Trillium 13 Vent question - Fiberglass RV
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Old 05-18-2018, 09:46 AM   #1
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Name: Dirk
Trailer: '77 Trilliium 1300
Michigan
Posts: 36
Trillium 13 Vent question

Hello,
I own a '77 Trillium 13 and have a leaky vent. Ideally I would like to keep things original and just remove, clean and re-rivet the original vent. My question is, when I remove the rivets, what do I need to do to replace them. Will I have to remove the lining inside the trailer? How easy is that to remove without damaging it? The leak isn't terrible and only when the trailer isn't level. So if could damage things I think I might just cram some rope putty in the crack and call it fixed.

If anyone has pictures that show the rivets that would be great.

Thank you!
Dirk
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Old 05-18-2018, 10:07 AM   #2
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Would be helpful if you would post pics of the inside and outside of your vent frame. Just looked at the roof vent on my 40 year old Trillium 4500 and it appears to be the originally installed riveted frame! It appears that a previous owner added some sort of sealant around the frame and rivets. On my previous Boler 13, a 14" vent had been installed by a previous owner, and they used short stainless steel screws instead of rivets and they used butyl tape to seal the flange.

You won't have to peel away the interior liner (ensolite) if you decide to drill out the old rivets and re-install the vent frame, however, you will want to extract the old rivet remains embedded in the ensolite.
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Old 05-18-2018, 10:20 AM   #3
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When I installed a Fantastic fan on my 4500, the Ensolite around the vent opening was not glued, (or very poorly glued) to the fibreglass. The trim of the vent held it in place. If you use a large drill bit, and only take off the head of the rivet, then you can pull off the vent, pull the remains of the rivets from the inside using pliers. Then reinstall the vent using butyl tape. Put new rivets in the original holes.
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Old 05-18-2018, 10:31 AM   #4
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Trailer: '77 Trilliium 1300
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Quote:
Originally Posted by David Tilston View Post
When I installed a Fantastic fan on my 4500, the Ensolite around the vent opening was not glued, (or very poorly glued) to the fibreglass. The trim of the vent held it in place. If you use a large drill bit, and only take off the head of the rivet, then you can pull off the vent, pull the remains of the rivets from the inside using pliers. Then reinstall the vent using butyl tape. Put new rivets in the original holes.
Ok, that is what I was wondering. Mine has the screen underneath the vent and the Ensolite seems to be held on there like you said, with the vent.

How long of pop rivets do you use? I haven't used pop rivets before so I need to pick up a tool but it looks very easy.

Thanks!
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Old 05-18-2018, 10:48 AM   #5
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I don't remember the length. I picked up a variety pack at Home Depot. The length, diameter, and material are variables. Use aluminum, not stainless steel, rivets.
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Old 05-18-2018, 10:56 AM   #6
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Trailer: 1979 Boler B1300
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Get closed-end rivets to prevent leaks through the rivet body. If you don't use closed-end rivets you will need to do something to the head to seal it. Also, make sure to use some kind of gasket material (neoprene washer, butyl caulk, Snap Cap, etc) to seal the rivet head to the fiberglass. Also be aware that you can disassemble the rivet and cut the shank to fit if you are in between rivet lengths for your application. I have read it makes for a tighter fit.
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Old 05-18-2018, 11:00 AM   #7
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Hi, depends on the size of vent, mine has the smaller vent, I had to drill the rivets from the outside, the key was not to go too far and drill through the ensolite. There was no trim on inside, vent slid right in with ensolite squeezed between vent and roof.

I used rubber butyl tape, riveted back on, have not had anymore leaks in 11 years since I fixed it.
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Old 05-18-2018, 11:19 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brendadave View Post
Hi, depends on the size of vent, mine has the smaller vent, I had to drill the rivets from the outside, the key was not to go too far and drill through the ensolite. There was no trim on inside, vent slid right in with ensolite squeezed between vent and roof.

I used rubber butyl tape, riveted back on, have not had anymore leaks in 11 years since I fixed it.
Sounds great. Mine seems to be the same as yours.

Thanks!
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Old 05-18-2018, 11:24 AM   #9
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I found some pictures
Attached Thumbnails
IM006345.JPG   IM006347.JPG  

IM006353.jpg   IM006358.JPG  

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Old 05-18-2018, 11:26 AM   #10
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Awesome. Yes, that is the vent that I have. Thank you!
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Old 05-18-2018, 05:00 PM   #11
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Name: Randy
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Trill1300 vent's photos from old post..

Quote:
Originally Posted by kg8jk View Post
Awesome. Yes, that is the vent that I have. Thank you!
Just a share...

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...nit-58673.html
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Old 05-18-2018, 05:04 PM   #12
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Name: Randy
Trailer: 1980Trillium 1300
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Vent unit Trillium1300

Could be a reference...for someone. Share...
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ler-60224.html
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Old 05-18-2018, 09:57 PM   #13
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Name: Gordon
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Very interesting to see the pictures of the roof area, for the vent.

It appears that there is a bit of a raised area for the vent flange to sit/seal on.

On my Trillium, when I removed my old vent, there was no flange area. The vent sat right onto the roof.

The raised area is a definite improvement.
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Old 05-19-2018, 03:14 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Min View Post
Very interesting to see the pictures of the roof area, for the vent.

It appears that there is a bit of a raised area for the vent flange to sit/seal on.

On my Trillium, when I removed my old vent, there was no flange area. The vent sat right onto the roof.

The raised area is a definite improvement.
I always figured the raised part was a structural design to keep roof from sagging, which it has never done, but that is just a guess.
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Old 05-19-2018, 10:11 PM   #15
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Could well be.

The roof on mine had collapsed and was also punctured.

I wanted a larger vent, so out came the saw. I installed a raised area around the new opening. Kind of like the way a skylight is installed in a house roof.

g
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Old 06-03-2018, 04:17 AM   #16
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Name: Dirk
Trailer: '77 Trilliium 1300
Michigan
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Repair completed

Thank you all for your help with this. I completed the repair yesterday no problem. I used a drill bit slightly larger than the hole in the rivets and drilled until the collar on the rivets started to spin. The vent came off easily then I pulled the ensolite a way (which was just tucked up under the edges of the vent) and used a smaller drill bit to take out the rest of the rivets. I didn't have to drill all the way through as they eventually popped through.

I cleaned everything up on the vent and the trailer then stuck the butyl tape to the vent. Before I put it on I put a nail through each corner hole on the vent so I could line up the holes on the trailer. The only problem I ran into was that the medium size pop rivets were too short but the large pop rivets were slightly bigger than the original rivets. So, I had to make the holes in the vent and fiberglass larger but it was a very minor amount so that was no problem. I just made sure the ensolite was pulled down a bit and I put a flat piece of wood in to keep from drilling into the ensolite.

It was very satisfying to see the butyl tape start to ooze out from under the vent a bit as the rivet tightened down.

Paul Neumeister suggested I use something called Self Leveling Dicor to seal the rivets. I found a tube online (it comes in several colors so I opted for the gray). Still waiting for that to come in the mail but we should be fairly waterproof for now.

Thanks again to everyone for the help. We love our baby and I didn't want to screw anything up when I did the repair. I sure appreciate this group!
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