# Sanef Tag - Where to stick it?



## spykal (May 9, 2005)

Hi

My Tag arrived so I read these instructions which could apply to us:

_NB. If you have a small motorhome with a "luton" / overhanging sleeping compartment you MUST ensure that the Tag has "line of sight" with the reader (i.e. can see the reader on top of the pole). If you install the tag behind the rear vision mirror it may not be able to see the Tag reader and will not work - in this instance you have to put the tag at the bottom of the windscreen BUT ONLY if you do not have an athermic windscreen._

The luton on our Autocruise Starburst does not have sleeping room and is quite small and I am pretty sure the windscreen of the 2010 Peugeot Boxer is just ordinary glass ( there is no large shaded area at the top).

So now I am wondering how far down the windscreen to fit it.. I don't want it right at the bottom and I don't want it to obstruct my view so do you think it will be ok located just below the rear view mirror? I guess only folks with a similar Autocruise motorhome who use a tag can know but happy to hear tips from any users :wink2:

P.S. I did search for an answer , lots about the tags but nothing on here about where to stick it :grin2:


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## Evs54 (Mar 11, 2013)

spykal said:


> Hi
> 
> My Tag arrived so I read these instructions which could apply to us:
> 
> ...


Centre of screen just below rear view mirror. I have also in the past had to take it out of holder and wave it towards the receivers. .


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## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

As your Peugeot has a similar cab to my fiat then put the sanef on the screen behind the rear view mirror where the shade area is.
I've no idea what he shade area signifies but m tag works perfectly.


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

It will probably work behind the mirror very well - ours doesn't as it has over the cab sleeping position, so ours is where the VED used to be - bottom left hand side and it works superbly there.

The shaded area is for a very special reason - but I have not got a clue what it might be....... but the receiver on our Citroen Xsara Picasso works quite OK stuck in the middle of that area.....

Have fun using it, it makes a solo journey VERY much easier as you do not have to worry about picking up tickets or getting them back into the slot etc..... simply drive through on some at <30kph........

Dave


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## spykal (May 9, 2005)

Spacerunner said:


> As your Peugeot has a similar cab to my fiat then put the sanef on the screen behind the rear view mirror where the shade area is.
> I've no idea what he shade area signifies but m tag works perfectly.


This is where it gets confusing as it seems that some vans have this "shaded area" which as I understand it is a part of the windscreen which is not athermic  Some Peugeot and Fiat vans do have it but I think it may only be on PVCs.

My cab windscreen does not have any large shaded area behind the mirror as shown in the sanef instructions ..it only has a tiny black area right up at the very top center of the screen ...which if I stick the tag there would be right under the small luton .

I wonder if there is a way of testing or checking if a windscreen is "athermic".

Maybe I will fit it below the mirror then wait and see if it works, if it does not I can unclip it and wave it at the pole :wink2:... then as it came with two sticky mounting clips so I can move it if necessary.

Thanks for the quick replies.


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

*Never knew what they were but here is info on where to put it*


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## gaspode (May 9, 2005)

*"Sanef Tag - Where to stick it?"

*You're just asking for the obvious answer there aren't you Mike?:grin2:

In truth I don't think it matters a lot where you stick it, behind the mirror is the usual place. Just approach the barrier slowly and pull right up to it. If it doesn't see the tag and raise you can always pop it out of its holder and hold it up to the sensor. Don't panic, the barrier takes a few seconds to lift sometimes.


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

The slowness of response is a particular problem on the no-stop gates.....

you approach thinking "Will it? Won't it?" and then just when you have decided "Blast, it's not going to work" it gives a little "ping" and up goes the barrier, the ping is the key that it has been recorded. If you get within 1m of the gate and it has not gone ping it could be that the tag is not working in it's current position, or plain not working as they are battery powered and the battery cannot be changed in the one's that we have.... return for a replacement is the only option.......

If that happens, collect the ticket and pay using a card - you do not even put in a PIN so it is fairly easy, if undoubtedly at the wrong side and the wrong height and position to get to.....

Dave


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## klyne (May 10, 2005)

It will depend how much of a overhang you have over the windscreen. On our Bailey I positioned it about half way down the windscreen and it worked well although I found I had to drive to within inches of the barrier!!! Next time I go I am thinking of positioning at the bottom of the windscreen which after all will still be at the same height as most cars. If worst comes to the worst you can always unclip it and move it around until it beeps!!!

David


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## pete4x4 (Dec 20, 2006)

It will work at the top or the bottom of the windscreen, I use mine in either an MX5 or my Bailey and you can imagine the height difference between the top of a fiat x250 and the top of an MX5.
The black hashed area is normally where there is no metallised film on a windscreen for uv shading.


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## mgdavid (Nov 27, 2014)

all the Starbursts I can see on google images hardly have a Luton top, more just a bit of an eyebrow. I think your tag will be absolutely fine if you put it behind the mirror. 
Sanef are quite explicit that if you have a dark-shaded area then it should be mounted on it. They would hardly go to the trouble of writing the instructions around this requirement if there wasn't good reason for it.


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

mgdavid said:


> snipped..... I think your tag will be absolutely fine if you put it behind the mirror.


I agree with that totally.



mgdavid said:


> Sanef are quite explicit that if you have a dark-shaded area then it should be mounted on it. They would hardly go to the trouble of writing the instructions around this requirement if there wasn't good reason for it.


Not so sure about your reasoning as SANEF are not primarily concerned with MotorHomes but with cars and commercial vehicles..... neither of which have an overhang in the same way that SOME MH do.....

and it is not as if EVERY MH has the same problem - it is only a fairly small percentage that do and where therefore there MIGHT be a problem.....

I have found that you cannot apply logic to the way that French companies work - that is one thing that is lacking, the other is customer service......

those two considered together may show why I do not think the answer is absolutely clear - trial and error will eventually give the answer and I hope that Mike (Spykal) shares it with us after, or during his trip once it becomes clear.

Please note I am not trying to provoke any form of argument or criticising you - just applying my experience of living in France to what I read....

Dave


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## mgdavid (Nov 27, 2014)

Fair enough - although I disagree on customer service.
I ordered my tag yesterday just before lunch and it arrived this morning, oh that British companies could be so efficient.
I've stuck mine high up on the screen behind the mirror of my Carado which only has a tiny overhang - but will report back next week anyway as I'm off to Brittany for a few days tmorrow evening


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

That is not what I mean by customer service though......

If you are in France and something goes wrong and you take it back, the gallic shrug is heavily emphasised - our 13 month old swimming pool cleaning robot (800€+) had been used seven times.......

we took it back to be told "Oh they are not guaranteed....."

We produced the 2 year written guarantee......

"Oh that doesn't apply as it is the transformer that has failed not the robot....."

Nowhere does it separate the two components and eventually after over 1 hour discussion they agree to "have a look at it" as the manager thought "it had come unwired so he would check the wiring" I told him that I would not as it was sealed as part of the guarantee.....

He eventually agreed to send it back to the manufacturer (in Spain) "if I was prepared to pick up the costs".....

I said I would discuss that when they had sorted it....

It went back for three weeks and a brand new transformer reappeared of a different design with the comment "Oh they said that they have had a great many fail in a few days, ours was lucky to last that long".... we did not pick up any costs.....

That is just one example of how customer service does not work if things go wrong.......

and as for deliveries - they can be VERY amusing and full of lies as they fail to find houses even with instructions and GPS positions..... simply because the drivers cannot be bothered so they return the item and say "they're not in" until eventually they get caught out, but no disciplinary action can take place under French law......

Dave


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## salomon (Apr 20, 2011)

Penquin said:


> and as for deliveries - they can be VERY amusing and full of lies as they fail to find houses even with instructions and GPS positions..... simply because the drivers cannot be bothered so they return the item and say "they're not in" until eventually they get caught out, but no disciplinary action can take place under French law......
> 
> Dave


Yes, deliveries can be a battle. We actually got a driver removed from Chronopost International as he repeatedly failed to deliver. I could actually see him at the bottom of the drive with his pre prepared note to pop in the box..not bothering to even try...
Disciplinary action is hard, but it can be done. I managed it when I worked in Paris. Its amazing that once people kniw such things can hapoen how much more attentive they are:serious:


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

I used to sub out to a few different same day courier firms, one outfit had some very poor drivers who constantly brought stuff back, When phones started to have cameras, I took a picture to prove I'd been, and never once had a problem as it was timed and dated too.


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## mgdavid (Nov 27, 2014)

*Sanef discount code*

If anyone is about to apply for a Sanef tag, I have a discount code - PM me.


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## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

Just a note of caution...


We have an overhead cab so I placed my tag base low down on the windscreen as suggested however despite my Bess officially being 2.99m in the handbook, the tag only worked half the time approximately.


By taking it off and waving it like a mad man, that made it work for another 25%.


After that it was press the button and in my best Franglais "Je suis un camping car. Je ne suis pas trois metres de haut!"...this then worked for the balance of the time :grin2:


tbh I have it mind to cash mine in anyway as I don't particularly want to use the MWays anymore so plan slower dawdling routes to get to where I want anyway. :smile2:


Graham:smile2:


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

Interesting.

Our van has a palm sized (big palm admittedly!) black area behind the mirror. It's not shaded, hatched or loads of tiny dots, it's solid black and completely opaque.

Peugeot Boxer, only arrived last Friday, and I've never seen the bit behind the mirror so solid and black on any other vehicle. I rather fancy it might be a metallic panel glued onto the screen for attaching the mirror, in which case it ain't going to be the best place for my Sanef tag!!

Any ideas folks?

Thanks

Dave


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## salomon (Apr 20, 2011)

We have a similar thing in our car. We dont actually stick it anywhere now. Just leave it in the cubby and wave approriately when required. Plus the sticky stuff melts in the sun, everything falls off and leave a mess. So we gave up. Much less hassle tbh.


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

Makes sense Salomon - thanks.

I've just had a firtle and my Remis blinds brush against it if I stick it on the black bit behind the mirror, but if I move it to a point directly in my line of vision and push it up under the Remis housing, it clears the blind easily and I can't see it when I'm driving.

I think that's where it will go - until it falls in my lap! :grin2: It will be easy to locate and pull off the clip if I need to wave it through the window.

Dave


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## BrianJP (Sep 17, 2010)

Penquin said:


> The slowness of response is a particular problem on the no-stop gates.....
> 
> you approach thinking "Will it? Won't it?" and then just when you have decided "Blast, it's not going to work" it gives a little "ping" and up goes the barrier, the ping is the key that it has been recorded. If you get within 1m of the gate and it has not gone ping it could be that the tag is not working in it's current position, or plain not working as they are battery powered and the battery cannot be changed in the one's that we have.... return for a replacement is the only option.......
> 
> ...


You don't always get an audio response from the tag. I driven through 6 barriers today and it did not beep at any of them.Also in my experience it never beeps in a 30kph toll plazas.


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## SGMGB (Sep 17, 2009)

*sanef tag*

have used mine for the last 2 years with no problem. It is positioned in the shaded area behind the mirror, the m/home is a autocruise starburst on a boxer.


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## mgdavid (Nov 27, 2014)

Update from last week:
fitted the tag high up behind the mirror on the blacked-out bit of the screen.
Have just done 1100 miles to Finistere and back, using autoroutes where possible, no problems with reading the tag at all.
The only problem we did encounter was sussing out which peage lane to drive through; in several places there was no italic orange 't' to indicate the lane to use so we ended up driving through a cash lane. All bar one had tag readers and let us through, at one we had to give the tag to the cashier.
Given that trucks use a TSL tag (not Sanef) is it safe to follow them through the lanes showing just a green arrow, do you know?


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