80 grand.

nuevoboy.