Problems with adjustable feet on settee bases

Last time we were away, a couple of weeks ago, one of the adjustable feet broke; for no apparent reason.  Neither of us are heavy-weights.

Last night, another one of the feet, on the opposite side to the already broken one, also went.  The foot is a plastic ring on a bolt with a plastic holder to keep the nut captive, within the leg, so it can be adjusted up and down.

Obviously the nut and bolt don't break, but the plastic holder doesn't appear up to the job and should be metal in my mind.  Has anybody else had this problem, and/or replaced the plastic with metal, and if so, how?

Or is it yet another job in a long list for AS 

Have a look at this previous thread on the same topic, might give you some pointers although it does seem to be a warranty issue for you.

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Askit wrote:Have a look at this previous thread on the same topic, might give you some pointers although it does seem to be a warranty issue for you.

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Thank you very much for that; we're about to pack up and go home this morning, so will have a good read at that topic.

The van is only 14 months old, so you're right, could be a warranty issue.  As it happens, it's going in next month to have some damp re-checked (another story!) after 90 days, so maybe we'll try to arrange and have that looked at.  Although presumably before that we'll have to contact AS to get the OK for that.

Thanks again.

Hi Kat

I fixed mine a while ago, and it has worked well. I'm sure I posted in a thread where someone else had a similar problem, but it must be twelve months ago and I can't immediately find it. (Where's Paulmold when we need him. )

Just noticed that Askit has found the thread. The solution I came up with has worked fine . . . .

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 . . . . but the idea Chudders suggested just after my final post (above) is much easier, and probably just as effective - specially if your legs don't need much adjustment for length. If mine ever do break I shall also be looking for walking stick ends.

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Gromit wrote:
 . . . . but the idea Chudders suggested just after my final post (above) is much easier, and probably just as effective - specially if your legs don't need much adjustment for length. If mine ever do break I shall also be looking for walking stick ends.

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That's a superb way of solving the problem, OH is seriously impressed with that one and will go and obtain the necessary tomorrow or Wednesday.  We had started to read the thread before leaving for home this morning, but hadn't got to that final one!  What a brilliant idea, superb   Even if we did get it looked at and sorted at the dealer, chances are the same will happen again, judging by the number of posts in that thread, so better to fix it ourselves like that.

Something else which we now also have to get (different matter) is the tap on the outside cold water drain.  When we got home it was no longer there, obviously lost it whilst travelling.  According to OH it is just a tight taper fit, obviously not tight enough.  Is it a specific AS part, or can it be bought at any MH accessories shop?

TravelKat wrote:

Something else which we now also have to get (different matter) is the tap on the outside cold water drain.  When we got home it was no longer there, obviously lost it whilst travelling.  According to OH it is just a tight taper fit, obviously not tight enough.  Is it a specific AS part, or can it be bought at any MH accessories shop?

Hi again Kat

I think this is the one you want. It seems a bit expensive to me, so a search on eBay might be worth while. Still cheaper than Autosleeper though - they know how to charge!!!

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Mine fell off in my hand the other day, which was fortunate. I pushed it back on with a little spot of glue to hold it secure.

Thanks again, Dave, for very useful and helpful info.  I suspected AS would be mega-expensive; will have a search round on ebay as suggested.

You were lucky that your tap fell off when you were around, rather than whilst travelling as in our case; lesson learned from that is to check on a regular basis!

Thanks again, this is a really good forum with some very helpful people

This one is much cheaper but will have delivery on it.

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PLOUGHLIN wrote:This one is much cheaper but will have delivery on it.

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Apologies for the delay in posting back, household issues got in the way!

Thanks very much for that link; there was £6 delivery on top of that one, which still made it £1 cheaper than the other one!  We have also phoned a couple of accessory shops close to us and one in Preston has one in stock for £10.50, so tomorrow we'll go and pick that up.  OH will then make sure it won't happen again when he fits it.

On the original post, we'll also get 4 rubber walking stick ends; due to aforementioned issues not been able to get those yesterday.

Thanks again for the helpful posts, on both problems

TravelKat wrote:

Something else which we now also have to get (different matter) is the tap on the outside cold water drain.  When we got home it was no longer there, obviously lost it whilst travelling.  According to OH it is just a tight taper fit, obviously not tight enough.

The bracket that holds the taps is 270° with small holes for the two retaining spigots. The design is this so that if the tap is struck it comes free. If the tap was fixed rigidly to the bodywork it would tear the mounting out of its fixings doing considerable damage.

I have a couple of cable tie loops between the drain pipe and a cable clamp under the floor that will stop the tap falling to the road and being pulled out/destroyed if the tap is knocked out of the mounting bracket.

I arrived at this solution through the process of 1) loosing tap and water when tap was knocked out of bracket 2) fixing tap rigidly to body but after a few days realising what would happen to the body next time the tap was struck 3) tap surviving twice now after being knocked out (operator error!) but being held up by cable tie loops. I always have a spare tap in the van!

If it's any help to either of you, our tap is held in place by a Terry Clip. Apart from the vicious attacks on one's fingers as the clip snaps, it seems to work well.
One significant advantage is the facility to unclip the tap (more agonising pain!! ) and lower it to the floor on its convoluted pipe. This goes as far as it's possible to completely draining the tank, and it's surprising how much more water comes out when the tap is lowered after the flow had stopped.

If one is brave enough ( ) to ensure the tap is fully home in the Terry Trap it's almost impossible to lose it.

Hope this might help.

Gromit wrote:. .

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 . . . . but the idea Chudders suggested just after my final post (above) is much easier, and probably just as effective - specially if your legs don't need much adjustment for length. If mine ever do break I shall also be looking for walking stick ends.

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As an update to my suggestion.
The walking stick rubber ends have really worked well. They need no adjustment. They may not reach the floor quite when the bed base is retracted but it does not matter as the bed sits on the wooden bed base. When the bed is pulled out they will certainly reach and sit on the now rubber feet. As I mentioned the ones I found in  market stall have a metal insert in the inside bottom but I don't think that matters. They will need warming up in hot water to get it on the square leg but they wont then fall off. and also as I mentioned when the seat is raised I now only bang my head on the rubber foot.
I only had one broken I think but replaced all of them. Such an easy fix I'm surprised A/S don't use that method from new.
Chudders

We too had a problem with the settee bases.  My husband trimmed down a champagne cork to fit the square  hole at the base of the leg, leaving the round part of the  cork intact. Have done 3 so far. Works well.
Jean
New Zealand

Gromit wrote:If it's any help to either of you, our tap is held in place by a Terry Clip. Apart from the vicious attacks on one's fingers as the clip snaps, it seems to work well.
One significant advantage is the facility to unclip the tap (more agonising pain!! ) and lower it to the floor on its convoluted pipe. This goes as far as it's possible to completely draining the tank, and it's surprising how much more water comes out when the tap is lowered after the flow had stopped.

If one is brave enough ( ) to ensure the tap is fully home in the Terry Trap it's almost impossible to lose it.

Hope this might help.

Not convoluted but a conventional length of plastic pipe that when rotated back and forth with an outward pulling action can be disconnected from the waste tank. Advantage being, can shove a hose directly into the tank to flush out more crud that might otherwise settle permanently on the bottom. Yes, that Terry clip can be very painful.

Peter Brown wrote:
I have a couple of cable tie loops between the drain pipe and a cable clamp under the floor that will stop the tap falling to the road and being pulled out/destroyed if the tap is knocked out of the mounting bracket.

I arrived at this solution through the process of 1) loosing tap and water when tap was knocked out of bracket 2) fixing tap rigidly to body but after a few days realising what would happen to the body next time the tap was struck 3) tap surviving twice now after being knocked out (operator error!) but being held up by cable tie loops.  I always have a spare tap in the van!

Thanks Peter, that is very good advice.  Initially OH was thinking of a spot of glue, but your suggestion of cable ties is a good one and makes better sense.  Got loads of those anyway, so that's another job this weekend.

chudders wrote:As an update to my suggestion.
The walking stick rubber ends have really worked well. They need no adjustment. They may not reach the floor quite when the bed base is retracted but it does not matter as the bed sits on the wooden bed base. When the bed is pulled out they will certainly reach and sit on the now rubber feet. As I mentioned the ones I found in  market stall have a metal insert in the inside bottom but I don't think that matters. They will need warming up in hot water to get it on the square leg but they wont then fall off. and also as I mentioned when the seat is raised I now only bang my head on the rubber foot.
I only had one broken I think but replaced all of them. Such an easy fix I'm surprised A/S don't use that method from new.
Chudders

Thanks for that too; that is another good suggestion, and as you say, has the added bonus of not banging your head against hard metal.  

Added to the weekend jobs!

I'm just wondering what these metal legs are that need rubber feet. Do the latest A/S models that utilise side settees as bed bases not have the efficient sliding unsupported mechanism anymore? If not, what year did they change?
Al.

bikeralw wrote:I'm just wondering what these metal legs are that need rubber feet. Do the latest A/S models that utilise side settees as bed bases not have the efficient sliding unsupported mechanism anymore? If not, what year did they change?
Al.

Our 2005 Inca - end lounge - did not have legs but the 2008 Wilton (same layout as Inca) did.

tikiti wrote:We too had a problem with the settee bases.  My husband trimmed down a champagne cork to fit the square  hole at the base of the leg, leaving the round part of the  cork intact. Have done 3 so far. Works well.
Jean
New Zealand

Great idea for a bit of recycling   

Do you think it would be OK if us poor people just used the corks from our Prosecco   

tikiti wrote:We too had a problem with the settee bases.  My husband trimmed down a champagne cork to fit the square  hole at the base of the leg, leaving the round part of the  cork intact. Have done 3 so far. Works well.
Jean
New Zealand

I used the same material to make a plug for my fresh water tank drain tap, it stops the road grit getting in and causing the tap to drip. The excuse to procure another four bottles for the settee legs is very tempting but on balance, I think the use of 4 nuts and washers that had probably been kicking around my garage for 30 years was more cost effective.

Anyway; who needs an excuse.... its Friday and nearly after 5!

Never looked closely before so checked ours today to find only one of the four was extended on the screw thread and wound it up so the round foot is in contact with the square holder to the leg. Don't see the need to adjust as the feet are readily in contact with the floor, therefore any downward jolt as the benches are lifted in and out or sitting down, won't overtime force the extended screw adjustment to fracture the plastic holder/surround.

Hello forum. I have also had a couple of broken feet on the bed of our 2016 Bourton.

The first one was replaced under warranty by our dealer Marquis in Poole. When the second one broke I knew it would be expensive to replace so I bought some from a Chinese company on eBay. I have about a dozen spare.

These are NOT the whole foot complete with the screw, just the square plastic bit which breaks, with the encapsulated nut. You would have to save the screw-in foot with it's thread to re-use.

If anyone wants one, please contact me for my address. They were very expensive of course, £5.08 for 16 delivered!

It will cost you an arm and a leg. I will just ask you to send a small jiffy bag containing a label with a stamp for me to return it to you.

As a matter of interest when fitting the feet, I found it impossible to remove the broken plastic lump left inside the leg, but you will find that a bit of persuading with a hammer and an old screwdriver will easily knock it far enough up the leg to be out of the way.

One of the many ideas in the forum is to keep the foot screwed in so if you drop the bed a bit hard, the silly foot doesn't break off, all of mine will be kept screwed in from now on, but I shall hang on to a couple of spares just in case.

Delboy

We have had two of the feet break on our Bourton - it is a silly design fault as all the weight is on the base of the square plastic insert. I did acquire new feet from A/S but took the opportunity to run an M10 nut onto the metal thread before inserting the metal foot into the captive nut. Once adjusted to the correct height this second nut is simply tightened up against the plastic base which cannot now break with any downward pressure. It does mean you retain the ability to adjust the feet if necessary such as removing carpets in summer.

David