Cold Air coming in new Autotrail

rolandrat said:
The so called vents under the seats are nothing to do with batteries on an AutoTrail as they are housed on the side of the chassis behind the skirt. The holes are pressed out during manufacture. I'm on my fourth AutoTrail and I think I know a little about the good and not so good points about them.
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The same on all X250's Ducato boxer relay. Only the starter battery in the cab which is in it's own vented box under the the passengers feet.
Nothing to do with batteries at all.
 
sedge said:
WE had a rear lounge in the Bessacar and the front of the van (bathroom and kitchen) got red hot whilst the back was tepid at best. Then Mark (CLS) pointed out there was a diverter flap on the top of the fire under the 'false floor' in the wardrobe - problem instantly solved - we didn't have a clue that was there till then! Is there something like that on your van do you think?
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I'm not sure if the Autotrail has this, anyone else heard or got info on this?
 
DanielFord said:
On electric it takes ages to completely heat our van, even on full at 2kw. On gas it warms the van in about 20 minutes. The gas is much more efficient, switching the cab vents to recirculation is a good tip, makes a big difference.
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Does the Autotrail have switchable vents anywhere?

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rolandrat said:
The so called vents under the seats are nothing to do with batteries on an AutoTrail as they are housed on the side of the chassis behind the skirt. The holes are pressed out during manufacture. I'm on my fourth AutoTrail and I think I know a little about the good and not so good points about them.
Click to expand...

2010 Apache 700. The leisure batteries are as you describe in a side locker, but the vehicle battery is in the cab between the seats as noted by Wildman.
 
BOND said:
Ok, I've just quickly crawled underneath, the near side has 2 one way vents that I can see with flimsy rubber, there may be more, the offside has 2 solid blanks & If I shine a torch up under the vehicle I can see some faint light. Anyone know the rules about removing the vents?
The doors have no vents at all, the only holes are drains unless there's something behind the trim panel.
The dust under the seats looks like its 10yrs old not 10mths!
Oh, and there's a few sharp edges:mad:
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Unless your doors are total one offs there should be vents in the ends. Look at the actual door lock. Directly below them there should be louvred vents.. They are pretty large ( about 50mm wide and a good 200mm long ) ..
Just checked and they are ( SHOULD BE :-) ) on all models dating back to early noughties and right up to date.
 
grumps147 said:
2010 Apache 700. The leisure batteries are as you describe in a side locker, but the vehicle battery is in the cab between the seats as noted by Wildman.
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Yes I already said that above, yours is an X250. The cab battery is in it's own vented box in the floor . nothing to do with vent holes in the cab steelwork.
three-X2.jpg
 
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in winter heating should be run on gas or a combination of 230v and gas, electric alone not up to the job. if it's a long van and hot air struggling to get to the front, you have to balance the system by closing down vents a bit, the ones nearer to boiler. (just like a domestic set of radiators, vents need balancing)

cab always a source of draughts and cold air..only thing you can do is fit covers. full cover better but bulky, only a lot of winter camping will justify those. A fully winterised van will be better equipped for the job.....
 
Hi Bond.. The flimsy cardboard tubes you mentioned, are actually lined with foil and are fairly efficient at transporting heat.. I think most of your improvements can be made by preventing draughts and balancing the blown air vents, as stated in previous posts..
But you have turned the thermostat up and put the heating on the 2Kw setting, haven't you ??? (( No offence intended ))
Good luck.

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jenny and mitch said:
Hi Bond.. The flimsy cardboard tubes you mentioned, are actually lined with foil and are fairly efficient at transporting heat.. I think most of your improvements can be made by preventing draughts and balancing the blown air vents, as stated in previous posts..
But you have turned the thermostat up and put the heating on the 2Kw setting, haven't you ??? (( No offence intended ))
Good luck.
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Hi Mitch
I've turned the thermo settings up on the panel above the door to max (30) & using Elec2 - is that what you mean?
 
Jaws said:
Unless your doors are total one offs there should be vents in the ends. Look at the actual door lock. Directly below them there should be louvred vents.. They are pretty large ( about 50mm wide and a good 200mm long ) ..
Just checked and they are ( SHOULD BE :) ) on all models dating back to early noughties and right up to date.
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I'll have another look but sure there are no vents - let you know if I've got a rare machine:)
 
BOND said:
I'm not sure if the Autotrail has this, anyone else heard or got info on this?
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this the diverter lever on the back of my 2007 scout . with this i can control the disribution of heat to the front or rear of my van. its on the back of the fire accessable from inside the bottom of the wardrobe.
 

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Do the heater ducts go outside the van? One of the crap designs by some MH manufacturers is to run these tubes under the floor so loose a lot of heat. Even running through lockers will loose a lot of heat if they are cold after a long run.
I fitted carpet to ours and got rid of the removable carpets that let more heat out.
Your main problem is the pathetic fan they fit. a fart in a bottle may be more use.
It all boils down to the designers who have no idea what living in a MH is like. They should all be made to try out their designs before they are let loose on us. :rolleyes:
 
Cheers Andy
Mine are so well taped up with gaffa tape you cannot even see the outline of them, which is why I never posted a picture !
 
is that such a good idea ventilation wise? OK for a winter trip maybe, but permanently? they are there for a reason, I well remember rusting lower doors from the past
 
image.jpg
 
My doors minus vents - pushed the button too early:doh:
 
You can EDIT for up to 60 mins but no point now :LOL:
Looks like Fiat etal finally realised they were not required (y)

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keith said:
Do the heater ducts go outside the van? One of the crap designs by some MH manufacturers is to run these tubes under the floor so loose a lot of heat. Even running through lockers will loose a lot of heat if they are cold after a long run.
I fitted carpet to ours and got rid of the removable carpets that let more heat out.
Your main problem is the pathetic fan they fit. a fart in a bottle may be more use.
It all boils down to the designers who have no idea what living in a MH is like. They should all be made to try out their designs before they are let loose on us. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Yeah the tubes go thru the lockers which are pretty much outside, you can put wine in there to chill if the fridge is full! I think some decent insulation in that area wouldn't go a miss - It's a rubbish design.
 
You mean edit by pushing the edit button I suppose - :clap: Never again will I have to read the post 10 times before I push the button.
 
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Our 2013 Tracker has same draught problems and no vents in the doors as Bond has already shown we put up two blankets around the back of the swivelled front seats clipped to wherever with spring clamps seems to do the trick but the tip about under seats is a good one am going to stuff something wooly in there and that should do the trick I do find using the electric and gas setting works well and doesn't use much gas.
 
Interesting, looks like quite a few changes occured that year
 
BOND said:
Ok, I've just quickly crawled underneath, the near side has 2 one way vents that I can see with flimsy rubber, there may be more, the offside has 2 solid blanks & If I shine a torch up under the vehicle I can see some faint light. Anyone know the rules about removing the vents?
The doors have no vents at all, the only holes are drains unless there's something behind the trim panel.
The dust under the seats looks like its 10yrs old not 10mths!
Oh, and there's a few sharp edges:mad:
Click to expand...

there is an available blanking plate for these vents... there was a thread on it some time back. i will trawl my bits and pieces and see if i can dig out the number.
 
rolandrat said:
The so called vents under the seats are nothing to do with batteries on an AutoTrail as they are housed on the side of the chassis behind the skirt. The holes are pressed out during manufacture. I'm on my fourth AutoTrail and I think I know a little about the good and not so good points about them.
Click to expand...


Does that apply to my 2004 Apache,if so where do I get the plugs from ,also Are they visible if you crawl under the van and look up?
Finally I get the feeling from some posts that it's ok to run the heating on gas and electric at the same time when it's cold is this right?


Vlad

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