Re: Kemerton xl making improvements

by Relaxez-Vous Sun Nov 01, 2020 6:15 pm

glyne, I noticed from a photo that you've got some Milenco Stacka levelling blocks, what's your experience? Do they have any advantages over say the the Triple 3 levellers that I have? They look like there's a bit more to getting things set up, nevertheless perhaps they're better if camping on soft ground?

My search for other owners reporting on Stacka blocks on ASOF drew a blank.

by glyne lock Sun Nov 01, 2020 7:42 pm

the blocks work well and look after the tyres as it sits in the curve .yes its a bit more to do setting up .if I was on a pitch that is very uneven I set up the blocks and if I still need more height after driving up now jack up to add a extra block under the last curve block. when parked at home and I have not got the wheels off the ground on stands drive onto the top curved block and spread the load area for the tyre. when working under a vehicle the blocks are a safer way than ramps to get more space. my last van had a garage so lots of space to store items but I only take these now if I am going to stay at a site. I just carry wooden block as if its not that level I find another place. when going to a site you need to level your van as to the pitch you get put on so is the only time I take them with me

by Relaxez-Vous Wed Nov 04, 2020 7:23 pm

Slightly irrelevant but glyne and other Kemerton XL owners have you got on the right side of your Sargent PSU a blanked off chromium effect Berker socket surround? I wonder if A-S had some plywood left over for our van. Even if I fitted a 13 amp socket fed from one of the cut off white cables behind the Sargent PSU, (do they actually carry live mains?), I wouldn't be able to plug in a 13amp plug, the surround for the door gets in the way, even then this door under the sink (behind which is the PSU) would need to be left open.

Why did A-S make a hole in the mounting plywood for the PSU and put an unnecessary blanked off Berker surround there? Mine keeps asking me to fit something useful there but I've no ideas with what.

by glyne lock Wed Nov 04, 2020 9:45 pm

Do you mean this one it’s my tank blanket switch[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

by Relaxez-Vous Wed Nov 04, 2020 10:54 pm

Thanks, yes that's it. I suppose having the option for tank blanket heating on our LCD screen meant having a switch as in the picture became unnecessary. At least I know now what would have been there.

by RogerThat Thu Nov 05, 2020 8:32 pm

I think that switch is to only isolate the grey tank, not the fresh tank.

At least it is on my Stanway up!

by glyne lock Sat Nov 07, 2020 5:09 pm

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RogerThat wrote:I think that switch is to only isolate the grey tank, not the fresh tank.

At least it is on my Stanway

Roger
Yes it is on the kemerton as well

by RogerThat Sat Nov 07, 2020 7:19 pm

I never did work out if the light was on meant the heater was on or if the light being on meant it was off hugegrins

by glyne lock Sun Nov 08, 2020 5:37 pm

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Removing the just for show roof rails to fit a Thule smartclamp system tobe able to fit a hullavator to lift my sea kayak on to the roof .
To remove the rails I had read how windychippy had done this but will explain how I did this
The fist job was to drill the river heads and have my vacuum keeping my roof clean to stop any rust from bits of hot metal dropping on the roof.then I removed the screws and the plastic brackets on the mountings .to help remove the bolt head screws I used a spanner and a lever tool that we use to remove plastic fixings on door panels etc. By not cutting the bracket as windychippy had done now you can put a pair of grips on the bracket to help cut into the sealant by buy putting a small leverage on the bracket as you cut into the sealant . I also warmed up the bracket with a hair dryer this all made the hardest part of this job much easier.after removing all the brackets to remove the sealant still on the roof as I do to remove logo glue I put duck oil on the sealant this breaks down any glue and was able to clean off with a cloth with out any damage to my roof paint work.next I cleaned the oil off with brake cleaner making sure where I was going to bond the smart track was all clean. now I fitted the brackets ready to the o/s and my van has a dometic roof blind so now fitted 2 of the brackets that I could fit to the n/s I then made 2 brackets to hold the rails when fitted in place as the sealer would go off . Then I sealed any holes from the old rails before fitting the rails I cleaned them with brake cleaner now the rails where ready to fit so myself I put sealant on all the area the rails would be in contact with and fitted the rails in place .i left some heavy items to hold the rails in place as the sealant went off

by abmnw Wed Nov 11, 2020 7:21 am

glyne lock wrote:
GP1069 wrote:Great idea for the water tank, a couple of question

1/ Water: are you using a changeover valve or a link so the water self levels on both tanks ?

2/ Water: where did you get the water tank from and size ?

3/ Insulation: how does the roof lining remove for access to the that area ?

4/ Insulation: where did you get the draylon from with the reflective surface ?

Thanks in advance.
1 I have fitted taps to turn each tank off and to be able to fill the tanks
2 ebay 132625547949 size 75lt
3 I just lowered it to be able to feed the wires but not an easy job .this was the blanks covering the screws for the joint in the roof lining I also removed the light in the lining .if you are thinking of doing this I will explain in more detail
4 the dacron was a 10mx.7m.35mm I sometimes put 2 layers and the Dacron with the silver on 1 side this is what is used under the roof felt in the loft for insulation .
I will show a picture of the taps showing the expansion tank .the extra tank can be back fill throw the drain tap on the tank as well

I quite like the idea of a second fresh water tank - do you think it'd be feasible to connect the tanks together via a pipe out of the side towards the bottom so that the 2nd tank would automatically fill with the main tank & conversely flow back the other way as the water get used?
Col

by glyne lock Wed Nov 11, 2020 8:53 am

The 2nd tank is a bit higher than the main tank so yes a link pipe could be used
If you now have 2 tanks half full and are driving this makes the van more unstable than one full and one empty
To link with a pipe as you asked would need to go under the axle and could give problems
I had a hole already just above the 2nd tank that had a blank covering the hole this was next to a gas pipe going into the van for the cooker
With the vents that A/S fit in the top off the tank and your van is higher at the rear would now have water running out the vents in the front tank
I did think about a transfer pump but this is now using a lot off power and would burn out the pump having it running for that long
I now use the 2nd tank first that has got its own level gauge but can now see when I use the main tank what’s left before I need to fill up
I also wanted the pipes inside to stop them freezing [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

by glyne lock Fri Nov 13, 2020 12:54 pm

Fitting an auto drain valve for the waste
This I have done and still have the tap if required so now when I am at the drive over waste drain can switch on with the switch next to my seat no more getting wet or dirty hands
I mounted a small piece of box section just in front of the rear spring [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]eye bolt . There is a hole I put a bolt down through then the box section then the pump just bellow . I use a caravan waste kit you can buy with 2 elbows a tee fitting and some pipe and the grey fittings to fit the valve

by rgermain Fri Nov 13, 2020 1:05 pm

Great idea, well done, but my wife tells me NO. You would only use it at the wrong time and spray the driver or rider who is tailgating you. biggrin

. She knows me after 55 years.
----------
Richard

by Windychippy Fri Nov 20, 2020 10:53 pm

Kemerton xl making improvements - Page 2 2a992310

Hi Glyne, Like your roof mod, makes you wonder why Autosleeper bore holes in the roof when there are fixing points near by. Surely they could have come up with some sort of bracket to accommodate their cosmetic rails. Bye the way I have the Thule bars and feet at a knock down price if your interested + modified Hullivators. Van now gone up!

Cheers Windy.

by glyne lock Sun Mar 07, 2021 8:06 pm

Just fitted and tested my hullavator today just have to position my solar panels to not be shaded by the roof rack bars now[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

by RogerThat Sun Mar 07, 2021 9:26 pm

Don't forget to put a new max-height sticker on your sun visor up!

by glyne lock Sun May 09, 2021 6:31 pm

Solar panels mounted to roof rack to stop shading from roof vents and roof rack and even away from sea kayak when loaded on roof and much better air gape under the panels [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

by RogerThat Sun May 09, 2021 8:21 pm

Nicely done!!

by glyne lock Sun May 09, 2021 8:44 pm

RogerThat wrote:Nicely done!!

Still space for 1 more panel in front off roof vent.with everything turned on putting load on solar system I still had spare power so I put the inverter on for more load to test max amps and got up to 12 amps so we’ll have enough in the summer to power the fridge on 12v with the solar controller

by glyne lock Tue May 17, 2022 6:49 pm

Just I small up grade but I did not go for the cheapest.now I can have the widow part open in hot weather even with heavy rain.the make I have fitted don’t need any screws or clamps. When driving I have tried them part open and work great .the make I got was team heko[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

by glyne lock Mon Jun 06, 2022 6:59 pm

Usb charging point
When driving you have to charge off vehicle charge point and when you stop the engine now need to use habitation points this can be a pain so I fitted a extra usb just behind the drivers seat that feeds all the time from the leisure batteries and has its own on and off switch [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

by glyne lock Wed Jun 22, 2022 11:49 am

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]No more roof collecting water and grime in lower ribs around roof vents

by K & S Wed Jun 29, 2022 3:13 pm

Hi, has anybody had this one please?
When leaving a site I always drain down the water tank (or so I thought)
The water stops draining and yet,
When home the tank gauge still shows yellow at about say 25% full and when I open the drain that looks about right as it drains off more water.
Wondering if the hot tanks stays full until cold or air lock or something.
Any thoughts welcome.

by glyne lock Thu Jun 30, 2022 6:54 pm

K & S wrote:Hi, has anybody had this one please?
When leaving a site I always drain down the water tank (or so I thought)
The water stops draining and yet,
When home the tank gauge still shows yellow at about say 25% full and when I open the drain that looks about right as it drains off more water.
Wondering if the hot tanks stays full until cold or air lock or something.
Any thoughts welcome.

the hot tank should be turned off
you then run the hot tap to put the hot water in the waste tank this helps clean out the tank
now the hot water tank unit can be drained and not damage grass etc first turn off pump then turn on a tape then open the drain valve
the main water tank can now be drained but the great out of date pipe and tap put lower then the tank to help fully drain

by Relaxez-Vous Fri Jul 01, 2022 7:55 pm

glyne lock wrote:Usb charging point
When driving you have to charge off vehicle charge point and when you stop the engine now need to use habitation points this can be a pain so I fitted a extra usb just behind the drivers seat that feeds all the time from the leisure batteries and has its own on and off switch [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Thanks Glyne, I am going to follow what you've done here.
A-S only supplied as standard one USB charging port in our Kemerton XLs, that's not enough. Here we have two mobile phones, two SanDisk MP3 players with their radio, and an old Garmin Edge 705 satnav, now its more often used when out walking, all these charged by USB. There are probably more that I've not mentioned.

I did install a 12V cigarette lighter socket in the well space behind the driver's seat, powered from the leisure battery (fused). This comes in handy if I need to use a 12V tyre inflator for the tyres and for topping up the rear Air suspension. As you indicated Glyne, stop your vehicle and all 12V sockets are without power. Vehicle engine running and only two USB sockets are powered, the one on the dashboard and another in the drop down compartment., no 12V A-S sockets are powered behind, no toilet flush if you stop on a journey until you activate the EC700 panel, grrr

These irritations are brought to you via Peugeot's CAN bus system and Sargent's implementation of their EC700 system. Customers do so need to be protected from themselves like children you see, so they don't accidentally flatten their battery.