Hymer Sunlight Van 1 purchase

[hoosiermark]

Well it finally happened. I contracted to buy a Sunlight Van 1 this weekend. 2018 with 18,000 miles. Obviously I thought price was right for what it is. I had looked at Travato (sp?)and really like the 59K but I could not justify the price at this time. We have not had an RV since 1990 when the children were small so this is basically a new thing for us. The unit has the lithium batteries and the built in generator which pleases me. It also has swivel front seats which should be handy.
I have only seen picture and a short video of it so the purchase is contingent upon inspection next Monday. The salesman says he did not see the owners manuals in the unit but hopefully they are there. If not, I am hoping another Hymer owner on the forum will copy the for me at a reasonable fee and send them to me.
I am not sure how the refrigerator and generator will work with each other or how long it can run off the battery pack. I am buying it from Camping World in Minnesota and they will walk me thru all the stuff but I am not sure they have a good handle on it either since there were not that many of these units made and sold it appears. They did sell the unit which is a plus.
I had looked into a DIY unit and older units but this unit at the price was a better deal. I really like the mileage. That many miles on it means that it did not sit idle a lot which I prefer. I hope to contact the previous owners for some history on where it went and what they have done to it.
I have wanted a class B since I first saw a "turtletop" chevy van in the early 1980s. Now I will have one, life is good! We head up to Minnesota to get it then off to Michigan to watch son-in-law run 50 mile ultra marathon the 17th. Kind of a baptism by fire with it but we are comfortable staying in hotels until we get it home if need be. We will only have minimal camping supplies with it but Walmart is around.

[hoosiermark]

I have now driven the van over 1,700 miles since Tuesday. Minnesota to Marquette MI in UP and now home to SE Indiana. I am pleased with it having finally had a chance to spend a night in it. Only problem I found is using the AC and invertor. We camped on Lake Michigan and when I went to use the microwave, I turned invertor on and then tried micro. It would not work and created a high pitched whine. I shut off invertor and then tried it again. Heard two beeps and then one beep and then I had a working microwave. So I tried the roof AC. Following same pattern it would start and then after 30 seconds kick off and the invertor area would whine. I know AC works as it was working on shore power, I know batteries have plenty of power and due to micro working I know invertor is working. So I put in an email to CW to have Ted in Monticello tell me what I am doing wrong. I have not tried plugging into shore power here at home because it has been too long of a day. Any suggestions, greatly appreciated.

[mumkin]

I think you should be fine keeping just the fridge running. Glad it turned out well. There is a bit of learning curve, but the FB groups are good because at all hours there is usually someone online to answer a question.

[hoosiermark]

Picked up my RV today at Monticello MN CW. I feel like I got exactly what I expected and Ron Denny the salesman said it was. I am so pleased with it. It is not as nice as the Winnebago Travoto but I did not pay anywhere near the price either. Only wish I have is that promaster had a tilt wheel. The telescopic is nice but I am a tilt wheel person. I tried to pay attention to all the features Ted showed me but the batteries and 12 volt system will need some study by me to make sure I do it right. I plan to turn the fridge on with the batteries as power and let it run. I will be on the road daily for most of the next week. I will not be plugged into shore power at all but will not be using any other power during that time. Every day should have at least an hour of engine use to recharge the system. Am I OK to think the lithium batteries will support this arrangement without issue?

[mumkin]

hoosiermark wrote:
What the heck is a balmer? I tried to google it but could not find anything that made sense to me. Is it something to do with solar power?

Have Ted show you and explain it to you. The Balmar company makes a little controller that handles the underhood generator's charging to the lithium batteries. If it is installed inside of the fender (down near the UHG, which hangs quite low next to the passenger wheel), that isn't a good thing since it can cause early corrosion to the connectors.

[hoosiermark]

What the heck is a balmer? I tried to google it but could not find anything that made sense to me. Is it something to do with solar power?

[wohtex]

Hoosiemark I had Camping World install a regular outlet for my kitchen sink and the cover on it has the hose fitting, I carry a 5 gallon tote and when necessary I hook it up to take care of kitchen grey water. Mine also came with the cheap radio so had another one installed with satellite radio. Thanks for the heads up on the owners group will google that and take a look at it.

Bill

[mumkin]

Originally all of them drained to the ground (it is only water and a bit of soap), but this was changed with the newest models... or so I read. The bathroom water goes into the main black/gray tank.

This is one of the ways that they kept the labor to build one of these to one hour. LOL As Jim Hammill bragged on FB...

Good to see that you found the FB page. You might also want to join the Hymer Aktiv Owners group which has a number of owners who are better at the tech in these rigs than most of the techs at EGHNA were. They organize meet-ups around North America to help get the tech end of these vans functioning properly and safely. When you are orphans, you have to do a lot of the work yourself. :C

Luckily you can do most of it, but these lithium/balmar/UHG/solar systems require a few tweaks.

[hoosiermark]

Wohtex. If you don,t belong to the carado//sunlight owners group I recommend you also join. I am creating my own go to manual from the helpful information they have. There is a good article in the files section titled “the only power document you need”. It covers problems with the battery system.
Question for you. How do you handle the drain line from the sink. I am told mine drains to the ground

[wohtex]

I have the 2017 Sunlight V-1 and really enjoy it. The main problem that I have is the lithium batter and under hood generator. Recently in a move from AZ to TX while driving I had the roof A/C going for the dog and had the refrigerator going, this is while driving and it ran down the lithium batter to 12volts, and now I can't get the power system to turn on to recharge the lithium battery. Other than that, enjoy the V-1, nice driving, fairly economical on fuel. I am contemplating moving the water tank so the drivers seat will swivel completely around.

Hope you enjoy yours.

Bo;;

[mumkin]

Very good!! Ted took me through two walk throughs on new rigs at his previous job. (on my Libero and my 170) Hopefully all will be up and working for you. Take notes and/or even film the more complicated stuff like running the lithium battery system.

Be sure to join the Facebook page.

[hoosiermark]

Mumkin thanks for the advice. Yes it is the one in Monticello north of Minneapolis. I requested Ted and he will be the tech doing the walk thru on Monday. The final price was well under $50K as I pointed the same things out to them as you mentioned. I am very excited. We plan to be in the area until Wednesday morning to do as you suggested. I am planning for the worst and hoping for the best.

[mumkin]

Is this the Camping World NW of Minneapolis? They have one good tech there named Ted who has experience with Roadtrek vehicles and systems. The Sunlight is rather a stripped down Roadtrek. So he probably knows more than most of the staff there about their systems. I would request that he check things out for you before you leave. I would camp nearby to make sure that things are working properly before you head back to MI. There is a KOA not far away... and perhaps other campgrounds that I am not aware of. FB does have a Carado/Sunlight Owners group where you will find the most owners in one place. It should be a bargain price since it is now an orphan... well under $50K