When hitching up after seven weeks on site (in Spain) I noticed that the 'beak' of the roof was not fully in contact - quite a gap under the seal. We have had 'Emile the Eriba' from new (bought from A.L. at Poole) and have always followed the correct procedure for raising and lowering the roof. Naturally this time I made doubly sure the interior clips were fully engaged and secured. As the weather was dry and we had a ferry to catch, we set-off. No dramas on the way to Bilbao, nor from Portsmouth to home. The extent of the gap can be seen in the 1st photo. This morning, having pushed down on the beak portion I then was able to turn the knurled knobs on the front hooks a little tighter and this has reduced the gap slightly - see 2nd photo. It seems as though the front portion of the pop-top has warped!

By coincidence we will be taking Emile to A.L. (Poole) for an annual service in late November. Before talking to them about the issue, I would appreciate thoughts on likely solutions (my initial thought for a stop-gap (!) solution is to buy a length of narrow diameter pipe-lagging (the sort that is slit along its length) and slipping this over the seal in the affected area). Thoughts on probable cause and potential solution(s) will be very welcome!

Thanks,
KeithDM

Thanks, Randa :) I'll try and be a more regular participant this time around!

Unfortunately earlier this morning when I took the 540 to the farm where we store it, is that when 'putting the Eriba to bed' so to speak found that there is also a gap at the rear of the roof which became noticeable when the blinds were pulled down.

You, beat me to it Randa! Yes, we have a similar gap on our 2018 540. (See thread - Pop-top edge). AL insist it is normal for on newer vans, but I am not yet convinced. Unfortunately, we are not due for a service until April and can't make it down to Bournemouth before then. So we'd be very interested to hear what AL have to say. By the way did the roof close down completely flat before? Would also be interested in observations from others.

Well my 540 was serviced at A.L. on Tuesday and Paul the Service Manager assures me that everything pertaining to the pop-top is "within specification". Guess I'll have to take his word for it!

Dave? You guessed my middle name? ;)

If your question was aimed at me Randa, the answer is no, not that I have noticed. The service/water ingress check on Tuesday did not show anything coming in via the roof. Did have to have the seals around a window replaced though. :(

Have another drink....it's an age thing !

Thanks for the photo Keith. That looks exactly the same as the photo I took in our 2018 540 in October. Interesting to read what AL say. Our service is not due until April. In the meantime the van is standing on our drive under its cover. All seems dry inside and I will check every so often through the winter.

I have been around the top of our 420 quite a bit whilst doing my mod of the AL cover, and seems to me that the fiberglass panel is quite flexible (mine is 2015).
The peak at the front will move up with the slightest pressure so unlikely to make a great seal with the rest of the roof. Mine seems fairly close all round apart from the right hand side where it does bow up in the middle. It doesn't appear to be a problem though, as any water getting underneath can still escape. Probably better this way than trapping water underneath. Pity the spiders don't find there way out as well.

Ths is all very interesting, as we picked up our new (to us) Troll on Tuesday from AL. Not used to the wheeled tensioners on the front roof clips, I queried this with Paul at AL, and he said that they were an addition to the newer Eribas. When I asked if there had been problems with roofs on newer models, he said that they had tried to make an airtight seal on the poptops, but they had had extensive discussions with Hymer who said there needed to be a gap to allow water to escape.I think I've got that right.

I'll check ours when it stops raining! I wished I had checked our older Triton before it went, just compare.

Just a thought, I wonder whether it would be worth asking either Hymer, or one of the dealers, to provide a comment on this, for publication here?