# 2005 Concorde Charisma 880L



## l7apk (Mar 6, 2009)

Well I would just like to say hello to other Concorde owners and share some highs and lows, after buying a Charisma after owning a hymer starline 680 for 8 years ( for sale btw ).
I have had it for 2 months and I am dying to get away in it.
The previous owner had it from nearly new. I don't think he was really a practical type. For example, when I went to view it, one of the things I noticed was the lack of external bbq point, when I asked about this he said he just used a small gas cyl for his bbq. On further inspection the external point is on the built in tank pipe work, that had never been opened, as when I asked what the key was for he didn't know. 
Unfortunately he didn't know about the leaky windscreen, which I discovered on the way home and a leak into the garage. 
Overall I'm really pleased, Iveco base looks easy to work on. 
It would be good to be able to buy spares direct from Concorde, rather than having to go though Southdowns though. 
Please add your comments.....


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

Never had problems getting parts posted to me from them.

cabby


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Yup Southdowns has possibly the best rep of all dealers on here.


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

Kev's thinking of Premier (Chris) at Chichester, Southdowns are based in Portsmouth


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

bognormike said:


> Kev's thinking of Premier (Chris) at Chichester, Southdowns are based in Portsmouth


Will everyone please stop trying to read my bloody mind > >:0

I was thinking of Peter akcherly Mike, of Southdowns, he's on fun I think.

Chris was also excellent, seems to have deserted us, no idea why though??


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

Chris at premier is around, just not seen much recently!


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## Christine600 (Jan 20, 2011)

Congratulations, I7apk! 

Mine is a few years newer, but it hasn't got the external BBQ point. Or perhaps I should take a better look? :laugh:

You could contact Concorde in Germany directly. I have sent them a couple of emails and they always answer. Unlike my local dealer...


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

Kev_n_Liz said:


> Will everyone please stop trying to read my bloody mind > >:0
> 
> I was thinking of Peter akcherly Mike, of Southdowns, he's on fun I think.
> 
> Chris was also excellent, seems to have deserted us, no idea why though??


Kev

You did say a dealer 'on here' which Chris from Premier is. Is Peter of Sothdowns on MHF - if so what is his user name please?

Geoff


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## l7apk (Mar 6, 2009)

Christine600 said:


> Congratulations, I7apk!
> 
> Mine is a few years newer, but it hasn't got the external BBQ point. Or perhaps I should take a better look? :laugh:
> 
> You could contact Concorde in Germany directly. I have sent them a couple of emails and they always answer. Unlike my local dealer...











You can just see the red cap of the bbq point on the left


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## l7apk (Mar 6, 2009)

Under the step to the twin beds, there is this small 2 litre bucket. Does anyone know the true use of it, seems to take up a lot of room for such a small item. 
I thought of removing it and it's frame to make a bit more room, as I cannot think of a use for it. :wink2:


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## emmbeedee (Oct 31, 2008)

Maybe it's a gozunda?>>>


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## mgdavid (Nov 27, 2014)

false teeth?
spittoon?
fishing bait?
:grin2:


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## Christine600 (Jan 20, 2011)

Did the previous owner bring his gold fish on holidays?


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

nicholsong said:


> Kev
> 
> You did say a dealer 'on here' which Chris from Premier is. Is Peter of Sothdowns on MHF - if so what is his user name please?
> 
> Geoff


A bit nitpicking there cap'n,   I believe the great white chief removed his membership a while back for being so useful, except he promoted Southdowns, I don't recall any members complaining though, but he was "on here" I would refer to any old members as "on here" like Jim etc.

I dare say Fun appreciate him a bit more so there he'll stay.


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

Kev_n_Liz said:


> A bit nitpicking there cap'n,   I believe the great white chief removed his membership a while back for being so useful, except he promoted Southdowns, I don't recall any members complaining though, but he was "on here" I would refer to any old members as "on here" like Jim etc.
> 
> I dare say Fun appreciate him a bit more so there he'll stay.


If Peter is not currently 'on here', that explains, since you were not specific, why Mike thought you were referring to Premier.


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

nicholsong said:


> If Peter is not currently 'on here', that explains, since you were not specific, why Mike thought you were referring to Premier.


Oh dear, I seem to have totally lost the plot on this one, it wasn't even Southdowns at all, but Peter @ Johnscross.

Southdowns is where I got my Laika stuff from and they have a Peter too, Southdowns do show up as a member, but only two posts.

Sorry for my total lack of recall and the ensuing confusedness.


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

Kev_n_Liz said:


> Oh dear, I seem to have totally lost the plot on this one, it wasn't even Southdowns at all, but Peter @ Johnscross.
> 
> Southdowns is where I got my Laika stuff from and they have a Peter too, Southdowns do show up as a member, but only two posts.
> 
> Sorry for my total lack of recall and the ensuing confusedness.


I did not recall Southdowns posting - thus my question. Peter at was very helpful - even if it meant he lost business. We still do not know why he left - Nuke?

Don't worry about your confusion - I will send youu some of my tablets.:laugh:

Geoff


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

If you're talking about Peter at Johnscross Nuke booted him for being helpful and competing with him at times which he didn't like. Peter did take the **** a bit though.


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

erneboy said:


> If you're talking about Peter at Johnscross Nuke booted him for being helpful and competing with him at times which he didn't like. Peter did take the **** a bit though.


I, for one, would welcome him back if he felt like it - unless Nuke put a lifetime ban on him even when he handed over to VS.


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## HurricaneSmith (Jul 13, 2007)

I well remember all the past discussions about Peter - They regularly crop up. Here is a post from gaspode in 2014 regarding his thoughts on what happened:

_"That's probably because all his promotional posts were removed or edited very quickly by mods so you never read them.

I was moderating at the same time as Steve so I can confirm what he says, Peter was warned by the forum owner on numerous occasions but persisted in self promotion to the bitter end.

Any post by Peter would be followed by a barrage of reports from other members objecting to his self-promotions such that the forum owner had no option but to eventually ban him. A significant number of those reports came from other trade members, annoyed that Peter was advertising blatently when they were abiding by the forum rules. You can't have a rule for one trader and a different rule for another otherwise you end up with one trade member.

I believe Peter now graces another forum where by all accounts he provided some financial support? Does anyone here want a big dealer on board who helps finance the forum? Would that then allow him special privileges? I think not, that's always been the problem with the M/H press, if a big trader buys a lot of advertising that journal may not always publish adverse reports of said traders services - nuff said.

The shame is that JCM seem to have an excellent reputation for good service yet because of the excesses of Peter they have no voice here."_

I liked Peter (and Nuke) and was sorry that things deteriorated between them.

It would be good to see Peter back.

.

Polite cough............. To get back on topic, I like emmbeedee's thinking. At my age a gozunder could be very handy.

.


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

John

Thanks for posting Gaspode's explanation, which I may have missed - we did not have mobile internet when touring in 2014.

If he was indeed stepping over the mark he had to be dealt with and, of course, if prior to that his posts were being taken down then we would not be getting the full picture that the Mods saw. I saw some where he directed members to other companies - but the Mods would have left those alone.

We now do not have a category of 'Trade Member', nor many trade members in the supply of MHs or accessories - except Chris at Premier, and other niche businesses such as Kayaks(wildthingskev). Therefore it seems that there would not be the same rivalry so maybe he could come back.

Anyway I personally believe I can spot self-promotion, whether it be for business or just social, and factor in my own counter-balance in any decision I make, without website rules.

As an aside I, probably like most of you Members in Nuke's time, am getting e-mails from him promoting his products. I have not 'banned' him - yet:wink2::laugh:

Geoff


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Nowt wrong with self promotion if it's something we all want, I never got the trade member not allowed to advertise their own business thing, with Peter everyone knew who he was and where he worked and what he could supply, but as said he was a fountain of knowledge, often put business to other companies if it helped a member, and should be encouraged back by those who have a foot in both camps.


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## l7apk (Mar 6, 2009)

Sooooo, back to the subject in hand........

I think I'm inclined to remove the suspect white tub and its support.


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## l7apk (Mar 6, 2009)

So, today I noticed the engine coolant was low, nearly at the bottom of the expansion tank. So I found some already mixed coolant and unscrewed the cap off the expansion tank. I realised the cap was not the correct cap, it looked like one off a plastic fuel can. So 2+2 = that someone lost the original cap, replaced it with what they had lying around and forgot all about replacing it with a new original.
So I got on the phone to Iveco at Preston and they had one in. An hour later I'm back home with a new cap and £16 lighter. Anyway I realised there should be a tube connected to the original cap, to get rid of any expanded fluid, so I thought I'd have a fish around in the engine bay to see if I could find the original pipe, result, I found it hanging down behind a mass of wires and coolant pipes, so I pulled it up, and yes you guessed it, it had the original cap still attached to it.:surprise: 
I think it's a good idea though, to carry a spare expansion tank cap around, just in case :wink2:


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## l7apk (Mar 6, 2009)

l7apk said:


> View attachment 40905
> 
> 
> Under the step to the twin beds, there is this small 2 litre bucket. Does anyone know the true use of it, seems to take up a lot of room for such a small item.
> I thought of removing it and it's frame to make a bit more room, as I cannot think of a use for it. :wink2:


Well, maybe had a result on the use of this plastic container. A friend, non caravan or motorhome related, suggested it could be to contain a moisture absorbing media, to absorb any dampness that may occur during the winter months. Makes sense. :thumbleft:


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## HarleyDave (Jul 1, 2007)

Nah! - It's for night time Peas

Cheers

Dave


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

HarleyDave said:


> Nah! - It's for night time Peas
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Dave


I find that passing peas when on pees rather painful:surprise::laugh:


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## Christine600 (Jan 20, 2011)

I belive that. In such a large van going all the way to the bathroom at night is a chore!


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## l7apk (Mar 6, 2009)

Well in that case, what about if I fix a length of pvc pipe (large bore, ofcourse) so I don't even have to get out of bed.


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## l7apk (Mar 6, 2009)

Well I decided to flush and refill with new fluid the central heating system today.
The living area was reasonably easy to bleed, it also helped having a sloping driveway. The system is split by an on/off valve so you can heat the engine with the central heating or heat the central heating with the engine. I left that valve turned off because I couldn't work out how to bleed the engine side of the system. I need to take a closer look when I've more time. I also think the system would benefit from an intermediate or back up circulation pump, I can't see the little pump in the header tank lasting too long, poor little thing seems to be flogging itself to death.


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## Christine600 (Jan 20, 2011)

On mine I have a 12V pump fitted down by the heater. It looks reasonably easy to fit yourself. I watched it beeing swapped by an engineer. He said they last forever but mine had to be swapped since the electronics had a fault that included the pump.


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## eurajohn (May 9, 2005)

My Pilote has the Alde wet heating and occasionally it would lose some of its fluid from the header tank, I checked around and eventually found this chap http://www.grahamcutmoreengineering.co.uk/
Extremely helpful and his suggestion that it was the auto bleed valve appears to have been correct, bought a new one from him and fitted it and OK since.
When chatting to him I asked about the pump as mine is quite noisy, another supplier of Alde parts had suggested changing my pump which is fitted in the pipework at the heater and not in the header tank, with one of the header tank variety.
When I mentioned that suggestion to Graham he said that some of the motorhome manufacturers that fitted Alde fitted the remote pump as the in header tank on wasn't man enough to cope with bigger / complicated installations. Unfortunately Pilote choose to use a Bosch pump rather than the Alde one, probably because of cost, they are around £180, although he did suggest that the Alde one is virtually silent.
Might be worth giving him a call and chatting through your problems with him.
Think I will get a genuine pump from him when I get home from my current trip.


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## l7apk (Mar 6, 2009)

I think its a good idea for an inline pump, same as your home central heating.
Any chance of some photos of where yours is fitted and types, then I can hatch a plan. :wink2:


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## eurajohn (May 9, 2005)

Have a look at this picture here: https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-...AAAAAAAAAc/pmQjzxI0K1c/w300-h225-no/photo.jpg

The pump is the large black thing connected via the hose, the vent I mentioned is the brass looking item above it.

The UK Alde site is not that informative I've found the main company site to be more useful http://www.alde.se/uk/

This one: http://www.alde.se/uk/products/mobile/?page=1821
.


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## l7apk (Mar 6, 2009)

I think that would be a good idea, maybe better to place it further away from the heater, to keep it cooler and better performance. 
I'll see if I can get a price for that one.


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