Curryhouse's Jayco Sterling 21.65 van

[Curryhouse]

On a recent trip to Scotts Head (NSW), we made a visit to Coffs Harbour and against my better judgement called into the local Jayco dealer. Had a look around the yard and my wife spotted a Sterling van with a layout that met all her requirements (quite a few were news to me). Anyway, long story short, we traded in the Millard and bought the Sterling. A step up in size and weight that I hadn't planned for; but I have to admit I am getting used to the van. Some of the features include; front kitchen, dinette & lounge, east-west island bed, full rear ensuite with Lemair washing machine, 184L Waeco compressor fridge/freezer, full stove, microwave, Winegard antenna, LCD/DVD TV, stereo, house battery (*Try posting a bit more so your post isn't boring*) with 120 watt solar panel (*Try posting a bit more so your post isn't boring*), air conditioning, rollout awning, and u/slung axles. Got an external gas bayonet fitted and a sunshades (3 sides) included as part of the deal. Had an eaz-lift WDS fitted and am looking at a McHitch auto coupling to get around the issue of not being able to open the rear door of the Prado with the van hitched. Attached are a few pics of the van. I'm now going back over threads I've been watching to make a list of mods to do. First one in work is a rear view camera.

 

[chartrock]

Nice looking van. Congratulations

 

[dagree]

Congrats @Curryhouse
Similar thing happened to us..... We had the old 16' tourer soft bed lid expanda and called into Jayco Caravanland last year "Just to look at the new model" and ended up walking out with a receipt for the deposit on the one we have now..... Mrs Dagree liked it so we JUST HAD to get it

 

[chartrock]

You're just a soft touch @dagree. eep:

 

[dagree]

You're just a soft touch @dagree. eep:

Between you and me @chartrock let's just say... "The plan worked!!!" :barbershop_quartet_member:

 

[chartrock]

Between you and me @chartrock let's just say... "The plan worked!!!" :barbershop_quartet_member:

Your secret is safe with me. You will probably trade up to a Journey before I get to WA and tell on you.

 

[mfexpanda]

Congrats ! Great looking van

 

[FiveInAVan]

Looks great! Lots of room. Happy wife happy life

 

[Curryhouse]

Thanks everyone for your comments. Seeing that I am now happily retired, we're looking forward to getting to use the van frequently.

Currently have a minor problem with the 12v water pump not switching off. Have had a few posts on @Drover's page (http://www.expandasdownunder.com/threads/drovers-14-44-3.4502/page-18#post-137923) about the problem but feel the conversation would be better placed here. So in summary, the 12v pump continues to run when switched on. Connected a hose between mains inlet and drawbar tap and pump stopped after a few cycles. This suggested a NRV had failed. Behind the mains connector is a limiting valve (doesn't appear to be a NRV) and there doesn't seem to be an obvious NRV in the mains water line between the inlet and the limiting valve/NRV under the van. Photos of the van layout and components follow.

 

[chartrock]

With my pump running on in the Journey, it was the NRV which I finally found in the line just before the sink tap, tucked up behind the sink, difficult to find and even more difficult to remove and refit.

 

[mfexpanda]

if its hard to find id just put another one in the inlet line and see if it works
if it does then you can find the old one if you want and just put a joiner in its place when you get time

 

[Drover]

So it's not inside the whitetap fitting ? Unscrew it and look inside it's not very big.
Your Pressure valve is the same as mine but mine is missing the insides, they dont have a NRV.
The NRV has to be on the line to the fill point or it is pointless having one.

 

[Curryhouse]

So the hunt for the elusive NRV continued today. I tried removing the brass fitting from the rear of the fill point box but limited access and lack of triple jointed elbows prevented me from getting a wrench onto it. So I disconnected the other pipes and removed the box. A lot easier to work on with it on the bench. The mains inlet had a small wire mesh filter that I popped out - and there finally was the NRV! Blowing through the NRV, there was no seal. A flush out with water fixed that problem. A couple of pics below. Having taken the filler box out, I thought I would follow @Drover's lead and re-use the mains inlet fitting as an external fill point with plumbing outside the van. How hard could it be to remove the fitting? Apparently way too hard for this little black duck to figure out. So my current plan is to refit as per original and keep looking for a suitable fitting.

 

[Drover]

That brass bit with the mesh screen is actually part of the PR valve, If your going to move it all to the outside just move the whole lot and set it up just the same but with a bracket in place of the plastic box. The hole left in the box I just covered with gaffa tape on outside and white silastic inside, then removed tape so it has smooth finish when you open door, it will do till I find something better.

 

[Curryhouse]

That was my plan however I removed the PRV brass fitting and was left with a brass fitting that I couldn't work out how to get out of the plastic box without cutting it out. The through piece of the fitting does not appear to be threaded. It looks like it has a press fit silver washer on the external side of the box and then there is the knurled female part where the click-on hose fitting screws. This brass fitting just spins. Couldn't work out how to separate it without damaging the parts. And even if I did get it apart, there is no thread that takes a locking nut. Probably a simple solution but I couldn't come up with it.

 

[BigSkiddy]

Only just saw this. Congrats @Curryhouse ! Gotta love those impulse buys. The van looks very well equipped.

 

[Drover]

Damn, sounds like a press on fitting but yeah know what you mean. I'm sure I have seen the guest fitting like mine somewhere but not sure where.
Will have a wander around and see what I can find. Not listed on CaravansPlus, I may have seen one at Watsons at Coffs Harbour.

 

[Curryhouse]

Thanks @BigSkiddy. Compulsive buy is a good description

Hey @Drover, been doing some googling and haven't yet come across a fitting. Closest one I found was a JG 1/4" bulkhead connector on eBay. Searched for a bigger size but so far no luck. Not a high priority to change the mains inlet position but I'll keep an eye out during my wanderings through hardware stores and caravan parts places for something I might be able to adapt.

 

[Drover]

One similar to the external tap fitting would do the job I think ???????

 

[Curryhouse]

Before selling the Millard, I removed the rear vision camera that I had fitted with the intention of fitting it to the new van. After waiting for delivery of a couple of connectors and cable I needed, I fitted the camera arm to the spare wheel bracket (photo below), spliced into the tail light wiring for power and ran a video cable from the camera, along and through the chassis to the trailer plug. Tested the install and all was good.

Went to refit the plastic spare wheel cover and must have overtightened the bolt as I broke out a small circular piece in the centre of the cover. Seems one finishes one job and in the process creates another one. No wonder there is no spare time in retirement.......

Wanting to keep the cover, I made a trip to the local hardware store and found a piece of gal plate that could be bent and secured by a few small nuts and bolts to the inside of the cover. Ended up being a simple fix.


After a couple of visits to the plumbing and gardening sections at Bunnings and the mandatory coffee at their cafe, I think I've found the bits I need to make up an external mains hose connector. Here are the bits


and this is what it looks like after assembly.

I need to get a NRV and a couple of JG fittings to plumb it up and then test it before making it a permanent mod. Fingers crossed.