John Guest Caravan Fittings Replacement
Last time we were away in the van one of the John Guest Caravan Fittings sprung a leak inside the cupboard underneath the sink. Luckily it was on the last morning just as we were getting ready to pack up and go home. I have installed a water pump isolating switch underneath one of the seats so I just turned it off before too much leaked out. It’s a good thing it didn’t happen during the night as quite a bit came out.
It was a pretty good leak. We dried everything up with some towels and once back home we put a couple of those moisture camel things in the van. Luckily no damage was done and it all dried out well.
It Was The Fitting On The Hot Water Pipe To The Sink That Failed
To test if the fitting had just come loose or if the fitting had failed I removed both the hot and cold water fittings and swapped them around and then turned the water back on. This time it was the cold water pipe that had water squirting out of it so it was definitely the fitting with the problem.
Spare John Guest Plumbing Caravan
I had been meaning to get some spare fittings as I had one let go underneath the van previously so I got online and ordered up some spare elbows, tees and some straight joiners along with a few metres of pipe. I ordered all 12mm fittings after I had put my vernier callipers on one of the pipes underneath the sink to check the size. The John Guest caravan fittings come in 10mm, 12mm and 15mm sizes. It turned out I had to order a few more spare elbows as the ones I was replacing were actually 12mm on one side and 10mm on the other. Bit of a pain in the arse but not the end of the world. The fittings work out to about $5 each if you order them online. I did buy a tee from a caravan place one time because I was in a hurry for it and that cost me $15 so it’s worthwhile getting them online if you can.
Kit of John Guest Plumbing Fitting Spares
After the fittings arrived I grabbed a couple of elbows and went out to the van. To remove the fittings it’s very easy. You just need to press down on the little collar while pulling firmly on the pipe.
Removing John Guest Fitting
After removing the fitting I noticed that one of the pipes had been cut crookedly. The pipe has to seat firmly and squarely inside of the fitting so I trimmed it to be square. I have a tubing cutter to use for this, they cost about $10 from the plumbing section in Bunnings and make getting a square cut foolproof. Failing this a good sharp Stanley knife will also do the trick provided you take more care than whoever did the original installation did! Mind you the van is eighteen year old and probably hadn’t leaked up until now so I can’t complain too much about the original installer now can I?
Pipe Needs To Be Square On The End Not Crooked Like This One
To install the fittings it’s as easy as pushing it on to the pipe firmly until you feel it seat home. There’s no ‘click” or anything, it just won’t go on any further. If you want to check put a pencil mark on the pipe when it’s fitted around the collar then remove the pipe and you can visually see and measure how far it is inserted.
Why Do I Think The John Guest Caravan Fitting Failed?
The fittings underneath the sink are in the cupboard where we stored a frying pan. I reckon that travelling down the road especially on some of the corrugated stuff we have been on has bounced the frying pan up in to the fittings causing damage to one of them. I am going to install a piece of 4mm marine ply underneath the fittings in the cupboard, effectively like a little shelf to prevent the frying pan being able to bounce in to the fitting again. But then again it all could have been down to the fittings being eighteen years old!