Bellows becoming detached from roof

[PurpleLizC789]

I know there are some older threads on this and I can see that bellows detaching from the roof was maybe a known issue a while ago with T6s but haven't seen anyone post on this recently (unless I missed this when I searched).

We've had our Ocean since November 23 and probably had the roof up a dozen times but last weekend would have been the first time we had hot weather. In the morning after day 1 I noticed I could see light through the top corner of the pop-top on the driver side (from the inside). On the outside we could see the bellows had clearly detached. My other half manually tried to re-attach these but when we put the bellows up again on night 2 they just immediately popped out again when the roof reached full extension. On the second morning the passenger side had also slightly started to detach (the heat of the morning sun was on the driver side on the first night and on the passenger side on the second night as we were camping in different places).

It's a bit depressing to have yet another issue. The bellows already leak, so we've spent money ordering a made to measure rainbow screen (which we haven't got yet as they take 8-10 weeks to be made). We thought the rainbow screen would see us through the next 6 months or so for wet nights as we didn't want the hassle right now of taking days off work to make a long trip to a decent dealership for various reasons (and based on this forum, I'm assuming I should go to Breeze in Poole as I don't have any confidence that the dealership nearer to me in Swindon knows much about Californias - they briefly posted on here but then didn't reappear to answer questions). Additionally, it looks better to wait for a bellows replacement until the replacements actually don't leak, but I don't think waiting is an option now!

I was wondering if other people have experienced this and how common it is?

 

[lohr500]

I think I may have read some recent reports of the newer bellows detaching. So many issues with bellows that I have lost track!!

As a temporary solution until you can get them replaced, after attaching them again, I wonder if you could stop raising the roof slightly before it reaches full height, or raise it fully then lower it a cm or so. Just to take a little bit of tension off the fabric.

 

[California Dreamer]

We had the same with our t6.1 bellows (older ones which don’t leak) about a year ago - we weren’t able to fix ourselves but the dealer did it v quickly and we’ve had no issues since.


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[PurpleLizC789]

I think I may have read some recent reports of the newer bellows detaching. So many issues with bellows that I have lost track!!

As a temporary solution until you can get them replaced, after attaching them again, I wonder if you could stop raising the roof slightly before it reaches full height, or raise it fully then lower it a cm or so. Just to take a little bit of tension off the fabric.

I have wondered about not fully raising the roof, as the bellows only pop off when under full tension, but it's not easy to know quite when to stop (I did try this the last time I put the roof up, with my husband watching on the outside, but at the point he called stop, I took my finger off the button but it just kept going as it had presumably reached that end point). It's still probably a good idea if we can't get it booked in quickly and want to have another weekend away (we're trying to go away every 3 weeks at the moment).

 

[PurpleLizC789]

We had the same with our t6.1 bellows (older ones which don’t leak) about a year ago - we weren’t able to fix ourselves but the dealer did it v quickly and we’ve had no issues since.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Did they fix the bellows without replacing them? Having read the older threads, it looks like the usual fix is new bellows.

 

[California Dreamer]

Did they fix the bellows without replacing them? Having read the older threads, it looks like the usual fix is new bellows.

Yes they fixed them by using some sort of glue, no replacement needed


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[PurpleLizC789]

Yes they fixed them by using some sort of glue, no replacement needed


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ah ok thanks - although glue would worry me when it comes to replacing the bellows! As my bellows do leak then I guess I should be pushing for a replacement anyway and just hope the replacement doesn't leak, as that will save 2 trips.

 

[Robert&Catherine]

I know there are some older threads on this and I can see that bellows detaching from the roof was maybe a known issue a while ago with T6s but haven't seen anyone post on this recently (unless I missed this when I searched).

We've had our Ocean since November 23 and probably had the roof up a dozen times but last weekend would have been the first time we had hot weather. In the morning after day 1 I noticed I could see light through the top corner of the pop-top on the driver side (from the inside). On the outside we could see the bellows had clearly detached. My other half manually tried to re-attach these but when we put the bellows up again on night 2 they just immediately popped out again when the roof reached full extension. On the second morning the passenger side had also slightly started to detach (the heat of the morning sun was on the driver side on the first night and on the passenger side on the second night as we were camping in different places).

It's a bit depressing to have yet another issue. The bellows already leak, so we've spent money ordering a made to measure rainbow screen (which we haven't got yet as they take 8-10 weeks to be made). We thought the rainbow screen would see us through the next 6 months or so for wet nights as we didn't want the hassle right now of taking days off work to make a long trip to a decent dealership for various reasons (and based on this forum, I'm assuming I should go to Breeze in Poole as I don't have any confidence that the dealership nearer to me in Swindon knows much about Californias - they briefly posted on here but then didn't reappear to answer questions). Additionally, it looks better to wait for a bellows replacement until the replacements actually don't leak, but I don't think waiting is an option now!

I was wondering if other people have experienced this and how common it is?

View attachment 124426

View attachment 124427

I have just noticed the same issue on my van this weekend. Had the van since Sept 23 but not noticed it (although don’t normally sit at the front of the van so could have occurred earlier)

 

[A and A]

I have just noticed the same issue on my van this weekend. Had the van since Sept 23 but not noticed it (although don’t normally sit at the front of the van so could have occurred earlier)

View attachment 124434

We had exactly the same issue on our November 2023 Ocean. It only happened with first time up in hot weather. Annoyingly just after treated the bellows with Aquatex as also leaked. Called Dealer and they are going to replace bellows with 5S version and on order for this to be done.

 

[Robert&Catherine]

We had exactly the same issue on our November 2023 Ocean. It only happened with first time up in hot weather. Annoyingly just after treated the bellows with Aquatex as also leaked. Called Dealer and they are going to replace bellows with 5S version and on order for this to be done.

I have a 3S bellows that has not leaked yet so certainly don’t want to risk having my bellows replaced…obviously may not have experienced the right type of rain yet but it is survived quite a few soakings so fingers crossed it is one of the better ones.

 

[PurpleLizC789]

Ah, sounds like it's not just me then! My bellows are also 3S.