So you bought an Autosleeper ?

Having had our Symbol for a week now, I get a visit from a close neighbour who, unbeknown to me also has a campervan (Swift Mondial).

Says neighbour, I had one of these. Have you checked your gutter drain holes he asks?
No said I. You should he say's, they'll be blocked. 

So following day, up I go on the stepladder. Oh boy , were they blocked enough forestry waste in them to start a nursery. He was dead right.
For any other Symbol owners reading this, suggest you check. There are 4 drain holes, two front and two rear. Blocked solid, all of them.
I removed the screws holding the gutter cover just to ease it open a little, I didm't remove the cover.
I then used a combination of bottle brush and a long piece of aluminium rod to dislodge/ remove the debris (lots of it)
Then out came the hose to finish the job.
A WORD OF WARNING. Cover your scuttle grill before using the hose to prevent said debris from ending up in the scuttle drain. I covered mine with an offcut of breathable ground sheet. Worked for me.
It's a messy job but needed doing.

Yes as you quickly found your neighbour was right! They are the same on the Duetto and often my van, because the driveway area its parked on is at a slight incline, rainwater gathers at the offside rear corner so when driven off down the road, soon as the brakes go on i get a massive waterfall down the windscreen!

Another area to watch for is the scuttle. Not sure how the Symbol is finished off there but if covered over with a plastic trim panel, it's a good idea to remove that, clean out the crud, let the metal dry off after a good clean, then spray a generous amount of Waxoyl or Wax-Seal all over the scuttle....doesn't matter how messy it looks as you won't see it once the trim is back on.

On Transits that's a classic rust spot few know about.....until they need a screen replacement only to find half the damn scuttle comes away with the screen! It is 'fixable' but means a new screen cannot be fitted until that's sorted first.

I have done the scuttle drain. It too was blocked.
PIA job, but done now

I was wonder what that waterfall was caused by. Another job for today!

So in the spirit of learning, I will ask, what on earth are the gutter drain holes and where are they?

Sally
X

On our 2000 symbol, one at each corner around the roof line. If your camper is like your profile photo suggest that yours may not be quite the same, nonetheless, a roof line gutter will still have drain holes
Mike.

mikeyval wrote:On our 2000 symbol, one at each corner around the roof line. If your camper is like your profile photo suggest that yours may not be quite the same, nonetheless, a roof line gutter will still have drain holes
Mike.

Blimey, I didn’t know they/it existed.  I’ve only just learned about scuttle drain holes and cleared them.  So I’ll have to see if the Sussex Duo has gutters and drain holes. 

Every day’s a school day 

Sally wrote:

mikeyval wrote:On our 2000 symbol, one at each corner around the roof line. If your camper is like your profile photo suggest that yours may not be quite the same, nonetheless, a roof line gutter will still have drain holes
Mike.

Blimey, I didn’t know they/it existed.  I’ve only just learned about scuttle drain holes and cleared them.  So I’ll have to see if the Sussex Duo has gutters and drain holes. 

Every day’s a school day 

I doubt they will on your Duo Sally. They have long gone from cars and most vans now. The upside is no more blocked drain holes which eventually cause rust but the downside is each time it rains, it drops straight off the roof side into the inside of the van if your window is slightly open.

The other downside is if you want to fit roof bars, those will cost more than an 'old fashioned' roof rack which does the same job. Sometimes 'improvements' in modernisation are not always for the better!

Can I assume our 2012 puegeot boxer based Symbol doesnt have this problem?