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Heike Hatches


Gary and Kaye

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Hi Folks,

I would like to ask about 'Heike Hatches'.

Are they able to keep out dust & water. Do they loose there tight seal after a few more corrigations and use.

I have seen a van after installation at the Factory, and love the concept, but dust getting into the van doesn't make me warm and fuzzie.

I read an old thread on this forum, about a seal that was required to stop dust entering.

Was this a fix that Kedron had to do because of an oversite during installation, or a fix implemented by the owner.

I'm considering a Heike Hatch over the bed, and 2 x Fantastic Hatches further along the van.

I would be very gratefull for any replies on the above.

Cheers

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Hi Gary and Kaye

I noticed a discussion on these recently on the Caravanners Forum

Link here Heke Hatches

They didn't get such a good rap from those who had them.

We have a four season hatch at one end which we love as you can leave it open slightly even in the rain and everything stays aired out and no rain gets in, and at the other end we have a fantastic hatch.

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Hi Webby,

Well, that certainly gives me food for thought :shades:

Do we have any new Kedron owners out there with the newer version of the Heike Hatch.

If there is such.

Have you guys had any dust problems with your Four Seasons hatches when going on dusty roads? I have read some negative threads on this subject. Have also read good results on the 'Fantastic' hatch.

My original thoughts were to have 2 x Fantastic hatches. Primarily to create good convention air flow with one fan sucking and the other blowing, when in those hotter climates. The only thing I'm not sure about is wet weather and how the Fantastic hatch handles it, is there any associated problems.

There's a question that maybe some one could answer for me.

Thank you very much for the link.

Cheers

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Hi Gary Kaye

We agree with Webby. We have a fantastic hatch at the front of our van and a four seasons at the back and have never had dust entering either. Apparently Kedron originally mounted them the opposite way around with the 4 seasons at the front where it did leak dust. Stan can fill you in on this.

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G`Day Gary & Kaye

What ever you do,DO NOT put a 4 seasons hatch in front of your van.They leak dust like a sieve. :sad:

Cheers

Rick & Lea

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Hi Sue,

If you dont get any dust through you 4 seasons hatch why do you have that sponge insert fitted into the recess of yours? :confused1:

Where are you guys at the moment?

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Hi Tony,

Nice to hear from you.

Yes, you are right. We did buy a piece of foam specially cut to size to fit the 4 season hatch (at great expense I might add), as we had read either here or possibly on the Caravanners Forum that it would stop the dust coming in.

We put it in place on the first couple of days on the Gibb River Road, but each night there was no sign of dust on the foam at all. After the two days we took it down permanently and threw it in the back of the car where it has travelled for the rest of our around Australia trip.

Might find a use for it when we get home with some holes cut out to protect our Kedron mugs from breaking.

I think Peter and Margaret prepared with foam as well and didn't need it either.

I agree with Rick & Lea about the placement of the 4 season hatch. Ours is behind the roof airconditioner.

We have just crossed into Victoria and will slowly weave our way across to just below Sydney. The car keeps wanting to do a U-Turn and it's taking all my energy to hold it in a straight line. Funny thing that ! :laugh:

Cheers

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We are definitely anti front mounted 4 seasons,ours is a major dust problem. :sad: :confused:

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Hi Gary & Kaye,

Trust you are both well.

Can I suggest you have a yarn to either Dave or Ashley at the factory re the Heike Hatches, apparently they have there own problems as well, after leaving my van at Brendale recently Ashley has talked me out of having a Heike fitted. Remember though our 4 seasons is fitted at the front of the van, current new placement is now behind the A/C unit which I have heard is working a lot better.

Cheers & beers

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Hi Tony,

How are you guys, appreciate you throwing your hat into the ring.

I have also appreciated everyones replies and the wealth of information delivered.

I'm still uncertain about putting in two Fantastic hatches, as I don't want to impeed air flow.

Should I mix and match the Fantastic and Four Seasons hatches? Are the Fantastic hatches water proof? Can they be left in the open position in the rain, or is it just a hole with a fan in it?

I will certainly give the Heike hatch a miss but will have that discussion with Kedron as advised.

I hope all is well on the home front, and life is being good to you both.

Won't be long before your van is back and looking like a new one.

Have you and Wendy opened up the B&B again. Xmas is looking good, $$$$

Take care

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Hi,

As we are aware, the 4 seasons hatch does leak & let in more than its fair share of dust. Despite this annoying short coming they are important in the overall ventilation & letting light into the van. The 'fix' Kedron have done mounting the hatch behind the A/C unit is probably going to be as good as it gets until something better comes along. Due to gas regulations the so I'm told the flaps of the hatch have to remain partly 'open' even when fully 'closed' (Irish I know) to let air flow through so as to disperse any LPG should it leak from the stove even though it is recommended to turn gas off at bottle when travelling. (The guys at Brendale will not modify or alter the operation of the flaps, but when I get the van back I will be investigating further to see what can be done to 'rework' the operation of the flaps')

Travelling on black top is not going to pose any problems, but if you were going off road....how hard would it be to carry a pre cut sheet of foam to insert into the recess around the hatch, then remove carefully on arrival at your destination take outside give it a shake & store away till required next time. Webby/Sue H has some photos here on this site showing how she has installed towel rails into the recess for the purpose of hang clothes to air/dry these rails could also be useful in supporting the foam insert but may restrict or inhibit the removal of a 'dusty' insert.

The fantastic hatches are amazing in the amount of air that they move. I feel that having two would be an overkill (appreciate feedback from other readers).

The fantastic hatch can only be partly left open in a light shower otherwise the rain will 'splash in'. I have not been aware of any dust/water ingress whilst travelling from the fantastic hatch. The only negative with the hatch is the difficulty you have cleaning the inside of the hatch cover.

Life is too hectic at the moment to have the B&B up & running again. We are having to go to Sydney a couple of times a week for Wendy to have chemo & transfusions....but it will all turn out OK I'm sure!

Will be having 29 here for Christmas lunch then most sleeping over :helpsmilie:

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Gary and Kaye,

We have a Heike fitted over the bed and a fantastic fitted down the rear. We nearly made the mistake of not fitting the Heike and if we were ever going to build again we would not be without it. The best advantage is the amount of light that you get in the van.

The blockout blind works perfectly when you want to have a rest in the middle of the day or early mornings for sleeping in.

We haven't had any problems with ours.

Hope this hasn't confused you. :thumbsup:

cheers

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Hi Laurie & Helen,

Thank you for the reply. Of course it goes without saying we are now totally confused, especially after looking at the link Webby was kind enough to attach to a previous thread. :confused1:

Did you see it by chance. How can so many people be that dissappointed?

I'm still impressed with the design and benfits the Heike hatch has to offer.

I just don't want dust or sagging solar blinds or water leaks.

If the temperature is not a problem, (comment please) then thats great. I like openness and light.

We are attempting to use lines, colour and design to trick the eye into thinking your in a bigger space, the Heike hatch (I think) would help to compliment that.

Could you tell me, has there been a design change with the Heike thus making it a much better product now.

Does Kedron have a better installation process.

Is the Heike hatch you have the same model Kedron is installing today.

We appreciate your replys. This is the best time to ask the questions and get it right the first time.

Thanks to all who have participated, please keep the learned opinions coming.

Cheers :thumbsup:

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Hi Tony & Wendy,

Very much appreciate the informative reply. As you can tell by all this correspondence we didn't look too much at hatches when investigating the Kedron Vans, except for the Heike hatch we saw when doing our tour through the factory.

If nothing else we are creating a wealth of information for those who are embarking on creating there dream caravan of the future.

It appears Xmas at the 'Heat Household' is going to be Cecil B De Milne production :shades: As they say "There's Always Room For One More".

Will you be wearing your Santa Suit :clown:

Kaye & I wish Wendy all the very best with the ongoing treatment, and may Xmas be full of happiness and good fortune for you both.

Look forward to seeing you both in the not too distant future.

Take care

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Hi Laurie & Helen,

Thank you for the reply. Of course it goes without saying we are now totally confused, especially after looking at the link Webby was kind enough to attach to a previous thread. :confused1:

Did you see it by chance. I had a look tonight.

How can so many people be that dissappointed? You can't please everybody and I bet most people who are whinging would have something negative to say about anything if they were given the chance, just have to sought the good advice from the bad and be satisfied at the end that it was your choice based on the information available at the time.

I'm still impressed with the design and benfits the Heike hatch has to offer. So are we

I just don't want dust or sagging solar blinds or water leaks. Ours fit OK

If the temperature is not a problem, (comment please) then thats great. We haven't been to the top of the hot spots but we haven't had any heat issues as yet. We just pull the blind over and run the fantastic.

I like openness and light. Our van is 19' 6" outside and yes we believe the additional natural light does make the van look larger.

We are attempting to use lines, colour and design to trick the eye into thinking your in a bigger space, the Heike hatch (I think) would help to compliment that.

Could you tell me, has there been a design change with the Heike thus making it a much better product now. I don't know if they have made any changes but our van is just 12 months old.

Does Kedron have a better installation process. They do take pride in the product they put out of the factory so I suggest yes.

Is the Heike hatch you have the same model Kedron is installing today.

We appreciate your replys. This is the best time to ask the questions and get it right the first time.

Thanks to all who have participated, please keep the learned opinions coming.

If you want to have a look at our van give us a call we live just south of Toowoomba.

Cheers :thumbsup:

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Hi Gary & Kaye,

just been reading all the replies, we bought our van second hand so had no choice where the 4 seasons went ,it's above our bed at the front of the van haven't been on too much dirt yet so can't tell you what the dust problem may be like we'll know better when we head to Birdsville next year, but when we were in S.A last year we had a problem with condensation coming off the hatch. The weather was crap outside so we did have the van closed up. Will make sure we get some air flow in next time. What we do have and I highly recommend is the 2 fantastic hatches one next to the 4 seasons and another at the back of the van. We use them like a Cardiff Air one in & one out and it drops the temperature in the van enough for us to be comfortable. I'm not 100% sure but I think you can get hatches that will close automatically if it starts to rain. Hopefully this hasn't confused you even more. :confused1:

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Hi Everyone,

We would like to thank all of you for your time in replying to this forum string.

With all the information presented, we feel very comfortable knowing what the options are.

Again, thank you for your replys. :thumbsup:

Cheers

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Hi Laurie & Helen

"You can't please everybody and I bet most people who are whinging would have something negative to say about anything if they were given the chance".

Picture this.....you have been towing the van off road, you stop for smoko, lunch or just the end of the day, open the door & then your heart falls from your chest is caught bouncing in your underpants when all you can see through the inside of your van is dust & I'm not talking about a weeks worth of dust on the sideboard at home. It sort of take the gloss of things when the first you have to do clean the inside of the van, all over the bedding, lounge, tables, benches & stove top. So much dust you can 'write' in it on the stove top....so much that when you run you finger through it leaves miniture 'dunes' if you know what I mean.

If I'm a whinger then so be it. I thought the purpose of this thread was for feedback to propective new owners.

Am I a disatified owner/whinger.... NO WAY... I love the product the van that is & all that goes with it....well most things anyway.

For what its worth my original tow vehicle was 100 series I now have a 200 series Toyota. The dust ingress has become worse towing with the 200 series..... the only thing I can put it down to is the air flow off the tow vehicle creating extra? air flow or directing dusty air up towards the 4 seasons hatch.....so with the repositoning of the hatch (to the rear of the A/C unit) it is very possible that the dust ingress will be dramacticaly reduced.

I now carry a foam insert that I put in the recess of the hatch & I accept that this is a problem due to the design, positioning & gas regulations.....but hey I can live with that, because I'm out & about enjoying my Kedron & the great outdoors.

Life is great....enjoy it

No offence taken but dont put a knife in my hand & turn your back when we fianally meet. :laugh:

CU down the road

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Hi All,

We're on our second Kedron van both of which have had a Heike hatch up front and a Fantastic at the rear. Actually, the Heike is fantastic if you get my drift, for the reasons mentioned, but mostly because of the light it allows to enter the van. Heat is never a problem when the shield is deployed. Lying in bed somewhere in the outback admiring the stars through the hatch is an additional bonus.

However, although dust ingress has not been a problem, water leakage has. With our first van, the hatch was sealed externally with silicon which within a year or so simply peeled off one day when I was cleaning the roof and needed to be resealed with Sikaflex which IMO is a much better product. As it turned out, we had rain leaking into the van again but only when it was stationary and in a slightly nose-down attitude. We eventually determined that the rain ingress was from somewhere further back on the roof and thereafter, whenever we were stationary, we ensured that the van was slightly nose-up. No further issues were encountered.

The second van is doing exactly the same thing! I requested that Kedron ensure the primary sealing of the hatch was done with Sikaflex and they certainly complied with this. However, on our recent shakedown, when parked slightly nose down (because of the terrain) and in a torrential downpour, we had a minor dribble from the hatch. Again, we think the leak is from further back along the roof and will get Kedron to sort this out shortly. By the way, subsequent to the above we had plenty more rain but when slightly nose up, no leaks.

Cheers

Brian

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Greetings all.

We also have had water ingress problems but not through a Heiki. Not having one on our older 2005 Kedron.

Our water leakage was through the front window ( replaced 3 times from new by Kedron) and lastly water in any rain conditions would come through the aircon outlet panel inside.

After heaps of frustration and no fixes,we finally took it back to Kedron and asked them to re seal the old Colman Mack aircon, thinking that the water was tracking to our trouble spots. We were quoted $400 by Tom to do this job. Needed it fixed at any cost it was a frustrating bu..er of a problem.

When we went back to pick the van up Tom said that it was a join on the roof that was not sealed properly.

Lo and behold all leaks are now fixed yahoooooo. Hope this is the end to 5 years of frustration.

The best part was no charge, well $50 for a new tail light that was full of water (again) that is another saga but the water is fixed :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

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Hello All,

Your informative replies to our forum thread, has been fantastic, and we very much appreciated it.

When you first look into the 'Wonderfull World of Caravaning' it can be rather daunting, trying to pick and choose the right product for the right job. We also want to avoid any financial mishaps and inferior products.

This forum has helped us to sail a straight course from the advise and experiences of all you Koggers that have been generous enough to reply and advise.

Thank you for the assist.

Hope to see you on the road :biggrin:

Gary & Kaye

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  • 4 weeks later...

When we designed our van, we spoke with many good people and got advised many ways.

We fitted Heike hatch over the front Kitchen and two auto fanatstic hatches one over the table and one over the bed.

18 months on no dust no water absolutly would not be without the Heike hatch.

Cheers

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Thanks Greg & Judy & Laurie & Helen.

We have been agonizing over the Heike as a choice for a future build.

I believe that the quality of the installation might have a lot to do with the problems atributed to these hatches in this and various other forums.

The hatch in the hand (pre installation) looks like it is made well but like most van components has to be fitted properly because it is quite flexible and needs a good flat/stable surface to be mounted on or heaps of Sikaflex.

We appreciate all the input as well.

Regards to all. :thumbsup:

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