Vent Covers

Brittany Dogs · 01-02-2012, 11:40 AM

I finally got around to posting this idea I had regarding vent covers that I made. Brief history: On my old Coleman Grandview SP tent camper, I had a dealer install a Fantastic Fan in the roof. This poor-man's AC worked great especially since we dry camp a lot and only work off of the 12V batteries. When I would store the tent camper for the winter, I was always concerned about the Adco cover scratching the vent cover and also the snow-load on top of the Fantastic Fan vent cover. Sometimes we get 2-3 feet of snow at one time and then when it starts to melt down, the snow can get very wet and heavy.

So when we purchased the 2720SD in 2011, I was more concerned about this snow-load on all three vent covers. As it turns out, the Adco cover never did scratch the dome lid all that much on the Coleman. I also had to figure out a way, in my opinion, as to how to protect the newer "Jack" TV antenna that TrailManor is installing on the newer trailers.

So I came up with an idea about making lightweight covers for the three vent dome covers and decided to make it out of 1" Corning insulating foam. This pink foam board is stiff and easy to snap-cut by just using a utility knife and then snapping the rest of the way. I made three covers that are an exact fit, snug to the base of the vent platforms where TrailManor seals the platform. I used an adhesive suggested by the dealer who sold me the 4' x 8' sheet of this pink, foam stuff. I didn't care much for the adhesive since it took about a week to dry before I could handle the lids. The height is about an half inch higher than the dome lid. The Adco cover tends to keep the three covers in place just fine.

The cover for the antenna was as simple as starting off with an older flip-lid plastic box whereas I removed the top flip-lids, removed the hinge rod and then sawed off the hinge guides on the remaining plastic box. This was done to make the edge where it meets the trailer roof much more flat so that I don't dent to roof. Yes, the Adco cover is rather tight over this part of the box but it still works and does not take up too much of the Adco cover height. It still cover the sides of the trailer just fine. I figured that if I didn't have this plastic inverted box over the antenna, the Adco cover would pull too tight over the antenna wings especially if the wind starts flapping the cover in a bad way.

I included a photo of the Adco cover label just to confirm with everyone that this is a good part number to buy for the 2720 models. Bill suggested this part number in a few posts and as usual, Bill is right on!

Since the winter has been very mild here in Western NY, I'm not sure if the first attempt of using these vent protection covers will be a great test but then again, the lake is not frozen yet. We can still certainly expect a few nasty snow storms and get pounded one of these days.

If someone suspects a serious problem with my design (like trapped moisture??) then let me know and I'm all ears to hear what you suggest.

01-02-2012, 12:16 PM

My only Concern is the square corners on your covers. I expect they will wear a hole in the cover with wind movement and snow load. A course file should round them and prevent this.

Brittany Dogs · 01-02-2012, 12:43 PM

Very good point Bob! The Adco cover is rather tight over the antenna box and lucky for me, the plastic box has very curved corners. The cover is not very tight over the foam lids I built but your suggestion is very well taken. In spring I'll "break the edge" using a sander or file and that would certainly help.

With rounded edges and the fact that the foam is about as "soft" as the cover, the cover should hold up for several years. I usually only get about six years out of a cover but I would never consider not using the Adco cover in our weather conditions here.

Thanks!