Humberto the 2008 Hymer B544 SL

For anyone interested I posted a brief update at>>> Go Humberto!

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Thanks for posting the videos, we found them to be a useful reference. I see you had Humberto uprated from 3500 to 3850. Out of curiosity, did you take it to a weighbridge prior to doing so? If so, any idea what your payload was with the 3.0l engine upgrade prior to being uprated? I'm guessing the 3.0l lump is circa 50kg heavier than the 2.3l?

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RowleyBirkinQC said:
Thanks for posting the videos, we found them to be a useful reference. I see you had Humberto uprated from 3500 to 3850. Out of curiosity, did you take it to a weighbridge prior to doing so? If so, any idea what your payload was with the 3.0l engine upgrade prior to being uprated? I'm guessing the 3.0l lump is circa 50kg heavier than the 2.3l?
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I still haven't got around to a weighbridge so I'm clueless about the actual weight.

I also took off the heavy towbar and sold it on this forum.

I had it up-plated purely because it was advertised as 4,000Kg but that turned out to be an error. Premier apologised for the error and paid for the admin change.
I just figured it was better to have 3850 than 3500 and, hopefully, have no real payload issues.
 
I have the same model, with additional Leisure battery, awning, satellite dish and solar panel, 75% fuel and empty water tanks mine weighed 3300 kgs.
 
Xabia said:
I have the same model, with additional Leisure battery, awning, satellite dish and solar panel, 75% fuel and empty water tanks mine weighed 3300 kgs.
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Great, thanks.

Sounds like I have around 500kg payload..ish. That's what I was banking on.
 
Xabia said:
I have the same model, with additional Leisure battery, awning, satellite dish and solar panel, 75% fuel and empty water tanks mine weighed 3300 kgs.
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Thanks, this confirms my gut feel / fear. We were looking a the same model this weekend plated at 3500, which emotionally I was quite drawn too. However, uprating the weight is not an option due to licence restriction, so I'm going to have to decide with my head rather than heart and explore other options. Bugger.
 
A Britstop near Stourhead gardens
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Foxhangers near devizes
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Arundel under the stars
a Humberto Arundel stars 1.jpg
Henry's Campsite at Lizard Point, Cornwall
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Enjoying the new BBQ point at Arundel
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Not a bad mix for the end of October

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This weekend was spent in the New Forest at Setthorns "Camping in the Forest". Stunning place.. and what a mild weekend. 13degC in mid-December!!!

>>> See our BLOG here <<<

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Enjoyed the info., photos and videos. Thanks Lee!
Are there likely to be any issues with Le Shuttle and the Gaslit system. Seems to me that there shouldn't be, but there are restrictions on LPG powered vehicles, I think. Can you or anyone advise?

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WhiteCheyenneMan said:
Enjoyed the info., photos and videos. Thanks Lee!
Are there likely to be any issues with Le Shuttle and the Gaslit system. Seems to me that there shouldn't be, but there are restrictions on LPG powered vehicles, I think. Can you or anyone advise?
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Can't imagine it's lpg powered just uses lpg for cooking and heating so no problem on Eurotunnel they'll just check to make sure your gas is turned off just before you board, done it dozens of times.:xThumb:
 
From Eurotunnel:

1) Vehicles powered by LPG or equivalent flammable gas as well as dual powered vehicles (vehicles fitted with an LPG or equivalent flammable gas tank as an alternative fuel) cannot be accepted for transport by Eurotunnel Le Shuttle

2) Portable gas containers (cylinders/bottles, etc.)
For the purposes of this text, this means cylinders/bottles containing flammable gas that can be moved from the vehicle for replacement or re-filling. The quantity of gas is limited to 47kg (or approximately 93 litres) maximum for a single container and to 50kg (or approximately 99 litres) maximum in the case of several containers.

3) Fixed gas containers (tanks, etc.)
For the purposes of this text, this means fixed containers that are permanently installed or fixed in a vehicle and are refillable from outside the vehicle.
The quantity of gas is limited to 47kg (or approximately 93 litres) maximum for a single container and to 50kg (or approximately 99 litres) maximum in the case of several containers. Each container must be no more than 80% full. The quantity will be checked via the gauge or remote indicator but if neither are present, the vehicle will be refused.

It's fair to say that most MoHos will be crossing with something along the lines of 2x6Kg or 2x7Kg or 2x11kg or a mixture of those capacities.

I think you may start to encounter issues with big, underslung, tanks. It's clear that my 11Kg bottles aren't that big (I'll find out in June) but I'm not sure what they do when they see a big tank mounted in the chassis.
 
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For Gas It type bottles the regulations could make capacity an issue. The bottles only fill to 80% but the regulations say that they will read from the Gauge or Remote Indicator, all of which can be very unreliable. Probably best to board with near empty bottles and fill up on the other side?

From Gas It:
Bottle Specifications:

Bottle Gas It Gas It 6kg Gas It PLUS 6kg Gas It 11kg Gas It PLUS 13kg Gas it PLUS 21kg
Size (Height x Diameter) 470mm x 246mm 445mm x 230mm 550mm x 304mm 560mm x 300mm 702mm x 300mm
Fills to approx @ 80% 11.5 Litres 11.5 Litres 21 Litres 21.6 Litres 33.6 Litres
Empty Cylinder Weight 7Kg 11Kg 11.9Kg 16Kg 24Kg
See: Link Removed
 
Fortunately one of my crappy little gauges reads EMPTY all the time so, if that's what they are checking, I'm fine.

My guess is that they are more than used to checking these things and will recognise large bottles which may approach the limits. It may be worth me carrying the GasIt literature which documents that they won't fill beyond 80% but I use the Eurotunnel a lot and there are many Caravans and Motorhomes in the queues.

Does anyone have experience of the checks they perform on fixed bottles/tanks? I've only ever crossed with Calor/Campingaz type bottles before.
 
Hettie's Crew said:
Hi Mike,
Can you let me know which LED bulbs you used, and where to get them from, for the running lights? I've been looking but I understand they have to have resistors to fool the Canbus.
(2014 B544)
Tim
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The DLR's are not linked into the bulb failure circuit so you don't need ballasted LED's standard ones will work but ensure you buy "E" marked bulbs, cheap ones have a poor light spread and if not "E" marked they are illegal.

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Go Humberto! said:
Does anyone have experience of the checks they perform on fixed bottles/tanks? I've only ever crossed with Calor/Campingaz type bottles before.
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When using the tunnel, the only check they do is to check the bottles are turned off, we have 2x 11kg gaslow bottles. We crossed on 29/12/16
 
Our weekend in West Bay made it 40 nights away since we got Humberto at the very end of August. I'm pretty pleased with that since we work full-time.

To be honest it's become addictive and feels like a weekend wasted if we don't get away, even to the local camp site for a night. It's proving to me that I could easily sell our house and downsize. We really don't need as much as we have.

As usual, find our Humberto Diary at>>> www.gohumberto.com

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Never got my head around the idea of naming a van but good luck with the naming and website etc.(y)
 
Just read your new update! Thanks for posting and glad to see you using your van so much! That's what it's about!(y)

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Just had a problem with the kitchen sink tap. We were just getting a trickle from it, although the shower and washroom taps were fine.

I opened up the water tank cover and listened....the pump wasn't being activated by the kitchen tap which indicated an electrical problem.

Being the sort to delve into things I unscrewed everything I could from the tap and all was revealed.... a broken wire from the pump micro-switch.

a Tap 1.jpg
a Tap 2.jpg


I have soldered the wire together and added insulation tape but I'm actually surprised it lasted this long. Both wires are continually being turned and twisted by the action of the tap handle.
I ordered a new switch and wire assembly from Ebay (£9) which will go in my spares kit.

What I may also add is a simple in-line switch to the spares box. That way I can always cobble together an on-off switch for the pump whichever tap failed.

Info. The way the Hymer system works is that the taps function like a normal tap EXCEPT that, when you open them, the first thing that happens is the small micro-switch turns on the pump. Once the pump is activated the tap works as normal. When you close the tap it shuts down the water flow until the point it finally trips the micro-switch again, turning off the pump.

If all else fails you could simply cut the black and brown wires from the switch and touch them together to turn on the pump. Some people actually do this by fitting a simple in-line switch on a kitchen unit somewhere.

The number on the microswitch is 1055/58 and can be used to find replacements on the web. You can pay lots more than £9 delivered if you search on Hymer Microswitch. I've seen the same thing for £25. I'm sure you can get them for less than £9 as well.

Anyway..end of tip.
 
Go Humberto! said:
Just had a problem with the kitchen sink tap. We were just getting a trickle from it, although the shower and washroom taps were fine.

I opened up the water tank cover and listened....the pump wasn't being activated by the kitchen tap which indicated an electrical problem.

Being the sort to delve into things I unscrewed everything I could from the tap and all was revealed.... a broken wire from the pump micro-switch.

View attachment 154096 View attachment 154097

I have soldered the wire together and added insulation tape but I'm actually surprised it lasted this long. Both wires are continually being turned and twisted by the action of the tap handle.
I ordered a new switch and wire assembly from Ebay (£9) which will go in my spares kit.

What I may also add is a simple in-line switch to the spares box. That way I can always cobble together an on-off switch for the pump whichever tap failed.

Info. The way the Hymer system works is that the taps function like a normal tap EXCEPT that, when you open them, the first thing that happens is the small micro-switch turns on the pump. Once the pump is activated the tap works as normal. When you close the tap it shuts down the water flow until the point it finally trips the micro-switch again, turning off the pump.

If all else fails you could simply cut the black and brown wires from the switch and touch them together to turn on the pump. Some people actually do this by fitting a simple in-line switch on a kitchen unit somewhere.

The number on the microswitch is 1055/58 and can be used to find replacements on the web. You can pay lots more than £9 delivered if you search on Hymer Microswitch. I've seen the same thing for £25. I'm sure you can get them for less than £9 as well.

Anyway..end of tip.
Click to expand...
A common fault with those taps, normally enough slack in the wire to pull up a bit and solder them together that what I did on one of our vans sleeved the joint with 1mm silicon sleeving.
I also fit a relay in series with the pump on all my vans to take the load of the micro switches as they often fail.
 
Same happened with my 2004 B614 (3 vans ago)...kitchen tap stopped working. I found that the wire hadn't broken, but that the tail from the tap microswitch had been connected into the cicuit with just a couple of twists followed by insulation tape.
I made a much better job when I repaired it.

Allen

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