New Expanda owner seeking advice

[Jaffagre]

Hi, I am a newbie, and am impressed with this forum. I have just sold our old Coromal camper and purchased an Expanda 16.49-3 Outback model a week ago. The expanda is about 18 months old and is in really good condition.



We are on our maiden voyage from Mackay and have arrived in Brissy after a week of travels. The Expanda is so much more comfortable than the camper, but we have had a couple of minor issues with it on the way.
I was wondering if I could get some advice on the following:
- the shower floor takes a long time to drain the water, even when the van is levelled more to the rear. The water takes a while to seep out and dry the floor
- the vanity sink takes forever to drain - I'm concerned there is a blockage. Any advice on where to look or how to clear it?
- waste water comes up into the shower waste when we drain the kitchen sink. - I think I need to re- design the waste plumbing.
- we don't have the spring mattresses fitted to the van. I haven't had very good sleep at all, and i feel like I am sleeping in a furrow where the mattress folds for travelling. I have noticed that the new model has spring mattresses. So can anyone tell me - is the spring mattress worth purchasing, or are there better / other options?
- tyre pressure - tyres seem to be ballooned, but pressures are correct. I am concerned that fuel economy may be suffering.
- I have a roof mounted Dometic air con - when travelling, the plastic outer shell on each side comes apart and has to be pushed back on. While they haven't come off completely yet, I am concerned they will on rougher. Should I glue them in place?
- I have noticed the floor seems a bit spongy in places - is this normal?

Sorry to ask so many questions, well done on a great forum

 

[Capt. Gadget]

Hi Jaffagre I have the same model as you and havent had any plumbing problems but quite few people have I think [MENTION=2089]Burnsy[/MENTION] had and may have a solution there was a thread here
There has also been quite a lot of discussion regarding the Inner spring mattresses I personally dont have a problem with mine and find them quite comfortable but the general consensus on the forum is that they are uncomfortable and most would prefer to have the Foam ones LInk to one thread here
Tyre pressures is another thing that has been discussed quite a bit I run mine at 39psi and they seem fine but just check your max pressure on the sidewall of the tyre as it seems that the 15's have a lower max than the 16's Thread here or here
Cant help with the Aircon as ours is Wall mounted and yeah I think most of us suffer from spongy floors
Cheers Grant

 

[Bushman]

Welcome aboard Jaffagre

Thats pretty normal for the shower to be slow draining/self drying, we carry a small rubber squedgee and one of those super chamios thing that soak up water, last person gets to dry the shower usually me :mmph: so you dont step into a puddle in the middle of the night if you use the loo.

The hand basin drainage is a common problem, hence why we usually dont use ours, in saying that I haven't tried ours since it was replaced.

The spungy floor is also common in jaycos had it in all 3 of mine.

Dont waste your money one the inner spring matress unless you get one custom made, as they too fold, a lot of talk here regarding matresses, best option, eggshell foam overlay or matress topper.

Never had a problem with kitchen waste water backing up in the shower but can be solved by adding a anti flowback valve into the plumbing, theyare avalible from Bunnings and plumbing stores.

Can,t help with the A/C

 

[Brad]

Welcome to the forum jaffagre.
Without sounding awful, depending on the weight that was on the mattress beforehand can change the form of the foam. I would try the mattress topper or a sheepskin cover. If still no good then you may need to investigate a new mattress. The spring ones Jayco provide though are awful.

With the spongy floor, some members have installed extra brace under the floor to remove the sponginess. [MENTION=1784]Stone Stomper[/MENTION] is the one with the info on that.

Enjoy the forum!!

 

[chartrock]

Nice rig, jaffagre. We have the foam mattress with eggshell foam topping and I sleep on the join with no problems. As has been said, not many people recommend the innerspring as the join is in the same place but more pronounced.
Draining from the shower and sink we have found to be slow but gets worse if we use the sullage hose and it has to run even slightly uphill or has bends in the pipe. I prefer to just drain into a bucket and empty it when required.
The floor is spongy and can be fixed with extra bracing underneath but with our outback, the water tanks are in the way so the floor moves and squeaks. :smile:
The tyre pressure is covered above and as with others, we have the wall mount A/C.

Welcome to the forum, :welcome:

 

[bigbertha]

we have a new panda only 2 weeks old and we find that the mattress is very comfortable , we have a woollen underlay on top and dont notice the join at all.we run 40 psi in the tyres and the panda tows well hope that helps.we have roof air conditioner and so far have not had any problems with it coming apart.cant help with the drainage as only have sink.

 

[gspy4u]

Slow flow until the air bubble that i sin the lines goes through then it seem fine for ours. Floor is a little spongy but no big deal. We run 40 on our 17.56-2OB.

With the aircon, ours is exactly the same. With the roof mounted ones seems if the roads are nice and bumpy (which almost all are anyway) by the time you have travelled a decent amount they will move. Mostly just have to tap them in when we get to where we are going but have a couple of times found one on the floor. Not concerned about it, but you could always tape them on for travel or maybe play with the tabs a bit to see if you can get a firmer fit.

 

[Jaffagre]

Thanks Grant, sorry i haven't responded earlier - i didn't checked the forum for a few days. Thanks for the advice, I have the 15" tyres and they are supposed to be 34psi going by the plate. I have since pumped them up to 40psi, so it will be interesting to see how they go on the next leg of our adventure down into NSW next week.
Thanks for the advice.

 

[Jaffagre]

Thanks for the reply Bushman, we have a sponge that we have also been using to keep water out of the bathroom, and when we let water out of the sink, we turn the plug sideways to restrict the amount of water flowing down the drain. This is a temporary fix for now until I can spare some free time in my holidays to fix it ...?

 

[Jaffagre]

Thanks for the reply Brad, the dealer told me that the front bed was the largest, so we took his word for it, and my wife and i have been sleeping on that bed. We were talking about it the other day, and my wife thought the rear bed was larger, so I measured it and found that she was right (don't tell her I said so)! It was 100mm wider and has more head room as well.

So, like good parents, we kicked the kids out to the other bed, and am pleased to note that it is more comfy as well!

Interesting to note everyone's comments on the spring mattresses! Why does Jayco bother with them?

Thanks for your advice.

 

[Jaffagre]

Thanks for your reply Chartrock, much appreciated

 

[Jaffagre]

Thanks BigBertha for your reply. Sounds like you have a nice brand rig! Spent much time in it so far?

 

[Jaffagre]

Thanks for your reply gspy4u, and your comments.

 

[Burnsy]

Hi jaffagre, we have ibis roof top a/c and all good, I do notice floor spongy but don't plan on any fixes. Had the same problem with drainage and did the same mod as [MENTION=1976]Brad[/MENTION] did except I used a 38mm sullage hose as well. On this trip I have 8m of sullage hose connected and a full sink drains in seconds. The shower floor is a bit of a bugger to get completely dry, I was thinking of putting the bath mat that we use outside the door on the shower floor (after wiping out shower) until morning then hang out to dry.

Cheers.

 

[Karl]

Hi Jaffagre ,
Nice photo. Just wanted to see if your happy with the roof mounted Dometic air con thinking of getting one .
Regards
Karl

 

[Jaffagre]

Hi Jaffagre ,
Nice photo. Just wanted to see if your happy with the roof mounted Dometic air con thinking of getting one .
Regards
Karl

Sorry Karl, haven't logged in for a while. I haven't used the air con much, mostly to sleep at night and to drown out the noisy neighbours in the morning so I can get a bit of a sleep in - we are on holidays after all! The air con works well in this situation.
However, we were in Sydney on the record heat day and I left the air con on for the day hoping to come home that evening to a cool reception. I was disappointed - the air con could not keep up with the 42 degrees of heat. I am thinking about sealing up a few vents to help it out a bit - the vents at the bottom of the door and above the stove in particular.
I think the canvas ends probably don't help things either.
Hope this helps?

 

[Johnstons]

We have an inner spring up the "Grown up's' end and foam up the kids end and last time we were away I thought I would try the kids end and it was like rock!!!!!!
Have slept on our "grown up's" end with and without egg topper and we thnk it's great and we are fussy sleepers. We now leave the topper on permantly but love the sleep in there.
Cant imagine having to endure more than one restless night on foam!!!!!!!!!
I'm trying to find a inner spring to put up the kids end now also.
You'll work out what you like.
We have a 2010 model also.
Most of all you're in your van which means you're away from home on holidays so enjoy

Cheers

 

[Burnsy]

Just spent 3 weeks on our inner spring with egg shell topper and the wife and I love it...slept like a log, no sore back like I get at home so now we are looking at replacing ours at home. It seems these 42 yo bones likes a softer mattress these days!

 

[Jaffagre]

Thanks guys for your info on the mattresses. We are currently on the maiden voyage (almost back home) from Mackay in Qld down to Sydney and return over a 5 week period. I was a bit dubious about the foam mattresses with our mid 40ish bones, but have been pleasantly surprised.

 

[paulie484]

Just spent 3 weeks on our inner spring with egg shell topper and the wife and I love it...slept like a log, no sore back like I get at home so now we are looking at replacing ours at home. It seems these 42 yo bones likes a softer mattress these days!

Ah Burnsy...I'm hearin ya !

I sleep the best in the van on a pillow top then get home and wake with crook back

I too am 42..or 43 ..(can't remember these days)

We too thinking to upgrade bed at home

But..... then I realised I've not really been sober any of the night's I've slept in the van !

Think I've found my answer !