Buy all your VW California Accessories at the Club Shop Visit Shop

How waterproof is that pop-up on the 2019 T6 model?

P

PAS

Messages
17
Location
Norway
Vehicle
T6 Ocean 204 4Motion
Hi
Very very happy to say that I finally own one...! I’m a complete novice here and wondered if anyone can give me a hint on how the pop-up fabric will handle a moderate amount of wind and rain ( say 7 m/s and 3mm per hour)? Living on the west coast of Norway with lots to see! Am thinking of buying an external shield but am uncertain if it’s necessary and how will that handle roof bars? Any helpful advice very welcome!!
 
Hi and welcome on your first post .
I had my canvas changed on my 2012 T5 to a new T6 canvas and used it a few times in rain (no torrential rain or storm) i feel it's better waterproof than the old style fabric .
Others (T6) owners mostly confirm this , i have a external topper witch is good , but if you move each day this means putting up and taking down a wet topper is no joy .
But it is a good pice of kit , there are toppers for use with roof bars/solar panels also .
Take a look in the forum/club shop .
Read some other posts regarding roof toppers , there's lots been talked about on the forum pro's and con's .
 
Hi and welcome on your first post .
I had my canvas changed on my 2012 T5 to a new T6 canvas and used it a few times in rain (no torrential rain or storm) i feel it's better waterproof than the old style fabric .
Others (T6) owners mostly confirm this , i have a external topper witch is good , but if you move each day this means putting up and taking down a wet topper is no joy .
But it is a good pice of kit , there are toppers for use with roof bars/solar panels also .
Take a look in the forum/club shop .
Read some other posts regarding roof toppers , there's lots been talked about on the forum pro's and con's .
Thanks MartG!
 
Hi
Very very happy to say that I finally own one...! I’m a complete novice here and wondered if anyone can give me a hint on how the pop-up fabric will handle a moderate amount of wind and rain ( say 7 m/s and 3mm per hour)? Living on the west coast of Norway with lots to see! Am thinking of buying an external shield but am uncertain if it’s necessary and how will that handle roof bars? Any helpful advice very welcome!!
Hi and welcome :thumb

The Cali bellows will handle moderate amounts of wind and rain, but in really heavy weather you may feel happier with the roof down to remove any fear of damage.

An internal, or external liner will make the interior much more comfortable and reduce the risk of bedding coming into contact with damp canvas.

There are many posts on here discussing the pros and cons of internal vs external liners so use the search facility on here and make your decision. Owning both, I can tell you that I never use the external one, but the internal one is in place all the time. If you go for the internal one, the only one I’m aware of now is the Brandrup one, which is expensive, but worth it in m opinion. There was a cheaper version made by Comfortz, but this is no longer available.

Congratulation on the new van, and enjoy!
 
Congratulations on the new van.

Here’s my opinion:
Many have an external topper, but I prefer a “fit and forget” strategy, so fitted the Brandrup Isotop from new on my MY17 Ocean. This improves the weather proofing and insulation of the pop top and also makes it darker inside. It looks smart and requires practically no attention once fitted. It has windows matching the pop top, allowing increased ventilation in warm weather. A little more expensive than an external topper and in really bad weather, some dampness is possible if bedding presses on the sides.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Thanks so much to all! I’m a little taken by that Brandrup internal liner - I like the idea of fit and forget! I’ll likely go for that in the near-term.
Thanks again to all...new to this posting business....
 
Congratulations on the new van.

Here’s my opinion:
Many have an external topper, but I prefer a “fit and forget” strategy, so fitted the Brandrup Isotop from new on my MY17 Ocean. This improves the weather proofing and insulation of the pop top and also makes it darker inside. It looks smart and requires practically no attention once fitted. It has windows matching the pop top, allowing increased ventilation in warm weather. A little more expensive than an external topper and in really bad weather, some dampness is possible if bedding presses on the sides.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Does the internal Brandrup topper have a removable front panel? I have the new style bellows with the front panel having the ordinary semicircle window and the zip round the whole front so you can open it up completely.
 
Does the internal Brandrup topper have a removable front panel? I have the new style bellows with the front panel having the ordinary semicircle window and the zip round the whole front so you can open it up completely.

On my pop top I have a semi circle window on front and sides. The iso top iv has matching openings. This was useful last summer when we were in France and Spain.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I've got the new zip out front panel and it takes a lot more space up when the roof is down, to the point the sliding panel can be relatively difficult to open and close. You would need to make sure that an internal liner would fit with the new bellows. Also, as has been mentioned, you would possibly lose the function of being able to zip out the front section of the bellows.

I have an external topper and it is a bit of a pain to use but very useful when it is raining as it keeps the bellows completely dry so you can put the roof down knowing you are not trapping a lot of moist fabric up there. However we got caught out last week when we hadn't put the topper on and there was quite an unforecasted storm in the night but we were completely dry inside so the bellows seem to be pretty good on their own.
 
I think our Brandrup liner (less than 12 months old) has a zip out front panel. Have to check next time the roof goes up!
 
Hi welcome to the club, we got a new ocean this spring and have just come back from a month in Norway. We went up to the artic circle and the Lofoten islands. A very mixed bag of weather met us to put it mildly. We had no problems with water ingression through roof canvass.What we did take and use on occasions was a 'rainbow screens' wrap around the roof (see youtube video on this). Unlike toppers they don't flap in the wind, being insulated are very warm and cut noise down and best of all keep out the midnight sun in June!!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: PAS
Hi
Will check those rainbow toppers... thanks for the tip!
 
We have had our California for 4 years now and in that time have had some pretty bad weather.. The only thing you tend to get is a few spot of water on the inside of the roof canvas.. 2 years ago I sprayed the canvas with waterproofer for tent fabrics. For me this worked brilliant and after that not even spots of water showing inside....Some say don’t use waterproofing on the fabric but for us it was perfect....
 
We had no problems sleeping up top with neither inner or outer topper through 2 nights of pretty fierce horizontal Welsh rain and wind in our 2019 MY Ocean a few weeks ago - just make sure you park with your tailgate into the wind. It was noisy but we stayed dry.
 
Back
Top