# Hymer B-class 524 2003. New owner. Winter/Skiing Questions.



## cheeky (Sep 26, 2010)

Hope this posted in right place. Apologies if not. New to this!

Bought hymer last week. very excited. plan to ski with kids on aires if poss. This model has the double floor & 2 access hatches in floor for waste & water but the tanks dont seem insulated/lagged. No pipework visible as i imagine they are between the 2 floors as well. Van has truma hot water & combined blown air heating system.

1. Do i assume my pipes wont freeze on this van, or if they will, can i access them to lag them myself?

2. I think i need a tank stat to stop the coldwater from freezing (i am told probably not needed for the waste water due to chemicals/detergents etc, and anyway advice seems to be to leave that open to drain into bucket). Am i to believe that a fish tank warmer does the job just as well? And if so, any particular spec and could i fit it???

3. Snow chains or snow belts better? (am going to buy external silver screens windscreen cover too & just bought 2 gel leisure batteries which i hope was right).

4. It seems the fan for the heating/hot blown air system (is this pumping air between the floors as well to keep the tanks and pipes warm?) cant be turned off so is a constant drain on the battery??

5. And it seems that when ski-ing you leave the heating on all day ?? using approx 2.5kg of gas? That right??

6. And do you leave it on all night too??

7. Have been investigating solar panel and refillable LPG tank conversion, and come across Gas Generator (EG20 or similar). This seems like a fab idea and quiet apparently (is 51 db ok on an aire or would it disturb others??) but it is £2.5K for Gods sake!! is someone taking the mickey or is that really a good model and a good price??

8. I'm told if i get a gas geny, not to bother with the solar panel too. Good advice too? (our ski hols wont be more than 14 days)

9. And I though id find a light weight - probably square/rectanular LPG container to be fitted into the cavity where the 2 old bottles went but apparently i can only get 2 refillable bottles to replace those? Is that right too? Bit of a waste of space and will only hold 22kg in total - same capacity as old bottles & still cost over £500??

10. If i opt for the bigger more attractive horizontal fitted cylinder its made of solid steel and weighs loads? and an extra £1-£200 on top?

11. But i will be able to travel through the tunnel if i can show i have isolated and turned off any LPG containers. That right too??

Any light you could throw on my research to date would be gratefully appreciated, and anything else which may help me understand how best to stay warm, not freeze up, and not run out of fuel in the cold.

Thank you experts!


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Winter*

Hope this posted in right place. Apologies if not. New to this!

Bought hymer last week. very excited. plan to ski with kids on aires if poss. This model has the double floor & 2 access hatches in floor for waste & water but the tanks dont seem insulated/lagged. No pipework visible as i imagine they are between the 2 floors as well. Van has truma hot water & combined blown air heating system.

Good Choice!

1. Do i assume my pipes wont freeze on this van, or if they will, can i access them to lag them myself?

If it is a winterised van double floor, should hold up ok, no lagging required (usually).

2. I think i need a tank stat to stop the coldwater from freezing (i am told probably not needed for the waste water due to chemicals/detergents etc, and anyway advice seems to be to leave that open to drain into bucket). Am i to believe that a fish tank warmer does the job just as well? And if so, any particular spec and could i fit it???

If the tanks and waste valve are internal, all should be okay. If you have a truma boiler, there should be an auto dump valve that drops the water. Watch out for this as sometimes they dump the water when not required and leave the pump running cont. Some use a peg to block it!

3. Snow chains or snow belts better? (am going to buy external silver screens windscreen cover too & just bought 2 gel leisure batteries which i hope was right).

Buy winter tyres and take chains, you will probably not need the chains but have to have them in certain areas.

4. It seems the fan for the heating/hot blown air system (is this pumping air between the floors as well to keep the tanks and pipes warm?) cant be turned off so is a constant drain on the battery??

No you can't turn it off as the fan pushes the air around the van to heat it. Some have vents you can close to direct the air where you need it most.

5. And it seems that when ski-ing you leave the heating on all day ?? using approx 2.5kg of gas? That right??

Leave the boiler for water on, may need heating on low.

6. And do you leave it on all night too??

Or use lots of thick sleeping bags and be prepared for the water valve to dump the water and poss pipes freezing

7. Have been investigating solar panel and refillable LPG tank conversion, and come across Gas Generator (EG20 or similar). This seems like a fab idea and quiet apparently (is 51 db ok on an aire or would it disturb others??) but it is £2.5K for Gods sake!! is someone taking the mickey or is that really a good model and a good price??

You can get a Honda genny for much less, maybe a 1kW. But not liked on aires due to noise. 51db in quiet Aires is noisy.

8. I'm told if i get a gas geny, not to bother with the solar panel too. Good advice too? (our ski hols wont be more than 14 days)

Solar panels will top up batteries but don't forget it can be cold and cloudy. Solar panels work on heat and sun.

9. And I though id find a light weight - probably square/rectanular LPG container to be fitted into the cavity where the 2 old bottles went but apparently i can only get 2 refillable bottles to replace those? Is that right too? Bit of a waste of space and will only hold 22kg in total - same capacity as old bottles & still cost over £500??

But you can fill them up very easily especially in France. You will struggle to get compatible cylinders without lots of hastle.

10. If i opt for the bigger more attractive horizontal fitted cylinder its made of solid steel and weighs loads? and an extra £1-£200 on top?

Don't know much about these!

11. But i will be able to travel through the tunnel if i can show i have isolated and turned off any LPG containers. That right too??

Yes, you can (there is a limit) You can't take vehicles on that draw off liquid for driving the Engine.

Any light you could throw on my research to date would be gratefully appreciated, and anything else which may help me understand how best to stay warm, not freeze up, and not run out of fuel in the cold.

Consider staying on Campsites. We stayed on one in the Pyrenees when we skied this January. They only charged us €11 per night. Included 10amp EHU and running water on the pitch (yes even ran at -17c). Fully heated shower block/drying room.

When you consider what you will use in Gas and the fact you may have to pay at the Aires (some just for water). It may be easier and cost just a few €'s more per night. Don't forget the gas consumption for the fridge!

TM


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## davesport (Nov 12, 2006)

Ok To answer some of your concerns about the heating & double floor.

The waste water tank (on mine anyway) is not enclosed inside the double floor. It has its own enclosure & sits near the front of the hab area. The waste tank is however inside the double floor. The tanks & pipes have no frost protection per se. What keeps them frost free is the constant supply of warm air from the Truma. So that answers you query about leaving the heating on all day. S'pose it depends how cold ambient is. But if it were me camping in sub zero, I'd leave the heating on. Some peeps are labouring under the misaprehension that the mid floor area will remain frost free by using an oil rad in the hab are & trying to conserve gas. hymer had'nt thought people would do this & if it's proper cold down there things will freeze up. You can leave the heating on a very low setting & keep the temp say at 10 deg whilst you're out & then crank it up on your return. One thing that the Truma system does well, is to heat up V.quickly. All the pipes/tanks that are not in the hab or mid floor area will have a plastic shroud around them with a small branch suppling warm air. 

The system in my experience has never used 2.5 Kgs of gas per day. I've never used more than a litre a day camping during the depths of winter of hookup. Heating, fridge & cooking all from gas.

I'm off to look at the rest of your questions  One word on Genny's. Have a listen to the one you're considering in person prior to purchase. They all make a noise, usually louder than the sales pitch/blurb makes known.

Good luck & congrats on the new van.

D.


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## ned (Dec 12, 2006)

*Hymer 524*

Had one of these myself for two years. I assume it is an A class your talking about. same year as yours and yes we went skiing both years 3 or 4 times. Never went on a site and spent our time on Aires. Don't worry about the fresh water tank just keep the Heating on during the day when your out, say about 4 on the dial setting. crank it up when you come back and set it again to 4 overnight. The tank won't freeze up. The waste water needs to be left open and drain into a bucket. Empty the bucket when it gets full. This stops the waste tank freezing up and the associated pipework and tap freezing. Gas .... Go for the gaslow system. either go for two refillable or one and a british propane 13kg. Get the gaslow people to put in an automatic change-over valve. Saves getting up in the night in the cold. We used to take 2 x 6kg calor lightweight cylinders in the garage as backup with the hand tighten screw up fittings. Very light and wont effect your payload too much.
We also took our Honda 1kw genny to charge up the batteries and to run at night for the Tv , batteries and kids games etc. Everyone on the aire will have a genny so don't get too worried about the noise issue. A 56 - 60 decibel genny will do fine. The ones that run off the gas are ok but can be a pain when you are trying to save on gas. This setup lasted us a week and a bit quite easily and by that time we were looking to change venues and ski areas so dropping down to refill with gas was not a problem. If you stay on a site then the system I have outlined will last three weeks or slightly less depending upon the extremes in the temperatures. We used a 1.5kw oil radiator for background heat when on site but you must keep the truma going at 4 overnight in order to keep warm air circulating around the freshwater tank.

Anything else then go to Mark Batchelors webb site..... Motorhome goes skiing or look under skiing on the sports section on this site.

Don't worry you have one of the best vans for this type of activity but just need to bone up on the system to employ.  

Keep em waxed..................... Ned


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## nichos (Jan 31, 2010)

Hi Cheeky,

Good luck with your new Mhome.

We are an old couple seriously thinking for a B524 Mhome.

Where did you buy yours, do you know of another similar but used?

Need LHD, Auto, rear fixed bed.

thanx ......nick


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## cheeky (Sep 26, 2010)

*B524*

Hi Nick

I looked over about a 2 - 3 month period, most nights on Ebay, Gumtree UK, Various UK MH sales sites - which were quite poor, and ebay.de, ebay.fr, ebay.nl (.de being the best) and most usefully the MH section of http://www.mobile.de

I was prepared to go anywhere for the right deal. Eventually one came up on ebay which fitted our spec (a-class front, modern kitchen/bathroom, 2 fixed bunk beds and late 2003 but it was a 2004 fit-out. Plus it had aircon & sat tv which we werent interested in. I figured it was worth 34.5 k, and we got it for 31k in the end. It only had 18k mileage, metal roof, roof rack, top box & rear ladder too.

I managed to get the seller to contact me the night I found it and I paid him a deposit that night and arranged to see it/pick it up a week later.

It was the right thing to do. It is amazing.

Hope that helps. The more you look the more your spec list will improve and the greater your understanding of the appropriate value.

Oh yes, I also regularly just put the make and model into google and trawled across those sold and being sold on smaller sites.

They are rare. I was advised to keep away from Brownhills (Hymer UK), and have had several dealings with them since which reinforce that advice, but if you dont mind paying 10-15% over the odds and you can get a really clean van with a warrantee, then maybe theyd be fine.

Good luck

paul


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## JeanLuc (Jan 13, 2007)

nichos said:


> Good luck with your new Mhome.
> We are an old couple seriously thinking for a B524 Mhome.
> Where did you buy yours, do you know of another similar but used?
> Need LHD, Auto, rear fixed bed.
> ...


According to my 2003 catalogue, the 524 has a single rear fixed bed. Is this what you want, or are you after a double? If so, the 514 fits the bill, but I don't think it was made until 2005. Alternatively, look out for a B630 Starline. That has the same layout but is on a Merc chassis. I think they are even rarer, but we found one, and Edgehill Motorhomes (where we got ours) had a 2002 model for sale just recently - it was sold about 2 weeks ago.

Ours is LHD, full automatic, 2.7 engine and 6.41 metres long. (Not for sale though!)

Philip


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## cheeky (Sep 26, 2010)

*524*

Thanks Philip,

We found one already (maybe the only one in existence as I havent seen any other fixed bunk bed models, but as I said its a late 2003 model with a 2004 fit-out apparently).

I was providing info to Nick (see prev entry) who is after a B524.

Kind regards
Paul


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## JeanLuc (Jan 13, 2007)

*Re: 524*



cheeky said:


> I was providing info to Nick (see prev entry) who is after a B524.
> 
> Kind regards
> Paul


So was I! - glad you found what you wanted though

Philip


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## Dick1234 (Jun 15, 2008)

Hi 

Sooooo many questions.

I am not familiar with the specific van you have but the double floor will give you the additional insulation needed. 

Keep your heating all the time, you can turn it down a little whilst out in the day but remember the weather changes very quickly and the temp can go from a balmy -5 to -20 with wind chill in a matter of minutes. It is is a real bugger to defrost pipes at this temp.

Snow tyres are the way to go with chains. The chains are required by law, Snow socks are effective but a bit of grey area with the police!!! 

Gennies are generally fine on Aries at ski resorts, two 110 amp bats won't last long with the heater at full chat so you have to keep your batteries topped up daily. 

Solar is pointless for the winter in the temps you will in even if you have sun. You will not be able to keep up with the drain on the batteries.

Gas, well the consumption can be frightening depending on the temp. At a rough guess I went through best part of 70 litres (getting on for the equivalent of 4 13kg bottles) in a 9 day period. Granted at time the temp was down to -27. If you are going later in the season it will be warmer but then the snow is not as good. 

A bucket works with an open drain valve. That said I flattened two buckets as I reversed over them on the way to the tap!!! Just remember to move them.

I don't know your situation re time to travel to resort and return, restricted by school holidays? If the ski trip in the van is for adventure and a change then great. However, if it is to go skiing on the cheap do your sums. In my experience skiing in the motorhome is little cheaper than renting an apartment on a self catering basis and driving yourself. There is a considerable financial outlay for snow tyres etc that have been mentioned in the posts that need to be taken into consideration.

Regards

Dick


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