Gas Locker Strut
My caravan is a Lunar Conquest SB 2015. Purchased it July 2020. Not used it much due to Covid but on one occasion when on site my wife opened the gas locker and the force of the strut was sufficient to knock her over as it lifted the locker door. I have now realised that the force from this strut is sufficient to deform the front edge of the locker opening. I have not been able to find a dealer that can tell me if the strut is a manufacturer original. The strut has an operating force of 290 Newtons which accounts for the explosive nature of the lift and I'm guessing the batch code suggests it was made after the caravan was first sold which means it could be a non-original item.
I know this caravan is based on the Quasar range so could some kind person who has one of these caravans with an original gas strut please tell me what the serial number is for the strut.
SGS Engineering Ltd has been helpful but each time I telephone the sales person I have been emailing is not available and the person on the sales desk can't help.
Comments
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Have you checked to see if your gas strut has a bleed valve? It’s normally a very small recessed grub screw with a fine Allen key socket at one end of the strut. If it has, let a small amount of gas out of the valve and keep doing that until there’s enough force in the strut to retain the door open without distorting the hinge. The alternative is, as others have said, replace the strut with an adjustable one.
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I think it may have lost it's gas as they usually work with an internel spring that pushes the strut out and the gas slows this process down, if no gas then the spring being very strong just wants to shoot out as fast as possible. It's similar a door closer and can be adjusted via a screw but they use oil and not gas.
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I have a 2017 Lunar Eclipse, also based on the Quasar. My gas locker strut has a serial number of: SDB8P8200264P82-290N-250850-41/16. I can't quite read the name of the manufacturer (something Components Ltd) but their website is: www.speciality-fasteners.co.uk and their telephone number is: 01803 868677. As your van is an earlier model it may not have the same strut but it gives you a starting point.
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Thank you to all that have responded to my request. Thanks Pentenviv. The strut number is almost identical to the one on my caravan. The 290N is the force applied in the strut in Newtons and the last 4 digits are the week of manufacture. My strut bears 49/15 which is after the date that the caravan was first sold so I'm thinking that possibly the original strut failed.
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An Update. Again thanks to all that replied. I did source a strut with a bleed valve and the force lifting the gas locker door is much more gentle. What I also discovered was that the metal keeper plate that one of the door locks slides behind was actually 3 inches out of alignment with the lock. When turned the lock was actually using the fibreglass edge of the gas locker opening as the keeper. The original strut lifting force was sufficient to deform the edge of the opening. That too has now been rectified and the appearance of the front end is improved now that the door is fully recessed.
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Glad to read that you have been able to source a replacement strut, and that all is now fine. Thanks for your update.
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