removing interiors of Westfalia to access wiring

[janieh]

Hi All

I've been having a bit of a saga trying to work out why our mains hook-up keeps tripping out. (you can see some of the previous discussions on this thread - https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=68440)

Anyway, after not getting very far ourselves we called out an electrician. He did some testing and thought that it was caused by a loose earth in the grey box in the cupboard behind the socket. He fixed this and got ok results on his testing machine and left. However, unfortuntately we hooked up the van that night and after an hour or so the RCD tripped again. He's coming back to look at it on Thursday but I think he'd have a better chance if he could actually access the wiring behind the fridge etc.

Does anyone have any advice about how to pull out the cupboards? We've got an 88 westfalia with the grey interior (see this for not very good pic
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Zl ... directlink

It looks as if we may have to remove the bench/ bed in order to get at the cupboards but I just have no idea where to start. How hard is it? any advice welcome!

Thanks so much
Jane

[ninja.turtle007]

I've got an '85 Westy which should have same wiring as yours. There aren't any connections behind the fridge except for the plug socket for the fridge. I had a problem of the RCD keep tripping out and once I replaced the RCD it was fine. Have you tried to disconnect everything that runs on 240v to see if it still trips?

I work in Wandsworth and live in Tolworth if you want to pop over. I have taken out and refitted a complete Westy interior so I can tell you where to undo and in which sequence to do it in.

[Llamapup]

That's a shame you haven't been able to resolve the electrical issues. I can't comment on the electrical problem you have identified, but I've got a Westy with the same interior as yours. I have not had to disassymble as much if the interior as you have suggested but I have removed the fridge and some of the cupboard area under the sink and hob. My observation from this was that the Westy interiors are really well built. Everything came apart and went back together with no problems. The screws and fixings are all well made, so you shouldn't have any problems pulling it apart. Just take your time and bag and lable your parts. Remember that the last part you take off is the first part you need to put back on.

Use the opportunity to check the condition of the inside of your body panels. I treated a few bit of rust on the inside of my panels behind the fridge.

Best of luck

[ninja.turtle007]

Just had a look at your pics. Wiring is same as mine.

[ian&jan]

Hi,

We have a LHD westy with the same interior. I recently had all of the cupboards out to treat the side panel. Nothing too difficult, just time consuming! There is not much in the way of wiring and what there is (on our van at least) can be accessed by taking the 'fridge out. Its worth asking a friendly electrician to check the RCD - they do go wrong. As for taking the cupboards out, the most difficult part is getting the fridge out. The front cupboard is held to the floor with just one nut as is the rear cabinet. You will also need to take the bed out first, which is straight forward, apart from the bolts at the back which were both rusted solid on our van. If you need more details I'd be more than happy to bore you senseless!

[janieh]

Thanks for all the advice. We ended up not having time to give removing the cupboards a go as the electrician came back today. this time he did a pac test on the fridge and various other tests. He couldn't find anything wrong and thought it might be the RCD but couldn't actually test it.

I've got it all plugged in again at the moment to see if it trips again. He thought if it went again we should get a new RCD. Any ideas on where to get one? he said they could try to find a similar one but didn't seem sure that they'd get one to fit.

Our holiday starts next Friday so i'd love it sorted by then!
Cheers
Jane

[janieh]

I had a problem of the RCD keep tripping out and once I replaced the RCD it was fine.

Hi
Could you tell me where you got a suitable RCD to replace the existing one?

Thanks
Jane

[ninja.turtle007]

I had a problem of the RCD keep tripping out and once I replaced the RCD it was fine.

Hi
Could you tell me where you got a suitable RCD to replace the existing one?

Thanks
Jane

If you disconnect the wires on the load side of it and it still trips then you need to change.

You can get another one from an electrical wholesalers but will probably be smaller in size. I used a blanking piece from a consumer unit, trimmed with a Stanley knife as an infill.

[janieh]

You can get another one from an electrical wholesalers but will probably be smaller in size. I used a blanking piece from a consumer unit, trimmed with a Stanley knife as an infill.

Thanks. Actually, although the electrician didn't seem to think he'd done anything, we left the power on all last night and it didn't trip! hurray! looks like maybe there was something loose that he tightened up. I'll just keep my fingers crossed it doesn't start again once we're on our hols.