Starcraft O'Brien 22.68-1 OB

[Neil]

Well we have had to join the ranks of the 'all other Jayco (non expanda)
We sold our 17.56 OB as my girls had out grown the length of the bunks.
We chose another Jayco as we were happy with the product and chose a 2014 22.68 OB as it will serve us for another 5-6 years until the girls will be old enough that they won't want to come camping with the oldies anymore.
It was a lucky find, maybe 3 weeks use in 4 years, original tyres still with the little mold dimples on them, factory clean underneath, toilet unused, etc.
At this stage we have just given everything a good clean. Any modifications and/or changes will happen after the first few trips but i know the water pump will be getting moved under the van like the 17' and the batteries will be move from under the bed to under the seats in the middle of the van. Later on I'll upgrade the solar panel and regulator.

 

[Neil]

Water pump and batteries moved, sorry no photos as really not that interesting.

Next thing was the fridge. Our last van performed really well on gas and even better when we added the fans.
This one was struggling on gas and power so i decided that in needed the fans added as well.
When i took the vent cap off the roof I now understand why it was struggling.

Some lazy slong from Jayco cut the hole and just let the pieces fall onto of the fridge and this is how i found it.
Now this van is just over four years old and I am the second owner but if the fridge had of died would this be something i could have gone back to Jayco with?

Anyway moving on i got to making a plate to hold the twin fans, wired them up and got them working.

Now it's setup as a bit of a shroud and i know there is different opinions about this. I did it this way because it was an easy way to mount the fans and use the existing holes from the cover. I have set it up as per http://www.dreampod.net/boroma/fridgefan.html which is the was i set the last van up.
Worked better on the last trip with the fridge temp staying more stable. I added the internal fan after that trip and haven't used since so will see how it goes with both sets of fans (internal & external) running.

 

[Drover]

So you need your fans on all the time then, if they are covering that hole ????

Did they use gaffa tape to hold the baffle plate, what a joke.....

 

[DRW]

I would have sent the picture to Jayco anyway!

 

[Boots in Action]

Water pump and batteries moved, sorry no photos as really not that interesting.

Next thing was the fridge. Our last van performed really well on gas and even better when we added the fans.
This one was struggling on gas and power so i decided that in needed the fans added as well.
When i took the vent cap off the roof I now understand why it was struggling.
View attachment 62980
View attachment 62981
View attachment 62982
Some lazy slong from Jayco cut the hole and just let the pieces fall onto of the fridge and this is how i found it.
Now this van is just over four years old and I am the second owner but if the fridge had of died would this be something i could have gone back to Jayco with?

Anyway moving on i got to making a plate to hold the twin fans, wired them up and got them working.
View attachment 62983
View attachment 62984
Now it's setup as a bit of a shroud and i know there is different opinions about this. I did it this way because it was an easy way to mount the fans and use the existing holes from the cover. I have set it up as per http://www.dreampod.net/boroma/fridgefan.html which is the was i set the last van up.
Worked better on the last trip with the fridge temp staying more stable. I added the internal fan after that trip and haven't used since so will see how it goes with both sets of fans (internal & external) running.

Hi @Neil , you can count me as one of those that would disagree with that set up. My own opinion of course. I would not have a plate that completely blocks the outlet for the fans to be installed on. That would mean that as @Drover said, there is no (or very little) natural air movement from below except what heat is able to escape through fan blades. Fans would always need to be operating for maximum (any???) air flow. And what if fan/s fail???
As far as the positioning of the thermostat, that is where the max heat from boiler is, and why a 70C thermostat is required. It still needs to be as hot as possible at that point and should not be cooled. In that particular situation, that part of the pipe would ALWAYS be very hot, so fans would also be running all the time. IMHO , the thermo to operate the fans should be just before the pipe enters the condenser ( on the other side of the apex) or on fins (as per my other posting) and fans would only run when the whole area around condenser got hot . Have a look at the link below on how 3 way fridges operate and make up your own mind. Why would you place your themo control just above the boiler stack and BEFORE the hot ammonia gas has passed the apex on the top pipe and to go into the condenser to be COOLED there ?? I cannot agree with Jayco's thinking there. Other kits do not do that!! But still tread your own path please.

http://www.portablefridgesonline.com.au/how-3-way-fridges-work

 

[Neil]

Drover the fans are on a 70deg switch so they come on when the pipe reaches that temp. See comments below about what i'm planning on doing with some extra holes.

DRW I did think of that but i think we all know what Jaycos response would be

Boots in Action, yeah not sure what i'm going to do here. I only had a limited amount of time to put the fans in, busy with work, before the van had to go back to storage.
As you can see from the first photos the hole Jayco cut in the roof is don't be rude pour, doesn't even go the extent of the fridge cavity.
Had this setup in my expanda, was a little different as it had the vent for the fridge on the side wall not the roof and it wasn't shrouded, but worked awesome.
When the van is next at home i plan on cutting the hole in the roof to match the fridge cavity and then adding some extra vent holes to the plate holding the fans so heat can escape if the fans haven't switched on. Or i could always cut the plate back so it only holds the fans and the area either side is open

 

[Drover]

I would just sikaflex the fans to that mesh maybe with a couple of zip ties till the sika sets, then its open to allow natural convection until fans fire up, and the sika might even add some vibration insulation, my latest fans set ups just sikaflex to vents, seems to hold like the proverbial........ Neatness and QC aren't in the handbook of many van builders I'm afraid to say especially if a panel or something will hide it.

Try slicing that under cut timber out with a Stanley Knife, new blade, might be less splintering than with a saw sometimes they slice like butter.

 

[Neil]

It's been a while since I have posted anything on this thread but the 22.68 is gone sold just before X'mas.
Has been replaced with 20.62, I'll do a separate introduction in the coming days.