How to close the roof - Advice

[MichaelB]

** Updated Following Comments **

Hi All

Alot of members have had issues closing the roof of the California which has led to ripped bellows and in worse cases a kinked roof.

I though it was time we have a topic that summed up our collective wisdom on the how to close the roof to reduce the risk of this happening. I am proposing the following as a method that reduces the risk but please chip in with your views. I am not saying that the following is approved by VW or without risk. It is friendly advice and should be treated as such.

The basic issue is that it is possible for the bellow to blow out rather than folding in what the roof is closed. The fabric can then get caught in the scissor mechicism at the rear of the roof assembly.

There are two main causes of the bellows blowing out. Air not being able to escape the vehicle when closing the roof and strong wind blowing the bellows out when closing roof.

To avoid this you should have a window or door open on the side of the van that is out of the wind. This will mean that any wind pressure will help suck the bellows in rather and blow them out.

It is also advisable to watch the bellows from the inside as you close the roof to check they are folding inwards. You should do this until you are no longer able to keep your head in roof space.

 

[Meoncoast]

for your post thats is how I have been doing it and so far no issues

 

[BMVS-Camper-Hire]

This is exactly the method I have mentioned about and we show our customers. Works every time.

And tell them to have at least sliding door and one other door open

 

[CannellWalker]

To avoid this you should have a window or door open on the side of the van the wind is blowing towards. This will mean that any wind pressure will help suck the bellows in rather and blow them out.

Are we sure about this? Surly if you open a door facing the wind the bellows will inflate like a balloon? I thought you were ment to open a door/window on the side out of the wind?

Totally agree about looking from the inside to make sure it is folding in ok.

 

[SteveW]

To avoid this you should have a window or door open on the side of the van the wind is blowing towards. This will mean that any wind pressure will help suck the bellows in rather and blow them out.

Are we sure about this? Surly if you open a door facing the wind the bellows will inflate like a balloon? I thought you were ment to open a door/window on the side out of the wind?

Totally agree about looking from the inside to make sure it is folding in ok.

I Also use this method, except the door facing the wind, I always open the door on the opposite side from which the wind is blowing to avoid the above mentioned blow up of the bellows effect :?:

 

[MichaelB]

To avoid this you should have a window or door open on the side of the van the wind is blowing towards. This will mean that any wind pressure will help suck the bellows in rather and blow them out.

Are we sure about this? Surly if you open a door facing the wind the bellows will inflate like a balloon? I thought you were ment to open a door/window on the side out of the wind?

Totally agree about looking from the inside to make sure it is folding in ok.

Spot on Chaps.

That is what I meant to say but clearly didn't. I have reworded the orginal post to clarify. Hopefully it says the right thing now.

Thanks for the spot.

 

[SteveW]

To avoid this you should have a window or door open on the side of the van the wind is blowing towards. This will mean that any wind pressure will help suck the bellows in rather and blow them out.

Are we sure about this? Surly if you open a door facing the wind the bellows will inflate like a balloon? I thought you were ment to open a door/window on the side out of the wind?

Totally agree about looking from the inside to make sure it is folding in ok.

Spot on Chaps.

That is what I meant to say but clearly didn't. I have reworded the orginal post to clarify. Hopefully it says the right thing now.

Thanks for the spot.

top man, I also get the other half to run around the out side shouting ok here, ok here, ok here. Great fun when raining :laugh2

 

[Graham]

Surely the open window should be on the downwind side otherwise you are trying to top the van up with air, not suck it out. You want the Venturi effect to create lower pressure inside the van hence draw the fabric in.

 

[MichaelB]

Yes Graham. I changed my orginal post to make that clear. Might change it to add a reference to the Venturi effect though.

 

[YorkshireHeathen]

I always also go round the outside and make sure it is folding in nicely too, at the halfway point and again when it is nearly closed. I've reduced this now to a quick one hour operation, from a starting point of sixty five separate observations at first, after reading the horror stories on here. :lol:

In terms of risk assessing the 'advice' aspect of this post it may also be beneficial to clarify (for the purpose of avoiding any health and safety gone mad type litigation from ambulance chasers in future) that while watching the bellows close from the inside, it is important that one's noggin is not observing proceedings from a position where it can be accidentally sandwiched between the lowering roof and the already lowered upper bed, as this could lead to inadvertent squidging out of the brains and eyeballs.

:laugh2

 

[andrew bazeley]

I discovered this the hard way, and nicked the fabric with the scissors thingy at the back (very successfully repaired though with transparent canvas tent kit from Millets!).

What we do now is to lower the roof to just over halfway, then stop it, get out and just walk round the van. giving the fabric a thump wherever it sticks out. The front's hard to reach from the outside, but if you just stretch your arms up inside and give the front strengthening seams a tug, it pops in nicely. This is a bit more tricky if you've got the Gore-Tex lining fixed in, but not impossible. (The Gore-Tex lining is a real must, by the way - we sleep up in the roof in the coldest temperatures).

 

[calikev]

Good advise andrew

 

[direwolf]

Hi, just getting used to my first California (2006-174)after a few T3s, thanks for the advice on the forum, my van was originally from Germany with all documents in German so...is it normal to have a flashing symbol showing the roof closed when the key is in the lock. When the key is removed it stops flashing, it all looks closed but after opening and closing again with door open and checking the tent is free it still flashes after the little tick has appeared next to the symbol? Thanks for any advice

 

[adinalee111]

We have also got the fabric caught in the scissors mechanism and we are so careful, it flew out right at the last second so I don't think anything would of saved it.

I personally think the roof is a very poor design and there must be ways to get it to fold in better, I can only assume VW have never improved the design so they can make more money out of replacing entire roof canvas's.

I did see a Marco Polo last year and they seem to have a much better roof that folds down in layers so there is no way it can get caught.