I got heaps of dust in my 16 BT coming down the Tanami . How can I stop this ?

Hi Willie,
We did get a little dust in through the outlets but solved the problem by buying an extra plug for the shower outlet. Seemed to solve the problem of dust. We also have pantyhose over all the outlets to stop wasps etc building their nests in the pipes.
I believe some dust will come through the 4 seasons hatch as it is not meant to be airtight in case of build up of gas etc inside van. We have 4 pieces of foam that fit up into the hatch and leave the back hatch free unless on really dirty roads. We still get a "little" dust but not enough to worry us when compared to other vans we see and certainly not enough for me to have to clean every time we stop (and I am a mad clean freak).
Hope this helps
Prue

Hi Willie
The main place of entry is as you have guessed around the hinges and also around the door handle. It gets in between the two doors and then through the screen door. If the inside of your door window has dust, this is where it is coming from.The 4 seasons will let in dust if it is in the air from other cars but not usually if you are running in clean air.

Bob

Hi Willie
Our BT has been remarkably dust-free in its 4-year, 90,000km life.
We use a 25mm foam pad between the door vent & the waterproof cover when on the dirt.

The Tanami played a trick on us with what appeared to be a cupful of dust thrown down the centre of the van.

No further dust ingress after this for the remainder of the trip via the GRR, GCR & Plenty Hwy's.

We had another similar episode about a year later of a cup full of dust down the centre.

Found the gasket around the frig needed replaement. I pulled the frig out & cleaned out an amazing amount of dust from inside the frig enclosure.
Replaced the gasket & our BT has been dust-free since.

Neil.

We have a vacum fan in our Phoenix and do not get any dust in at all, most Phoenix vans also have the same systime and would have thought that BT would have been putting them in as standard by now

Willie,

I don't know why anyone would want a Vaccum fan in their van. If you were to create a Vaccume in the van it would be like a vaccum cleaner and be trying to suck dust in all the time.
Some vans have pressure vents and fans fitted so as to pressurise the inside of the van and keep the dust out. I have fitted a pressure vent in the canopy of our F250 and it works well keeping the dust out of the tub, but it wouldn't work as well on the van because of the dust coming from the vehicle.

Some people have got around that by installing a vent with a fan to draw air in through an air cleaner but generally this IS NOT REQUIRED with a Bushtracker because they are pretty well dust proof.

The only times that we have had dust in ours is when yours truly has forgotten to lock a window closed. We don't get it in the door as we place a piece of foam over the vent and close the waterproof door.

We don't get any in around the fridge either because our external vents are closed off and the fridge vents internally.

Brian

Willie,
Recently after a trip through South oz i had a little dust come in, Mainly though the bottom of the fridge compartment, as the condenser coil had come adrift from its mountings i pulled the fridge out and there was a inch of dirt on the bottom and the back of the compartment, cleaned out and bought a roll of stick on foam seal before i put the fridge back in. I never had any dust over the table and the like , but did have some around the back window, none on the bed , however i have made up a filter to go over the flyscreen on the hatch at the top of the van and i leave the front opening unit on the rain setting. maybe that helped.
Regards
Frank W

Hi Willie

We came thorugh the Duncan Road, and the fine dust there did get in a bit.

We have a 4" foam in the 4 seasons to prevent the dust as this was the main dust entry in our previous primitive van.

I have put cloth in between the door and screen door to reduce dust through the vents - but a bit gets in under the door. The water door helps but dies not eliminate this - the major place dust gets in.

I put an old flannel across the shower drain and this collects a lot of dust.

I finally got Jim to silicon around water pipes in the cupboard this morning, as the old stuff had degraded, and the inside of the cupboards where the HWS is got rather dusty.

Our first trip out, i found a couple of points where dust got in around the wheel arches, and Steve suggested that with a van of this age, we should strip our and re sikaflex these joins. We have not needed to do this, as there is next to none getting in here.

We do suffer rom the 'rear window syndrome', and have yet to change the winder boxes. We don't open it any more, but due to past abuse, a bit of dust gets in along here.

Mosty, it is nothing a quick sweep can't deal with, and perhaps wipe of the table and benches with a damp cloth after a rough road when fine dust from the door ingression can spread.

Our fridge motor may get a bit of dust on it - but it is sealed this side so not a problem for dust in the van.

In Halls Creek tonight and Wolfe Creek Cater tomorrow then along the Tanami. We had to repair a water line, which a previous owner had added between two water tanks. It was vulnerable being exposed, and we found we had lost two tanks of lovely Kununurra water by the time we made camp first night out.

I hope the quick repair works, so we don't have to go dirty all the way to Alice Springs.

Motherhen