New-to-us 2006 2619, & a few questions

[jjplumley]

Hi All.

We're a family of 3, and have been tent campers for years. Started looking for a travel trailer after we had to cancel a camping trip last month due to bad weather.

We purchased an '06 2619 from it's original owners on Thursday, and took it camping Friday! Previous owners took real good care of it, and kept it stored in a garage since new. We even got hailed at a traffic light on the way home by "OscarF" from this forum!

Everything seemed to work fine during the "shakedown trip", but we came up with a list of items that need attention:

• Replace non-working Sharp oven/microwave combo with microwave (did that at the campsite!)
• Heavy rain this weekend showed a slow leak at the fan roof vent. Looks like it's coming from the "riser".
• "Electra Magic" toilet has to go. It appears to work fine though and we used it for #1's this past weekend, but it was a little stinky by the trip's end. We're looking into a composting toilet setup, "wag-bags", or the Poor-man's SeaLand setup.
• We love this camper and want to take care of it. Neighborhood HOA restrictions prohibit us from storing it under a car port, and it's too wide for our garage (We tried for 4 hours yesterday to get it in there though - removed porch lights, awning, and garage door trim and still only had 1/2" clearance on the sides. Sloped driveway prohibits us from backing it in by hand so that we don't damage the sides, and using my truck was too difficult).
  

SO, my questions:

What sealant for the roof leak, porch lights, and awning? (Coming from the boating world, I'd say 3M 4200 or something similar).

Shouldn't the vent trim be removed to allow the core to dry before resealing it?

Any tips for storing outside? Pretty bummed about not being able to fit it in the garage (Wife loves it so much she suggested we move houses just to store this thing!). We're in North Atlanta area - 51" of rain annually, hot & muggy summers, occasional hail. We've had mice and mold problems with canvas popup trailers I've owned before, stored in the same spot, which made me swear off buying anything that couldn't be stored in the garage. Thinking heavy tarp over the top with ends open for ventilation is our only option. Mice? Maybe I'll start feeding the neighbors outdoor cats to keep them around my yard.

Keeping it popped up with a dehumidifier would keep mold in check, but HOA prohibits that. Lowered, it stays hidden behind a fence, and keeps us in compliance.

Offsite storage is out of the question - it's $150+ a month around here, and wouldn't be covered. And that's IF they have any room available!

[rickst29]

First, I can confirm 3M #4200 'fast cure' to be a nearly perfect choice for sealing the TM trim bits.

Are you speaking of the power vent above the stove, or the vent above the table (with lights)?

I would (and did) remove the vent trim on my own 2619, but I was doing an entire power-vent replacement for other reasons (less fan noise and more powerful airflow, mutli-speed and reversible). I feel that you have the right idea to remove it completely, because Atlanta humidity will otherwise promote mold growing on any surface with even the slightest bit of moisture.
- - -
I can't advise a "best tarp" to use with your outdoor storage plan.

[Bill]

Misc thoughts

Any possibility of widening your garage door by (say) six inches or a foot? It wouldn't be cheap, but your other options aren't either.

Re the Electra-Magic. First, be sure in your own mind that your objections are really the smell, and not discomfort with the whole idea of a pot o' poo down there. If the issue is the latter, go ahead with the toilet changeout, as nothing else will make it right.

If the problem is smell, there are some easy things you can try that help many people.
1. Keep the seat and the lid closed at all times. It is not a hermetic seal, but is tighter than the seal on a household toilet.
2. Use plenty of water for charging.
3. Did you use an adequate amount of a good deodorizer? Opinions vary, of course, but we use Thetford Campa-Chem Original Formula, half a bottle for an overnight stop, a full bottle for longer. We have not found that any of the more "dainty" products work as well.
4. Run the bathroom vent fan occasionally, and crack the bathroom window.
5. Be sure the flush is complete. Occasionally a bit of stuff refuses to go down. A longer flush may do the trick.
6. Install a powered toilet vent. It is not hard to do if you are a bit handy. One of our members did a real nice job, and described it in detail here.
https://www.trailmanorowners.com/for...d.php?t=19938&
It is a whole lot less expensive, less effort, and less time-consuming than replacing the toilet.

Good luck

Bill

[jjplumley]

Originally Posted by rickst29

Are you speaking of the power vent above the stove, or the vent above the table (with lights)?

Our leak came from the power vent near the stove. Hoping to tear into it this afternoon.

[ShrimpBurrito]

I've heard of people using the powered movers to guide their TMs into a garage up a slope, so the safety of that and appropriateness of your exact setup might be worth investigating a bit. Post a picture of your garage and driveway, and maybe we can come up with some other ideas.

IMHO, if you have a leak at one of the roof vents, you need to pull it off the roof completely, build new risers (or buy them from the factory), and reinstall and the risers will just keep cracking and you will keep getting leaks. Note that the ones the factory uses are "plastic lumber", and they staple them together at the corners with huge staples, preventing them from laying flat on the roof. A better option, which is what I did, is to by some PVC boards from Home Depot / Lowes or a similar place and cut your own (or have someone else do it). That way, you can glue them together with PVC cement, and also put a stainless screw on the corners to secure the lap joints.

Once the roof is completely cleaned of all the old sealant / tape, apply some butyl tape on the riser and press it on the roof. Then apply more tape to the top side of the riser, and place the vent on the riser. Reinstall the clamps and/or screws that were there initially to secure it to the roof, and then apply DAP self-leveling lap sealant to cover the vent flange. I then used RV Proflex sealant to seal the gap between the riser and roof. You could probably use 3M 4200 there too.

Dave

[jjplumley]

Originally Posted by Bill

Misc thoughts

Any possibility of widening your garage door by (say) six inches or a foot? It wouldn't be cheap, but your other options aren't either.

I earlier dismissed the thought of widening the garage doors, but hearing someone else suggest it made me revisit the idea. We have two garage doors, brick veneer surrounding them, and I believe they could be combined into a single door. I'll have to get some estimates from someone who knows what they're looking at.

Originally Posted by Bill

Re the Electra-Magic. First, be sure in your own mind that your objections are really the smell, and not discomfort with the whole idea of a pot o' poo down there. If the issue is the latter, go ahead with the toilet changeout, as nothing else will make it right.

......
Good luck

Bill

Yeah, I guess I wasn't specific enough, but thank you for the suggestions. The swirling pot-o-poo juice is really what we're trying to avoid. Just seems like this could be addressed in a much more simple manner, like bagging it or composting in a bucket. I understand why TM used the Electra-Magic in the first place though - the only way to move campers off the showroom floor is to meet the needs of the average buyer. It might not be the "best" option, but its the one that buyers think they want. And, I'm sure it works fine for a lot of people. So, to each his own!

Ours is working for now though, but is on the list to be replaced.

[jjplumley]

Originally Posted by ShrimpBurrito

I've heard of people using the powered movers to guide their TMs into a garage up a slope, so the safety of that and appropriateness of your exact setup might be worth investigating a bit. Post a picture of your garage and driveway, and maybe we can come up with some other ideas.

I looked into the powered movers.... $1500 for the 3500lb capacity version! That's 1/4 of what I paid for the camper.

Garage pictures are attached. Garage opening is 7'10" with the trim removed (second picture). TM specs say the 2619 is 7'7", so I figured I could pull it off. Specs don't take into account clearance or porch lights, or awning though.

Driveway slope is very gentle, but enough that I couldn't move a 3000lb trailer by hand. I moved a 1600 lb boat in/out for years by hand, and while I can scoot it around in the garage, I can't push it up the incline.

Originally Posted by ShrimpBurrito

IMHO, if you have a leak at one of the roof vents, you need to pull it off the roof completely, build new risers (or buy them from the factory), and reinstall and the risers will just keep cracking and you will keep getting leaks. Note that the ones the factory uses are "plastic lumber", and they staple them together at the corners with huge staples, preventing them from laying flat on the roof. A better option, which is what I did, is to by some PVC boards from Home Depot / Lowes or a similar place and cut your own (or have someone else do it). That way, you can glue them together with PVC cement, and also put a stainless screw on the corners to secure the lap joints.

Once the roof is completely cleaned of all the old sealant / tape, apply some butyl tape on the riser and press it on the roof. Then apply more tape to the top side of the riser, and place the vent on the riser. Reinstall the clamps and/or screws that were there initially to secure it to the roof, and then apply DAP self-leveling lap sealant to cover the vent flange. I then used RV Proflex sealant to seal the gap between the riser and roof. You could probably use 3M 4200 there too.

Dave

Thanks for the repair advice. I have tons of experience with home, boat, and auto repair, but RV roofing and sealants are another animal. My risers aren't cracked - one corner separated at the butt joint. I'd think I could reuse them just fine - they look to be in great shape.

Is Dicor self-leveling OK to use? I can't find 4200 locally.

[ShrimpBurrito]

Dicor self-leveling -- as the name implies -- is more free flowing than your typical caulk or silicone. It has the same viscosity when you apply it, but then over some period of time (an hour or two or?), it levels out, just like Frosty did when he got trapped in the greenhouse.

So I don't think it would be good for a vertical seal. It's great for laps -- like when a flange is sitting on another flat surface.

You can get 3M 4200 (and RV Proflex) on Amazon.

Yea, no one said those movers were cheap! But, like Bill said, none of your options are. Compare the cost of everything against monthly storage. Sometimes you can find a good deal on a used on though.

So if you only have 1/2" of clearance now, you need to come up with -- say 6 inches -- in new clearance, so that you have at least 3 inches per side. And even that will take some skill, but I deal with that much clearance on one side. I wonder if any more of that wood around the door opening could be removed and replaced with something else, like metal, so it still looks good and still provides a good seal. You might also be able to make that wood (or a metal replacement) removable, so that you pop out those sections when you need the extra clearance. Something that would take no more than 5-10 min to remove and reinstall.

I also seem to recall someone here on the forum having a similar problem years ago and made their awning easily removable. Does anyone else remember that, or am I making that up?

Dave

[ShrimpBurrito]

Looks like "ThePair", who is still active here, had a similar problem and made his awning so it can swing atop the roof when coming in/out of the garage.

https://www.trailmanorowners.com/for...?t=5472&page=8

And he installed low-profile clearance and porch lights.

Dave

[jjplumley]

Originally Posted by ShrimpBurrito

Looks like "ThePair", who is still active here, had a similar problem and made his awning so it can swing atop the roof when coming in/out of the garage.

https://www.trailmanorowners.com/for...?t=5472&page=8

And he installed low-profile clearance and porch lights.

Dave

Now THAT'S the thread I needed to see! Thanks! Reading through it now, and other posts linked inside it.

I like the idea of removable trim on the sides. That'd add a whopping 2" to each side (8'0" total), which I could probably manage. With removable awning and low profile porch lights, I'd be at 7'9". Maybe use some wheel tracks and a powered winch.