# First time hymer pleasure and pain



## dancingmango (Jul 4, 2007)

Happy days! We found a tidy 1995 Hymer 544. Five days after picking it up we were en route to France. After VW split screen campers this really is luxury!! Sweet drive, what fun. But the Tom Tom is a nasty piece of work  she forced us into a wrong turning into Rouen and then the fun started. 

You need your wits about you driving in an unknown town in a new van in a foreign country. Getting to grips with the width and length, then watching roadsigns looking which way to go whilst Tom Tom tells us to go the other... and we missed a rather important road sign (if indeed it was there at all). And then suddenly BANG!!!! I looked in the rear view mirror and the steel hung barrier was swinging violently behind me. The road was just about to turn into an underpass, 2.2m. Luckily there was a turning off and we were able to avoid it, but a short drive later the damage was clear. The iron bar had smashed the front of the roof air vent. A bit of string around it and it is holding firm but here goes question number one...

Any idea where I'll be able to get a replacement front roof air vent for a '95 B544? I don't want the whole roof vent unit that O'leary's have on their website (or I don't think I do). It is just the plastic top that is broken. Any idea whether replacements are available / where to get them / how much they cost and whether it is going to be an easy job to replace (it looks like it will, but I can't get onto the roof to have a good look).

Which prompts the next question. We don't have a ladder and I quite fancy one (or at least did... to have a box on the top, maybe not such a good idea given my track record now). Is this something that had to be factory fitted, or is a ladder and roof rack something that can be fitted later. Again, any idea of cost / who does it?

And finally, reading the forum (and I will get round to getting a full membership), there's a lot of discussion about reverse polarity. I got one of those circuit testers that you plug in, yet every campsite I've been to so far has had reversed polarity. Any reason why I shoudn't just switch of the fridge and stuff.

Thanks in advance 

marc


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

dancingmango said:


> I looked in the rear view mirror and the steel hung barrier was swinging violently behind me. The road was just about to turn into an underpass, 2.2m.


Rouen is rather well-known for this. I suspect there are whole clusters of panel beaters and roof-replacers based there and they are in league with the local road designers :wink:



> I got one of those circuit testers that you plug in, yet every campsite I've been to so far has had reversed polarity. Any reason why I shoudn't just switch of the fridge and stuff.


No need to do this. You can make up a short length of cable with the appropriate end pieces and wiring and, when you get to a reverse polarity site, add this to your normal cable length. You can't buy them because of H&S regulations but there is info on MHF somewhere to tell you how to wire one and what to buy first.

Edit: See:

HERE on Ebay

G


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