560-4 Bed and winter storage

[RichardM]

Hi all with 560-4 models, how does the bed fix together???????????, we have the manual which shows cushion 4 (i think) from the front locker fitting perfectly but it does not the thing should be about 18 inches by 5 x 12 but it is 5x5x12, we looked at one in a dealer before we bought this one from members who had never used the front beds and the dealer could not fathom it out either as they had the same cushions, question is are they all like this?

We used it for the first time last week and apart from the bed issue was fantastic at Kelling Heath Norfolk with the Alde heating wound up to 28.

I have purchased a winter cover from Pro-Tec which I can highly recommend fits like a glove, on our old caravan I removed the battery, is it ok to do it on the Fleetwood? i have already covered up the solar panel incase someone decided to steal the battery which would be detrimental to the command unit as that is what the previous owner did ! (£300 later). its under its cover now, water drained etc but is it ok to remove battery?

Thanks

Richard

[AlanandMel]

Its ok to remove the battery unless you have a tracker fitted. These use the leisure battery to charge their internal 3.7V working battery. Without the leisure battery the tracker battery will discharge in about 48 hours and if left discharged may fail completely.

We were told by the dealer that our 'van (2008 640 EB) didn't have a tracker fitted, but guess what I found this Wednesday, whilst looking for Mel's lost earring? The tracker has had some unintentional abuse, but responded to a health check and we're hoping it will be fully restored when we fit a new internal battery.

If you mean the cushions that fit in the space left when you remove the chest, our 'van has two extra ones covered in felt just for that purpose.

[JimandWendy]

Not assembled the front bed in our 560 so can't help with that.

I replaced my Metis tracker battery early last year after it had failed (after two years from new). I managed to source the exact same battery - a Uniross U0110952 3.7V 1080mAh Lithium Ion from but nobody seems to stock this specific battery anymore.

Found a website that does a lot of ipod batteries but not sure which one would be suitable

My 1080mAh battery lasts 15 hours once the van's leisure battery is disconnected.

Last year I took my leisure battery out to put on maintenance charge for four months over the winter, and the tracker warned me about it and said it was powering down, but it sprang back to life in the Spring this year when I reconnected the leisure battery.

[JimandWendy]

560/4 Solar Panel
Richard - you are obviously aware of the risk of removing the leisure battery without covering or disconnecting the solar panel.
However, my solar panel died at some point and it only became apparent after I was trying to deal with leisure battery drain (see long earlier post where Allan spent ages helping me eliminate the problem). Basically the battery would go flat after 3 weeks in storage. Anyway, I believe the way the panel is completely sealed to the roof means that any water that gets in round where the glass top meets the frame never drains away, and over time this corrodes the connections underneath the panel. It's worth periodically checking the output from the panel, which should be about 20 volts.

[AlanandMel]

Gavin at Circad, who have taken over Metis tracker repairs, recommended this source for the rechargeable battery;

http://www.everydaysource.com/product/r ... le_base_uk

The small round one is a GP381 and seems pretty easy to get hold of.