I've Got DUST

[thirtydaZe]

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....

[kennethwooster]

Living in the Texas Panhandle we have loads of dust. Ive had to have trailers repaired because of dust coming in while pulling. I was shocked when my 2011 Cameo got water inside in a thunderstorm while towing. My service repairman fixed both . Just to say get it to a good repairman and itcan be fixed.

[oilslick]

wbwood wrote:

oilslick wrote:
If your slides are hydraulic they most likely "creep" over the winter allowing small gaps all around.

What's the alternative to hydraulic slides?

I noticed that the bottom of our slides had kicked out a little but still remained sealed. They appear to be much butter equipment than what was on the TT.

The majority are electric rack and pinion and once closed don't move. Hydraulic ones rely on trapped fluid pressure on the close side of a cylinder which over time can bleed off (creep) either through the piston seal or the control solenoid valve, the leakage is internal so you won't see any fluid leaking.

[wbwood]

oilslick wrote:
If your slides are hydraulic they most likely "creep" over the winter allowing small gaps all around.

What's the alternative to hydraulic slides?

I noticed that the bottom of our slides had kicked out a little but still remained sealed. They appear to be much butter equipment than what was on the TT.

[oilslick]

If your slides are hydraulic they most likely "creep" over the winter allowing small gaps all around.

[thirtydaZe]

Thanks for the input. i think i might invest in a new facility. i've patiently been awaiting the time when this place closes due to the expansion of the city. on a 4 corner gravel road, 2 corners are new neighborhoods that weren't there last year.

like i said, my spot is in a corn field, and likely soon to be paved around.

i realize the "holes" need to be covered, and in all honesty, as i was feeling around it just seems like kind of shoddy assembly, likely misaligned weather stripping in a couple spots.

all said and done, it's that time of year and i'm ready to hit it hard.

[spud1957]

midnightsadie wrote:
have it shrink wrapped .before storage.

Hope you were just kidding. Shrink wrapping an RV is a no no. Any cover for an RV needs to be breathable or you will create a greater problem than you are trying to correct.

S

[wbwood]

Probabyl wish you would of caught before the manufacturer warranty went out. If it is still under warranty, take it back and have them fix. Not normal to see light with the slides in..

If you are running down the road in a rainstorm, water can be kicked back up off the road and it will find its way through those holes. Since the holes are at the bottom, the rain is running off past it while it's stitting still.

[2012Coleman]

Maybe invest in a cover?

[thirtydaZe]

Well, im hoping it was dust. Whole camper is covered in it. Needs the exterrior cleaned again actually. I went after it with a hose, bucket of suds and a brush. Basically knocked off the first layer.

Proceeded to dewinterize, and start on the inside. Most of it had simply setteled, and cleaned it up with a dry cloth.

Pretty clean now, but has a bad dryer sheet smell that i cant stand. Likely get it to the park tomorrow, and finish the dirty work in a camping process this weekend.

Just went outside to pull my slides in, in the dark and under my exterrior house lights it looks awesome, shiny. A beer, dimmed lights, the radio, and a final interior cleanng inventory is a good time.

[rickeoni]

If it is mold use a desiccant when storing. Here in the west coast rain forest I go through several packets every winter. I have used since new and in ten years the unit never has any damp issues. You would be surprised how much moisture is sucked out of the air when it is humid.

[midnightsadie]

have it shrink wrapped .before storage.

[thirtydaZe]

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]

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]

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?