Greetings!

[leesy]

New member! Have just found this site and was very interested in the information and sense of fellowship it seemed to have.
I picked up our new 16.49.4 Outback a month ago after trading up from Eagle 2010 Outback and before that soft floor camper, we have just completed a 3 week Melbourne to the NT via Maree, Ooodnadatta track, Willian creek, Coober Pedy to Alice so a hard, fast and bumpy first outing!
Extra's include HWS and exterior shower, Trigg hitch, anderson connection to twin 100AH, twin gas, gas connection on draw bar, stone guard and overall after a full on trip we are thrilled with it, the biggest issue is the inner spring mattress that now come standars are appauling, we had to but a foam one from Clarke rubber in Alice just to be able to sleep.... is this a known issue? the eagle was great with foam!
we had more dist ingression than i felt was reasonable too, i had covers made by Alpine to cover the door and rangehood vents, (velcro on/off) but the dust was bad from around the door which is a bit ill fitting and from around the fridge and the NT red dust...well its everwhere!
There are a few other minor things but all good!
Cheers,
Paul

 

[Antman]

Hey Paul

Welcome. I have only been on here a couple weeks and we pickup our new 16.49-3 early September and doing a similar trip to yourself. I have read from others that the innerspring mattresses are not the best but can't confirm from experience yet so I might but some foam before our trip if sleeping on it is no good.

Interesting what you say about dust coming in the door, i have not read that as of yet. Certainly the dust is heavily debated and there does not seem to be any concrete solution from what I have read. I did read on another forum of a guy who put a vent on the roof with an air cleaner from an old holden and also a 12v fan to blow the air through and he reckons that worked a treat. Kept the air flowing and the cleaner stopped the dust entering the roof. The original source of that solution was an old caravaner from way back and it seems quite plausible to me. It really depends on the way your tow vehicle throws the dust up to the van.?

Sounds like a great trip had! I can't wait to get ours and start.
Cheers
Ants

 

[leesy]

Good luck with the new van, i have also seen on a mates Kimberly camper that they used a small 12v fan inside the camper that puts slight positive pressure inside so the dust cant suck in, it has a small filter that allows some air to escape and the pressure seems to be just enough to blow out the gaps rather than let it suck in, could be a cheap easy thing to try, similar to the guy you metioned.
My suggestion on the bed is dodge the inner spring completely and get foam, whilst i have some weight behind me my wife is about 70kg and son 45 and they also hated them... Have a great trip, its a great part of the country to see.
Cheers

 

[Big Gee]

Hi Paul,

Welcome aboard, sounds like a great trip you had!

We have been thinking of getting an innerspring mattress for our 2010 17.56 but given your thoughts maybe we had better stickit out with the foam!

 

[mfexpanda]

Welcome Paul

That sounds like a great trip

 

[relgate]

Hi Paul,

Welcome aboard, sounds like a great trip you had!

We have been thinking of getting an innerspring mattress for our 2010 17.56 but given your thoughts maybe we had better stickit out with the foam!

Perhaps you could swap with each other....

 

[relgate]

Hi Paul and welcome to the forum

Sounds like a fun trip with lots of stories to tell.

Re the opening and posative pressure, I have one on my ute canopy which seems to work well but I have heard that they're not as effective on the caravan because of the huge internal volume and many gaps.
I'm sure there are members on here who have had success with dust proofing. No doubt StoneStomper has some ideas.

Re the innerspring matresses, have a read of this thread
http://www.expandasdownunder.com/showthread.php/959-Are-the-innerspring-Mattresses-comfortable?

 

[MolongMick]

Hi Paul and welcome to the Forum.

I haven't as yet had a problem with dust in the van, but time will tell.

I have seen some people put a pressure vent in the lid of the van which acts like a scoop to pressurise the interior.

Some people have put in a positive pressure fan, but the fridge vents and door vents need to be closed/covered for this to work.

 

[PMK]

G'Day Paul & Welcome

Yet another that came from an Eagle to an Expanda 16' We did last year & don't regret a thing.
Sounds like you had a great trip, I love that country along the Oodnadatta Track... Just fantastic.
Pity about the dust, we don't seem to have as much trouble with our Expanda as we did in the Eagle but some does get in. We usually just tape the vents with duct tape & also tape the door to the frame along the lower half. This seemed to help..
Cheers,

Paul

PS; forgot to mention, I have sealed the floor to the walls both from under the van with a polyurethane & on the inside with silicone sealant. Especially around the wheel arches. Also all of the penetrations for the plumbing & electrical. This is where alot of dust gets in to the cupboards. Cheers, Paul

 

[cruza driver]

Welcome Paul, enjoy the forum mate :thumb: Another camper trailer to Expanda upgrade, there is a few of us who have done the same thing.

Sounds similar to the trip we did last covering similar ground, its a great part of the country.
As for the dust seems something that we all battle with varying success depending on the conditions. The rear harlid and vents are the first places to start followed by any where plumbing and/or wiring enters the inside of the Expanda through the floor.

It would be good to see pics of your trip too when you get a chance, or post a few up in the trips section. hoto:

 

[leesy]

For us the innerspring woad not good at all, we had the foam mattress in our Eagle and slept like logs, good luck!

 

[leesy]

Interesting reading, our experience was the same, I will push to have them replaced under warranty! Thanks

 

[Capt. Gadget]

Welcome to the Forum Paul we have gone from a Camper trailer with a Foam Mattress to the Expanda with inner spring and we both have no problems with the Inner spring

 

[chartrock]

Welcome, Paul to a top forum. Sounds like a great trip, one I would love to do sometime. Post up some pictures when you can.

 

[coled1970]

Hi Paul,

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like a great trip and good fun.

 

[leesy]

Did the under sealing make a difference?

Yet another that came from an Eagle to an Expanda 16' We did last year & don't regret a thing.
Sounds like you had a great trip, I love that country along the Oodnadatta Track... Just fantastic.
Pity about the dust, we don't seem to have as much trouble with our Expanda as we did in the Eagle but some does get in. We usually just tape the vents with duct tape & also tape the door to the frame along the lower half. This seemed to help..
Cheers,

Paul

PS; forgot to mention, I have sealed the floor to the walls both from under the van with a polyurethane & on the inside with silicone sealant. Especially around the wheel arches. Also all of the penetrations for the plumbing & electrical. This is where alot of dust gets in to the cupboards. Cheers, Paul[/QUOTE]

 

[leesy]

Thanks to all for the kind greetings!

 

[Burnsy]

G'day Paul, welcome mate, would love to do a trip like that.....one day!

Cheers.

 

[crallings]

Hi Paul. I'm only a fairly recent member also but I'll throw in my 2 cents worth on the mattress.

Ours came with foam mattress in 2009 and we had one made by Rockdale Mattress Factory in Sydney. It's made in 3 parts, with 3 heights and sewn together so it folds with a padded top - more comfortable than our bed at home! About $850 from memory.

On the dust front, we block and tape all the vents as others suggest, but certainly opening the small pressure hatch in the front part of the roof helps with positive pressure.

 

[leesy]

Will do just need the time to download them all!