MMM – September 2019

Our panel of motorhome-owning experts

are here to helpyou solveyour

motorhoming problems, however small

Tech help!

TECHNICAL EDITOR

Peter Rosenthal

162 Need technical advice?[email protected] 2019

No matter what the issue

is with your motorhome,

get in touch andPeter or

one of his team of experts

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NEED AN ANSWERTO YOUR TECHNICALQUESTION?

I ha ve a two-year-old Benimar 201on a Fiat Ducato and

its batteries have stopped charging when connected to the

mains. Everything else works when plugged in, doyou ha ve

any ideas?

Cliff Pittam

A

Have you c hecked thebasics, such as the switch on the

char ger has not been knocked of?Or that any of your

mains isolatorswitc hes arein the of(down) position?

Have you ch ecked the battery voltage independently

with a multimeter tobe sure it’s not just a problem with the

motorhome’s display?

If you seeclose to

14V on t he meter

then the cha rger is

working. You might be

ableto i x the motorhome display by removing it from the

wall(it is retained by spring clips), disconnecting the multi-

pin plug for afew se conds. h is may reboot thedisplay.

My next sugges tion thenis that you visit your dealer as

this surely must st ill be under warranty.

Clive Mott

Q

Are gas heating and cooking systems

cleaner than diesel ones?

I notethatmanyconvertersuse dieselfor

theirheating andhot water systems,even

highly regarded oneslikeMurvi.When

thereisanapparent, cleaner,moreefficient

alternative inLPG,canyou suggest why

this shouldbe?

MyDevon Tempest runs aGaslow

systemlinked toa Trumaheating/hot

water systemandappearsfine. The

previousmodel, the Devon Limousin,

which Ialsoowned,useddiesel thatwas

noisy(difficult tostopthe pump making

a noise,which disturbedat night) and,

moreimportantly, smelly. All the windows/

vents hadtobeshutif you wanted toavoid

getting an unpleasantwhiff ofobnoxious

diesel fumes, which I assumeare as

harmfultohealthasexhaust fumes from

an engine.

I believe Propexcan fit underbodyLPG

tanks as an after-market modification.So

why isn’t this being promotedmoreand

why aren’t convertersbeing madetofeel

guiltyforcontinuingtofit dieselsystems?

John M Griffiths

A

I spoke to several converters at the

NationalMotorhome and Campervan

Showthis spring. BothWebasto and

Eberspächerhaveimprovedover earlier

unitsand arewidelyusedin HGV cabs

where driversstayout forpossiblya

week ata time.Convertersexpressed the

feeling thatmanycampervanowners,

too,liked towildcamp and,inthat

situation, gas wasusedchiely forcooking

andrefrigeration. heywent ontopoint

outthatdieselwasmuchmorewidely

available toreplenish tanks thanLPG

(bulk orcylinder) in manyareas.

Gas storage insmaller camperswithout

the use ofan underloor tankisalmost

certainly at the expense ofgeneral storage.

Manydo oferalternatives todiesel

heatingbutagain othersdonot. Owners

can, tosomedegree, request alternatives

to pre-built campersatpoint oforder.

Terry Acreman

guilty for continuing to fit diesel systems?

National orhome perv

wee im onverters expresse he

situation as hiel y ookin

geration e certainl he xpense eral storage

Many e lter tive iesel

Q

Why do n’t my batteries charge up

on a mains hook-up?