R 10 Roof catch failure

[Bill 65]

I have a Romahome R10 which is 17 months old. It has been used very little to camp in during this period. In August 2011 the catch which holds the roof shut sheared on one side of its hinge point when closing the roof. The dealer from whom we purchased it sent a replacement catch which I fitted. Since then the roof has not been raised. Last Friday, 20th January we left home on holiday. Within 12 miles when doing 65mph on the motorway the roof catch sheared completely resulting in the roof going up with a bang. Fortunately I was in the inside lane and pulled off on to the hard shoulder. The dealer maintains that this has never happened before and is sending another catch. They also suggested bringing the vehicle in but as I am in Worcestershire and they are in Hampshire I do not feel inclined to make the trip solely for a catch adjustment.

Has this happened before and should there not be a safety wire fitted to prevent the roof opening if the catch fails? Your comments would be welcomed.

Bill

[NomadSue]

I have a Romahome R10 which is 17 months old. It has been used very little to camp in during this period. In August 2011 the catch which holds the roof shut sheared on one side of its hinge point when closing the roof. The dealer from whom we purchased it sent a replacement catch which I fitted. Since then the roof has not been raised. Last Friday, 20th January we left home on holiday. Within 12 miles when doing 65mph on the motorway the roof catch sheared completely resulting in the roof going up with a bang. Fortunately I was in the inside lane and pulled off on to the hard shoulder. The dealer maintains that this has never happened before and is sending another catch. They also suggested bringing the vehicle in but as I am in Worcestershire and they are in Hampshire I do not feel inclined to make the trip solely for a catch adjustment.

Has this happened before and should there not be a safety wire fitted to prevent the roof opening if the catch fails? Your comments would be welcomed.

Bill

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Scary stuff! Thank goodness you are ok.

The R20 has a similar catch system. Some kind of security chain (like caravans apparently have with their towing systems) sounds like a good idea in theory.

[jayjay]

Yes, I think I would fit a security chain retro if that had happened to me. I have a pop top caravan and have heard of this happening with pop top things several times now. I have just managed to find (to replace in the spring) the locks on this bit, so I will be able to close and lock them with keys as well.

It has never happened to me in two years of towing (touching wood as I say this) but that doesn't mean that it wont. It's taken my local locksmiths 6 weeks to find the right barrel locks to fit - and I'm still not sure they are the right ones. crossing fingers!

[ant]

Hi Bill.
I have had one other R10 break its catch but it didn't release the roof. I think a saftey strap would be a good belt and braces solution. I found that if you adjust the roof catch so that it was always under tension when the roof was shut the problem didn't arise ( same with the R 20 Hylo roof catches). The vibration on the catch seems to weaken the spot weld on the cross bar in the catch.
Thanks
Ant

[Jill S]

R10 owner

Hi Bill,
It hasn't happened to me but I feel there's so few R10 owners it's useful to know of any problems. After paying over £500 to have a tv from new I have now had three aerials and a second tv but no luck with reception yet. It's being looked at for the third year running at the Kings Lynn rally. I need it to run on leisure battery - was told it should. Keep us informed with roof problem.

[Bill 65]

R 10 Roof Catch

Ant

Thanks for your reply (and others who have commented). Your comment that the catch should be under tension to prevent this happening is exactly the reverse of the dealer's! His comment was that it had happened because the catch was under too much tension!! and needs adjusting. The catch has been very tight to operate from the moment we took delivery of the vehicle. The fact that the second catch had not been touched after fitting and it still failed does not fill me with confidence that this will not happen again. This sort of thing makes the whole vehicle unsafe on the road.

A secondary issue here is how to secure the roof to enable the vehicle to be driven. There are no points on the back doors, the floor or anywhere else to which you could tie the roof down using the handle on the roof itself. The only way to do this appears to be to use plastic cable ties between the separate parts of the catch.

Bill

[GeeCee]

From reading this post I guess that the R10 has just a single catch to hold the roof down. The R20 has 2 catches, one at each side, and this would seem to be a safer bet in case one fails. Maybe the R10 can be also fitted with 2 catches? Graham and Carole

[ant]

Ant

Thanks for your reply (and others who have commented). Your comment that the catch should be under tension to prevent this happening is exactly the reverse of the dealer's! His comment was that it had happened because the catch was under too much tension!! and needs adjusting. The catch has been very tight to operate from the moment we took delivery of the vehicle. The fact that the second catch had not been touched after fitting and it still failed does not fill me with confidence that this will not happen again. This sort of thing makes the whole vehicle unsafe on the road.

A secondary issue here is how to secure the roof to enable the vehicle to be driven. There are no points on the back doors, the floor or anywhere else to which you could tie the roof down using the handle on the roof itself. The only way to do this appears to be to use plastic cable ties between the separate parts of the catch.

Bill

Hi Bill.
I share your doubts about your catch not failing again, it would seem to me that there is something unusual about your catch and the way it has been fitted. The catch has a spring loaded clasp, it needs to be under tension to work properly, that tension should not be so great that the springs are fully compressed on the clasp when its shut. I'm sure a webbing strap could be fitted along side the clasp to act as a fail safe fixing, just for peace of mind, but I'm also sure that properly adjusted the clasp could be made to work as it was intended.
Thanks
Ant

[nutshell]

I have a Romahome R10 which is 17 months old. It has been used very little to camp in during this period. In August 2011 the catch which holds the roof shut sheared on one side of its hinge point when closing the roof. The dealer from whom we purchased it sent a replacement catch which I fitted. Since then the roof has not been raised. Last Friday, 20th January we left home on holiday. Within 12 miles when doing 65mph on the motorway the roof catch sheared completely resulting in the roof going up with a bang. Fortunately I was in the inside lane and pulled off on to the hard shoulder. The dealer maintains that this has never happened before and is sending another catch. They also suggested bringing the vehicle in but as I am in Worcestershire and they are in Hampshire I do not feel inclined to make the trip solely for a catch adjustment.

Has this happened before and should there not be a safety wire fitted to prevent the roof opening if the catch fails? Your comments would be welcomed.

Bill

When I first got my R10 nine months ago, I remember reading this thread and thinking 'Oh, that's scary - hope it never happens to me' Well, it did today...sheared off in exactly the same place. I was on my way from Essex to the South Coast and I didn't realise it had happened until I got home so I was lucky it didn't fly up. I guess the air pressure kept it down. I've been away six times this year in my new van and each time something has gone wrong - from dodgy electric connections to broken door handles in the cab. This weekend the leasure battery died, and now the broken clip....good job I'm not easily depressed!

[NomadSue]

I guess new designs, however carefully thought out, might be expected to have a few teething problems, but, as said before, this roof catch is a really scary one, along with the practical issue re how to transport the vehicle to a garage where it can be fixed. I think I'd have called out the AA for this.

Personally, I'd expect the manufacturers to fix any problems and to cover the cost of getting the vehicle to them (a significant cost if, like me, you live some distance away.) Perhaps this should be written into the warranty?

Disappointing for you. I hope things settle down now and you have safe, happy driving.