missing gas vent

peteretep

theres a big hole in the side of my VW t3 van where there should be some sort of vent. it lets rain in at a great rate so i need to cover it up asap.
heres a picture of the whole, does anyone know what sort of vent should cover it and where to get one?

peasant, can you remember was there one when you owned the van?

peasant

There most certainly was one, you may even be able to catch glimpse of it in the sig.

The original part would most likely have been from Reimo, as that is where all the interior stuff came from.

http://www.reimo.co.uk/id101.htm you probaly need to order a catalog to find the right part.

I have to say though, that I was never overly happy with that vent. By (German) law it has to be there in case the gas cylinder has a leak. But with the vehicle being left hand drive it was on the wrong side and kept lapping up all the spray from the front wheel when driving through roadside puddles. So I taped it up most of the time.

I would suggest that you get in touch with your nearest sheet metal place and get a vent cover made, possibly with vertical slits rather than the horizontal ones that the original plastic part had ...somethings that allows gas out but no water in and then rivet it on and seal it with polyurethane sealant (not silicone!). Alternatively browse through the accessories departments of your nearest camping dealer (Charles' Camping in Wicklow is supposed to be good) ..they should have something suitable.

Looking at the pic I'd also suggest that you seal up the bit under the floor of the gas compartmentwhere the insulation is showing ...any moisture trapped there will start a major rust nest.

If you're a bit of a risk taker you could also just completely seal the hole up ...but I wouldn't recommend it. But now you have the chance to get a bespoke solution made that allows any escaping gas to "fall out" (gas is heavier than air, hence the vent has to be at the bottom) while limiting the amount of water that can get in. That's what I would do, rather than buy a large vent and collect water.

peasant

attached is the best shot of the vent that i could find (not very good, sorry)

Basically its just a square bit of plastic with horizontal, overlapping slits tilted backwards so that no rain water could get in. It also had a fine mesh on the inside to keep creepy crawlys and leaves out.

On the picture it is still half covered in tape.

fits

there is a selection of vents on sale in camping crazy in New Ross if you're looking for one...

TigerTim

Charles camping are worth a try. Must recommend them. Ordered some stuff off them on the web at lunchtime yesterday & it was delivered to me at 9.00am this morning. That's what I call good service.

T.:)

peasant

This is the kind of thing that was on it.

peteretep

cool, thanks.
i got an aluminium vent cover that im going to use for the time being. ill try and get the right thing at somestage if im ever down near charles camping place.
peasant, why polyurethane sealant not silicone?

peasant

Silicone is the work of the devil and should under no circumstances be used around vehicles and campers in particular.

Three reasons:

Silicone is acidic, it will aid in corrosion

Silicione doesn't age well, it shrinks and hardens. Something sealed with silicone will still look sealed but have lots of tiny cracks that let in water at a fair rate. That water will then sit underneath the silicone and corrode the surrounding material even faster than if it wasn't sealed at all.

Silicone, even if removed, leaves a residue that cannot be gotten rid of. That residue prevents any further painting or re-sealing with something else.

This means once you treat a leak with silicone, it will always remain a leak even if you try to repair it using something else later.


Polyurethane is permanently elastic, UV resistant (if you get the right stuff) and it sticks like hell.

peteretep

good to konw, thanks.