Good practice never ever leave your caravan with water pump turned on ,if a John Guess fitting or like isn't attached correctly or is cracked this is the result. I have seen a couple of other travellers over the years in the same situation. Ours was cracked & started to leak, but we were in the van, not so bad to clean up. Safe travels, hoping all will be well in the future.
Good episode. We've seen a few mentions of water incidents in the Flinders where the pumps were left on causing a flood. Good thing it's nice clean water. On one of our early trips, we left one of the flaps of the 4 seasons hatch open. It broke the hinge of the flap as we were driving down the highway. A friendly trucker alerted us on the CB because he could see the flap flapping around on the roof. We closed the other flaps before moving off but must have missed one because of where we were standing when closing it up. We now have an inside and outside printed checklist. It's in about revision 3 maining editted to get the sequence right.
Thanks, glad you liked it. Yes we usually double check each thing but we were out of sequence that morning as we were only an hour from home and weren't on our game😲 But yes it was good it was clean water, the other option would have been horrible 😮 Water leaks in bans seems to be more common than is reported based on the comments we got here and across our social media.
yes it is not a great experience, but it is a learning one and we have learned from it and are hopefully more prepared if it happens again. We are happy to share as hopefully it will help others learn form our experiences
Great info . Never thought of that happening with the pump on. Sounds like it was going to break it some stage anyway. Might have been while you were asleep
Glad we could help. Yes it would have happened with the pump on or off, and if it was off we might not have picked it up as quickly as we were on the last leg to home. If it had happened while we were asleep in the van we would have heard the pump running, maybe 🤔
Heartbreaking - water flooding. Mould is the issue and expansion of the floor and MDF if any. When you say turn off the pump - do you mean just the power point switch or actually under the sink? (where the pump is in our van). Thank god our Diesel heater inlet and outlets are up off the floor.
@@judithtaylor6916 thanks Judith. Yes it was heartbreaking to see it, but fortunately so far so good with no sign of damage so far, but we are keeping a close eye on it. Yes we normally turn them off at the switch but missed them that morning, but there would still have been water as it was a fitting on the hot water tank that broke.
Oh my gosh , my heart goes out to you guys. Thank goodness for warranty but rather it never happened at all. I hope all works out and no lasting damage. I have a Hiace van, no list for checks.....but I will now. Take care guys.
Thanks Sharon, yes a check list is important, even if it is just a mental one, as it does help keep things on track and make sure nothing is forgotten, in pack up or set up.
Doh! I cant complain about a spilled bottle of cleaning fluid then. It was eucalyptus so at least it smelled ok. Good to hear about Bushtracker customer service, that's the proof of a great company!
We’ve purchased our first van, had an issue with red hot brake drum on our first trip. Went in for warranty, second trip same problem… it’s booked in again. Doesn’t seem to matter what brand van you have, they all seem to have a problem or two. Sad when you spend all your money on something, and the industry isn’t really regulated very well. It’s like all company’s just rush them out the door and worry about “quality control” if it comes back for something.
@@BordertotheShore sorry to hear about your brake issues, as they are important. Our issue was not related to the manufacturing of the caravan, but a part used in it, which we are happy to say Bushtracker have sent us the replacement part and assured us if any issues from it crop up in the future will be looked after, so we can't fault their service or back up. But yes some manufacturers try and wash their hands of any issues once you have paid for your van, which is not good.
Great service and support from your Caravan provider during a time of stress and disappointment. Great to see. Where did you buy your map from? We are kiwis coming to Australia in December to pick up our caravan and L300 from Melbourne. Start a 2 year lap if Australia with our wee Shih Tzu dog so appreciate you identifying when a camp is dog friendly. Enjoying your episodes.😁🌺
Hi Catherine, glad you are enjoying our videos. We do try to cover everything in our campsite reviews, also some additional stuff will be in the community page. The map is from Daves Decals, great for marking off where you have been. Yes we are very happy with the support and service from Bushtracker, it does make a great difference in a stressful time. Enjoy your trip and we might see you out on the road some where in Oz.
@@johnpitt2742 yes John very happy with the service and the caravan. Can't blame bushtracker for a fitting breaking but can't fault their service when we contacted them, which is a big difference to some other caravan manufacturers.
Yes Greg it's not a good experience. Fortunately ours seems to be ok, so far. Sorry to hear about yours, hopefully it will all be good when you get it back.
Not a great thing to have happen! You've got me thinking about completely sealing my HWS, bay... there is a vent in the floor of it anyway, so leakage "should" go out of that... but doubling down and making the whole bay waterproof, so that NOTHING can leak out *into* the RV... just in case. At least in my case, having a motorhome, I would at least hear the water pump running, and could stop to find out why, but still... It only takes a slow leak to make stuff wet that maybe you wouldn't notice. Water could get into my tunnel boot and into anything that I had in there: as well as into the sleeping area where I have built in some wood .."cabinetry"...etc. I'm going to start looking for some "paint on" sealer/membrane that would leave no gaps... hmmm.
Hi Steve, probably a bit extreme sealing it all up, as it can happen anywhere in that there is piping running, as it wasn't the hot water that caused the issue it was the fitting that cracked was the root cause. And there is lot of joints in the pipes as it runs through and under the van so you would only be limiting the potential area of risk. Better to turn off the pumps 👍
Do you shut all your valves when on the go? Pumps off? So saw the rest and I’ll be really annoying and say that that’s why you turn off your pumps, in case a fitting breaks.
Yes, thanks, we know! Have been caravaning for many years and normally do shut everything off. But that morning we didn't stick to our normal routine. It happens! The pump being on did not cause the issue, a John Guest fitting sheared in half! But the pump being on exacerbated the issue no doubt! Annoyed at ourselves - for sure, but that's life, we're not all perfect vanners all of the time! 😂
@@Vantastic_Aus To be honest I think you took it way too seriously. As you said these things happen. If that’s the worst then that’s pretty good. I’ve camped up with vanners with some catastrophic stories. Broken axles, fridge literally completely on the floor, window bowed with a 2inch gap letting in the world.
@effkay3691 I can tell you, it is no fun seeing your brand new van flooded but is it life or death, no! We keep it in perspective but it was pretty stressful in the moment as you're not really sure at that time what the damage is. So yes, it's stressful. Thankfully we've got it sorted now and will be lucky if that's the worst that happens in travel life!
Be careful my mates parents had a 3 year old caravan bought from new its hot water system blew was fixed then blew again , too late the floor got warped and because its a composite wall sided van it was written off , way too hard to fix than a ally sided van , gee iv just stumbled across your channel and i recon back in the past ive been following your travels on face book you were working out bush and staying in ya swag every night living the dream , gee now you got a fella and travelling around cool 👍
Hi there David, yep, that's me! Van life to swag life, back to van life! 😆 As you can see, I'm still talking about Aus though. Thanks, yes, we will be keeping a close eye on the hws as we go!!! Bushtracker are also going to have a look at all when we can get back up that way. Welcome to our channel! 🤠
We didn’t turn off our water at home base and came home to a flooded house in February just moved back into last week still not finished .Do people turn there water off at there home before they travel???
Graham that's not a good thing to come home to. We have heard of people turning off the water at home but have not done it ourselves, but might have to think about it in the future 🤔 Glad you are back in even if it is still a work in progress.
@@Vantastic_Aus Thanks for that info. I've just bought one of those Duetto HWS and was worried I'd got myself a dud! John Guest fittings are normally bulletproof - that was bad luck to have one fail.
@@spudboy1328 yes we are happy with the hws, as long as you don't want a long shower 😜 But yes the fittings are usually good, but I have heard of a few failures lately.
Good practice never ever leave your caravan with water pump turned on ,if a John Guess fitting or like isn't attached correctly or is cracked this is the result. I have seen a couple of other travellers over the years in the same situation. Ours was cracked & started to leak, but we were in the van, not so bad to clean up. Safe travels, hoping all will be well in the future.
@@iandibley8032 yes Ian we are aware of that. But as the fitting sheared it wasn't how it was attached was the issue.
Good episode.
We've seen a few mentions of water incidents in the Flinders where the pumps were left on causing a flood. Good thing it's nice clean water. On one of our early trips, we left one of the flaps of the 4 seasons hatch open. It broke the hinge of the flap as we were driving down the highway. A friendly trucker alerted us on the CB because he could see the flap flapping around on the roof. We closed the other flaps before moving off but must have missed one because of where we were standing when closing it up.
We now have an inside and outside printed checklist. It's in about revision 3 maining editted to get the sequence right.
Thanks, glad you liked it.
Yes we usually double check each thing but we were out of sequence that morning as we were only an hour from home and weren't on our game😲
But yes it was good it was clean water, the other option would have been horrible 😮
Water leaks in bans seems to be more common than is reported based on the comments we got here and across our social media.
We had a bad experience in our van too so know how you feel. Thanks for sharing yours.
yes it is not a great experience, but it is a learning one and we have learned from it and are hopefully more prepared if it happens again. We are happy to share as hopefully it will help others learn form our experiences
Great info . Never thought of that happening with the pump on. Sounds like it was going to break it some stage anyway. Might have been while you were asleep
Glad we could help. Yes it would have happened with the pump on or off, and if it was off we might not have picked it up as quickly as we were on the last leg to home. If it had happened while we were asleep in the van we would have heard the pump running, maybe 🤔
Heartbreaking - water flooding. Mould is the issue and expansion of the floor and MDF if any. When you say turn off the pump - do you mean just the power point switch or actually under the sink? (where the pump is in our van). Thank god our Diesel heater inlet and outlets are up off the floor.
@@judithtaylor6916 thanks Judith. Yes it was heartbreaking to see it, but fortunately so far so good with no sign of damage so far, but we are keeping a close eye on it.
Yes we normally turn them off at the switch but missed them that morning, but there would still have been water as it was a fitting on the hot water tank that broke.
Oh my gosh , my heart goes out to you guys. Thank goodness for warranty but rather it never happened at all. I hope all works out and no lasting damage. I have a Hiace van, no list for checks.....but I will now. Take care guys.
Thanks Sharon, yes a check list is important, even if it is just a mental one, as it does help keep things on track and make sure nothing is forgotten, in pack up or set up.
Thanks for sharing. What a drama! Great to see the support from Bushtracker. Stay safe😎
Thanks Keith, we are happy to share our experiences, both good and bad, and hopefully others can learn from them.
Sorry this happened , glad for the great service
Thanks Louise, yes it isn't a nice thing to find, but thankfully it is all looking good for now. And yes the response from BT has been great.
Definitely going to check out the stay Warren Gorge.
Hopefully all is ok with the van after it’s leak 😉
Thanks Rob, yes everything appears to be good, at present. Warren Gorge is definitely worth checking out.
Doh! I cant complain about a spilled bottle of cleaning fluid then. It was eucalyptus so at least it smelled ok. Good to hear about Bushtracker customer service, that's the proof of a great company!
We can't fault their service either, just wish we didn't have to test it. But yes the service was great from Bushtracker.
We’ve purchased our first van, had an issue with red hot brake drum on our first trip. Went in for warranty, second trip same problem… it’s booked in again. Doesn’t seem to matter what brand van you have, they all seem to have a problem or two. Sad when you spend all your money on something, and the industry isn’t really regulated very well.
It’s like all company’s just rush them out the door and worry about “quality control” if it comes back for something.
@@BordertotheShore sorry to hear about your brake issues, as they are important.
Our issue was not related to the manufacturing of the caravan, but a part used in it, which we are happy to say Bushtracker have sent us the replacement part and assured us if any issues from it crop up in the future will be looked after, so we can't fault their service or back up.
But yes some manufacturers try and wash their hands of any issues once you have paid for your van, which is not good.
Great service and support from your Caravan provider during a time of stress and disappointment. Great to see.
Where did you buy your map from? We are kiwis coming to Australia in December to pick up our caravan and L300 from Melbourne. Start a 2 year lap if Australia with our wee Shih Tzu dog so appreciate you identifying when a camp is dog friendly.
Enjoying your episodes.😁🌺
Hi Catherine, glad you are enjoying our videos. We do try to cover everything in our campsite reviews, also some additional stuff will be in the community page.
The map is from Daves Decals, great for marking off where you have been.
Yes we are very happy with the support and service from Bushtracker, it does make a great difference in a stressful time.
Enjoy your trip and we might see you out on the road some where in Oz.
Thank you for your speedy reply - really appreciate. Yes - hope to see you out on the lap somewhere.😁🌺
no 1 rule before driving or storing--- turn all power off lol
Yes and if you watched the video we do cover that.
just as well you said you had good service because the builder is a mate of mine
@@johnpitt2742 yes John very happy with the service and the caravan. Can't blame bushtracker for a fitting breaking but can't fault their service when we contacted them, which is a big difference to some other caravan manufacturers.
@@Vantastic_Aus yes no bias i feel they are a good team and i have appreciated following your trip
@@johnpitt2742 thanks for the feedback John. We will be off on another trip in a few weeks time so keep an eye out for it 😉
sorry for your crap experience. Had the same thing happen to ours,actually in now for repair 40 g insurance job,6 week repair.
Yes Greg it's not a good experience. Fortunately ours seems to be ok, so far.
Sorry to hear about yours, hopefully it will all be good when you get it back.
Not a great thing to have happen!
You've got me thinking about completely sealing my HWS, bay... there is a vent in the floor of it anyway, so leakage "should" go out of that... but doubling down and making the whole bay waterproof, so that NOTHING can leak out *into* the RV... just in case. At least in my case, having a motorhome, I would at least hear the water pump running, and could stop to find out why, but still... It only takes a slow leak to make stuff wet that maybe you wouldn't notice. Water could get into my tunnel boot and into anything that I had in there: as well as into the sleeping area where I have built in some wood .."cabinetry"...etc.
I'm going to start looking for some "paint on" sealer/membrane that would leave no gaps... hmmm.
Hi Steve, probably a bit extreme sealing it all up, as it can happen anywhere in that there is piping running, as it wasn't the hot water that caused the issue it was the fitting that cracked was the root cause. And there is lot of joints in the pipes as it runs through and under the van so you would only be limiting the potential area of risk. Better to turn off the pumps 👍
Do you shut all your valves when on the go? Pumps off?
So saw the rest and I’ll be really annoying and say that that’s why you turn off your pumps, in case a fitting breaks.
Yes, thanks, we know! Have been caravaning for many years and normally do shut everything off. But that morning we didn't stick to our normal routine. It happens! The pump being on did not cause the issue, a John Guest fitting sheared in half! But the pump being on exacerbated the issue no doubt! Annoyed at ourselves - for sure, but that's life, we're not all perfect vanners all of the time! 😂
@@Vantastic_Aus To be honest I think you took it way too seriously. As you said these things happen. If that’s the worst then that’s pretty good. I’ve camped up with vanners with some catastrophic stories. Broken axles, fridge literally completely on the floor, window bowed with a 2inch gap letting in the world.
@effkay3691 I can tell you, it is no fun seeing your brand new van flooded but is it life or death, no! We keep it in perspective but it was pretty stressful in the moment as you're not really sure at that time what the damage is. So yes, it's stressful. Thankfully we've got it sorted now and will be lucky if that's the worst that happens in travel life!
Bugga … so sorry that happened to you .
Thanks Margaret. But it is a learning experience and thankfully it wasn't as bad as it first looked 🙂
Be careful my mates parents had a 3 year old caravan bought from new its hot water system blew was fixed then blew again , too late the floor got warped and because its a composite wall sided van it was written off , way too hard to fix than a ally sided van , gee iv just stumbled across your channel and i recon back in the past ive been following your travels on face book you were working out bush and staying in ya swag every night living the dream , gee now you got a fella and travelling around cool 👍
Hi there David, yep, that's me! Van life to swag life, back to van life! 😆 As you can see, I'm still talking about Aus though. Thanks, yes, we will be keeping a close eye on the hws as we go!!! Bushtracker are also going to have a look at all when we can get back up that way. Welcome to our channel! 🤠
@@Vantastic_Aus great stuff I'm looking forward to ya future videos safe and happy travels
@davidmilledge221 we hope they're slowly improving! It's a learning curve. 😂
We didn’t turn off our water at home base and came home to a flooded house in February just moved back into last week still not finished .Do people turn there water off at there home before they travel???
Graham that's not a good thing to come home to. We have heard of people turning off the water at home but have not done it ourselves, but might have to think about it in the future 🤔
Glad you are back in even if it is still a work in progress.
Always
So was it the HWS that split/cracked/whatever, or was it the fittings that let go (i.e. external to the HWS)?
It was a John Guest fitting that broke, literally cracked in half. It joined the hose to the tank.
@@Vantastic_Aus Thanks for that info. I've just bought one of those Duetto HWS and was worried I'd got myself a dud!
John Guest fittings are normally bulletproof - that was bad luck to have one fail.
@@spudboy1328 yes we are happy with the hws, as long as you don't want a long shower 😜
But yes the fittings are usually good, but I have heard of a few failures lately.
Bugga!
Yes it was but thankfully an easy fix with the right part and so far no signs of long term damage.