Bundutop Rooftop Tents

The tent has a winch inside that lifts and lowers it. It is connected to ropes that run on bearings to effectively pull in the awnings and sides. The rope system inside is essentially dyneema plasma rope snaked through various pulleys and arms, as well as the mechanisms for the awning to pull in the sides and awnings when the tent is shut.

The arms and their unique design again assist with the lifting of the tent and ensures that it is rigid when open, essentially strengthening the construction.

Unclip ALL FOUR latches and ensure that they are open before pressing the button to lift the tent. There is a safety feature (limit switch) that assists with telling the motor when to STOP while lifting/lowering the tent. YOU, however, are responsible for telling the tent when to START, so kindly ensure all the latches have been opened.

Should you forget to unclip one of the latches the arm inside will bend. It is also the only way to damage the tent from the inside. It is easy enough to fix but best avoided.

We will also be able to tell whether this was the cause, so better to be honest when taking it in for repairs!

Our tents have a one year mechanical warranty.

All the electronics used in the BunduTop can be found inside the Electronics Box.

The Electronics box houses:

• The Switch
• The Manual Override
• 2 x Diodes
• 1 x Relay
• 1 x Lighter Socket

Should you experience any difficulties with your tent’s wiring, this is where everything is located.

Electrical Override:

Up – Open                             Down – Close
Positive top                           Negative top
Negative bottom                  Positive bottom

Diode

If the light inside still works, but your tent won’t lift or lower, it is most probably the diode. The diode blows when there is a short in your wiring system. The short is caused by the wiring touching the body.

The Limit Switches:

The Limit Switch located near the winch tells the tent when to stop lifting. The Limit Switch on the arm tells the tent when to stop lowering. NEVER adjust these switches unless instructed otherwise by a technician.

PLEASE NOTE that it is preferable to connect your tent to the secondary battery.

PLEASE NOTE that depending on what solar panel you have installed, you need to install a regulator that can handle VOLTS and WATTS. A lot of smart systems can handle 28V but not the 45V that a 300W Solar Panel produces.

When installing the tent, we advise that there is no more than a 20 inch unsupported overhang.

We also advise that the roofrack/load bars should be no less than 50 inch wide.

If installing on load bars use three evenly spaced supports. The tent can be bolted on with a minimum of 4, preferably 6 bolts and you can run wiring from the dual battery system with a Brad Harrison plug through the vehicle or make an extension.

No Limit Switches work when you override the tent manually. Be careful to stop the lifting/lowering in time.

If you are doing the wiring from your battery directly to the tent:

• Use a Brad Harrison plug
• Use 0.2 inch 2 electrical wire
• Use 15 Amp inline fuse – this will help prevent damage if you forget to open the latches.
• Make sure to connect positive and negative correctly

PLEASE NOTE that a larger fuse is not a good idea. The purpose of the inline fuse is to blow when the tent pulls too many amps.

This means that if you accidentally left a latch on, the tent’s motor will work harder to lift the roof, thus pulling more amps and therefore blowing the fuse.

After the fuse blows the tent will come to a standstill and thus safeguard against bending the arms or snapping the ropes inside.

PLEASE NOTE that if opening the tent for the first time for installation and the wiring is not made up yet, use the electric override option to open tent and be careful to not over tighten the tent.

If installing on load bars use three evenly spaced supports.

Remember to mount the ladder bracket:

After installing the tent mount the ladder bracket beneath the opening you will be using as the door. This way the ladder has a place to hook on to and will be less damaging than simply hooking the ladder onto the lip of the tent.

• Hold the bracket in position on the side of the tent where you will be entering your tent.
• Trace the outline.
• Mark where you want to place your 3 bolts and drill the holes.

• Hold the bracket in place again and mark the 3 holes you just drilled through the bracket onto the tent and drill them as well.
• Line up the holes on the bracket to the ones on the tent and bolt through both.

After Fitment:

After installing the tent it is a good idea to check for symmetry when lifting/lowering.

You can fine-tune how evenly the roof lifts/lowers by adjusting the turnbuckles. If you screw them in the roof will lift, if you screw them out the roof will lower – you have about 2 inch to work with.

There is a frame on the roof that supports the edges of the aluminium sheet. Below the edge of the entire sheet you have a 1 inch area to drill without damaging the tent.

PLEASE NOTE to be careful when drilling through to the inside of the tent as the drill bit might catch on the roof-lining and cause tears. Also ensure that the holes are properly sealed to insure that it is still dust/water tight.

Add a Brad Harrison plug next to your current grey plug on the bottom frame. Add a Brad Harrison plug to the top frame. Connect the two with 0.2 inch wiring that can go through the inside of your BunduTop – ensure the length is long enough. To eaten the appearance, you can run it through the canvas sleeve next to the arm that already contains wiring.

PLEASE NOTE that since the end of 2017 all tents are manufactured with solar wiring so the above will only be applicable as an upgrade to older tents.

You can order the 12v Fans or LED lights from the factory to install afterwards. The frames they come in have a clear aluminium area that gets fastened to the interior roof of the tent. Firstly decide on placement and with a blade remove the roof-lining – this insures that when you drill the holes to rivet/bolt the fan/light to the roof the drill bit does not catch on the material and cause tears.

Kindly use the wiring diagram as reference.

To hide wires you can run them underneath the CANVAS edging around the tent – merely lift this edging, run the wiring through and glue down neatly again (you can use the canvas sleeve in the arm to hide any additional wiring).

PLEASE NOTE that this can affect the warranty of the tent if not to professional standards.

How to install the fan:

Step 1

• You will receive the fan already mounted in its housing.
• You will be able to feel the electrical wire under the roof lining – it goes to four corners on the BunduTop.
• Pick the corner you want to mount the fan.

Step 2

• You will receive a bracket along with the Fan.
• It has one side that has double sided tape on it.
• The area you stick it on needs to be ABSOLUTELY clean for this VHB tape to work, so first make a slit in the roof lining to expose the aluminium sheet below.
• Clean it thoroughly with thinners to ensure that the tape sticks.

Step 3

• Mount the bracket to the Roof.
• As an added measure we suggest that you drill a hole and rivet it in place to ensure that it does not come off.

Step 4

• Mount the fan unit to the bracket.

While unnecessary when not experiencing any faults, we do recommend maintenance in the older tents, as designs are upgraded continuously. This can be done by just replacing the ropes and re-aligning the roof.

How to replace the Ropes:

• Remove old ropes (remember to leave one arm as is as a reference when you do the new ropes).
• Turn the turnbuckles so that they are halfway in and halfway out (about mid way).
• Roll the belt onto the barrel until about only 4 inch is left.
• Snake the rope through the 4 holes in the belt, the ropes have to go through the correct bearings in the roof.
• There are 4 bearings in the middle of the roof under the light cover, left bearing is for left far side, second to left bearing is for is left front and the other two mirror for the right.
• Snake the rope through the arm mechanism as per the copy you left intact.
• Tie the rope to the turnbuckle, preferably hang mans noose, otherwise just a proper knot.
• Begin at the belt and tighten the rope through its course, the roof of the tent will lift – just keep going until the canvas is nice and taught and tie the rope off at the belt. Repeat for each arm.
• You can fine-tune how evenly the roof lifts/lowers by adjusting the turnbuckles. If you screw them, in the roof will lift, if you screw them out the roof will lower – you have about 2 inch to work with.
• If you need to lift/lower more for an even roof you need to adjust the rope at the belt area again.

The only other faults we have experienced are the following:

1. Tent does not go up or down.
   • Check that the electric cord to the tent has power (if the light goes on inside the tent then there is power).
   • Check that the connectors are not corroded (if the connectors are corroded it will not allow enough current through to drive the winch).
   • Use the electric override if all else fails.
2. Tent opens but does not close.
   • Check the limit switch near the winch.
     The arm on the limit switch might bend over time and not make contact. Bend the arm a little bit down so that the switch makes contact when the belt is tight. When the tent closes and the belt gets slack the switch will disconnect and stop the winch.
   • Use the electric override if all else fails.
     The other main fault we have experienced is the customer accidentally forgetting to open the latches. The ropes should snap before any serious damage can be done, but we have had instances where the arms are bent. In this case you can either straighten out the arms after removing them or get replacements from the factory. You may have to replace the safety belt on the winch motor if the ropes damaged the edge of the belt.

If you are replacing the belt:

• Remove old belt and ropes (remember to leave one arm as is as a reference when you do the new ropes).
• Turn the turnbuckles so that they are halfway in and halfway out (about mid way).
• Drill out the 2 old rivets from the barrel of the winch.
• Paint adhesive glue on the 4 inch front section of the belt and paint adhesive glue on the barrel of the winch.
• Give a few minutes to air dry to ensure maximum stickiness, then re-rivet the belt to the winch.
• The belt has to go over the top of the barrel (between the winch and the tent’s roof).
• Follow the rest of the instructions under “Maintenance”.
• In some instances the diode may have been damaged – the tent will then neither lift nor lower. Just replace the diode situated in the electronics box and all should be well.