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Hi, I'm a newbie to the motorhome scene having acquired a Swift Knotiki 640 from a relative. However it doesn't have a handbook which is proving problematic for dozen's of tiny things that I'm trying to fix. I've found Swift's generic handbook pdf files but they are giving me the specifics that I need.

Can anyone recommend anywhere where I might be able to find a handbook for this vehicle?

Thanks in advance,

Chris.

Have you tried ringing up Swift Tel: 01482 847332 and seeing if they can help or maybe a dealership like Brownhills http://www.brownhills.co.uk/ who actually sell both new and secondhand Swifts? They may either have a spare handbook to sell you or maybe they might know where they can get hold of one for you - who knows, but it's worth a try. 

I hope this helps you, other than that, we own a Swift Kontiki 645 and have a handbook which if you have a specific problem I can look it up for you and see if there is anything in the book that might help.

By the way welcome to UKCS  you will find lots of friendly people on here, who are more than happy to give you advice and help if you need it. Also, welcome to the fantastic world of motorhoming and once you have been out and about on your travels a few times, I am sure you soon will catch the very infectious camping bug that a lot of we UKCS members are suffering from!

Hey John,

Yep I agree Brownhills aren't the quickest at getting things done are they? We got our Kontitki 645 from them and have been waiting since January for some warranty work to be carried out! They have a fabulous showroom and sales area don't they and a large choice of vehicles (since buying mine I realise that they aren't the cheapest either though) but their after sales definitely lets them down big time and it doesn't half leave a lot to be desired!! Every time we have to go there for any reason, we notice frustrated and angry customers queuing up to air their grievances!

I'd recommend Brownhills to anyone for having a good nose and poke around if you're not too sure what you want. They've got most models under one roof and you can climb in and out of vans checking layouts etc all day long if it pleases you.  It saves the hassle of treking round the country just for a look.

Once you've made your mind up about which model/layout suits you run away!!!!  Go find another dealer.

The first time I went to Brownhills the 'suits' put me off. They looked as though they'd be equally at home selling timeshares. Someone has to pay their commission plus the overheads on the Brownhills site and fancy showroom. Don't forget the Brownhills club you get free membership of.

The buyer pays for it on the price of the motorhome.

Many thanks for the friendly welcome and advice so far all

I think my main trouble is that I'm pretty much overwhelmed by all of the different switches and gas taps that I found when I first rummaged around the van. So where the pdf manuals say things such as "ensure all gas appliances are isolated" I'm not sure if I'm doing the right things.

I guess I was hoping that the handbook would tell me things like "Before starting off ensure this particular tap is turned off and this switch over here is in so-and-so position etc"

The big problems that I currently seem to have are:
1, The plug sockets don't work off of the leisure battery
2, I can't get the fridge to run off of gas (again with the fridge I'm very much guessing that I've got the right taps open and where's the pilot light if there is one?).
3, The toilet doesn't flush (but what type is it, and how should it flush?)

From skimming the pdf guides again it looks like the electrics doc may be able to help me with the plug sockets problem so I'll have a go at reading it thoroughly and see if I can suss the problem. My knowledge does seem to be slowly growing but I keep having to re-read previous docs as I gain new terminology and understanding!

Anyway thanks again for your help so far, and btw does anyone if there's a motorhome 'teacher' in the Leamington Spa area?

Chris.

Hi John,

I guess what you're saying does make a lot of sense, although I had no idea that the fridge and toilet needed 12V in order to make them work as well - thanks for the help, and yes, I've only found the one 12V socket.

Of course my comedy of errors continues: I went to move the 'van last night and it no longer wants to start for me!! Still at least I know car mechanic types so this problem should be easy enough to fix.

Oh and on another plus side having spoken to the customer service people at Swift they are now going to send me a copy of the handbook for free!  

Hopefully over the weekend I'll be able to move the 'van to test the mains hook up, and also try out your other suggestions.

Many thanks again for the help,

Chris.

Hi Chris,

It could be something as simple as your leisure battery being flat. Do any of the 12V interior lights work?

Sorry for taking so long to reply all - of all things my ISP ceased to exist and I no longer have Internet at home

Anyway, back to the Kontiki. Sticking with just the electrics for now, if I plug in a mains connection everything works perfectly (bar the toilet flush which I'm not fussed about right now). However if I use the leisure battery the only electrics that work are still the lights - the plug sockets and fridge fail.

So I definitely have power in the leisure battery, and I can't simply have blown fuses as things work when run from the mains supply. Can anyone suggest what my next steps should be??

Thanks for the extra info John,

I was unaware of the fuse in the casette box so I'll check that out. And I've never heard of a zig unit before, but I assume it's the area that holds all of the fuses next to the power source selector? Before I had checked these fuses by simply looking for a complete wire, but are you saying that's not accurate enough?

I forgot to check the water pump when trying this out, so I'll have a go at that tomorrow. And the year of this van is 1991

Thanks again,

C.

You were dead right thanks John - one of the fuses had corroded and I now have 12V working on the fridge & heater at last!

So I would say my priority at the moment is to try and find out why I can't get power from the plug sockets when usign 12V - I can plug in an appliance with mains power feeding in, take the mains cable out and the appliance stops instantly.

From where I've been so far it would suggest another fuse, but I've just replaced every single one in the fusebox but to no avail.

Sorry, but do you have any more ideas for me?

Chris.