Scamp maintenance before winter
escape
No, we do not yet have an
Escape on order… still wrestling with what size 19’ or 21’ Eeee to many decisions.
OK back to
Scamp maintenance. After our 30 day trip west I decided it was time to tackle the
refrigerator compartment. As I have posted for a few years the plastic vents to the outside seem to be leaking.
I tried the stick on plastic gutter over both vent areas as well as bending it around to face forward to stop and streaming water from rain while pulling. Did not really solve the issue. Recently found the top of the lower compartment had the seal broken and ran a bead of the RV sealant around this after removing the entire vent panel area and sealing underneath to the FG exterior reinstalled then sealed on the outside. That did not solve it.
I disconnected the few items like 110 AC plug, 2 12 DC wires and the flare fitting for
propane. Then drilled out the 6 rivets on the inside and lifted the
fridge out and set it on the
Scamp floor. Hmmm, it would not fit through the Scamp door with screen installed.
I had planned to either
paint the support shelf or perhaps add a 1/16” layer of Plexiglas then replace the
fridge. What I discovered was that the shelf support was held in place by two wood screws so easy to remove. It looked bad and was soft and “punky” on the outside near the vents. When I pulled it out I discovered that the moisture had seeped all the way through and a bit moldy on both sides.
So I replaced it with a new piece of plywood with the top surface sealed. I also discovered that the shelf was far from a tight fit and sizable gaps in the front corners and a bit on the sides. This explained Carolyn’s comments about the pots and pans etc. in the underneath storage compartment always being very cold.
In any case, the longest time part of the operation was having the new piece cut. Fortunately, a neighbor has a table saw etc. and loves wood working and found a scrap/spare bit of wood and cut the replacement to fit. I then sealed the new one with high-density window weather stripping on all four edges and closed the gaps in the coroners. Hopefully, the stripping will no longer allow water to leak below into the storage area. Sliding the
fridge back in was easy. There is a small strip of wood along the outside edge that apparently keeps the fridge level front to back and that only had 2 screws into the particle board to hold it in place. Quickly installed the 6 new rivets then reconnected everything. Turned on the
propane and did the soapy water bubble test for
leaks. None detected so good to go.
I am now thinking when not using
propane option I will keep plastic liners on the inside of these vents to keep out water. On electric use, it should not get very hot and now CO to worry about.
The new door seal is in place, fridge area replaced now time to do a quick rinse of outside and let dry then put the new Scamp offered cover over it to keep clean. That was a new product I found on the Scamp site. At $150 it was a bargain.
Only +/- five weeks before we head south.
Carolyn suggested we may want to consider Death Valley again after GA. We met Bryan and Anne there some years back as we were trembling Newbies afraid of the Boon docking. They made life seem easy and turned out to be no big deal. A quick check of the NPS web site indicated recent massive flooding damage to Scotty’s Castle, many roads, and one campground completely closed. Sunset may reopen…
Still clueless if we will head south into Florida or to the SW. Couple of months between Feb first to early April when we return to Mich. With global climate change Mich. may become more tolerable for those of use of tropical persuasions.
Cheers,
Bat Dude