WARNING: E&P Levellers fitted by Solar Solutions

[peterc10]

This is the first time I'd heard of a check, free or otherwise. My two year check would have been due last month. There was nothing in the paperwork which even suggested a check. Does it cost or not?

Did you use SAP? If you did why not give them a ring? As far as I know they are the only dealers that offer this service.

 

[MichaelT]

When you say the legs drop by how much do they drop over what time frame do they drop , is it when the van is parked

After about an hour parked 2 inches then over time 6-8 inches, only the rear UK N/S one

 

[MichaelT]

 

[Wee Bold Davy]

Did you use SAP? If you did why not give them a ring? As far as I know they are the only dealers that offer this service.

Yes it was SAP. We left the van there and got a train to York and stayed the night in a hotel.
How long does the check take?

 

[Rudski01]

Had this coming from Germany last year, front right ram coming down whilst driving, v scary, missed our Chunnel because of it, started a thread called help my vans trying to kill me, not sure who fits RS Motorhomes but the reservoir leaked and had to be fixed after we had just picked it up

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[peterc10]

How long does the check take?

Don't know because I haven't had it done yet, see post #4

 

[Mr David]

Had this coming from Germany last year, front right ram coming down whilst driving, v scary, missed our Chunnel because of it, started a thread called help my vans trying to kill me, not sure who fits RS Motorhomes but the reservoir leaked and had to be fixed after we had just picked it up

I remember your post, but what was the actual cause of the ram coming down? Mention was made, in the thread, that you had a failing leisure battery or was the ram itself faulty?

 

[Rudski01]

Not sure, we got to Felixstowe and got onto the club site with our nerves in tatters, I raised the rams to absolute maximum, then retracted fully and sat for hrs waiting for the ram to drop, nothing, so tried with engine running, still nothing.
Spoke with SAP and they stated it shouldn’t happen as they have a fail safe system when handbrake off all rams retracted, in principle yes, but 3 times it did happen, once lifting the front offside wheel enough to make the steering so light we thought we were gonnas.

Anyhow we drove back to west Cumbria sweating like good uns and stopping at every services for the first 1hr checking the ram, never did it again, or on the way back to RS, I let them know the issue, I couldn’t get the batteries out due to their location in the van we ended up selling as we had lost all confidence and wouldn’t be using it due to moving into rented accommodation and C19 happening.

 

[TizzyOnTour]

Interesting thread. We have E&P installed early 2020. We’ve noticed one ram drops sometimes when we are up on the levellers. Drops about 2cm, which of course is enough to throw the van out of level and risk chassis strain/distortion. Been keeping SAP informed throughout, who, as always have been excellent. Now booked in to have ram replaced early June. Might be one of the faulty batch. We will see what Mick says on the day and update this thread to keep others informed.

 

[Wingman123]

We used Solar Solutions back in 2017 when our E&P auto self leveling system became noisy and gurgling when operated on a factory fitted system in our Buccaneer twin axle caravan. They bled the system of air and topped up oil and all was fine but but whilst inspecting found the rear RAM leaking so informed us and we ordered a new one from Elddis. This was sent back to Solar Solutions and they fitted it within days and all perfect afterwards. However the Alde underfloor heating system was a nightmare and started losing fluid into the floor structure. After many checks eventually the van had to go back to the factory and be stripped out and found a screw puncturing one of the pipes! But that's all another story which goes to show that all these new gadgets are very prone to defects even when fitted at the factory!!

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[ManTheVan]

I’d love to fit levellers, but this thread certainly gives me reason to think…

 

[Wikky]

Use Milenco Quattro ramps, simple, cheap and I find very effective.
I was at the CAMC site near Swanage early last year and it looked like a new mh with levellers fitted parked at the pitch near us. Anyway when we were leaving it appeared they were packing up also and they seemed to be having a tremendous problem retracting the levellers.
They always seemed a good idea in principle to me but I did have a concern if they had faults and what could be done to rectify them. I've only just fiund out the price of them.

 

[Sunlovers]

Indeed, we are just looking at the possible investment right this very moment, but the "hesitation level" has definitely been ratcheted up a few clicks having read all of the above.

 

[TizzyOnTour]

Indeed, we are just looking at the possible investment right this very moment, but the "hesitation level" has definitely been ratcheted up a few clicks having read all of the above.

I can understand why this thread might cause hesitation. However, we feel having E&P fitted is a fantastic improvement over using the Milenco ramps we previously used. We love the system and will definitely have it again on our next van. All down to personal choice and preference I guess.

 

[Sunlovers]

I can understand why this thread might cause hesitation. However, we feel having E&P fitted is a fantastic improvement over using the Milenco ramps we previously used. We love the system and will definitely have it again on our next van. All down to personal choice and preference I guess.

Agreed, not put off, but just watching to see how things might unfold. The idea of being able to self-level is definitely attractive.

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[dipsie]

I am writing this account as a warning to those who have had an E&P levelling system fitted by Solar Solutions of Sturminster Marshall in Dorset. It would be a very good idea to get your system independently checked.

In September 2019 Solar Solutions fitted an E&P levelling system to my motorhome. In August 2020 one of the rear rams started to drop by itself, so I took the van back to Solar Solutions under warranty and they replaced the faulty ram. They mentioned that they had had a few of these rams fail (more on this particular subject later). In October 2020, while in Italy, one of the crimped hose
joints failed spilling hydraulic oil everywhere. We were now getting rather concerned about the system - and the nearest E&P agent was over 500km away. By this time I had already lost confidence in Solar Solutions due to a problem with the Alugas system that they also installed, together with the fiasco that ensued when they attempted to organise a repair to the satellite dish. However, I will not go into further details of those issues here - they are mentioned only as
justification for seeking help and advice elsewhere.

My partner maz suggested phoning Mick at SAP in Doncaster for advice. I had already been
told off for not getting the levellers installed by him in the first place. Not all E&P installers are created equal, as I have found out the hard way. I posted a thread on Fun at the time detailing Mick’s exceptional efforts to help. In a nutshell, he found us a local garage who were able to do the repair that same afternoon. Brilliant!

Fast forward to April this year when we returned to the UK. While stuck in isolation playing around with Day 2 and Day 8 tests, I phoned Mick to make an appointment to have the levelling system checked, and in early May we arrived in Doncaster. By this time, the other rear ram had started to
drop by itself! Mick gave the system a thorough inspection - every single crimp joint done by Solar Solutions was defective. The only good joints on the van were those done by the Italian garage. How can an authorised E&P installer fail so miserably to fit a system properly? We are not talking a one-off duff joint here, but every single one! Mick had to replace all the hoses as well as
the second defective ram. He confirmed that there was a known issue with a batch of rams being badly machined so that they would leak oil over time. This second failing rear ram was one of that bad batch; the front rams were from a different batch and not problematic. Solar Solutions agreed to pay for the remedial work that Mick carried out, so that was a good thing. However, how many vans have Solar Solutions fitted E&P levellers to in the same defective manner? We fulltime and so our levellers get considerably more use than on most motorhomes. This is no doubt why we have become aware of the issue in a relatively short time - and within the 2-year warranty period. These defective joints will become problematic over time - as will the defective batch of rams.

The defective joints issue is solely down to Solar Solutions. They need to recall all the vans to which they fitted E&P levellers and inspect each and every joint. At this point I would like to draw attention to the fact that Solar Solutions did not notice the joints were defective when they replaced the first failing ram, nor when they topped up the pump reservoir. The defective rams issue is down to E&P themselves. They knew they had supplied a bad batch, yet they did nothing to correct the issue until each ram actually failed. They too should organise a recall of all vans fitted with these defective rams.

 

[dipsie]

Opps !

 

[tacr2man]

If they were spring return rams they would not have these problems ?

 

[meanders]

Much better if they were designed with a positive latch when fully retracted so they couldn't drop even after a fluid leak. Such safety devices are available on other hydraulic applications and would I suspect be relatively easy to design in with servo control.

The thought of having gravity allowing fixed to the van drop onto the road at a mile a minute terrifies me and I struggle to understand why VOSA don't ban them without a secondary lock. I accept this would put up the cost, but what price your life or the poor souls following.

Just my opinion. I watch with envy when I see them deployed on a site, but then cold logic takes over.

 

[Wikky]

Much better if they were designed with a positive latch when fully retracted so they couldn't drop even after a fluid leak. Such safety devices are available on other hydraulic applications and would I suspect be relatively easy to design in with servo control.

The thought of having gravity allowing fixed to the van drop onto the road at a mile a minute terrifies me and I struggle to understand why VOSA don't ban them without a secondary lock. I accept this would put up the cost, but what price your life or the poor souls following.

Just my opinion. I watch with envy when I see them deployed on a site, but then cold logic takes over.

Yes I agree with you as this is a basic fault mechanism which could be erradicated in the design if basic system design principles were used.

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[dipsie]

I don’t know what happened there, so while I’m figuring out what I inattentively touched on my i.pad just let me add my “ pennies worth “ to this thread.

I think we have to accept that something went wrong with this E & P leveller set installed by Solar Solutions, which I no doubt the guys there will have examined and rectified their mistake, could a trainee used the crimper tool wrong or was the tool inadequate or in the process of failing. Perhaps if questions were asked regarding the failure an explanation must have been made by Solar Solutions.
It appears to me that we are being told only half the story of the crimping failure, what is going through my mind is did you actually see what was wrong ? If so what was wrong ? I have had possibly similar faults raised by other companies who are ready to find fault with other companies work to make their own work in “ maybe “ a simple correction make the repair into a major event, easy way to extract more money at the expense of the other company.
Were new pipes fitted when the crimping fault was found, as I believe there would not be enough pipe left if the ends of the pipes would have to be cut and new ends fitted to reach the units ?
I have had experience in the motor trade of fitting many brake/clutch hydrolic hoses, especially braded types, and although we had the equipment we used a company who specialised in making them to exacting measurements.

It also appears to me that it is easy to “ publicly expose “ a failure with a small company but where are the headlines regarding the manufacturing of the actual units that many others seem to have experienced, should the headline topic have also blamed a company in manufacturing a very dangerous leveller system.

I have use Solar Solutions for many, many years, they have fitted no less than seven sat systems and transferred dishes and bits to other vans, a very neat rear air suspension with pump and gauges in the dash, uprated chargers, solar panels on eight vans and I have not had to complain about a single installation. I am thinking of a B2B / lithium set up and an additional solar panel on our present van and I will use Solar Solutions without question.

It is funny how someone can have so many faults with products supplied/fitted by S S when several of my friends have had similar installations as ours on their vans with no trouble, and one has an E & P set up that was fitted well over a year ago with not even a faulty ram.

I had been in business for forty plus years and will admit that I have had employees “ cock up “ jobs and had to grovel to beg foregiveness and to be given chance to rectify, and I have had problems to my own vehicles/properties but with discussions been able to overcome it and not blast “ headlines “ on media platforms.

 

[Steve and Denise]

If they were spring return rams they would not have these problems ?

Have you ever tried to get spring return rams out of mud spring return rams are cheaper as they are only single acting

I’d love to fit levellers, but this thread certainly gives me reason to think…

we’ve had 3 sets fitted in 10 years no problems all S A P

We used Solar Solutions back in 2017 when our E&P auto self leveling system became noisy and gurgling when operated on a factory fitted system in our Buccaneer twin axle caravan. They bled the system of air and topped up oil and all was fine but but whilst inspecting found the rear RAM leaking so informed us and we ordered a new one from Elddis. This was sent back to Solar Solutions and they fitted it within days and all perfect afterwards. However the Alde underfloor heating system was a nightmare and started losing fluid into the floor structure. After many checks eventually the van had to go back to the factory and be stripped out and found a screw puncturing one of the pipes! But that's all another story which goes to show that all these new gadgets are very prone to defects even when fitted at the factory!!

putting a screw through a pipe is hardly a fault of a product, well apart from Elddis but I would also be mad at the retard who did this.

 

[Steve and Denise]

I don’t know what happened there, so while I’m figuring out what I inattentively touched on my i.pad just let me add my “ pennies worth “ to this thread.

I think we have to accept that something went wrong with this E & P leveller set installed by Solar Solutions, which I no doubt the guys there will have examined and rectified their mistake, could a trainee used the crimper tool wrong or was the tool inadequate or in the process of failing. Perhaps if questions were asked regarding the failure an explanation must have been made by Solar Solutions.
It appears to me that we are being told only half the story of the crimping failure, what is going through my mind is did you actually see what was wrong ? If so what was wrong ? I have had possibly similar faults raised by other companies who are ready to find fault with other companies work to make their own work in “ maybe “ a simple correction make the repair into a major event, easy way to extract more money at the expense of the other company.
Were new pipes fitted when the crimping fault was found, as I believe there would not be enough pipe left if the ends of the pipes would have to be cut and new ends fitted to reach the units ?
I have had experience in the motor trade of fitting many brake/clutch hydrolic hoses, especially braded types, and although we had the equipment we used a company who specialised in making them to exacting measurements.

It also appears to me that it is easy to “ publicly expose “ a failure with a small company but where are the headlines regarding the manufacturing of the actual units that many others seem to have experienced, should the headline topic have also blamed a company in manufacturing a very dangerous leveller system.

I have use Solar Solutions for many, many years, they have fitted no less than seven sat systems and transferred dishes and bits to other vans, a very neat rear air suspension with pump and gauges in the dash, uprated chargers, solar panels on eight vans and I have not had to complain about a single installation. I am thinking of a B2B / lithium set up and an additional solar panel on our present van and I will use Solar Solutions without question.

It is funny how someone can have so many faults with products supplied/fitted by S S when several of my friends have had similar installations as ours on their vans with no trouble, and one has an E & P set up that was fitted well over a year ago with not even a faulty ram.

I had been in business for forty plus years and will admit that I have had employees “ cock up “ jobs and had to grovel to beg foregiveness and to be given chance to rectify, and I have had problems to my own vehicles/properties but with discussions been able to overcome it and not blast “ headlines “ on media platforms.

I my working life if I had found one badly crimped pipe on a new installation I would look further (good practice) if I found two I would not put my name to a repair unless all were changed ie new pipes due to cut length being short, it sounds entirely possible the size wrong dies/collets we’re used on these pipe fittings.

 

[gus-lopez]

Fast forward to April this year when we returned to the UK. While stuck in isolation playing around with Day 2 and Day 8 tests, I phoned Mick to make an appointment to have the levelling system checked, and in early May we arrived in Doncaster. By this time, the other rear ram had started to
drop by itself! Mick gave the system a thorough inspection - every single crimp joint done by Solar Solutions was defective. The only good joints on the van were those done by the Italian garage. How can an authorised E&P installer fail so miserably to fit a system properly? We are not talking a one-off duff joint here, but every single one! Mick had to replace all the hoses as well as

Were new pipes fitted when the crimping fault was found, as I believe there would not be enough pipe left if the ends of the pipes would have to be cut and new ends fitted to reach the units ?

Post no 1 ,, above,answers all your questions

 

[TheBig1]

I too have had issues with the company mentioned, and it doesn't surprise me in the least

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[tacr2man]

Have you ever tried to get spring return rams out of mud spring return rams are cheaper as they are only single acting

we’ve had 3 sets fitted in 10 years no problems all S A P

putting a screw through a pipe is hardly a fault of a product, well apart from Elddis but I would also be mad at the retard who did this.

You shouldn't be putting jacks down into mud that's what spreader plates are for, never had any probs with the jacks on my 12 ton American RV they were twin spring return . Its always a risk when you use hydraulics to hold in a fail safe mode

 

[Steve and Denise]

You shouldn't be putting jacks down into mud that's what spreader plates are for, never had any probs with the jacks on my 12 ton American RV they were twin spring return . Its always a risk when you use hydraulics to hold in a fail safe mode

Well I would agree with that, but I watched some of the rvs at Peterborough a few years ago when it rained Profusely and all normal reasoning went out of the window and quite a few rvs on the front row had some major problems, I assume with the weight they had sunk right in and a couple had tried to lift themselves out with the rams you mention with poor effects, but not all people know what they are doing

 

[Mr David]

I don’t know what happened there, so while I’m figuring out what I inattentively touched on my i.pad just let me add my “ pennies worth “ to this thread.

I think we have to accept that something went wrong with this E & P leveller set installed by Solar Solutions, which I no doubt the guys there will have examined and rectified their mistake, could a trainee used the crimper tool wrong or was the tool inadequate or in the process of failing. Perhaps if questions were asked regarding the failure an explanation must have been made by Solar Solutions.
It appears to me that we are being told only half the story of the crimping failure, what is going through my mind is did you actually see what was wrong ? If so what was wrong ? I have had possibly similar faults raised by other companies who are ready to find fault with other companies work to make their own work in “ maybe “ a simple correction make the repair into a major event, easy way to extract more money at the expense of the other company.
Were new pipes fitted when the crimping fault was found, as I believe there would not be enough pipe left if the ends of the pipes would have to be cut and new ends fitted to reach the units ?
I have had experience in the motor trade of fitting many brake/clutch hydrolic hoses, especially braded types, and although we had the equipment we used a company who specialised in making them to exacting measurements.

It also appears to me that it is easy to “ publicly expose “ a failure with a small company but where are the headlines regarding the manufacturing of the actual units that many others seem to have experienced, should the headline topic have also blamed a company in manufacturing a very dangerous leveller system.

I have use Solar Solutions for many, many years, they have fitted no less than seven sat systems and transferred dishes and bits to other vans, a very neat rear air suspension with pump and gauges in the dash, uprated chargers, solar panels on eight vans and I have not had to complain about a single installation. I am thinking of a B2B / lithium set up and an additional solar panel on our present van and I will use Solar Solutions without question.

It is funny how someone can have so many faults with products supplied/fitted by S S when several of my friends have had similar installations as ours on their vans with no trouble, and one has an E & P set up that was fitted well over a year ago with not even a faulty ram.

I had been in business for forty plus years and will admit that I have had employees “ cock up “ jobs and had to grovel to beg foregiveness and to be given chance to rectify, and I have had problems to my own vehicles/properties but with discussions been able to overcome it and not blast “ headlines “ on media platforms.

Last August when Solar Solutions replaced the first faulty ram, they had the opportunity to rectify their poor workmanship but they did not notice that all the connections were faulty.
I have no doubts as to the integrity of SAP and have a selection of the faulty joints, as a souvenir. The hoses had not been pushed fully on to the end fittings before being crimped. This was the case with every single joint.
Unless owners have their vans inspected they are not going to know whether their joints have been done correctly. These bad joints will fail over time and not instantaneously.
With regard to Solar Solutions customer service the owner, Wesley, has been "too busy" to even speak to me. His words have only been relayed by a minion.

 

[dipsie]

I will eat “ humble pie “ regarding my long comments regarding the Solar solution faulty installation of the E & P levellers.
Although as I said previously they had fitted many parts and uprated 12v systems over many years to a very acceptable result, but, I did call into see Wes back in October 20 to have a chat about something and was told he was busy, bear in mind I have been a friend of Wes and his mother and father for many, many years.That may explain why I felt I should stand up for the company.
They have had a new guy that fronts you when you go to their reception that appears to me that he does not communicate very well, for many years they had an employee called Simon who had been very good at his work and brilliant at explaining what had been done. Unfortunately Simon left the company, no explanation was forthcoming from Wes but I felt he was a great loss to them.

After reading about the lack of good workmanship and the poor response from Solar Solutions I tried to call and speak to Wes about my solar, B2B, lithium upgrade and to advise him what was currently being discussed on here but was told somewhat “ grumpily “ he is busy ! One day he may wake up and realise that old customers WERE worth speaking to.

 

[maz]

After reading about the lack of good workmanship and the poor response from Solar Solutions I tried to call and speak to Wes about my solar, B2B, lithium upgrade and to advise him what was currently being discussed on here but was told somewhat “ grumpily “ he is busy ! One day he may wake up and realise that old customers WERE worth speaking to.

Contrast this with the attitude of Mick at SAP - when we weren’t even customers of his. When we phoned him for advice when the hose joint failed in Italy, we subsequently learnt that he contacted six garages that he knew of in the area. (He speaks Italian!) He then narrowed the garages down to the top three that he felt would do the best job, and we went to the one at the top of his list. When we arrived at the garage they were fully aware of the problem and knew exactly what had to be done.

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