# Have you ever thought "what prat designed that"



## drcotts (Feb 23, 2006)

In ours its the oven door which is hung like a normal door not the drop down ones like in most other vans we have seen.

So unless your on a perfecvtly flat pitch the hot oven door swings against your arms and burns them when taking the sunday joint out.

And each time it happens I think what prat designed that.

Sometime I look around my van and also others at shows etc and think. That was designed by someone that has never actually lived and used a MH.

Usually its the ladies and workspace but what about you.

Is there anything in your van that was designed by someone who must have been a bit..well shall we say unapprceative of MHers needs


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

usually it's the "stylish" bathrooms, which are completely impractical in use. Our Piote's sink was so small with a fixed tap, very difficult to get a decent wash in. At least the new Hymer had a big bowl and a tap that moved round so you're not catching your head on it all the time :roll:


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Oh yes ! In ours it's the lift- up shower control that is so positioned and designed that, at least twice on every trip, one or other of us knocks against it and gets soaked. (Edit: it's particularly nasty when it happens on a trip to the loo in the middle of the night.)

Can I also have the swan-neck table- now removed and at home- that gouges a chunk from the back of your hand as part of the height adjustment process ?

G


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## Glandwr (Jun 12, 2006)

Design is a profession in itself. Trouble is every brickie thinks he can design an extension and every vehicle engineer thinks they can design a motor home. If you have to ask which prat etc. you can be sure it was not a designer. 

Dick


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## greenasthegrass (Oct 27, 2007)

Work surface! We haven't got any and it's called a Gourmet Kitchen .... Gourmet my a....rm!


Greenie. :lol:


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

especially when I had the Mustang. :roll: 

cabby


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## leltel (Jul 27, 2010)

Yep work surface....bed ends up with a board on for extra worktop


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Workspace is always a problem

we now have a drop down workspace on the wardrobe door, excellent unless you need the toilet as it rests on the bathroom door 8O

So my rule is go before I start food preparation or tie a knot in it :lol: :lol:

I think its a male thing 8O 8O 8O :lol: :lol: :lol:

It works a treat otherwise

Aldra


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## andrewball1000 (Oct 16, 2009)

Recently visited a camp site where the shower was by proximity control. Great idea until one you came to dry yourself with the towel!!!!


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## leltel (Jul 27, 2010)

Aldra, been waiting a year for hubby to put a flap on to extend the work surface....could be waiting another year...unless I refuse to cook :lol:


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## Scattycat (Mar 29, 2011)

If I drop the soap in the shower, when I bend over to pick it up I get goosed by the shower tap   :roll: 

Who designed that!??? is not 'exactly' the words I use, more like "WTF!!?" :lol:


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Yep, mine is the shower curtain. No where to put the soap or shampoo apart from the floor and as soon as warm water comes through it wraps itself around me.

I think it was Mavis who said wash the curtain in fabric softener. Yes it did work thanks Mavis but after a few showers it started clinging again.

Ray.


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## User1 (Apr 13, 2012)

You should try boating. If they can put Yacht or Boat in the title you can treble the price. Sat Navs are called Chart Plotters and good ones start from £500 + Vat. Everything boaty is plus Vat. So you are not the only ones to suffer from expensive made in china top quality stainless designer rubbish.

Our pet gripe in the MH has nowhere to put a gin and tonic down unless you wanted the dog to be drinking it. Who designs some of these units. Do they ever live in them on a hill, In the rain, By a main road ..  . Do they ever consider how you are supposed to cook anything respectable with one oven shelf.

Boat was the same. No grill , Power points on the opposite side of the boat, Two ring cooker, Fridge with a lift up lid that was the only worktop and a stainless sink bolted under the worktop with a hole in the worktop with trim round it. Ok it looked good until we managed to knock a small chunk out of the edge.

So we live in a Made in China age. Quality is a thing of the past and paying extra for something you think will be god quality is money wasted. You look around at all the bits that are available and everything is imported from places we cannot even pronounce. No point in complaining as the designer lives in a mud hut in a dessert wondering what the hell we do with all the stuff that he designs and a factory that is happy to save a few pence on a product by using inferior plastics that go yellow overnight.

Rant over


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Who designed concertina cupboard doors ? Clearly someone who enjoys wrestling them back into their runners at least twice a week.

G


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Lentil, don't refuse to cook, share it

No actually he is outside doing the male BBQ thing

I am inside doing all the veg prep, we love our veg

Seriously it makes such a difference, I often wash up and pile the dishes on the towel spread on the extension

would post a photo 

but I am hopeless

It has a small oak support on the toilet door, and oak retainers on the wardrobe. An ikea door edged with oak and hinged onto the wardrobe

you guessed we had a supply of oak

Aldra


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## lesanne (May 1, 2008)

Know what you mean folks ..Mine is an Automatic ,but i still have to be there...???????????


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## joedenise (Jul 20, 2007)

the oven/grill above the fridge freezer with the drop down door I am 6ft 2in tall and still can't manage to light the grill by myself they have improved it now and put a lift up door on it but you still need 3 hands to light it

joe


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## andrewball1000 (Oct 16, 2009)

Thetford Casette. Once removed it without checking the bowl and the liquid residue left by a visitor dropped through. My mistake but does this drain to the external opening? Nope it goes inside the van floor. Why not make a drain to the lowest external point so we can rinse it out? Please Mr Therford, take note.


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## rayc (Jun 3, 2008)

leltel said:


> Aldra, been waiting a year for hubby to put a flap on to extend the work surface....could be waiting another year...unless I refuse to cook :lol:


Lesley, In my experience women threatening to withold certain 'charms' appears to galvanise men into action. I know the way to a mans heart is through his stomach but there are other ways.


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

Grizzly said:


> Oh yes ! In ours it's the lift- up shower control that is so positioned and designed that, at least twice on every trip, one or other of us knocks against it and gets soaked. (Edit: it's particularly nasty when it happens on a trip to the loo in the middle of the night.)


We had this problem too Grizzly and I solved it by tying a freezer bag round the shower head.

Not very pretty but extremely effective!


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## garfield85 (Jun 10, 2012)

We currently think our motorhome is perfect... Who wants to buy it ? :lol: 

We just would like to have a cupboard to put shoes in near the door, but we have something to put magazines in ?


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## rayc (Jun 3, 2008)

My Rapido has at leat 22 internal lamps but only 2 mains sockets and one of them is in the TV cupboard.
The switch for the lights above the sink and hob is by the habitation door whilst the switch for the 'mood' light in the dinnette area is in the kitchen in the panel by the sink.


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## chubs (Jun 5, 2010)

If your mh was level the oven door would not close on your arm I know this due to the scar on my right arm.


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

When we got our van the 2 mains sockets on the column by the door had been arranged one above the other in a small frame. This meant that if you plugged something in the top socket you could not then plug anything in the one underneath as the wire from bottom of the top plug blocked the bottom socket.

When this was pointed out to Swift they changed ours and the modification appeared in all subsequent vans. I do wonder if the person who fitted them at Swift ever thought about how they were supposed to work.

( We have got 5 mains sockets altogether however)

G


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## loddy (Feb 12, 2007)

We have terrible trouble squeezing into our van and have very little workspace.

P.S that's why we don''t buy European


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## 747 (Oct 2, 2009)

Some idiot designer gave ours an engine that will not do 50 miles to the gallon.

Makes you sick doesn't it.


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## locovan (Oct 17, 2007)

We have a socket just behind the passenger seat. How do they expect you to plug a kettle in there ??


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## Biglol (Jul 16, 2007)

I don't understand this thread, my van is perfect :wink: 

When we bought our van we gave it a good look over, so we knew what we had to put up with. We think our van is a Tardis, and I'm thinking of installing a small bath


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## locovan (Oct 17, 2007)

Biglol said:


> I don't understand this thread, my van is perfect :wink:
> 
> When we bought our van we gave it a good look over, so we knew what we had to put up with. We think our van is a Tardis, and I'm thinking of installing a small bath


But have you got a electric socket behind the passenger seat ???


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## Biglol (Jul 16, 2007)

I must confess, I wish I had one but I haven't 

I'll get one fitted straight away


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## Biglol (Jul 16, 2007)

I've had the van since April 2010 and only the other day I found that we have a Frostat fitted to the fresh water tank. I could have used that last February whist at Abbey Wood in London. We froze up on our last night.


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

I have just trawled through the post looking at the posters' MHs and was a bit surprised to find some are from quite up-market brands.

I pleased to see that none come from a Niesmann+Bischoff owner - Ok not many of them on MHF..

After 3 years we are very pleased with the design of our 2003 Arto.

Many of the gripes have been about lack work surfaces so maybe this tip could be useful.

We have a double sink with covers which double as work surfaces, but then no access to the sink.

I accidentally found out that our acrylic(?) chopping board will fit on top of the bigger sink surround, but still leaves a gap into the sink, through which one can wash veg, utensils etc., and drop in dirty utensils ready for washing.

Any board could be cut to fit for the same purpose.

Geoff


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## drcotts (Feb 23, 2006)

Worksurface has been a known issue with MHs for years but designers always look at the hrs use something has. thats why loos are small as we only spend 15 mins at most a day in there so its wasted space. same with work surfaces.

Beds now thats a different story


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## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

Worktops.

Ours is a very simple but a perfect solution.
Its an 'L' shaped top. The sink is located at the toe of the L and the hob at the heel, thus leaving all the remaining space as permanent work space. Cooker door? Our oven is above a large fridge/freezer and the oven door hinges up wards out of the way.

Sorry peeps looks like Chausson have monopolised all the designers.


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## Scattycat (Mar 29, 2011)

I'm amazed at the number of MH's that have an oven or microwave situated above the fridge freezer. 
I can't think of anything more dangerous. To get any hot item out of the appliance most folks will have their hands above their heads and the potential of spilling hot liquid over your self must be enormous.

Our oven is under the hob, so far so good, no spillages


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

*Re: Have you ever thought "what prat designed that&quot*



drcotts said:


> In ours its the oven door which is hung like a normal door not the drop down ones like in most other vans we have seen.
> 
> So unless your on a perfecvtly flat pitch the hot oven door swings against your arms and burns them when taking the sunday joint out.
> 
> ...


I know just what you mean, but with ours (Smev) I kept forgetting the door was open sometimes and the corners leave a big hole in your leg.

Our next oven is the on in the attached picture, brilliant thoughtful design for a MH, notice the arrow, that's the slope that the oven door retract into automatically when lowered, and as it's going over the fridge, I won't lose an eye, and it won't be awkward to take hot dishes out of it, as effectively the door will be tiny, lots of wasted space under it though, What could I put in there I wonder


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

loddy said:


> We have terrible trouble squeezing into our van and have very little workspace.
> 
> P.S that's why we don''t buy European


I like the hole in the floor, very quaint, is that in case you both need the loo.


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Spacerunner said:


> Worktops.
> 
> Ours is a very simple but a perfect solution.
> Its an 'L' shaped top. The sink is located at the toe of the L and the hob at the heel, thus leaving all the remaining space as permanent work space. Cooker door? Our oven is above a large fridge/freezer and the oven door hinges up wards out of the way.
> ...


Or maybe they fitted the oven upside down :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

I like a drop-down oven door because one can stand the casserole/dish on it, lift the lid and inspect contents, without having to find a space to do that.

As for hitting one's leg - shut it! :lol: 

Sorry, only a man's opinion - should I 'delete' now?

Geoff


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## Rosbotham (May 4, 2008)

(duplicate)


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## Rosbotham (May 4, 2008)

Work surfaces and cookers are a couple of the (few?) areas where it pays to buy British.

My gripes :

Why is it on motor homes with a single drain in the sink / shower, almost always they're at the opposite ends so when you end up on a hill that's too steep to get level, one or the other won't drain?

Why is it considered progress to stop fitting the trusty bench loos, and instead fit ones with swivel bowls that don't feel as secure and which have a considerably smaller cassette?


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

nicholsong said:


> I like a drop-down oven door because one can stand the casserole/dish on it, lift the lid and inspect contents, without having to find a space to do that.
> 
> As for hitting one's leg - shut it! :lol:
> 
> ...


You should be ashamed of yourself using an oven in broad daylight.

As for my leg our lass left it open to put somethong else in, and due to bifocals I didn't notice it open, bloody hurt too, but I didn't cry..............

much :roll:


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Well we have an enormous worktop- bigger than the dining table. The cooker is excellent as well; the door is left hand opening, stays firmly in place against the washroom wall, while the 3 gas and one electric ring with a 2 shelf oven and separate grill are just fine. The microwave is above the cooker but is not too high. There's a 13amp socket positioned so the Remoska or slow cooker can sit on the glass lid of the cooker. 

Better than any US RV or European van I've seen.

G


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## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

nicholsong said:


> I like a drop-down oven door because one can stand the casserole/dish on it, lift the lid and inspect contents, without having to find a space to do that.


Check your oven's shelf. Most are designed to slide out to a stop and be self supporting to enable you to do what you describe above.


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## Marrabone (Apr 8, 2010)

I agree with Rosbotham about the shower and sink drain being fitted at the high end so that the water puddles to the other side.

My biggest gripe though is the table which is stored in the wardrobe, held with a swivel peg and weighs an absolute ton! I have such a struggle getting it out of there that l take a small folding wooden table for my own use. If l have guests though its a real pain getting the bigger one out and setting it up.

Anyone know of l lighter weight one to seat 4 and with a top not too thick to be held by the peg thingy?


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

Spacerunner said:


> nicholsong said:
> 
> 
> > I like a drop-down oven door because one can stand the casserole/dish on it, lift the lid and inspect contents, without having to find a space to do that.
> ...


Willco!


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## DJMotorhomer (Apr 15, 2010)

Hi

Snap....the oven door...a drop down version would also give you a safe place to put the hot plates/ trays etc. Ours has come off twice and still isnt reet yet :roll:


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## KARTMAN (Feb 3, 2008)

Yes whenever I open the bonnet on a French car :roll:


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## loddy (Feb 12, 2007)

Kev_n_Liz said:


> loddy said:
> 
> 
> > We have terrible trouble squeezing into our van and have very little workspace.
> ...


Don't you know a heating vent when you see one, Doh

Loddy :roll:


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

loddy said:


> Don't you know a heating vent when you see one, Doh
> 
> Loddy :roll:


Of course, it was an attempt at humour (obviously lost on some   ) I've just always though them a ridiculous american adaptation of an originally Roman idea, more so in a MH, what's wrong with the way we do it over here, the heat is then at least kept inside, not to mention them being a trip hazard, and somewhere to lose stuff.


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## loddy (Feb 12, 2007)

Sorry the humour was lost (sorry) for a moment, of course a roman idea and a very good one you can do a Marylin Monroe over it, smashing, and it's flush ( no pun intended ) so no trip hazard

Loddy :wink:


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## patnles (Oct 26, 2006)

leltel said:


> Yep work surface....bed ends up with a board on for extra worktop


Ditto.
We have a large wooden tray with a silicone sheet on that goes from hob cover to bed and back several times a day. We use it mostly for the remoska but also ideal for making sandwiches as all the crumbs are contained. 
Lesley


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

patnles said:


> We have a large wooden tray with a silicone sheet on that goes from hob cover to bed and back several times a day. We use it mostly for the remoska but also ideal for making sandwiches as all the crumbs are contained.
> Lesley


I think I'd fasten it down before someone falls over it :lol: :lol:


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

patnles said:


> leltel said:
> 
> 
> > Yep work surface....bed ends up with a board on for extra worktop
> ...


So you have breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and supper all served in bed?


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## simandme (Jan 11, 2011)

Is there any other way? During a wet/windy/winter tour of scotland we spent 5 days in or on the bed like this...better half said it was the best holiday ever! 

Most pointless bit of kit on vehicle: indicators!!! Why else do so many drivers NOT use them?!


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Slightly deviating from vans. 
Who designs software packaging that could accommodate a pair of shoes as well?
Why are crisp packets always only half full?
Why aren't garment sizes standard measurements?
Why is my 1TB hard drive only 854 MB capacity?

Ray.


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## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

raynipper said:


> Slightly deviating from vans.
> Who designs software packaging that could accommodate a pair of shoes as well?
> Why are crisp packets always only half full?
> Why aren't garment sizes standard measurements?
> ...


Standard size packaging means one size fits all cheaper production costs.

Bags of crisps are injected with a gas to stop them from going stale. To accommodate the amount of gas required the bag has to have a certain volume.
Dress sizes.....women's vanity.

hard drive space is taken up by the software to make them work.

But what do I know?


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Spacerunner said:


> raynipper said:
> 
> 
> > Slightly deviating from vans.
> ...


Good try Spacerunner.
But I can't go along with those answers.

Software in big boxes makes the buyer think they are getting more for their money. Greed.
Most other packets are still half full even cereals, ink carts, soap powder.
My shoe size is 42. Some fit and some don't.
The bit you can't use on hard drives gets larger the bigger the drive?

Ray.


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