Coromal Silhouette Questions

Submitted: Friday, Jun 16, 2006 at 15:08
ThreadID: 34984 Views:11229 Replies:6 FollowUps:6
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I have recently purchased a good condition second hand 2003 Silhhouette 390 for family adventures(We have 3 small kids so camping is always an adventure). I have the following questions;
- We have had some seepage on the bed ends when in rainy conditions which has caused dampness on the ends of the matresses. In the latest case we didn't have bed flys set up as it was in our driveway used for guest accom. Is there any way to overcome this seepage? I can see that having the flys always setup would overcome this problem but as they don't come standard I would have thought the unit would be waterproof anyway.
-also had some dampness on internal step to queen bed end. Has anyone else experienced this?
-I understand the 12V battery has a charger/inverter and that the battery will charge when plugged into the 240v or trickle charge when plugged into the car. Is that correct? There appears to be only one unit in my van that looks about the size of an inverter.
-finally I recently had to purchase a new deep cycle battery and when I took the 12v battery out and still had the van plugged into the 240v the lights/electric did not work. Is that usually the case?
Otherwise think the Silhouette is a great unit with plenty of room for 5 in our family. We used to tent camp quite a bit and I love that we can now pack up in a respectable time and still be all talking to each other at the end!!
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Reply By: Notso - Friday, Jun 16, 2006 at 15:35

Friday, Jun 16, 2006 at 15:35
Mate I'd give Coromal a ring and ask them. They make a good unit and my mate has had great service with a couple of small issues. They would probably fill you in on all those issue if you ask em nicely.
AnswerID: 178806

Follow Up By: CoastCampa - Friday, Jun 16, 2006 at 15:40

Friday, Jun 16, 2006 at 15:40
Haven't had the service I had hoped for from my local dealer - that is why I tried this forum.
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FollowupID: 435067

Follow Up By: Notso - Friday, Jun 16, 2006 at 17:42

Friday, Jun 16, 2006 at 17:42
I'd get onto Coromal over in WA, they have a good reputation in the vanning community
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FollowupID: 435117

Reply By: djpatrol - Friday, Jun 16, 2006 at 18:22

Friday, Jun 16, 2006 at 18:22
I have a 2003 5.35 Capri and it leaked all over the beds and for many times at the repariers they finally found out that it was coming in through the side panels ,,,Yes up over the side panel. And both sides had to be replaced big job under Warranty,
if I can help contact me or reply.

dj
AnswerID: 178828

Follow Up By: djpatrol - Friday, Jun 16, 2006 at 18:24

Friday, Jun 16, 2006 at 18:24
Can i ask you where u brought it from cause I had same problem from dealer .
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FollowupID: 435127

Follow Up By: CoastCampa - Monday, Jun 19, 2006 at 08:41

Monday, Jun 19, 2006 at 08:41
Thanks for all the info - I purchased the van privately secondhand - the previous owners were great and had looked after the van well. We had some problems with the wind down and therefore decided to get that repaired and a full service at the same time from a Coromal dealer- on their suggestion. After booking in 3 weeks in advance we took our van to get serviced & were then put on the back burner for another week until my constant phone calls finally had the work completed - with 1 day to spare for our planned weekend away. The service guys seemed to be under a lot of pressure to get new vans out - which makes sense from their point of view. The service was less than fantatstic. I could go on but to answer your question we live north of Brisbane and my forum name gives you the rest.
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FollowupID: 435424

Reply By: RonEv - Saturday, Jun 17, 2006 at 15:00

Saturday, Jun 17, 2006 at 15:00
Had a similar problem on my bed ends and dealer said it was the sealing around the annex track for the flys not done correctly. They resealed the track but as I sold the camper before it rained again I never got to test the theory. If that doesn't work try some spray on sealant on the stitching of the canvas in the area of concern. Dampness on the step could possibly come from the same area when the camper is down or if you were set up on a slope. If not wet boots, socks etc may be responsible
Mine was a later model and the battery was charged from the car as well as 240V. Regarding the lights are they 240V or 12V because quite a few caravans only have 12V lights when a battery is fitted and I thought these were the same.
If all else fauils, consult the instruction book or ring another dealer or repair agent.
AnswerID: 178936

Reply By: gonebush SA - Sunday, Jun 18, 2006 at 20:26

Sunday, Jun 18, 2006 at 20:26
we have a 97 coromal magnum and we have been in some rotten weather with and with out our flys on and (touch wood) never have we had this problem, is it the rain leaking in or a condensation problem?. when we bought our van (second hand) there was a sheet of plastic under the materesses on both bed ends, we weren't sure why but left them there and i think these stop the materesses getting damp as we haven't had a problem with that either.
good luck with coromals trying to get any help out of them if you are the second owner of the van as we tried even at our expeince to get our door straightened as the top half of the door was put on crooked and it's easy to see it was from the manufacter but coromals in adelaide couldn't give a s...
besides that great van heaps of good times to be had good luck.
AnswerID: 179109

Follow Up By: CoastCampa - Monday, Jun 19, 2006 at 08:54

Monday, Jun 19, 2006 at 08:54
I agree with the sheet of plastic under the bed. When we had our visitors stay in the van on the wet weekend we ended up using some plastic around the bed ends which worked fine. Just seemed like a funny thing to have to do with such an otherwise well designed camper.
Already had some great getaways - makes a trip away so much easier.
Interesting comment about being a second hand van owner - hadn't thought about it that way.
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FollowupID: 435425

Reply By: Member - Kingsley N (SA) - Wednesday, Jun 21, 2006 at 23:59

Wednesday, Jun 21, 2006 at 23:59
Gidday CoastCampa,

We have just got back from a week away in our Pioneer 392. It is a 2005 model and we have had it from new. I have posted a few replies in this forum addressing similar questions, so try a search and you might find a bit more info.

Our camper does leak water onto the bedding if the outside gets wet. It is not a major problem and it is not so bad if you have the fly ends up. The plasticised canvas will allow moisture to wick through if bedding is in contact with it (EG pillows doonahs etc. We have sealed all the seams twice with Coleman Seam Sealer and we carry a wax stick to add more from the inside if rain is forecast. Our ultimate solution is to always carry some rolls of semi rigid plastic sheet (1mm thick and about 40cm wide) long enough to run around the three sides of the beds that touch the canvas. There is already a waterproof section of black plastic sewn in that is supposed to do the job, but in our setup it seems to be too low. I sourced the material in a large sheet from a rubber goods supplier (Fridge seals, vinyls foam plastic type place) I think it is actually some sort of internal motor car trim. I cut the large sheet up and stuck the bits end to end to make up two rolls. We only insert the plastic when rain is expected.

We are quite pleased with our camper and we have done about 25000KM in it. We have been in heavy rain a few times.

You should also carry a couple of plastic painter's drop sheets to cover the bedding when packing up with wet sides. The water that remains on the sides will find its way inside and wet your beds. Also if you are a bit slow when setting up or taking down rain can get onto the larger bed via the door opening.

I agree with other comments above regarding after sales service. Once they have made the sale the dealers are not interested in you. Ours cost nearly $30,000 and you do not get the quality and service that would in a motor vehicle. In fact vans in general are miles behind the car industry in this regard.

Having said all that we have great fun in ours and expect to do so for a few years yet before I weaken and buy a caravan!

Kings
AnswerID: 179799

Follow Up By: CoastCampa - Thursday, Jun 22, 2006 at 08:39

Thursday, Jun 22, 2006 at 08:39
Thanks Kings

Strip of plastic & drop sheet sounds like they will do the job then.

Also I'm interested to know is the ply base of your queen size bed 2 sheets of ply and is it held together by a narrow strip of ply on bottom & top? Ours is constructed that way and the bottom narrow ply strip has delamed a bit and thus makes sliding of bed end in & out difficult-when it should be smooth. It will only get worse until the bottom strip rips off.

I've got a woodworking friend of mine to give me a hand to take the bottom strip off now and refix a better quality piece of ply.

Any other little things you could give me a heads up on since you have used yours well would be appreciated.

The van seems to be quite heavy on the tow ball - we are using a 2wd falcon with standard shockies.

So far we have really enjoyed our trips and are planning many more. The camper suits us due to the small fold up size and the ability to comfortably house 2 adults & 3 children. I also love the speed of packup which is still longer than a van if you have the flys out but is significantly quicker than tenting.

Thanks again for your feedback

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FollowupID: 435995

Reply By: Member - Kingsley N (SA) - Thursday, Jun 22, 2006 at 13:20

Thursday, Jun 22, 2006 at 13:20
CoastCamper,

Our QS underside is one sheet. We have no difficulty sliding it in apart from occasionally stopping when it hits the kitchen piece if it has moved out a bit.

I have considered painting the exposed underside of the woodwork just to ensure that it keeps the damp out, but I haven't got around to it.

Faults we had from new were;
1. Broken step that covers the winding mechanism near the QS bed.
2. Stove pieces fell off on corrugations. Fixed it myself.
3. Water tank sprung a leak at the bottom drain point. Replaced by Coromal.
4. Safety Chain was too short. Coromal supplied a short extension and shackles to extend it. It has come apart three times at the joining shackle. I will get a new chain welded on.
5. A number of slack workmanship issues (glue stains, unnecessary holes punched through wood and the ceiling). Typical of most vans. Jaycos are worse I am told.

It is still OK though and would buy Coromal again. Probably go for slightly used if the price was right.

Oh yes, the towball down load is quite high. I did a suspension upgrade ARB 50mm lift on the Patrol. For your sedan try Polyair inflatable suspension bags as a quick fix. There are plenty of references to them on this forum.

Kings
AnswerID: 179868

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