Hi Michael,
It's like a family reunion of sorts. The interior of our trailer "Pearl", was well cared for. The maple cabinet doors had split a little along seams, most likely due to humidity changes. Some glue and a clamp fixed that issue. A few of the screw covers on the stove that support the glass were melted. I fixed that with little silicone cupboard door stops. The blinds are all in great shape. I believe the door blind was a replacement. We removed it and put in a homemade roll-up curtain. One of the Fiamma leg supports on the trailer was broken and I just received the replacements and installed them. The piece of wood under the front window shield is soft, again lots of humidity, rain, snow and weather will cause this. It is on my list of things to replace.
The previous owner put a crack in the left side of the trailer, on the green stripe. I've ordered new decals and will have to do some fibreglass repair in the
fall. For now, the area is sealed in silicone. Not pretty but water tight.
The
battery box has been upgraded to hold something pretty large. I have a 12v 31 series agm now and there is room to house the Renogy Voyager controller and 30' of cables too. I'm on the fence about installing the
solar panel on the roof as camping in Ontario Provincial Parks is often well shaded. I will see how I do being able to move the panel around to catch the sun.
Our Arvika bike rack purchased for our previous trailer fits nicely on the tongue of the trillium so we will give that a go this week.
We have resigned ourselves to having a permanent bed and not using the dinette. We had considered replacing the cushions with a mattress and replacing the table with a plywood sheet that would lift on pistons, giving us access to the storage areas more easily. That is on the back burner. We tend to be minimalists and haven't missed that storage yet. Right now we have four plastic grocery bins under the table containing cooking gear etc. We always cook outside so they are accessible. Problem is that in transit, the bins slide out. I installed a removable piece of dowel in front of the bins to keep them from moving during transit. The plastic rod holder cups, holding the dowel, are attached with industrial strength sticky velcro to the fibreglass under the table. Hopefully they work so I don't have to drill holes to install something permanent.
Clear plastic bins with lids are holding small stuff on the shelf above the bed. They sit on the bed during transit. We discovered that the trillium insulation is not stellar so on cooler mornings, the roof would be damp from condensation. Sealing everything on the shelf is keeping things dry. There is no
furnace so a small ceramic space heater was purchased, but my plan is to go without electric sites as often as possible. We found turning on a burner with a little ventilation for a few minutes heated the place up nicely. Cold nights just means there will be some snuggling required.
The one quirky thing is the
propane attachment. To remove the tank to fill it requires removing two bolts, a wrench up top, and one down below. Once a season doesn't seem too bad. The hose attaching the tank to the trailer seems short. I added an adapter allowing me to run a 12' hose to the front of the trailer to fuel our portable stove. To get it attached, I tried turning the
propane tank a little. I noticed after a six hour bumpy drive that the handle of the tank now came within an inch of the trailer, and actually chipped the gel coat at some point. I may have to replace the original hose attachment to remedy this.
One more quirky item is the front tongue
light. It is installed upside down to direct the
light forward. I've seen photos of the fixture on other trilliums so I know it wasn't done by mistake. The problem is that it catches rain water. Everything inside shows much corrosion, and when I checked, about 1/2" of water. I drilled three small holes in the bottom of the
light to allow for drainage.
I spent yesterday polishing and waxing the trillium. Yes, most of the day. I'm new to mechanized polishers and it took me a few youtube videos and lots of practice to get the right technique. Again, the previous owner had cared for the trailer so I used a polish/wax combo with good results.
To do? I want to replace all of the caulking below the roofline.
That's my list for now. Not bad for having the trailer for 17 days, 10 spent camping. Do you have anything for me to watch out for?
Oh yes, our trailer came without manuals. I found the
fridge manual on line but without digging, I know nothing about the water pump. If you have the manufacturer or the manual, I'd be interested in the power consumption stats. And would you happen to know the volume of the black water tank?