Symbol Plus advice for a newbie?

Hello all  --

Have just joined up because I'm hoping very soon to become the owner of a 4-year-old Symbol Plus. (And am, of course, very excited!) I have campervanning experience, having owned a Bilbos LWB T5 in the past, and have borrowed a friend's Murvi in the past (so I know I like the sideways-sofa layout), but I'm new to Auto-Sleepers and to this model.

So I thought it was worth asking here in case any other owners had any advice along the lines of 'I wish we had known that at the start' or 'Your dealer really should have warned you about that', or 'The first accessory you'll need to buy is...'

Any advice most gratefully received!  Hopefully before long I'll become a more useful participant in the forum!

Thanks in advance for any suggestions,
Quentin

It’ll be nice if you introduce yourself while you’re waiting for tips 
Follow the link.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Hi Quentin
Welcome to the forum from Bridington.
Boaby

We acquired a new Symbol Plus last year after downsizing from an A Class Hymer, we are experienced motorhome owners having had 7 vans of various sizes (growing family, grandkids etc) over 35 years & being honest, the Symbol Plus is probably the best van (compromise-wise) we've ever owned.

The layout is brilliant for all seasons, especially the kitchen, we have always liked vans with a middle lounge & an end cooking area which, in the main, excludes most Euro vans who seem to be obsessed with shoe-horning in a front lounge/dining area & a tiny mid-kitchen opposite the washroom...we previously tried a Hymercar Grand Canyon & apart from it being the worst built van we've ever owned, the layout proved impossible to live with especially in colder weather when you're cooped up inside.

Storage is good (but not on a par with Euro garage vans) & it just takes a bit of thought where everything fits, we put the bedding under the couch, ruck sacks, shoes & boots under the single seat which, with the wooden wine holder bulkhead removed (a 2 minute job) is quite cavernous, we also carry a large watertight box whilst travelling with all our outside stuff such as ramps, EHU cable, portable BBQ, compact chairs (Robens Observer) etc which we keep outside on site.

When we viewed our van AS had positioned the lithium battery slap bang in the middle of the cavity underneath the settee so I asked the dealer to reposition it next to the Sargent unit which they duly obliged, this enabled us to store all the bedding plus other bits & bobs underneath...you might want to check it out as its an easy fix.

The wardrobe, vanity shelves & overhead lockers are more than enough for even my wife (who likes to pack for every eventuality), in fact, even in winter we've got empty shelves so summer packing will be a breeze.

It's hard to say anything negative about the model, its just an incredibly well thought out design & if I was pushed I would point to the lack of a cutlery drawer...thats it!

So, happy Symbol Plus'ing & if you want any help sussing things out I'm more than happy to try & ask any questions you may have.

Finally, we'd always fancied a Murvi Morrello, we even liked them back in the 80's when they were all blue in colour, however, before buying the AS we visited the genuinely lovely folk at MURVI with a view to putting in an order but were quite disappointed at the finish, MURVI have, almost a cult following but IMHO the AS is a nicer van.

Thank you so much!  That's all really useful and encouraging... especially since we've now made the first payment on the van!  We're picking it up in about 10 days' time... very excited!

It's good to know that the wine holder bulkhead is easy to take out... it struck me immediately that there was really useful storage space there that wasn't easy-enough to reach!

The only negative comment I've found online was from a few people who were having charging issues on the leisure battery: fuses blowing, battery going flat quickly, and disappointment over how short a period they could survive with an EHU.  If that proves to be an issue then I'm happy to explore possible fixes; we have a 3-year warranty with it, too!  I suspect mine won't prove to be a lithium battery, which might also help if I ever fancied an upgrade.

I'm sure I'll think of plenty of questions, so thanks very much for your offer of help!  I may well take you up on it.

Much obliged,
Quentin

If not already there, look at fitting at least 100w of solar. Tons of info in here ..

Thanks Ian - it comes with a panel; I'm not sure how big but I'm guessing 120-150.

I might expand that, but I don't know if the standard Sargent unit can make good use of a second one, so I'll probably wait to see how we do before starting bigger projects. :-)

Solar Panel is 80w & as for blowing fuses, by now most dealers seem to be fitting uprated fuses before handing over the van...Nick Whale supplied ours & had already changed the fuses before handover.

quentinsf wrote:Thanks Ian - it comes with a panel; I'm not sure how big but I'm guessing 120-150.

I might expand that, but I don't know if the standard Sargent unit can make good use of a second one, so I'll probably wait to see how we do before starting bigger projects. :-)

you have read the solar controller max 120w or 150w as to if its a ec500 or ec700
but the panel that the camper comes with is 80w
the solar system fitted is only good for the SALES person talk but that's about all
to have a solar system that will look after the batteries when parked and in storage between use needs the mod as done by lots of members on this forum
you will then have a system that will work when not on the mains when using the camper

Thanks Glyne - I'll start taking a look at possible upgrades!

Shockabilly wrote:Solar Panel is 80w & as for blowing fuses, by now most dealers seem to be fitting uprated fuses before handing over the van...Nick Whale supplied ours & had already changed the fuses before handover.

changing the fuses is NOT something people should start doing them self
this is a mod ref upgrade as to problems with the batteries now being fitted
the correct fuse is fitted so it blows and not have damage to the wiring or have a burnt out camper

That's why I made the point about 'dealers' fitting uprated fuses, which, I was informed was on the advice/guidance of AS...not owners/buyers!

I gather the recommendation of upgrading the 20A fuses to 25A if you have this issue is one that came from AS themselves to more than one person, but I would certainly be going back to my dealer before resorting to it. :-)

quentinsf wrote:Thanks Ian - it comes with a panel; I'm not sure how big but I'm guessing 120-150.

I might expand that, but I don't know if the standard Sargent unit can make good use of a second one, so I'll probably wait to see how we do before starting bigger projects. :-)

Go to SEARCH and type in bypassing Sargent solar
Or, look through Members Factsheets, this has all been done many times before

Basically you fit a new dual battery solar controller and wire that direct from it to both batteries, totally by passing the Sargent controller. Result infinitely better use of your solar input and no Sargent complexity.

Result, both batteries 100% charged all year round....

The changes to fuse size was for vans fitted with lithium battery's not lead acid batteries

quentinsf wrote:I gather the recommendation of upgrading the 20A fuses to 25A if you have this issue is one that came from AS themselves to more than one person, but I would certainly be going back to my dealer before resorting to it. :-)

the mains charger is 25amp but the battery charge should not need that amount of charge and lots of people have the fuse blow as they have let the batteries go to low in power.
on a 2019 camper needs to be left at 20 amp fuse.
this is from A/S note for NEW campers as to the battery now being fitted

quentinsf
If you look at my post Kemerton xl making improvements 
This is not all my mods but things that will help others with what they can do to improve there camper and shows the solar mod[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]


[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]o this is the solar showing both batteries just over 13 volts on the Sargent 480 but 13.9 on my solar reading.if I put the electric kettle on would go above 12 amps for a short time then back to just a trickle charge as it’s showing now .I can power my microwave the electric kettle charge items all from my inverter and NOTE clean green power from the solar to recharge the batteries

To be honest my suggest is that you use the van first before embarking on some of the many changes suggested in this post. We all use our vans differently and what one person sees as an essential upgrade, others might be quite happy with the factory solution.

A good example of this is the solar and Sargent unit. We have the standard factory set up, and find for us it works perfectly well for 4 nights off grid at a time, earliest being the end of March and the last being September. So in effect over the summer months, we have found the standard 80 panel and Sargent unit combined with the single factory fit leisure battery perfectly adequate. 

We leave the van on the drive when not in use, and have only had the Low Leisure Battery warning twice (once in each winter) and this was quickly resolved by plugging into the mains overnight.

Clearly if you spend extended periods off grid, use heavy usage appliances such as TV for extended periods and camp earlier than March /later than October then upgrading solar would undoubtedly make sense. 

Hence my suggestion that you use the thing first and decide from there what you might need to change.

Thanks Millie - yes, I wasn’t thinking of embarking on anything too precipitously!

We’re not television watchers, and we tend not to sit in one place but drive around exploring the local area, so I think there’s a good chance that the standard setup will generally be sufficient.  

Given the limitations of our previous van, we tended to stay on sites which provided more facilities, and one of the reasons for our change was to allow us to be more independent of local infrastructure - hence my interest in (and lack of experience with) life in the absence of EHUs . If, like you, we can survive three or four nights at a time, that will be plenty!