Discovery 2013 Discovery 17.55-5SH OB - BigSkiddy

BigSkiddy

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May 7, 2013
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Bargo NSW
Got the van parked in the front yard of my parent's for summer holidays on the NSW South Coast (Berrara).
It was pretty hot the other day, so I borrowed a portable air conditioner (Aldi brand). Was a bit noisy but after about 5 hours it dropped the inside temp of the van from 30 degrees to 20 degrees. Just had to put in some ear plugs so I could sleep.
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BigSkiddy

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May 7, 2013
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Had some issues recently with the fridge on gas. Appeared the thermocouple connection was loose. Whilst stuffing around with that and looking through the installation manual for the fridge, I saw that Jayco had incorrectly installed the fridge by not sealing off the rear section from the top of the fridge. So the heat generated by the fridge was feeding into the void above, making the area above the fridge hot and also the adjoining pantry.
I cut out the piece of wood (not sure what this was actually doing?) and inserted some cork tile (found it in the shed) which directs the heat toward the vent and seals off the void above. The cork is not permanently fixed, so I can easily remove it to access all the components of the fridge if need be.
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Dove

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Aug 14, 2013
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Had some issues recently with the fridge on gas. Appeared the thermocouple connection was loose. Whilst stuffing around with that and looking through the installation manual for the fridge, I saw that Jayco had incorrectly installed the fridge by not sealing off the rear section from the top of the fridge. So the heat generated by the fridge was feeding into the void above, making the area above the fridge hot and also the adjoining pantry.
I cut out the piece of wood (not sure what this was actually doing?) and inserted some cork tile (found it in the shed) which directs the heat toward the vent and seals off the void above. The cork is not permanently fixed, so I can easily remove it to access all the components of the fridge if need be.
View attachment 47506

Jusy wondering. Did you find much insulation on either side of the fridge, and was any on top of the fridge?
 

BigSkiddy

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May 7, 2013
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Jusy wondering. Did you find much insulation on either side of the fridge, and was any on top of the fridge?
There was a piece on top only. Looked like an offcut Jayco found on the side of the Hume Hwy. Nothing on sides that I could see.
 

Dove

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Aug 14, 2013
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Melb, Vic.
Thanks for that. Mine has insulation both sides and nothing on top. Its the 4th Dometic fridge I have had and probably the least effective.
 

BigSkiddy

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May 7, 2013
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Put in a water filter, it's plumbed to the cold water tap. Probably a bit of overkill but have the same filter in the house and wanted something that I know works well in removing the chlorine.
It has a repackable filter which I fill with a combination of GAC Carbon and KDF.
Has no effect on the water flow either.
Sits nicely in the bottom cupboard below the sink.
$110 deilivered, including the John Guest fittings.
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alexvk2

Member
Nov 30, 2016
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Sydney
Diesel Heater Install.

Here's some pics of my diesel heater install into my van. Hope it helps other Discovery/Journey owners. Was quite simple and I think the positioning within the 17.55-5 works okay. My only concern was adding the extra weight to the front corner where the battery and gas bottles are already.

Parts I used.
The heater unit. Worked out to be $562 AU, after conversion. It came with piping and the digital controller (which I did not ask for)

View attachment 34043

I purchased this diesel tank from Supercheap Auto. Drilled a hole on top and fitted pipestand supplied with heater. Fits nicely in the front boot and I gave some extra length on the fuel line to remove for filling.
View attachment 34045 View attachment 34044

Heater unit placed under the front lounge behind battery. Hole sawed two holes for the exhaust, external air intake and fuel line.
View attachment 34056 View attachment 34051 View attachment 34053
Position of the heating vent allows to direct heat up middle of van or with the directional vent towards people on the lounge.

Digital controller mounted against cupboard beside lounge. I found that the ambient temperature of this controller is not accurate. Doesn't matter as I run it in manual mode with the heater constant at a % power seating. If you have it on auto it cuts in and out which drains your battery quicker.
View attachment 34055
If you have a Drifter Control Panel connect the negative (black) wire as shown (one I'm holding), so you can see the power the unit is drawing. It draws about 8amps on startup for about 2mins. Once going on full power it draws around 1.3amps, giving about 70hrs running time. When on 50% it was about 0.5amps giving around 150hrs. In comparison it is using the same amount of power as the two LED ceiling mounted lights in your van. So I think that is pretty good. Also note when you reduce the power of the unit it is still blowing the same temperature air, only the fan slows down.
This unit has a wire marked 'night light' which I disconnected, as it illuminated the controller constantly and was too bright when sleeping.
View attachment 34050

In order for the unit to draw air internally, rather then putting an extra vent in, I just drilled some holes in the top of the fire extinguisher recess. Seems to work fine.
View attachment 34052

For the muffler, I used 2 of these, pinched some insulation from the ceiling, and pipe from a disused trampoline safety net. You can buy one for $40 on ebay, but I was bored.
View attachment 34047 View attachment 34048

In mounting the fuel pump I used a piece of discarded sullage pipe. This stops the 'tick' being heard inside the van.
View attachment 34046

So underneath it looks like this. Power to the fuel pump comes by drilling a small hole from under the lounge into the front boot and feeding it under the van via the water drain holes. The fuel line feeds through that same hole as well.
View attachment 34049
The external air intake I fed into a piece of PVC pipe with some insulation in the end to silence the noise. Noise wise externally I would say slightly louder as a A/C unit.

Lastly I sealed where I had drilled through the floor with some high temperature silicone to prevent any issues with dampness. The wiring for these units are 'plug and play' so you don't need a to have soldering skills. I did cut some of the wiring and resoldered to minimise lengths though.

I have used it in -2 degree temperature with no issues. It was particularly useful when pulling over for lunch whilst on the road, brought the van temp from 5deg up to 15deg in about 10mins. Best of all my wife was sceptical of me putting it in, but now she loves it.

Thanks for this post ... are you able to run the fan without running the heater? I was thinking I could take air from outside to pressurise the van for dust proofing in off road conditions.
 

BigSkiddy

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May 7, 2013
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Thanks for this post ... are you able to run the fan without running the heater? I was thinking I could take air from outside to pressurise the van for dust proofing in off road conditions.
No you can't run just as a fan. The air it sucks from outside goes straight back out through the exhaust. It draws the air for heating from within the van.
 

BigSkiddy

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May 7, 2013
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Been a while since I have checked in....:oops:

Anyways I had to get a pink slip for the van and noticed some play in one of the wheels. In short I removed the hub and have found some damage.
It appears when I had the van serviced (about 4 years ago) when the hub was replaced the spring from within the rear grease seal has been wedged against the face of the stub. It has caused the bearing to wear on the stub (just on the top), miraculously the bearing doesn't appear to be damaged.

20190206_110740.jpg 20190206_175223.jpg 20190206_175430.jpg

Is it possible just to replace the stub?
 
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Drover

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I've had your pic on the big screen and I would say your okay, the scored section is not where the seal sits and not in way of bearing, new seal, repack and replace bearings if they spin okay and have no signs of wear, blue marks, scoring etc, good time to actually replace them all and check brake shoes.
Depending on axle set up if you can replace just a stub, solid axle, NO, whole thing is machined from one lump, independent yes its possible on most.

From the pic I would say the spring came out while they pushed the hub on and became wedged between bearing and axle face as it hasn't moved, so must have been a shove and bash job......
 
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BigSkiddy

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I've had your pic on the big screen and I would say your okay, the scored section is not where the seal sits and not in way of bearing, new seal, repack and replace bearings if they spin okay and have no signs of wear, blue marks, scoring etc, good time to actually replace them all and check brake shoes.
Depending on axle set up if you can replace just a stub, solid axle, NO, whole thing is machined from one lump, independent yes its possible on most.

From the pic I would say the spring came out while they pushed the hub on and became wedged between bearing and axle face as it hasn't moved, so must have been a shove and bash job......

Yeah it's got me stuffed how they got that spring to come out of the seal, maybe being to heavy handed when putting in the grease. But a good thing to be aware of now.

I think it should be right, I'll carefully remove that bur and replace the bearings. I think I would have to replace the whole axle, which seems like a bit of overkill. It's a drop style one which appears to have the stub welded on. When I push the bearing hard against that rear face it spins freely so it should be okay.
20190207_083722.jpg
 
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Drover

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Oh yeah you will be good, a bit of wet an dry to remove burrs, not on the surface of the collar above though, I have used axle with some gouges in them from seized bearing removal, not on faces for seals and no drama, just make sure you palm in the grease so it rolls out smoothly, a good lump of grease over the stub so any water ingress doesn't wash it.
With a drop axle you could cut the old stub off and replace it easily enough but no need in this case.
When you put it all back together tighten the hub but till you can't spin the wheel, then back off, give it heaps of spin then check if it clunks.....no clunk, spins nicely all good, Ideally go for a run around block and check bearing again, then its bedded in, big pain though.
Oh and don't forget to check the wheel nuts next time you use it...
 
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