I have heard that if you fit a vent at the front of the van it will pressurise the van helping to prevent the ingress of dust on dirt roads. I dont intend driving on a lot of dusty roads but am wondering if the vent that is fitted would do the job for the odd occassion.
I have no idea who makes these vents.
There is obvously no filter & and wondering if it would withstand the wind pressure.
See attached images.
-- Edited by oldbloke on Saturday 1st of February 2020 01:24:45 PM
I have heard that if you fit a vent at the front of the van it will pressurise the van helping to prevent the ingress of dust on dirt roads. I dont intend driving on a lot of dusty roads but am wondering if the vent that is fitted would do the job for the odd occassion.
I have no idea who makes these vents.
There is obvously no filter & and wondering if it would withstand the wind pressure.
See attached images.
With these European styled vents I would not do it.
If look around them, there is some venting holes but not enough to allow air flow.
A scupper vent the to go, not hard to fit.
rgren2 said
01:51 PM Feb 1, 2020
Have a mate who fitted a bilge blower with filter. Did the usual covering of vents, travelled into Lorella Springs and had no dust in his van.
Peter_n_Margaret said
02:10 PM Feb 1, 2020
We have a ram air vent (no fan) built into the front of the OKA.
It is always open and air goes up via a duct into the interior so that rain does not enter.
Hi Neil.....not sure how far you want to go,but I wouldn't leave my driveway with that vent open! Wind pressure would have it off in minutes,I believe? The system that Peter has no doubt would work well in his situation,as it is up high and at the front of his truck,but the same system on a van would have problems with dust ingress from the dust created by the car.I did much experimenting,and research,before eventually fitting the air intake from a truck,which feeds down into the front boot where I have a Donaldson air cleaner.The air then passes into a 300 litre/minute (I think?) bilge fan that pressurises the van.Because I do not use gas in the van,and I have a compressor fridge,I do not need vents,and is easy to put plugs in the sink and the shower to help maintain positive pressure in the van.Just make sure that the windows and the hatches are closed! May be a bit of an overkill,but I believe in "Do it once,do it well!" Cheers
-- Edited by yobarr on Saturday 1st of February 2020 03:46:30 PM
-- Edited by Cupie on Saturday 1st of February 2020 04:13:03 PM
Possum3 said
04:10 PM Feb 1, 2020
We have scupper vent fitted front middle on the flat of roof - It is high enough to avoid dust coming from vehicle wheels. It seems to work OK, although accidentally we left it open during massive dust storms at Dubbo and we got van full of red dust/dirt, not nice to come back to. Sh!t Happens.
-- Edited by Possum3 on Saturday 1st of February 2020 04:15:35 PM
oldbloke said
04:19 PM Feb 1, 2020
I think this vent is in a good location avoiding most of the dust from the ute. But I strongly suspect it would be just ripped off at speed. I dont plan on drving along too many dusty roads as the van is really designed for the bitumen.
At this point I think we will just cover all the vents, put plugs in sinks etc and see how we go. Perhaps try it at say 60kph sometime.
Possum3 said
04:46 PM Feb 1, 2020
oldbloke, just a note of caution; it is illegal to cover vents because of the dangers of NOT uncovering them when stopped in van - Previous van we stuffed an old pillow in the step-well before closing door, blocking the vents when travelling which fell out when we opened door. Legal solution to dust ingress through door vent. Fridge vents should have close fitting appliance so no problem with those.
Peter_n_Margaret said
08:59 PM Feb 1, 2020
Possum3 wrote:
oldbloke, just a note of caution; it is illegal to cover vents because of the dangers of NOT uncovering them when stopped in van - Previous van we stuffed an old pillow in the step-well before closing door, blocking the vents when travelling which fell out when we opened door. Legal solution to dust ingress through door vent. Fridge vents should have close fitting appliance so no problem with those.
What you propose is also NOT legal.
A gas leak even while no one is inside the van can cause a concentration of gas to build up. That concentration can literally explode, given the slightest ignition source.
I had a friend do this, not with LPG (which is even more likely) but with a flea bomb. The resulting explosion destroyed the caravan.
Cheers,
Peter
Phillipn said
10:30 PM Feb 1, 2020
oldbloke wrote:
I think this vent is in a good location avoiding most of the dust from the ute. But I strongly suspect it would be just ripped off at speed. I dont plan on drving along too many dusty roads as the van is really designed for the bitumen.
At this point I think we will just cover all the vents, put plugs in sinks etc and see how we go. Perhaps try it at say 60kph sometime.
The air scoops are a great idea, we have two fitted to the front of the canopy on out twin cab. They create a positive air presure which prevents dust entering the canopy. The will not blow.
bobsa said
11:50 AM Feb 2, 2020
A scupper vent will not blow off at speed 120 , 130 kph all Ok in the NT but they do let the bugs in
RichardK said
12:04 PM Feb 2, 2020
We have what looks like the top section of a snorkel fitted to the roof of our camper, it leads through the roof into a air filter similar to the old Ford/Holden type that are available from Repco. The air is rammed down the snorkel head and through the filter. We never have any dust in the camper despite travelling on roads like The Gunbarrel, Connie Sue etc.
Cheers
Richard
Phillipn said
12:21 PM Feb 2, 2020
bobsa wrote:
A scupper vent will not blow off at speed 120 , 130 kph all Ok in the NT but they do let the bugs in
bobsa, the ones I have won`t blow off.
Peter_n_Margaret said
12:29 PM Feb 2, 2020
bobsa wrote:
... but they do let the bugs in
I have some stainless steel termite mesh in ours to stop the bugs.
Cheers,
Peter
Bobdown said
12:42 PM Feb 2, 2020
Just a word of warning, they can drip from condensation when extremely cold outside, unfortunately they are over the bed most times.
Good in the dust though.
Cheers Bob
blissonwheels said
05:23 PM Feb 2, 2020
Gooday,
Can vouch for Scupper. Vents, was a standard small one fitted to our. 21ft Caravan. Did the Plenty/Donoghue plus the Great Centralwhen only 6 months old, and buckets of dust inside with the 1 Scupper Vent open, had worked perfectly on a previous 16Ft 6" Pop Top.
When wereturned I took it to the Builder and had them install 2 more, Larger Scupper Vents, 1 either side of the original.
A few years later did the sameroads with extra 2 Vents without a spec of dust inside, worked fine, also did the Tanami on the same trip no problems. Certainly no good using open flap of 4 Seasons or one of those other Clear Plastic ones unless you wish to replace them.
We used to end up with a small stone on the bed when ww stopped for coffee etc but no insects its either.
Cheers,
Jayway.
elliemike said
06:12 PM Feb 2, 2020
I have a Bilge Blower pressurising the Avan Cruiseliner.
Because of the Folded Down Low height when towing, a Scupper vent without a filter would/does allow dust in. Met a guy who had tried them without success. With and without filters.
He told me to fit a bilge blower drawing through a filter, which works OK. When an Avan is folded there are a lot of joints that create problems and will allow dust ingress if seals are not fitted to the van carefully and maintained.
Hi,
I have heard that if you fit a vent at the front of the van it will pressurise the van helping to prevent the ingress of dust on dirt roads. I dont intend driving on a lot of dusty roads but am wondering if the vent that is fitted would do the job for the odd occassion.
I have no idea who makes these vents.
There is obvously no filter & and wondering if it would withstand the wind pressure.
See attached images.
-- Edited by oldbloke on Saturday 1st of February 2020 01:24:45 PM
With these European styled vents I would not do it.
If look around them, there is some venting holes but not enough to allow air flow.
A scupper vent the to go, not hard to fit.
We have a ram air vent (no fan) built into the front of the OKA.
It is always open and air goes up via a duct into the interior so that rain does not enter.
We don't get dust inside.
Cheers,
Peter
Hi Neil.....not sure how far you want to go,but I wouldn't leave my driveway with that vent open! Wind pressure would have it off in minutes,I believe? The system that Peter has no doubt would work well in his situation,as it is up high and at the front of his truck,but the same system on a van would have problems with dust ingress from the dust created by the car.I did much experimenting,and research,before eventually fitting the air intake from a truck,which feeds down into the front boot where I have a Donaldson air cleaner.The air then passes into a 300 litre/minute (I think?) bilge fan that pressurises the van.Because I do not use gas in the van,and I have a compressor fridge,I do not need vents,and is easy to put plugs in the sink and the shower to help maintain positive pressure in the van.Just make sure that the windows and the hatches are closed! May be a bit of an overkill,but I believe in "Do it once,do it well!" Cheers
-- Edited by yobarr on Saturday 1st of February 2020 03:46:30 PM
My old Jayco Westport has a vent in front of the front hatch fitted as standard for that purpose.
It's about 100x50 mm. and just clips up in place using a toggle spring.
Does it work? Who knows. I never use it and never go off road.
edit .. As previously mentioned ... It is a 'scupper vent' like this one but I thought it was a bit smaller.
https://www.caravansplus.com.au/scupper-vent-aluminium-240-x-150mm-white-p-497.html
-- Edited by Cupie on Saturday 1st of February 2020 04:13:03 PM
We have scupper vent fitted front middle on the flat of roof - It is high enough to avoid dust coming from vehicle wheels. It seems to work OK, although accidentally we left it open during massive dust storms at Dubbo and we got van full of red dust/dirt, not nice to come back to. Sh!t Happens.
Similar to ours which was factoy fitted; https://trailerpartsdirect.com.au/shop/vents/camec-scupper-vent-white/
-- Edited by Possum3 on Saturday 1st of February 2020 04:15:35 PM
At this point I think we will just cover all the vents, put plugs in sinks etc and see how we go. Perhaps try it at say 60kph sometime.
What you propose is also NOT legal.
A gas leak even while no one is inside the van can cause a concentration of gas to build up. That concentration can literally explode, given the slightest ignition source.
I had a friend do this, not with LPG (which is even more likely) but with a flea bomb. The resulting explosion destroyed the caravan.
Cheers,
Peter
The air scoops are a great idea, we have two fitted to the front of the canopy on out twin cab. They create a positive air presure which prevents dust entering the canopy. The will not blow.
We have what looks like the top section of a snorkel fitted to the roof of our camper, it leads through the roof into a air filter similar to the old Ford/Holden type that are available from Repco. The air is rammed down the snorkel head and through the filter. We never have any dust in the camper despite travelling on roads like The Gunbarrel, Connie Sue etc.
Cheers
Richard
bobsa, the ones I have won`t blow off.
I have some stainless steel termite mesh in ours to stop the bugs.
Cheers,
Peter
Good in the dust though.
Cheers Bob
Gooday,
Can vouch for Scupper. Vents, was a standard small one fitted to our. 21ft Caravan. Did the Plenty/Donoghue plus the Great Central when only 6 months old, and buckets of dust inside with the 1 Scupper Vent open, had worked perfectly on a previous 16Ft 6" Pop Top.
When we returned I took it to the Builder and had them install 2 more, Larger Scupper Vents, 1 either side of the original.
A few years later did the same roads with extra 2 Vents without a spec of dust inside, worked fine, also did the Tanami on the same trip no problems. Certainly no good using open flap of 4 Seasons or one of those other Clear Plastic ones unless you wish to replace them.
We used to end up with a small stone on the bed when ww stopped for coffee etc but no insects its either.
Cheers,
Jayway.
I have a Bilge Blower pressurising the Avan Cruiseliner.
Because of the Folded Down Low height when towing, a Scupper vent without a filter would/does allow dust in. Met a guy who had tried them without success. With and without filters.
He told me to fit a bilge blower drawing through a filter, which works OK. When an Avan is folded there are a lot of joints that create problems and will allow dust ingress if seals are not fitted to the van carefully and maintained.