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Dust sealing on Jayco Outback "vents"

Submitted: Tuesday, Nov 12, 2002 at 00:00

David

Has anyone come up with an idea on how to seal the door & fridge vents
on a Jayco Outback Camper when travelling on unsealed roads?

I have tried duct tape but that is time consuming and unreliable especially when I forget to put it on! Wife not happy!!!!

Would appreciate any ideas as it may save my marriage next time we go bush!

Cheers.

ThreadID: 2354 Replies: 8
Views: 976 FollowUps: 2
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AnswerID: 8435   Submitted: Tuesday, Nov 12, 2002 at 00:00

OziExplorer replied:

Put in a roof vent of sufficient size or if necessary two to pressurise the van so the dust will not come in.
www.camec.com.au
then click on PRODUCTS
then VENTS & COWLS
and have a look at the SMALL SCUPPER VENT
2 x small scupper vents, one each side would be better than one large one. You want to place them as close to the front of the van as possible.
I would make mossie screens for them, and just keep the screens in place with six of those little L shapped plastic clips they use to hold domestic fly screens on.

I have used this method twice on two caravans with great success.
Reply 1 of 8
FollowupID: 4085   Submitted: Tuesday, Nov 12, 2002 at 00:00

David posted:

Thanks Oziexplorer,

Sounds like a good idea which I will pursue asap.

Interesting though, when I bought the van from Jayco they didn't recommend this method and when asked why, they said they had too many complaints about dust entering through the pressurising vent onto the beds?!!
Sounds like it might have been a copout to me!

I think I will take your advice and fit the vent anyway!

Thanks again,

David
FollowUp 1 of 2
FollowupID: 4086   Submitted: Tuesday, Nov 12, 2002 at 00:00

Oziexplorer posted:

David I would suggest a drive along a dirt road, preferably a good dusty one which should not be hard to find at the moment. Get somebody else to drive, while you are an observor at the side of the road. Take photographs as the rig goes past, as you will then be able to see where the air flow and dust is. You will of course need high speed film, and need to be about 20 metres back from the road. A motor drive 35mm camera is ideal, so you can just hold down the button and it keeps taking the shots till the rig has passed.
The only other method is to fit a marine blower that can be switched on from inside your vehicle.
www.biasboating.com.au
Part no's to look at:
3547
3548
4646
4647

Dust on the bed is a real problem, but usually when the plug is left out the sink. If you have a sink outlet that hangs down towards the ground. the vents in the door suck all the dust up the sink plug hole. Never travel without the plug in the sink on dirt roads.
FollowUp 2 of 2
AnswerID: 8439   Submitted: Tuesday, Nov 12, 2002 at 00:00

Janset replied:

Hi all.
I recently purchased a Jayco Outbacker but as yet I have not used it. The ingress of dust is a worry to me also, with all those vents.

I did once tow a Canaan both-ways across the dirt Nullabour in the bad old days and the van was chocker with dust. I opened the roof vent and dust was almost nil, but that roof vent was far more sturdy than the one in the Jayco and the roof was full height, much higher that the EH Holden tow vehicle.

I recently had the Jayco in to repair slipshod workmanship and the dust factor and roof vent was mentioned.

I was advised that the reason the roof vents on the Outbacker was done away with was because in a lowered state, the roof of the Jayco was much lower then most 4WD's and as a result tended to suck in the dust generated by the towing vehicle.

I do not know how truthfully or accurate this statement is so I am throwing this gem into the bull-ring for debate by those who know better.

Regards.
Reply 2 of 8
AnswerID: 8442   Submitted: Tuesday, Nov 12, 2002 at 00:00

Blackie replied:

Would this work? Assuming that you are running the fridge on 12 volt while travelling and assuming that your fridge like everyone elses doesn't do a great job on 12 volt, turn it of after running it on a low low setting for quite a while, even put one or two of those frozen blue things in. Now that it isn't running the vents aren't required so tape them, up if you remember. ........ and put the plug in.
I've never heard of that before, you learn something everyday.
Reply 3 of 8
AnswerID: 8445   Submitted: Tuesday, Nov 12, 2002 at 00:00

David replied:

Thanks for the above advice,
I will look at these options and also perhaps do some experimenting of my own with velcro secured tarp squares over the vents.

Otherwise its back to the drawing board!

Thanks once again for the advice,
There's nothing like personal experience to share with others.

David




Reply 4 of 8
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AnswerID: 8467   Submitted: Wednesday, Nov 13, 2002 at 00:00

Member - Lex replied:

David

As an ex Jayco owner I can tell you that It's impossible to dust seal these campers.I had moderate succes doing as you did with duct tape/paper over all the vents/doors etc.but it was a pain to put on and always tore apart.The areas where the plastic drains exit the floor are other sites difficult to seal.The roof also lets in a bit of dust as this seal is not effective over time.In the end I realized that these wind up campers are not really suitable for travel in really dusty conditions.
I can't see how pressurizing the camper is going to work as you are using dust filled air from the rear of your vehicle to pressurize with.
Finally I gave up and purchased a real off road hard floor camper and havn't had a problem since.

Lex
Reply 5 of 8
AnswerID: 8468   Submitted: Wednesday, Nov 13, 2002 at 00:00

Graham replied:

If you put the scuppers in and find dust entering thru the scuppers, try a tip posted to me by a caravanner...

"old Holden air cleaner element mounted on the top of a pannel with a heater fan sitting inside that is connected to the car power supply with a switch, no ducting just blows through a 100mm hole, it is an Avan so not a lot of area to pressurise but never gets dust in it when the fan is running irrespective of what the road is like, got plenty before fitting it."

I've heard of others using an air filter and 12v fan setup to presurise interior and all are pleased with results...

Reply 6 of 8
AnswerID: 8469   Submitted: Wednesday, Nov 13, 2002 at 00:00

David replied:

Thanks guy's,

All good advice,

The filtered 12v fan setup might be the go I think.

Cheers.
Reply 7 of 8
AnswerID: 8494   Submitted: Wednesday, Nov 13, 2002 at 00:00

Member - David replied:

This topic came up a little time ago and I responded that one option that I use is to place a horizontal tarp between the tow vehicle and the front of the camper.

I won't go on to describe how to fit it as it is in a previous question, but without doubt it keeps the dust under the van

At the end of the day the dust will win, but it can be kept to a tolerable level
Reply 8 of 8

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