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Old 03-14-2010, 02:59 PM   #61
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I have the cheapo graphics on my low rent trailer. I use a wax & wash (at the same time; yes I am lazy) specifically sold for use on RVs. For the one bottle I use every 3 years, I do not care if they overcharge me by $5.

And on the jack question, my trailer came without one. I had to buy what I needed separately.
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Old 03-14-2010, 03:35 PM   #62
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Thanks for the answers. No, I do not expect my new toy to outshine my unwaxed cars (modern auto paints are amazing), but want the coat to be a bit waxy so that I can simply hose it off now and then. Surfed the Web about the Alcan highway last night. All paved and not that much of an adventure like 50 or even 30 years ago, but can be dusty and muddy in places.

Back on the wax, just got back from outside, after trying 2 of the half-dried-out bottles on just a couple of square feet. That gel coat actually showed a bit of shine. One of the bottles even claimed to be some kind of resin, and good on vinyl decal too.

Man oh man, many square feet left. On a class A, you might as well own some scaffolding (remember the ones I rented to do exterior staining :-), if you want to do any maintenance work.
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Old 03-14-2010, 09:43 PM   #63
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[QUOTE=NW-Bound;914362]One poached pear coming up...

How about another question? Found 4 bottles of different car waxes in my garage cabinet. As I stopped waxing my cars 15 (20?) years ago, the fact that there's still some liquid in 2 of them is simply astounding, given the "dry heat" of AZ. The fiberglass wall of the RV looks dull, compared to the painted surfaces of my cars, so I thought about giving it a nice treatment
I decent luck on restoring my first (experienced) RV with a 3M fiberglass wax sold for boat surfaces. Got it at Walmart without having to sell an arm or leg.
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Old 03-14-2010, 09:50 PM   #64
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We have full body paint on the sides. Fiberglass roof. We use UV treatment for the roof including plastics (like airconditioner covers, etc.) and slide topper fabric - Aerospace 303 treatment or Protectal. A lot of folks use marine type fiberglass cleaners/treatment on their RVs.

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Old 03-15-2010, 12:16 PM   #65
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And what are other uses of butyl putty tape (that I paid $20 for a roll)?
I paid $3.10 for a roll at a mobile home repair business in Apache Junction...needed it to seal bolted flange connections on my new chimney shrouds. I have 40' of the 50' roll left it you want it...
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Old 03-15-2010, 05:47 PM   #66
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ARGHHH! You know how to bring tears to a frugal guy's eyes!

I did not know where to buy it, so ordered it online. Half the cost was for shipping & handling.

Hey, there are supposedly an old type and a new type of butyl tapes, as I have read, and also hinted by the installer in the video above. Who is to say your roll wasn't imported and of inferior quality, while my roll costing 3 times more isn't the type used by the US Navy to seal submarine hulls and NASA to patch space rockets?

But I guess I will never find out how well it can work on my leaky windows, as I couldn't pry them off.
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Old 03-15-2010, 06:34 PM   #67
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But I guess I will never find out how well it can work on my leaky windows, as I couldn't pry them off.
Okay, so you perked my curiosity. There, of course, has to be a way to remove the windows. It would not make sense to manufacture them as a "permanent" fixture -- a window would break and need fixing; probably happens somewhere hundreds of times a year. Your failure is most likely caused by a lack of knowledge. I would call your local Glass Company (Windshield Repair and Auto Glass Replacement - Safelite AutoGlass ?) and simply ask how it's done. Actually, the worst case would be for them to come out and show you how to do it -- i.e., charge for a single window. I suggested Safelite because I have found them to be extremely helpful (read "free advice") in cases such as this.
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Old 03-15-2010, 08:05 PM   #68
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But I guess I will never find out how well it can work on my leaky windows, as I couldn't pry them off.

NW Bound, looks like you might want to head up north with a can of acetone, a roll of paper towels and a very sharp putty knife-

"I found the best way to remove butyl was in very cold weather. It hardens up enough that scraping with a razor dipped in solvent gets most of it off."

"…Once butyl sees a solvent it turns into a liquid"

SOURCE:

Butyl Tape vs Polysulfide Caulk on Rebedding - Page 2 - Cruisers & Sailing Forums

.................................................. .......
And I'm sure my $3.10 roll of butyl tape was certified for use by the Chinese Space Program...
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Old 03-15-2010, 08:45 PM   #69
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Okay, so you perked my curiosity. There, of course, has to be a way to remove the windows. It would not make sense to manufacture them as a "permanent" fixture...
I am sure there is a way to remove them. But I just didn't know how, nor had time to surf the Web for info. One thing for sure was that it just didn't "fall off" like the guy in the youtube video demonstrated. And using brute force is certainly not the way to do it.

I read a bit of that thread, and will go back to read it all. Surely, boats would have even more of a problem with water leaks through windows than RVs, and these guys should know a lot about this stuff.

At this point, I am thinking I will just scrape and clean off the silicone caulk that the previous owner did, then reseal with a water-based caulk like REW suggested. I was able to see some spots where the existing silicon caulk has developed a crack. So, I am going to try this easier solution first, now that the window removal does not appear to be so easy.

And by the way, the new butyl tape is said to be good on RV rubber roof of EPDM, whereas people usually use Eternabond tape for repair.
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Old 03-15-2010, 09:07 PM   #70
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By the way, in googling for solutions to class C window leaks, I found an account of a hapless RV owner who found his spanking new RV leaking on a rainy drive home from the dealer. He kept bringing it back to the dealer, who kept "fixing" it one way or another to no avail. Finally, his warranty expired, at which point the dealer told him "tough luck".

Of course the owner was furious, and told everybody about it. He even ordered a spare tire cover with the phrase "This RV brand sucks" to badmouth the manufacturer on his travel.
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Old 03-15-2010, 09:37 PM   #71
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Goodness RW, how did you fill your days before you made this purchase?

Ha
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Old 03-15-2010, 09:45 PM   #72
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Ha, are you talking to me, NW and not RW?

I guess I was just sitting around looking really, really sad.
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Old 03-15-2010, 10:30 PM   #73
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Ha, are you talking to me, NW and not RW?

I guess I was just sitting around looking really, really sad.
Yes, I have been drinking an expensive single malt, something that I dont get much opportunity to do, and I must have thought that you were Rawanda Westbound, instead of Northwest bound.

Ha
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Old 03-23-2010, 05:09 AM   #74
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Congrats on becoming the owner of mammoth! Do post few snaps. Full time RV is something which often comes to my mind, but haven’t had a chance to explore this option.
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Old 07-07-2010, 09:56 PM   #75
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It has been 4 months since I bought this RV! And we have made just one short 2-night trip to Parker, AZ to "test the water". And we loved it!

The original plan is that by this time, we should already be on the road. If not somewhere in the Pacific NW, then perhaps Idaho, or Yellowstone NP. So many places to go, it may not matter where the road takes us.

Alas, things do not work out, due to my having to serve as a juror in a 5-week criminal court case. And now, my house is being repaired. And I need to do a bit of w*rk to replace the money I used to buy those cheap, cheap stocks.

I have repeatedly threatened to go to Alaska, but I never intended to do it this year. Need some serious RV boondocking time under my belt first. And again, there are so many places, so many NPs we can visit.

So, I don't know when we can go. My w*rk may push it out a couple of months from now, meaning towards September, or the end of summer.

I have been trying to use the time to do some preparations and mods on the RV. Nothing major, but just to add to the convenience.
1) I have reported on the backup camera and monitor being the 1st thing I added.

2) Then, I added the vent covers, which would allow the vents to stay open, rain or shine. It really helps hot air to escape from inside the RV when parked under this brutal AZ sun. I removed the chintzy stock vent fans and added the "de rigueur" Fantastic Fans.

3) The EPDM rubber roof still looked OK, but with the harsh AZ sun, I gave it a bit more protection by applying a Dicor coat.

4) I added a tap to the RV propane tank line, so that we will be able to cook or grill with a portable burner outside the RV, without having to carry an external propane tank.

5) I added a steel strap to support the 2-battery box under the RV door step; the weld joints attaching this box to the RV chassis already showed signs of stress. This, after only 25K miles, is a sign of poor workmanship.

6) I ripped out the chintzy cabling inside this battery box, and installed my own hand-built cables, using marine grade #2-gauge wires and battery lugs. The lugs are soldered, not crimped connections like the factory ones that already developed high resistance. I put in 150A fuses, one for each battery. I needed this heavy-duty wiring to support the inverter that I was going to install.

7) The RV did not come with an inverter. I just installed a 2KW pure sine ware inverter. A 200A shunt resistor permanently mounted inside the battery box allowed me to check the current drawn. When powering the microwave, it draws a respectable 160A, and the wiring did not get hot. At such current, the 2-battery bank may be good for only 1/2 hr, but I only intend to use it to make coffee in the morning, or to use the microwave during short day stops or during night boondocking, without having to fire up the generator.

8) I bought a small 10W solar panel, whose purpose is to keep the battery bank maintained while parked, unused. I do not intend to boondock for long, hence do not look into larger solar panels like some boondocking full-timers have used.
The following is next on my list.
9) I will replace some of the lights with LED lights to stretch the battery power some. Want to preserve some of that juice to run the coffee maker in the morning, ya know?

10) I will buy and self-install towing brackets for my toad. Yes, we will use a toad to do sight-seeing, from the RV as the base. And of course, I will do the tow-light wiring on the toad.

11) I am designing my own battery monitor, to do what these off-the-shelf Xantrex thingys do. All it takes is a microcontroller, LCD display, A/D converter, a bit of analog circuit, a bit of software. Of course it is simpler just to buy, but what else do I do all day?
When I am done with these, I will think of something else to add.
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Old 07-07-2010, 10:49 PM   #76
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I'm sure you will come up with the time to enjoy your RV in a little while. Sounds like life got in the way.

If/when you decide to fully retire, you'll have more time to enjoy it.
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Old 07-08-2010, 04:44 AM   #77
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By the way, in googling for solutions to class C window leaks, I found an account of a hapless RV owner who found his spanking new RV leaking on a rainy drive home from the dealer. He kept bringing it back to the dealer, who kept "fixing" it one way or another to no avail. Finally, his warranty expired, at which point the dealer told him "tough luck".

Of course the owner was furious, and told everybody about it. He even ordered a spare tire cover with the phrase "This RV brand sucks" to badmouth the manufacturer on his travel.
A defect which manifests itself during the warranty period is a warranty defect. States passed lemon laws to deal with recalcitrant dealers.
Even under the commercial code (UCC provision found in almost all states)
§ 2-608. Revocation of Acceptance in Whole or in Part.

(1) The buyer may revoke his acceptance of a lot or commercial unit whose non-conformity substantially impairs its value to him if he has accepted it
  • (a) on the reasonable assumption that its non-conformity would be cured and it has not been seasonably cured; or
  • (b) without discovery of such non-conformity if his acceptance was reasonably induced either by the difficulty of discovery before acceptance or by the seller's assurances.
(2) Revocation of acceptance must occur within a reasonable time after the buyer discovers or should have discovered the ground for it and before any substantial change in condition of the goods which is not caused by their own defects. It is not effective until the buyer notifies the seller of it.
(3) A buyer who so revokes has the same rights and duties with regard to the goods involved as if he had rejected them.

Etc.
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Old 07-08-2010, 04:48 AM   #78
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4) I added a tap to the RV propane tank line, so that we will be able to cook or grill with a portable burner outside the RV, without having to carry an external propane tank.



When you say "added a tap to a propane line" exactly how did you add the tap? Propane can be really nasty stuff (has a wider explosive range than gasoline) and constant vibration is very hard on all joints.
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Old 07-08-2010, 05:51 AM   #79
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NW, why not get a french press coffee maker? If you can boil water, you can make coffee.

If you can, I suggest just getting out for a few weekends. That will get you lots of experience and you will enjoy it a ton.
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Old 07-08-2010, 06:00 AM   #80
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When I am done with these, I will think of something else to add.
What braking system are you planning on using for your toad?
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