Help to setup and manage the camper

As this is a long wheelbase van, the pop top roof is quite large and heavy. It is also a weight bearing pop-top so you can use a roof rack while also popping the roof. It has hydraulic assistance which helps put it up and keep it up. However, it does take some strength to start the process of raising and to bring it down after. Ideally 2 people should do this.

Putting the roof up:

1. Slide open the panel above the front seats. It slides towards the back. You will see the canvas from the room and a black level.

2. Push the black lever hard towards the driver's side. You will hear a click from both sides. While the handle is still pushed towards the driver side, start to push the roof up. If it does not raise, check you have properly pushed the handle and try again. NOTE: Only the roof section should be pushed at this point, leave the bed level in place.

3. As the roof starts to rise, keep pushing until you feel the weight reduce and the hydraulic pistons take over. They should now raise the roof to its full height. When the roof is fully ‘up’, the canvas on either side should be quite taut and flat.

4. There are window zips that you can open in the canvas to let in air and light.

5. You can lift the floor of the raised bed easily by lifting the floor from the hatch.

Bringing the pop-top roof down:

It is harder to bring the roof down so if possible 2 people should do this. One person on the outside of the van. Follow these steps:

1. Move the drivers and passenger seats forward as far as possible using the black handle below the seats. Note: the window covers are stored in a felt bag in front of the passenger seat so you will need to move this if it is still in place.

2. If the bed level is raised, bring it back down to the sleeping position. There is a black strap that can help you reach this.

3. Gently pull both handles in the pop-up roof. There are straps that can help you reach this initially. Pull firmly but slowly - you will need to use reasonable force but make sure that both sides come down together. After the roof starts moving, slow it down and get it to the halfway position. STOP.. and hold it steady at this position

4. You now need to make sure the canvas is fully tucked in before lowering the roof any further. You can do this by pulling the front and sides. There are hinges in the material that help it fold in the right place. The person on the outside of the van can check that the canvas is clear all the way from front to back. As you further lower the roof, you need to check this constantly to ensure the canvas remains clear. It can stop the roof coming down but can also damage the material.

5. Bring the roof down until it is about 10cm from the flat position. This can take some strength and make sure you are clear of the roof. Sometimes this is best done in a kneeling position. There are 2 clips on either side above the drivers and passenger windows. You are aiming for these to both click into place. Sometimes, the passenger side will click in place and the driver slide will not, so try to push the food slightly to the passenger side and click that side then pull the driver side into place. Your helper outside the van can help guide this. When you hear both slides click into place initially, this is still not in place.

6. The helper on the outside can now put and hand on the white roof above the front doors and pull down on the roof. You may hear a further click and you know the roof is now in place. There should be no gap on either side more than a pencil thickness.

NOTE: Sometimes the roof clips seem to misalign and the best way to resolve it is to start again. It can be frustrating and can occasionally take a number of attempts but be patient and repeat the process again and it will eventually work.

7. From the inside of the van, carefully fold the canvas so that you can hold it flat against the roof. While holding it in place gently slide the cover forward to hide the canvas and cover the roof.

8. Well done.. you are ready to drive.

The main bed is in 3 sections. These fold into position individually. From the travelling position, you convert to the night configuration with these steps:

1. While looking towards the back of the van, reach down to the right of the seat and locate the black handle. Pull this and lift the seat while still gently pulling the handle. Do this slowly and ensure you do not catch the seat belt fasteners on the seats as it can scrape the leather. Keep lifting until it has completely inverted and is now flat on the black side.

2. You can now see into the main storage area below the seats. Pull the long metal bar and at the same time carefully pull the seat back towards you. When released this will fall under its weight, so keep your handles away from the metal seat belt attachments as it comes down. Ensure the seat is fully flat.

3. If the back section of the bed is up, reach to the right side and there is a handle similar to the front section. Pull this and bring the back section flat. NOTE: It can be easier to reach the back section from the tailgate of the van.

Returning the bed to the seat position.

1. Start with the middle section and simply lift it back into the upright position. This section is heavy so be careful not to let it fall again.

2. Now use the handle on the right of the front section and while pulling the handle, lift the section back into the seat position.

3. The rear section can stay flat or you can also lift it like the front section using the handle on the right side.

Under seat: There is a large storage area under the main passenger seat. You can reach this through the panel at the front of the seat, or by lifting the bed. We have large plastic boxes that fit this space, which can be useful as more structured storage. Using one of these boxes for food can be useful as they are easily accessible.

Next to fridge: The cupboard next to the fringe is where we keep the pots, plates, utensils and cleaning products. Water tank is also in this space. NOTE: This space is difficult to access when the bed is down, as you need to lift the front section of the bed.

Small panel by passenger seat: This is where the heating controls and fuse boxes are located. There’s a small amount of storage too but there’s no backing so it’s better for larger items like books. This space can be accessed in any layout.

Large panel at back: This is quite a large space but can only be reached when the bed is flat. For this reason it is a good option for storing sleeping bags, clothes etc.

The fridge is powered by the 2 large leisure batteries. If you are on a campsite and have a mains connection plugged in, then it will work like a standard fridge. If it’s running on battery, there’s a limited time it will run. This depends on how much other power you use but we find about 24-36 hours before you need to plug in or start the engine to charge the battery.

The taps on the sink work only when the pump is running. This is the middle button, on the right hand side of the control panel. You can hear when it is running, so just turn it on when you use the tap. The tap is cold water only, but you can heat water in the hob if needed.

There is no waste tank and the water simply drains from an outlet on the driver side of the van, so try to use just water and eco soap.

The water tank is just a large water container in the cupboard next to the sink. To refill:

1. Unscrew the red cap and push it down the pipe to get it out of the way.

2. There is a plastic cover over the entrance. Lift this and slide it along the pipes too.

3. Carefully pull the water intake through the hole to free the container.

4. When you have filled it, push the intake mechanism right to the bottom of the tank. This will ensure all the water can be used, but there’s also a water level indicator that uses this.

5. Refit the plastic cover and screw the cap back on tightly.

There are insulated window covers in the felt back at the front of the passenger seat. They use action cups to hold them in place on each of the windows. Sometimes you may need to dampen the cups to make sure they stay in place. It can also help to use the sub visors to help hold the front windscreen cover in place.

Both front seats can swivel to face into the main van space.

The passenger seat is the most useful as the fridge partially blocks the driver seat. Both seats have a small red handle on the side. To swivel the seat, move and hold this while pushing the seat from outside inwards, when the seat starts to turn you can release the handle. As the seat turns it may catch on the door frame. When this happens, use the seat position handle under the front of the seat to slide it forwards and away from the doorframe.

The driver's seat is harder to turn as it will catch on the handbrake and the gearstick. If you want to use it, use the wheel ramps (stored in the back of the van) to ensure the van cannot roll and keep the van in parked on the gears. Turn the wheel ramps in reverse, so they block the van wheels from moving. Take the handbrake off and again use the seat position to manoeuvre it away from both the door frame and the steering wheel. The seat armrest will be tight against the steering wheel and you may need to lower the armrest. You do this with the adjustor in the underside of the armrest.

The table is stored in the sliding door. To remove it, you lift from the bottom and pull towards you so the table edge clears the retaining lip. There are elastic straps holding the legs in position, so you need to move the table left, then right to release it fully. You can also pull the elastic to bring it round the legs.

The table legs have red levels to release them. Push them down to release and move the take legs.

To replace the table, partially fold it down, but keep the legs slightly short of the full folded position. Take the legs from the left side and slide them under the right side elastic. Then push along until you can do the same process with the right side legs. You generally need to pull the elastic round the legs to do this. Once the elastic restricts are in place, push the table into the top of the storage space so it goes under the top lip and push quite hard so it gives some space. Now push the bottom of the table over the lower lip and the table will lock in place.

The camper van has 2 separate electrical systems. The van battery for driving and the leisure battery for all camper lighting and systems.

The Camper Leisure Batteries:

The large leisure batteries are located below the passenger seat on the right side. Generally, you wont need to do anything with these. The batteries change as you drive or if the external power is plugged in. The fridge, lights, power sockets and USB ports all run from these batteries. When you are off grid, they will typically run for 24-36 hours with normal general use.

You can connect the van to either a conventional household plug or a round 3 pin campsite connector. The cable and adaptor are in the bag in the back of the van. The panel to connect is on the driver side of the van. Simply lift the hatch and connect the round 3 pin connector. Note you will need to lift the plug cover and slide it into the gap above the socket.

There are fuses and the main power switch in the panel on to the right of the passenger seat. Generally, you won’t need to do anything with these.

The heater is diesel powered from the main van fuel tank. It is a webasto system with a simple control box in the small compartment by the passenger seat (front panel). Although the system is diesel, it does use a small amount of van battery when starting up. This is also the case when it is switching on/off to maintain a temperature.

The easiest way to use the heater is to simply use the small on/off button in the top right corner of the control unit. We leave the control on ∞ (infinity) as standard which means it will just start and blast heat indefinitely. When it gets too hot just turn it off again. Although basic, using the heating like this protects the battery and is really simple.

If you want to set a temperature or even timer, you can do this using the round dial.

H03 Error in control panel

If the voltage on the van cab battery gets too low, the heating can give an error. Although the heating is diesel powered, it uses the engine battery to ignite. If the heating is set on a temperature, it may turn on and off repeatedly and this can reduce the voltage in the battery. To avoid this, try to have the heading run on infinity setting rather than a set temperature and just turn it on for a while then turn off again.

If you do get an error like this, start the van engine and let is run for a while - at least 30 minutes. This will recharge the battery and increase the voltage. You also need to reset the control panel. To do this select 'Settings' and move the dial until you see the reset option. Press the option and it will display 'OK' as a conformation. Press the dial button again. This will take a moment and reset.

The hob is next to the sink. It has a simple starter, so simply turn the black knob to the larger flame symbol, then hold the black knob down. While doing this press the ignition button.

If the hob does not light after repeated attempts, the gas may be turned off.

The gas cylinder is in a gas safe in the cupboard to the right of the fridge. This is a sealed black box that is vented to the outside of the van. In the event of a gas leak, the gas would escape externally and not into the van living space. To open the box, just turn the 2 black switches on the front of the black box. The front panel should release.

You will see the gas cylinder which should be connected to the line and intake. There is a small black knob by the switch, try turning it to open the gas. Refit the front panel to the gas safe before retrying to light the hob.

You should not need to replace the gas on your trip, but if you do, you remove the gas by rotating the cylinder while still in the gas safe. Rotate clockwise to remove the gas and anti-clockwise to attach new gas.

In the glove compartment are 2 USB charging ports. The USB2 point also connects an apple phone to apple car play. This provides the best phone audio for hands free and allows full use of spotify and maps etc.

In the back of the cab are usb ports. Note you must press the 12v button on the control panel for these to be active.

The mains socket will only work as 240v when the external van cable is plugged into the mains.

There is a fire blanket in front of the front passenger seat in a netting hold. There’s also a fire extinguisher to the right of the sliding door.

At the back of the van there’s a carbon monoxide detector.

The van has full roadside assistance with the AA. If you have a breakdown and need their help call the AA on 0800 887 766. Give your registration number.

Contact stew@kibby.info for for AA policy number.