# Adria Twin ramblings



## 107925

I've just got back from a few days away, where in Winchester the weather varied from hot and sunny to the longest bout of torrential wet and windy weather I can remember. 

It occurred to me that when it's windy, the Twin moves a lot and the noise of hammering rain on lots of metal panels and plastic Hekis, is quite substantial - certainly enough to disturb sleep. 

Cheap pup tents are crap and the rain easily penetrated the one we'd bought for the kids to sleep in. Everything inside the tent got absolutely soaked. Looks like we'll have to spend more than twenty five quid, then!

Before I forget, we had what I thought was a problem, but wasn't. The water wouldn't come through the sink tap, the shower thing, or the toilet flush. I could hear the pump whirring away, but there was nothing. We'd just filled up the water tank, so lack of water wasn't the issue. Then, my wife came up with the answer - as we'd just filled up the tank, it stood to reason that we must have also filled up the waste tank. Perhaps water wouldn't be allowed through pending the emptying of the waste. She was bang on; as soon as the waste was emptied, the water came through. All very logical, but some sort of audible sign would have helped and not just a whirring pump.

It's irritating having no spark ignition to the hob, whereas the grill does have it. Why oh why this basic omission to the spec?

The fridge coped admirably with stuff for four of us, and I liked the fact we could start it off on 12v when we left home, then switch it over to mains when we got to the site, by which time the fridge was suitably cool.

Winchester has some quite hilly roads, but the 6-speed box and 2.3 engine were great, with no incline caused me to constantly cog-swap. I rate the seats very highly. However, I get fed up with the radio/CD switching itself off after a time, with or without hook-up.

With two adults and two children, travelling at about the maximum weight of 3.3 tonnes, the mileage for the trip was 30.7. I thought that very reasonable. However, once past 55 mph on the motorway, I could see the mileage noticeable worsen, so I kept our speed around that figure; some might find that too slow. However, with the cost of diesel, I'm going to keep on aiming for 30 mpg wherever possible.

The table in the Twin is attached to the wall with four screws. It doesn't take much to pull it away from the wall (ie, to pull the screws and the wall plugs out). I'd already put in bigger plugs and screws, after ripping the table from the wall on our first trip. Out they came this time also. The problem I find is that our two teenagers just can't be educated to treat lightweight motorhome furniture with a bit more respect than the big oak stuff at home. It looks like I'm going to have to come up with some sort of table adaption before the wall holes and screws get ever bigger.

Water ingress: I doubt there'll ever be more rain over a few days than that which we've just experienced. I looked under the bonnet when we got home and saw nothing on the engine cover, but a bit on the air filter cover to the right of the engine. There were no signs of rust or water droplets on any of the ancilliaries, so I'm happy with the fix for this particular van.

Finallly, driving around country lanes convinced me of the choice of motorhome. I wouldn't enjoy having to constantly worry about the width of a larger vehicle when the road narrows, or there's a biggun' coming the other way, or the trees at the roadsides haven't been trimmed. Parking was no problem either, so all-in-all, I think it's been a wise choice and I'm not tempted by something bigger inside, as that bulk has to be driven!

Anyway, just a few thoughts whilst they're still fresh in my mind.

Shaun


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## tramp

*twin*

hi shaun,
both myself and Rowley have added small fold down/up tables by the sliding door , very handy when guest in and great for the cup of tea at night when seated whatching tv in passenger seat  .

I have also fitted 2 small 12v switchable lights{ like the ones in caravans used as downlighters} under the bed and run the cables in the battery locker to the battery, very usefull when looking for things under the bed when its dark and the tourch aint bright enough  also handy for seeing the setting on the heater swicth-TRUMA.

The kathrein sat dish is brill no more searching for freeview signal :wink: and soon will have Gaslow refillable when big bottles arrive.

IMPORTANT -apparently Adria have decided that the roof led lights have been faulty from day one as the resistor/capacitor is not letting enough current throufgh so the bulbs go from 6 led to 3, conntact local dealer for fix. We may replace with better design from Cak tanks or o`leareys.

Tramp


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## 109268

*Adria Twin*

Guys,

We have today set out on our first proper trip in the twin, just arrived in North Wales so far no problems and agree it is very comfortable to drive.

Tramp, re the Led lights just checked mine and have 8 lights in each not 6 but have not had a problem......yet!

The only problem we have encountered since collecting the van is that firstly the dealer would not fit the Status aerial stating that it would not go on the ribbed roof, Though I have seen a few around. Secondly decided that I would go for the new Camos flat sat, have been told by Vanbitz and Roadpro that this also not suitable for the roof. The search continues (as does the quest to convince my wife to let me spend a bit more money).

Has anyone fitted a second or larger battery?

Regards

Taff


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## 107925

A picture of your added table would be nice, Tramp. 

As for the ceiling lights, certainly the ones above the bed are very hot and bright. I was thinking about changing them, but I managed to buy a load of 10w and 20w bulbs dirt cheap, so I think I'll get through them first. If I was relying on 12v all the time, I'd be concerned at the amount of juice those bulbs would use up though.

Shaun


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## tramp

*twinf*

hi guys,
first welshman we had a status 530 fitted by premier with no problems- although the roof has many internal supports they fitted and I since removed and installed a square kathrien manual dish on a ploe in the same place with very little loss of space in wardrobe. routed cable over roof and came through roof via maxview cable entry box over lg front locker.

we have fitted a 250amp AGM battery under the bed and made a cupboard to hide it and lie the screen cover on the top. we tried to move the cables and unit in the original battery cupboard but not much luck as the internal fittings are short lenghts. we use a invertor for the mains tv and sky digi box and the 
battery level never moves even with heating on 24/7 when its cold outside.

I think Rowley has some pics of hids table mine is the same  we got the brackets from "sdslondon.co.uk" 250mm hinged brackets std finish £7.06 each total for 2 with postage £24. with take 30kg.

any more questions pm me.

tramp
ps: had the first service today £150 for low annual milage [6000mls] and more fiat recall work now upto 8 intotal.


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## rowley

Taff--I have fitted a 130ah AGM battery in the battery compartment.

Shark--If you do a search for Adria Twin worktop there is a photo of my modification. My fold up brackets came from Woodcraft in the USA. I removed the underbed door, which I considered a bit of a white elephant, and used that to make the flap up worktop. I have now found a position to stow away my ABS drainer. It slots into the bracket for the table on the back of the kitchen unit with a catch to hold it near the top behind the grill.
Your water problem is due to an air-lock. I sometimes get this problem if I travel with a low level in the water tank. The quickest solution is to suck on the kitchen tap to prime the pump.

Tramp--The problem with the led units is also due to poor soldering. My son resoldered mine.


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## b6x

*Re: twinf*



tramp said:


> ps: had the first service today £150 for low annual milage [6000mls] and more fiat recall work now upto 8 intotal.


Hi Russell,

Where abouts you getting the servicing done at the moment? I used Sewards in Havant and wasn't too impressed. Told me they'd need the van for a whole day, so I got there early... then wandered around for a bit and headed back at 2pm to find it hadn't moved. About 3pm they started the work and an hour later it was done.

They then phoned a few days later to see if I was happy, I mentioned a couple of things I wasn't too impressed with and was promised the service manager would call me. Never heard back.


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## vardy

- Loads about the table, nothing about the drowned kids.......... What's the plan for the 'pup' disaster?


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## 107925

A better pup tent is the answer. Research the past couple of days tells me that to camp out in the severest weather, expect to pay a couple of hundred pounds upwards. However, for occasional use which doesn't involve the likes of mountain-climbing or back-packing (whereby very light tents are required), then a decent two-person tent will cost £75-£100. This will be double-skin and will withstand heavy rain.

Shaun


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## 115175

reviews about my adria twin can be found here: adriatwin.blogspot.com
more reviews coming soon !


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## rowley

My main gripe about the Twin is rattles. I have tried various remedies to possible causes but still have not managed to tie it down. It is so annoying because the engine is so quiet.


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## 107925

I've just been away for a long trip in the Twin and that bloody table has been screwed repeatedly back on the wall, with ever bigger plugs. It still rips away with the slightest knock. It's a totally crap design, because all that's holding it to the wall is the stuff Adria use to lag the walls. I have to come up with an alternative.

The only other bugbear is the carpet in the cab which is stuck down with velcro, but the part of the velcro pads which glue to the carpet come away, so the whole carpet slides about. If the front seat passenger moves the carpet with his/her feet, the driver feels it underneath the pedals whilst driving, which is very dodgy. 

Other than that, our Twin was fantastic on an 800 mile trip, we've just returned from. Up and down hills no problem. Fully laded with four people and two dogs, we got over 30 mpg.

Shaun


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## rowley

Hi Shaun, my table is ok. The mat in the front of my Twin was provided by Broadlane Leisure, it is not held down with velcro but does not move. Have you suffered with rattles? It seems to come from the side door area, also some creaking.


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## 107925

The only rattle I had was from the nearside window - the one behind the cooker. It was just the blind flapping about, so I padded it with kitchen towel and it shut up. Creaking is no worse than I would expect, ie, it's not intrusive.

Your table is OK? Mine came away the first time I swung the driver's seat around and caught it with the arm rest. I saw that the plastic strip which the table clips onto to, is screwed into the relatively soft insulation material. I thought the answer was to plug it and used thicker screws (not longer ones, as I'd then be screwing right through the wall). This fix lasted not long because as soon as my teenager stood up and caught the end of the table, off it came again. It's now a running joke. Today, the road was very bumpy and despite my ever bigger plugs and screws to hold the table in place, it collapsed with all the kids' gear being deposited over the floor.

Shaun


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## b6x

Hi all.

I agree that the rattles are a total pain. So far I've found them in the following places:

o both the side window blinds (next to table and in sliding door). I minimise this by leaving the blind (and attached flyscreen) in a half open position. Still rattles, but not as much.

o the heki rooflight blinds. The guide cable (?) rattles within the plastic casing. This is pretty much solved by closing the blinds fully before travelling.

o the obvious one, the grill pan! remove and store somewhere else.

o more of a creak, but the remiblind on the windscreen is pretty annoying

o everything else in the van, pans, cutlery etc etc. nowt I can do about those

Not had any trouble with the table (apart from a DVD case falling out of cupboard above and putting a big dent in the table top), but will go a bit more careful leaning on it etc if it's that suspect.


Ta.
Steve


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