Picking up 2012 AS Nuevo EK on 22nd Nov

Evening all. As the title says I'm collecting my 2012 Nuevo EK a week today. It has done just 14k miles.

The point of this post is to ask the collective what I should be checking for on collection? Are there any specific Nuevo items I should be checking?

Oh, also I'm thinking of getting some refillable gas bottles. What size do I need and any recommendations?

Thanks all.

Not specifically for the Nuevo but it might jog the memory on the day...

https://www.autosleeper-ownersforum.com/t3632-pre-delivery-check-list

Many Thanks!

Congratulations!
We went with the gasit refillable system, seemed a little cheaper and the service was excellent. Fitted it ourselves then had it checked on first fill up by local gas engineer. Not sure on size for Nuevo I am afraid.

Excruciating time waiting, once the deal is done - enjoy

If you can stretch to an underslung re-fillable tank, it will release the locker space taken up by the gas bottles for more storage. 

Dennis

One common fault on that age of van is with the Speedo/dash/cluster
Make sure that non of the warning lights are glowing dimly, if so get them to send it off for refurb to cartronixs  or at least knock of a couple of hundred so you can do it yourself.
David

Unless you have a specific reason for wanting refillables (plural) isn't it a pointless waste of cash to have two?

The whole point is they can be topped up at any time . . . you don't need to wait until they are empty. Therefore if you have one refillable and a standard Calor as a reserve, the refillable may never be run down to empty and the Calor bottle will be there just as an emergency backup.

Can't see the point of having two refillables sitting side by side.

What Dennis said about an underslung tank makes a lot of sense, and if you were set on having two refillables, the difference in cost is not that great.

Either way, Chris Wise of Autogas2000 is an excellent supplier, and he's in Carlton Miniott, so not too far away from you.

Dare-devil-dennis wrote:If you can stretch to an underslung re-fillable tank, it will release the locker space taken up by the gas bottles for more storage. 

Further to Dennis' suggestion, when we had an underslung tank fitted to our 2012 Nuevo EK, I removed the whole of the steel gas storage cabinet. It comes away quite easily without damaging anything if you hack at it with tin snips and remove it a bit at a time.

That then left the whole of the underbed area free for storage, but the floor was a bit lower where the gas cabinet had been, and it was obviously not weatherproof with the perforated base. This was sealed with a piece of marine ply and plenty of mastic, leaving (finally - please read on) a small storage area accessible from outside, via the old gas door.

I put in a new piece to level the underbed floor, and it added significantly to the useful and convenient storage space. It almost doubled the underbed storage volume on that side.

It was obviously possible to see where the edges of the cabinet had been fitted to the outside walls of the van, but only when the bed box was lifted so I didn't bother about it. Some further cosmetic work could have been done fairly easily had it concerned me - or if the gaffer had complained!!   

Gromit wrote:Unless you have a specific reason for wanting refillables (plural) isn't it a pointless waste of cash to have two?

The whole point is they can be topped up at any time . . . you don't need to wait until they are empty. Therefore if you have one refillable and a standard Calor as a reserve, the refillable may never be run down to empty and the Calor bottle will be there just as an emergency backup.

Can't see the point of having two refillables sitting side by side.

What Dennis said about an underslung tank makes a lot of sense, and if you were set on having two refillables, the difference in cost is not that great.

Either way, Chris Wise of Autogas2000 is an excellent supplier, and he's in Carlton Miniott, so not too far away from you.

We have exactly that, one refillable one standard tank, agree with Gromit, two refillables not really worth it.

I have 2 refillables for extra long  continental trips,Melcragg maybe planning the same!

davey wrote:I have 2 refillables for extra long  continental trips,Melcragg maybe planning the same!

Why Davey?

It's just as easy to top up on the Continent.

I'm obviously missing something here. 

Not if you use more than a tank full between fill ups it isn't Dave. Next time you fill up your one tank the spare might only be half full and the time after that you will be out.

Or am I missing something

The dashboard warning problem is ONLY apparent if cruise control is switched on. It occurs if the van has been allowed to get for and slightly damp by being left unused over winter months. Is it a real 2012 model or 2012 registration on a 2011 body? If the former then check the "moon roof" over the cab very carefully. On some there was a problem with fixing screws pulling through the black plastic where it is screwed in from the outside. On gas, I agree with Dave. 1 bottle should be enough and an 11kg should fit. On my 2011 body a Calor 13kg will fit as long as it has the sheet steel collar around the valve. The older 13kg cylinder with a 3/4 ring handle supported by three bits of flat steel is too tall.

groundhog wrote:Not if you use more than a tank full between fill ups it isn't Dave. Next time you fill up your one tank the spare might only be half full and the time after that you will be out.

Or am I missing something

That's the only answer I could think of Hog, but apart from anything else, I would get hissed off with the faff of monitoring and topping up two separate refillable tanks.

We all do things differently of course, but we move around frequently enough to top up a single tank well before it's empty, and we will have filled up with diesel two or three times in the interim so plenty of opportunity to get gas.

Perhaps some folk are closet caravanners, and take root for weeks on end without moving on??     Joking aside, if that was our preferred holiday pattern I think we would still have a caravan, and a SafeFill cylinder for ease of lugging around for a top up.

Each to his own . . . as ever.     I think we must both be missing something. Curious, I am! 

LPG is getting harder to get (when was the last time you saw an LPG car?) as petrol station tanks reach the end of their lives then tend not to replace them

There was some thing in one of the magazines a while back comparing the price of 'draught' gas with bottled over a ten year period - and when you take in the price of fitting the bottles/tank there wasnt a great deal in it for the average user.

Certainly refillables have their advantages  - no big heavy bottles to lift in and out being the main one for me but bottles are ubiquitous (in the UK) and no matter where you are you can always get an exchange something which cant be said for 'draught'

A significant point Ray, and one that could become a concern in the not too distant future.

As current vans age and "draught" gas becomes even more difficult to find, it won't be cheap or easy to convert from an underslung tank to bottles.

Not impossible, but let's hope it doesn't get that bad for some time yet.

Is it too naive of me to think that van builders might revert to bottles if/when it becomes apparent that draught gas is no longer a viable option??

I have 15 lpg filling stations within a 15 mile radius of home so hopefully they won't all disappear that quickly.

LPG is not that easy to find as it was in the past.

I now fill up at the the Calor Gas site in the Potteries to ensure I don’t run out.

Eltel

LPG availability near us in the Manchester area is currently good. 

Slightly off topic, but on the way to Spain we stopped at a petrol station in France, near an aire, and where we’ve bought gas before. Anyway, the attendant told me it was not possible to fill with gas for ‘kitchen use’. I don’t speak French and felt it pointless to argue, so thanked her and left. I can only assume she thought we were going to fill bottles. We filled up at the Leclerc near the next aire. I remain unsure why she prevented us from buying, she merely said it was forbidden for kitchen use.

We’ve found the tank so useful, I hope it doesn’t become obsolete.

I don't see that happening any time soon!

I have 15 lpg filling stations within a 15 mile radius of home

I couldnt tell you where my nearest one is (admittedly I havent actively looked) but I know that in the north of Scotland it can be very hard to find as even the places which reportedly sell it are often out of stock.

It is completely unobtainable in Orkney and there is only three suppliers north of the great glen - so if you are heading north make sure you have full tanks before you get there!

More and more frequently these days heating is diesel powered and Ive even seen diesel cookers (on self builds) so perhaps this is a solution

They used to be fitted in a cabinet which occupied one end of the underbed storage area, and although it wouldn't be easy it could be converted back to that state.

As far as I know gas bottles have never been stored in a cupboard below the wardrobe, where the heater is fitted in the Nuevo.

But I could be wrong!!

The problem would be the dropped floor needed, an external door and relocation of the heater.  My heater is underneath the wardrobe.
I don't think that carrying bottles is practical in a modern van with an underslung tank.  At a blind guess it could cost £2,000 for the work needed with special mouldings etc from Cheltenham Laminates.