Dust over everything, and i mean everything.Quick, to paint the picture for you. This camper is new to us last spring. it's a Surveyor Spirit of St. Louis Pilot. 3 slides, and parked in the same storage facility as our last camper. 1 difference, in the past my camper was 2nd in the line, and last spring, they moved me first (to the far west) in the line due to the length. Image me being in a "gravel" lot, in a corn field, with gravel roads about 1/4 mile to the north, and about 35 yards to the west of the facility. Dust is kicked up from the road each time someone drives it, and it's relatively heavily traveled for a gravel road.Anyhow, i picked it up yesterday, dust and filth on the outside overly expected, however i opened it up, and there is a layer of dust covering the entire interior. This was never an issue with our past camper.Do i have a larger problem, or a parking stall problem? Everything was clean like we left it, dry, etc, just DUST.You know, when i close my slides, the seals come in fine, but in the corners, on the bottom, i can see daylight....

I live in an energy efficient home. During the 30 or so degree nights, our home will stay comfortably warm. We do have wood heat, but that's not being used in the summer. We live on a dirt road. Leave one door or window open and WOW....yes, we get dust. BUT, even with the doors/windows closed, I still have to dust every few days (yeah, well, I SHOULD dust every few days). So, I'd say given the location, those little gaps just suck the dust in. Maybe when you park it there, you can stuff the holes with something.....and see if that helps.

Sounds to me like you have a problem with the tightness of your new RV. If you can see light, then obviously it isn't sealing very well at all. I"m assuming you have the slides pulled in when in storage so that should provide maximum sealing to that area. That leaves the windows? Vents? I'd suggest moving around the RV in the dark of night with a good flashlight and have someone outside watching for a flicker of light indicating an opening and deal with each.

I would be concerned as to how all this dust got in. Did you leave any vents open? Windows? Last year our TT was parked in the country, corn fields surrounding it. It was as clean as we left it. This year it is still as clean as I left it again. Daylight you say??????

I'd ask a nearby dealership to run a Sealtest, then go from there to close up openings. Daylight coming in from a slideout can be a concern.

Check all roof vents, around entry door, and yes the slide. Dust will enter any and all openings. The bad part is dust can also come in through the window weep holes. The only way to slow that down is to put plugs in the outside in the weep holes when in storage and remove when you are ready to travel. But dust and water can also come in around the seam between the window that does not slide where it meets the sliding side and all around the slider too, especially in the track.We have dust big time too out in the country and when we get 60+ mph winds it can be like a dust storm. All we do is just keep cleaning. We found trying to seal off the windows better didn't help 100% and was a pain so we just vacuum out the window tracks and everything else often. Before we take a trip we spend a several days cleaning, loading and going over all the systems to be sure everything is working ok.

I've Got DUST | Good Sam Community

19 Replies

midnightsadie
Explorer II
Apr 09, 2014
have it shrink wrapped .before storage.
thirtydaZe
Nomad
Apr 09, 2014
the bear II wrote:
It may not be dust.... RV'ers have reported a dust covering everything inside their RV. It turned out it is a type of mold. Cold/hot changes, moisture (humidity) and a tightly closed up RV creates this type of mold. When the mold is dry it looks like dust.

that paints a bad picture. any particular solution for something like this? something to stabilize the interior climate when stored?
the_bear_II
Explorer
Apr 09, 2014
It may not be dust.... RV'ers have reported a dust covering everything inside their RV. It turned out it is a type of mold. Cold/hot changes, moisture (humidity) and a tightly closed up RV creates this type of mold. When the mold is dry it looks like dust.
thirtydaZe
Nomad
Apr 09, 2014
Yeah, i was kind of afraid of that. the seals on my slide runs across that slide fine, and tight, but where the floor meets the wall at the 90* there are obvious "holes" where you can see day light.

so it's like they cut a piece of stripping to go along the wall, then cut a separate piece to run along the floor. where the 2 pieces of stripping meet, there is no overlap. the pieces are cut at angles, as to fit each other. when the slide comes all the way in, it pulls in tight enough to move the 2 stripping pieces away from each other far enough as to leave a gap.

our first camper only had 1 slide, both ends were essentially along a wall and a counter so seeing the stripping along the slide wasn't possible.

perhaps i'll have to take a pic tonight, to further illustrate.

i feel like my explanation is rambling.

all in all, i felt like we had it packed up pretty good for the winter. had a couple leaky windows upon purchase that were warrantied out and fixed.

EDIT: isn't there a lubricant that can be applied to the slides to help make the surface mores slick?
sowego
Explorer
Apr 09, 2014
Check all roof vents, around entry door, and yes the slide. Dust will enter any and all openings.

The bad part is dust can also come in through the window weep holes. The only way to slow that down is to put plugs in the outside in the weep holes when in storage and remove when you are ready to travel. But dust and water can also come in around the seam between the window that does not slide where it meets the sliding side and all around the slider too, especially in the track.

We have dust big time too out in the country and when we get 60+ mph winds it can be like a dust storm. All we do is just keep cleaning. We found trying to seal off the windows better didn't help 100% and was a pain so we just vacuum out the window tracks and everything else often. Before we take a trip we spend a several days cleaning, loading and going over all the systems to be sure everything is working ok.
mlts22
Explorer II
Apr 09, 2014
I'd ask a nearby dealership to run a Sealtest, then go from there to close up openings. Daylight coming in from a slideout can be a concern.
loulou57
Explorer
Apr 09, 2014
I would be concerned as to how all this dust got in. Did you leave any vents open? Windows? Last year our TT was parked in the country, corn fields surrounding it. It was as clean as we left it. This year it is still as clean as I left it again. Daylight you say??????
hershey
Explorer
Apr 09, 2014
Sounds to me like you have a problem with the tightness of your new RV. If you can see light, then obviously it isn't sealing very well at all. I"m assuming you have the slides pulled in when in storage so that should provide maximum sealing to that area. That leaves the windows? Vents?
I'd suggest moving around the RV in the dark of night with a good flashlight and have someone outside watching for a flicker of light indicating an opening and deal with each.
amandasgramma
Explorer
Apr 09, 2014
I live in an energy efficient home. During the 30 or so degree nights, our home will stay comfortably warm. We do have wood heat, but that's not being used in the summer. We live on a dirt road. Leave one door or window open and WOW....yes, we get dust. BUT, even with the doors/windows closed, I still have to dust every few days (yeah, well, I SHOULD dust every few days). So, I'd say given the location, those little gaps just suck the dust in. Maybe when you park it there, you can stuff the holes with something.....and see if that helps.

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I've Got DUST

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