A/C Shroud Repair vs Replacement

[CA_Traveler]

A very large tree limb fell flat on the roof and fortunately did no major damage. It made a 5" and 2" hole in the A/C shroud which I covered with Gorilla tape on the inside and outside.

9 months later after summer travel and considering several replacement options I decided to repair it. Sanded the inside and outside areas, placed wax paper on the top and then Gorilla tape. Then on the inside applied fiberglass cloth and resin. When cured sanded and spray painted. Then removed wax paper and fiberglassed the top. Added a little more resin to the low spots, sanded and painted.

It took less than a day with 2 hour drying periods.

Note: If you carry duct tape replace it with the highly superior Gorilla tape.

[wolfe10]

When our A/C covers/shrouds cracked, went with these-- much better quality than OE:

http://www.icondirect.com/penguin-dometic-duo-therm-air-conditioner-shroud-pw/

[CA_Traveler]

Should have taken pictures. My goal was to seal the holes and not worry about the cosmetics. So not perfect but not visible except on the roof. That could be fixed but doubt that I will.

[Kayteg1]

Bob where is the picture???!!!!
Ditto on superiority of Gorilla tape. I also use Gorilla glue, what is good if you are not in hurry as it takes few hr to set and expands in the process.
Lately I was restoring my canoe and was spraying new gellcoat.
Having few repairs on camper cap and fiberglass, I sprayed them over as well.
The spray made the repairs invisible and gellcoat adds strength to the repair.
Time will tell how strong it is, but cosmetically it is perfect.
White gellcoat covered my dark green canoe in single coat btw

[j-d]

Great Save!

We had an older Coleman Mach where the shroud started cracking around the four bolt holes that held it down. I made support plates out of an expired license plate (classy, eh? but the stamped letters/numbers stiffen the piece too) and they extended its useful life.

But before long the whole thing got brittle. I researched my options and found the "Tuff Maxx" from MaXXair was much more rugged than Coleman, cost about the same, and had lifetime warranty. So for Coleman, that's what I'd suggest. but I think there's only one size offered. Also seems maybe Dometic uses better plastic.

I set the old shroud out for the garbage. They didn't grab it as gingerly as I'd leaned to and it pretty much disintegrated between curb and truck. I had a lot of little pieces to sweep up...

[BarneyS]

Moved to Tech Issues from DIY.

[GACamper]

Duct tape and RVing go hand-in-hand. Also if a hammer can't fix it, it most be electrical...:C

[Irelands_child]

Good job though in today's world, we needed pictures:B

I did something similar to that years back on a long gone '74 Kountry Aire 5er. In my case, I saved the broken out chunk fitted it back then made some sheet aluminum tabs and pop riveted it all back then did the fiberglass inside. A rattle can of paint and it saved me probably a hundred bucks. That shroud was still on when the trailer went down the road ~ 1994