Moving to the Darkside

TonyL

Active member
Pro
After 5 years of MAN TGE ownership I am moving on. I am switching to the darkside and have ordered a Mercedes Sprinter 4x4.

It has been a hard decision as I love the TGE, but it is time for a change and I can’t get what I want on a Crafter/TGE.

I will still be lurking on here.
 
Great choice although I recently changed from Sprinter to VW. Loved the Sprinter and am falling out of love with the new vehicle not the VW part of it but the build and warranty of the Knaus back end.

Good luck with your new Sprinter.
 
Thanks Archie, the MAN TGE has been great, I have two. Both were Westfalia Sven Hedins and would have no hesitation in recommending them. However, there are several things I now want from a van, including longitudinal beds. I have gone for a Hymer Grand Canyon S 700, on a 4x4 Sprinter chassis. Let’s see how it goes.
 
Same reason we had the Sprinter. The knaus has longitudinal beds and is well spec'd. Just need to resolve the very silly grey waste water valve seizure. Been unable to use the MH for it's intended purpose since collecting on 14th Oct. Pretty pissed off at the moment. I hope you enjoy it when it arrives and you take ownership.
 
Cheers Archie, it wasn’t the van I was thinking of, went to the dealers to see something else and it had just been delivered and wasn’t sold.
 
Same reason we had the Sprinter. The knaus has longitudinal beds and is well spec'd. Just need to resolve the very silly grey waste water valve seizure. Been unable to use the MH for it's intended purpose since collecting on 14th Oct. Pretty pissed off at the moment. I hope you enjoy it when it arrives and you take ownership.
Hi @Archie H,

I'm looking to move from Transporter to a Knaus Van Ti Plus motorhome. Could you elaborate on the issue that your having with the grey water drain?

Any other issues to beware of?
 
Hi Jock Scrutineer,

As mentioned in post #4 above. When we collected our new Van TI Plus 650 MEG Platinum on 14 Oct 24. I tried the Grey waste water tap and the Fresh water tap. Both were seized. We waited an extra 1.5 hours to allow the tech to resolve the seized valves. I had read prior to collection that they could be problematic!! He managed to freee off both taps sufficiently that I thought after a bit of use they would be okay and took the van away with us. No option really as we were part ex-ing our sprinter. We drove home and parked up and on the 16 Oct Wed I went out to the van to find the fresh water tap still operational but the grey valve had seized solid. I then augmented the modification that had already been carried out by completely drilling through and replacing the self taper with 4mm nut and bolt they're by securing the handle to the shaft. The shaft extends down to the waste valve under the tank. Which BTW is completely enclosed by styrofoam winterisation, making access extremely difficult without causing damage!

Anyway I contacted the dealer and as they and many dealers will openly admit Knaus have a known problem with these taps for some time. Our dealer submitted the warranty claim and as yet still no replacement parts have been forthcoming from Knaus Germany. They've been shipped is all they can tell us!! Knaus acknowledged my complaint via their customer portal and to date have not followed up further.

Three months for a tuppenny halfpenny part is unbelievable from middle germany. It's shipped by boat and they only send out shipment monthly. F**cking joke!!

Other than that the van has not turned a wheel since the 14th Oct. and is unfit for purpose with no way to drain the grey waste water. No other issue have become apparent as yet. Here's hoping!.

HTH
Archie
 
Thanks @Archie H I've been looking about on 'net and found out that this does seem to be a common issue with little resolution from Knaus as the replacement valves are "in transit". I'll certainly have a close look and check of the valves on these MH that I'm going to see on Monday.

Any chance of a photo of the modification that you did to the handle?

I did read that some had managed to release the ball in the valve by use of freeze spray, presumably spraying up the outlet pipe to shock release the ball from the seal in the valve.
 
Thanks @Archie H I've been looking about on 'net and found out that this does seem to be a common issue with little resolution from Knaus as the replacement valves are "in transit". I'll certainly have a close look and check of the valves on these MH that I'm going to see on Monday.

Any chance of a photo of the modification that you did to the handle?

I did read that some had managed to release the ball in the valve by use of freeze spray, presumably spraying up the outlet pipe to shock release the ball from the seal in the valve.
Be tomorrow now.
 
The initial mod was a simple self taper through the handle. It did not go all the way through. So left a lot of movement. Drilling through completely and securing at both sides creates a more solid fastening and less likely to twist out of the internal connector and thereby shearing the forked end as explained above. HTH and good luck. Finally had a call. from the dealer telling me they had come up with a mod whilst they await the warranty parts so going back next Wed. Lets see what they do.
 
The initial mod was a simple self taper through the handle. It did not go all the way through. So left a lot of movement. Drilling through completely and securing at both sides creates a more solid fastening and less likely to twist out of the internal connector and thereby shearing the forked end as explained above. HTH and good luck. Finally had a call. from the dealer telling me they had come up with a mod whilst they await the warranty parts so going back next Wed. Lets see what they do.
Hope you get a satisfactory resolution next week @Archie H
 
Viewed a Knaus Ti Plus (24) today. The drain valves were fine. Some ham-fisted person had broken the Remis screen on the drivers door though. Also the vehicle I saw doesn’t have LED headlights (on the advert), nor electric heated/adjustable mirrors.
 
I can probably live with halogen lights with uprated bulbs, driving through the night is not going to be a common occurrence. Manual mirrors are cheaper to replace too. 😏
 
Spent 2.5 hours driving to dealers and 3.5 hours and another 2.5 hours driving home. I'm hoping the bodge is the fix albeit not the Knaus OEM fix. Time wil tell but happy to be able to try using the MH now. Good luck with yours.
 
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