paint & battery questions

[Alistair Camelford]

OK...now that the spring (late ) refit is underway
(new bag awning, new rail, new holes in the Road Toad's roof) I want to thank Booker and Greg for their postings and advice...and ask for some more advice.
-has any owner of a green Trill 1300 sourced a paint that is "close to" the original sage/grape/pea green of the early Trills? Two western trips and four Florida safaris and a couple of down-easters have left the front in need of some stone chip repair. I'd like to come close in shade so that new stone chips don't stand out right away, and so that future repairs can be touched up easily. I'm leaning to a surface treatment for the area below the crease that was posted a couple of years back...Tremclad/Rustoleum with a dusting of fine sand and recoats enough to give a gravel guard-type finish. A spray paint would be a possibility too. I want to avoid a black paint / truck-liner look if possible. Anyone find a supplier and, maybe even have a colour code number???
-secondly...where in Ontario can you obtain the Optima spiral gel cell battery? And which one is best for a dry camping mode and solar panel recharge? The yellow top seems to be the one suggested by the manufacturer, but folks have said the blue top is OK too.
My current deep cycle battery is nearly three years old and doesn't seem to be holding a charge all that well. Three years of three month outings.
My electrical needs are low...all the interior lights are LED...but I do need to power a CPAP machine for 8 hrs/night and recharge with 30 watts of solar a day. When we are not boondocking we'll use the Fantastic Fan and a 'smart charger' during the day.
Alistair & Inge in the Road Toad

[Roy in TO]

...where in Ontario can you obtain the Optima spiral gel cell battery? And which one is best for a dry camping mode and solar panel recharge? The yellow top seems to be the one suggested by the manufacturer, but folks have said the blue top is OK too.

Wall Mart has the Optima which is now made by Johnson Controls. The same people that make Wal Marts "Energizer" Group 27 120 Ah deep cycle marine battery that can be had for $89 CDN (about 1/3) of what the optima will cost you.

There are a couple of threads that talk about batteries this one points out that the Optima Blue top comes in 2 flavours. Those blue top models that start with D are best for our uses. The other thread has links to lots of good battery info, besides what is discussed. And someone pointed out that Costco is another source.

You will find that Wal Mart stock varies by location. The stores in the big city have very small RV sections and less selection.

[Alistair Camelford]

Thanks Roy and Brian B P.. . I found a supplier in Ajax on Craigslist with the BIG blue top Optima for $150 Cdn. We'll see if we can deal.
Cheers Alistair

[Donna D.]

Alistair from what I've gleaned by reading topics is that gel coat changes color over the years. White has a tendency to yellow (caused by wax that yellows?) and I'm sure your Trillium is no longer the green it was when it came from the factory. If someone supplies you with a paint code, you may find it doesn't match your Trillium to your satisfaction.

Perhaps you should go to an automotive paint supplier and pick up some paint chips that you think are close. Go back to the trailer and try to do a sight color match. Finding a perfect match may be extremely difficult if not impossible. With that in mind, why not go the opposite. Choose a color that would compliment the green of the Trillium, but make it a color you like. Bright yellow? Most of the truck liner products can be painted over and that should give a more lasting finish to the front of your trailer than just touching up. Of course, prep work is 99.9% of the durability.

Here's one DIY coating you may want to consider: Grizzly Grip

[Alistair Camelford]

Thanks Donna. I am aware of the fade situation but I am quite happy to have a darker level of colour for the lower front panel. The trick is getting the same hue so that the greens are complimentary in colour. I have carted home numerous swatches but all are too yellow in tone or too emerald (John Deere). I could kick myself for discarding the circle of fg I cut out to install a new water input...that would give the paint guy something to feed into the computer.
No matter, I'll continue to seek out those greens
BTW Happy July 4 to you and all our American friends on this great site.
Cheers...Alistair

[brendadave]

Funny you should ask, I had found on this site almost 3 years ago, someone from Quebec had posted a colour match for the green, yesterday I went to the store and bought some, checked this afternoon with the dried paint on the stir stick, and it matches quite well (inside).

I have attached the formula and what paint it was in. Mind you, they said that the "base" it is made in is discontinued, they still had lots on the shelf because it was not readily used.

[Alistair Camelford]

Bravo Brenadave
Monday I'll take this mix formula to Home Depot and get a quart in Melamine. Add some fine sand for texture, repaint a time or two and keep the left overs in a Mason jar for touch-ups.
I will have to do a little resin repair and patching first, but that's the easy part.
If it works well, I might re-do the roof. Last years' spray with Krylon was adequate, but doesn't seem to be holding up to the elements
Thanks...Alistair