New-to-us 2006 2619, & a few questions

[jjplumley]

Hi All.

We're a family of 3, and have been tent campers for years. Started looking for a travel trailer after we had to cancel a camping trip last month due to bad weather.

We purchased an '06 2619 from it's original owners on Thursday, and took it camping Friday! Previous owners took real good care of it, and kept it stored in a garage since new. We even got hailed at a traffic light on the way home by "OscarF" from this forum!

Everything seemed to work fine during the "shakedown trip", but we came up with a list of items that need attention:

• Replace non-working Sharp oven/microwave combo with microwave (did that at the campsite!)
• Heavy rain this weekend showed a slow leak at the fan roof vent. Looks like it's coming from the "riser".
• "Electra Magic" toilet has to go. It appears to work fine though and we used it for #1's this past weekend, but it was a little stinky by the trip's end. We're looking into a composting toilet setup, "wag-bags", or the Poor-man's SeaLand setup.
• We love this camper and want to take care of it. Neighborhood HOA restrictions prohibit us from storing it under a car port, and it's too wide for our garage (We tried for 4 hours yesterday to get it in there though - removed porch lights, awning, and garage door trim and still only had 1/2" clearance on the sides. Sloped driveway prohibits us from backing it in by hand so that we don't damage the sides, and using my truck was too difficult).
  

SO, my questions:

What sealant for the roof leak, porch lights, and awning? (Coming from the boating world, I'd say 3M 4200 or something similar).

Shouldn't the vent trim be removed to allow the core to dry before resealing it?

Any tips for storing outside? Pretty bummed about not being able to fit it in the garage (Wife loves it so much she suggested we move houses just to store this thing!). We're in North Atlanta area - 51" of rain annually, hot & muggy summers, occasional hail. We've had mice and mold problems with canvas popup trailers I've owned before, stored in the same spot, which made me swear off buying anything that couldn't be stored in the garage. Thinking heavy tarp over the top with ends open for ventilation is our only option. Mice? Maybe I'll start feeding the neighbors outdoor cats to keep them around my yard.

Keeping it popped up with a dehumidifier would keep mold in check, but HOA prohibits that. Lowered, it stays hidden behind a fence, and keeps us in compliance.

Offsite storage is out of the question - it's $150+ a month around here, and wouldn't be covered. And that's IF they have any room available!

 

[rickst29]

First, I can confirm 3M #4200 'fast cure' to be a nearly perfect choice for sealing the TM trim bits.

Are you speaking of the power vent above the stove, or the vent above the table (with lights)?

I would (and did) remove the vent trim on my own 2619, but I was doing an entire power-vent replacement for other reasons (less fan noise and more powerful airflow, mutli-speed and reversible). I feel that you have the right idea to remove it completely, because Atlanta humidity will otherwise promote mold growing on any surface with even the slightest bit of moisture.
- - -
I can't advise a "best tarp" to use with your outdoor storage plan.

 

[Bill]

Misc thoughts

Any possibility of widening your garage door by (say) six inches or a foot? It wouldn't be cheap, but your other options aren't either.

Re the Electra-Magic. First, be sure in your own mind that your objections are really the smell, and not discomfort with the whole idea of a pot o' poo down there. If the issue is the latter, go ahead with the toilet changeout, as nothing else will make it right.

If the problem is smell, there are some easy things you can try that help many people.
1. Keep the seat and the lid closed at all times. It is not a hermetic seal, but is tighter than the seal on a household toilet.
2. Use plenty of water for charging.
3. Did you use an adequate amount of a good deodorizer? Opinions vary, of course, but we use Thetford Campa-Chem Original Formula, half a bottle for an overnight stop, a full bottle for longer. We have not found that any of the more "dainty" products work as well.
4. Run the bathroom vent fan occasionally, and crack the bathroom window.
5. Be sure the flush is complete. Occasionally a bit of stuff refuses to go down. A longer flush may do the trick.
6. Install a powered toilet vent. It is not hard to do if you are a bit handy. One of our members did a real nice job, and described it in detail here.
https://www.trailmanorowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19938&
It is a whole lot less expensive, less effort, and less time-consuming than replacing the toilet.

Good luck

Bill

 

[jjplumley]

Are you speaking of the power vent above the stove, or the vent above the table (with lights)?

Our leak came from the power vent near the stove. Hoping to tear into it this afternoon.

 

[Shrimpburrito]

I've heard of people using the powered movers to guide their TMs into a garage up a slope, so the safety of that and appropriateness of your exact setup might be worth investigating a bit. Post a picture of your garage and driveway, and maybe we can come up with some other ideas.

IMHO, if you have a leak at one of the roof vents, you need to pull it off the roof completely, build new risers (or buy them from the factory), and reinstall and the risers will just keep cracking and you will keep getting leaks. Note that the ones the factory uses are "plastic lumber", and they staple them together at the corners with huge staples, preventing them from laying flat on the roof. A better option, which is what I did, is to by some PVC boards from Home Depot / Lowes or a similar place and cut your own (or have someone else do it). That way, you can glue them together with PVC cement, and also put a stainless screw on the corners to secure the lap joints.

Once the roof is completely cleaned of all the old sealant / tape, apply some butyl tape on the riser and press it on the roof. Then apply more tape to the top side of the riser, and place the vent on the riser. Reinstall the clamps and/or screws that were there initially to secure it to the roof, and then apply DAP self-leveling lap sealant to cover the vent flange. I then used RV Proflex sealant to seal the gap between the riser and roof. You could probably use 3M 4200 there too.

Dave

 

[jjplumley]

Misc thoughts

Any possibility of widening your garage door by (say) six inches or a foot? It wouldn't be cheap, but your other options aren't either.

I earlier dismissed the thought of widening the garage doors, but hearing someone else suggest it made me revisit the idea. We have two garage doors, brick veneer surrounding them, and I believe they could be combined into a single door. I'll have to get some estimates from someone who knows what they're looking at.

Re the Electra-Magic. First, be sure in your own mind that your objections are really the smell, and not discomfort with the whole idea of a pot o' poo down there. If the issue is the latter, go ahead with the toilet changeout, as nothing else will make it right.

......
Good luck

Bill

Yeah, I guess I wasn't specific enough, but thank you for the suggestions. The swirling pot-o-poo juice is really what we're trying to avoid. Just seems like this could be addressed in a much more simple manner, like bagging it or composting in a bucket. I understand why TM used the Electra-Magic in the first place though - the only way to move campers off the showroom floor is to meet the needs of the average buyer. It might not be the "best" option, but its the one that buyers think they want. And, I'm sure it works fine for a lot of people. So, to each his own!

Ours is working for now though, but is on the list to be replaced.

 

[jjplumley]

I've heard of people using the powered movers to guide their TMs into a garage up a slope, so the safety of that and appropriateness of your exact setup might be worth investigating a bit. Post a picture of your garage and driveway, and maybe we can come up with some other ideas.

I looked into the powered movers.... $1500 for the 3500lb capacity version! That's 1/4 of what I paid for the camper.

Garage pictures are attached. Garage opening is 7'10" with the trim removed (second picture). TM specs say the 2619 is 7'7", so I figured I could pull it off. Specs don't take into account clearance or porch lights, or awning though.

Driveway slope is very gentle, but enough that I couldn't move a 3000lb trailer by hand. I moved a 1600 lb boat in/out for years by hand, and while I can scoot it around in the garage, I can't push it up the incline.

IMHO, if you have a leak at one of the roof vents, you need to pull it off the roof completely, build new risers (or buy them from the factory), and reinstall and the risers will just keep cracking and you will keep getting leaks. Note that the ones the factory uses are "plastic lumber", and they staple them together at the corners with huge staples, preventing them from laying flat on the roof. A better option, which is what I did, is to by some PVC boards from Home Depot / Lowes or a similar place and cut your own (or have someone else do it). That way, you can glue them together with PVC cement, and also put a stainless screw on the corners to secure the lap joints.

Once the roof is completely cleaned of all the old sealant / tape, apply some butyl tape on the riser and press it on the roof. Then apply more tape to the top side of the riser, and place the vent on the riser. Reinstall the clamps and/or screws that were there initially to secure it to the roof, and then apply DAP self-leveling lap sealant to cover the vent flange. I then used RV Proflex sealant to seal the gap between the riser and roof. You could probably use 3M 4200 there too.

Dave

Thanks for the repair advice. I have tons of experience with home, boat, and auto repair, but RV roofing and sealants are another animal. My risers aren't cracked - one corner separated at the butt joint. I'd think I could reuse them just fine - they look to be in great shape.

Is Dicor self-leveling OK to use? I can't find 4200 locally.

 

[Shrimpburrito]

Dicor self-leveling -- as the name implies -- is more free flowing than your typical caulk or silicone. It has the same viscosity when you apply it, but then over some period of time (an hour or two or?), it levels out, just like Frosty did when he got trapped in the greenhouse.

So I don't think it would be good for a vertical seal. It's great for laps -- like when a flange is sitting on another flat surface.

You can get 3M 4200 (and RV Proflex) on Amazon.

Yea, no one said those movers were cheap! But, like Bill said, none of your options are. Compare the cost of everything against monthly storage. Sometimes you can find a good deal on a used on though.

So if you only have 1/2" of clearance now, you need to come up with -- say 6 inches -- in new clearance, so that you have at least 3 inches per side. And even that will take some skill, but I deal with that much clearance on one side. I wonder if any more of that wood around the door opening could be removed and replaced with something else, like metal, so it still looks good and still provides a good seal. You might also be able to make that wood (or a metal replacement) removable, so that you pop out those sections when you need the extra clearance. Something that would take no more than 5-10 min to remove and reinstall.

I also seem to recall someone here on the forum having a similar problem years ago and made their awning easily removable. Does anyone else remember that, or am I making that up?

Dave

 

[Shrimpburrito]

Looks like "ThePair", who is still active here, had a similar problem and made his awning so it can swing atop the roof when coming in/out of the garage.

https://www.trailmanorowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5472&page=8

And he installed low-profile clearance and porch lights.

Dave

 

[jjplumley]

Looks like "ThePair", who is still active here, had a similar problem and made his awning so it can swing atop the roof when coming in/out of the garage.

https://www.trailmanorowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5472&page=8

And he installed low-profile clearance and porch lights.

Dave

Now THAT'S the thread I needed to see! Thanks! Reading through it now, and other posts linked inside it.

I like the idea of removable trim on the sides. That'd add a whopping 2" to each side (8'0" total), which I could probably manage. With removable awning and low profile porch lights, I'd be at 7'9". Maybe use some wheel tracks and a powered winch.

 

[Shrimpburrito]

Excellent! If you can think of a problem, someone here has probably already experienced it, and in many cases, found a solution. The forum is a great resource.

Dave

 

[Bill]

Maybe use some wheel tracks and a powered winch.

There is another thread somewhere from an owner who installed steel tracks in the floor of his garage. I can't find it at the moment, perhaps someone else will. As you can imagine, he simply got a pair of long channel irons of the appropriate width and shallow depth, and bolted them to the garage floor. If I were doing it (and I have not done it), I would augment the setup with a pair of L-angle irons on each channel, maybe a foot or two long. Lay them on the floor at the entry end of the channels, but splay them apart to form an entrance funnel to guide the tires into the channels. Then bolt them down.

I always thought a powered winch would be a good solution to a lot of the problem. Most likely you also have a removable wheel for the tongue jack, one with a small hard-plastic wheel, like the one in the picture. If you bought a similar device, but one having two larger pneumatic tires and a steering rod projecting from the front, you might be pretty close to a solution. I know I have seen the dual wheel thing, but I'm having trouble bringing it up at the moment. I'll keep looking.

You have a very attractive garage door entrance. I can see why you would be reluctant to mess with it. You might consider narrowing the center pillar (much easier than removing it), and getting two specialty-width garage doors. This would gain a few precious inches while maintaining the basic appearance and the symmetry.

Bill

 

[Shrimpburrito]

There is another thread somewhere from an owner who installed steel tracks in the floor of his garage. I can't find it at the moment, perhaps someone else will.

Hi Bill,

Yes, that was "ThePair", and you can see photos of those tracks in the thread referenced above. Great solution! He also put tracks in for the tongue jack wheel.

Dave

 

[Bill]

Found it. I thought it was attached, rather than linked, so I missed it at first. And aha, he used angle iron rather than C-channel iron, which is easier and works just as well, I'm sure. The guide track for the tongue wheel helps keep the trailer from getting crooked as the tires enter the track. The sharp corner at the end of an angle iron will tear up a tire in a heartbeat - don't ask me how I know. Anyway, a great idea I hadn't thought of.

JJPlumley, I hope you are getting a lot of good from this discussion. It is what our membership does so well. You might want to join us when your Trial Membership runs out.

Bill

 

[jjplumley]

Yep! Lots of good suggestions in here. I'm looking into making the garage door trim removable on each side (it needs to be replaced anyhow), as opposed to tracks. That's the current plan at least.

Also got an appointment this morning with a garage door company to see if the middle divider can come out. If I had a 17' garage door I shouldn't have any clearance problems!

-Joe

 

[ThePair]

Seriously, I miss a couple days checking the forums, and you're all up in my business!!

Yep, I went through winch/tracks and powermover, along with TM mods to make it fit. The next step was to devise removable trim, which is probably a relatively simple solution. You don't need 3 inches of clearance (speaking from experience!), but 1/2 inch will be annoying and difficult.

You may want to do trim removal and tracks -- the tracks are cheap and really, really helped until I got the powermover.

I'm here to help, just let me know!

 

[rickst29]

Yep! Lots of good suggestions in here. I'm looking into making the garage door trim removable on each side (it needs to be replaced anyhow), as opposed to tracks. That's the current plan at least.

Also got an appointment this morning with a garage door company to see if the middle divider can come out. If I had a 17' garage door I shouldn't have any clearance problems!

-Joe

Knowing a bit about construction - I think that conversion of the two single doors into a "double" will not be viable, due to high cost for that reconstruction. The "middle" post was almost certainly built as one (or two) load-bearing posts for two short and separate header beams on each door.

If it was built that way, then the two header beams themselves would have to be replaced by a longer structure, at a high cost (due to complexities of supporting the load while the short beams are removed and replaced). I hope that width+trim changes can provide enough room for you to avoid the big conversion.

 

[jjplumley]

Seriously, I miss a couple days checking the forums, and you're all up in my business!!

Yep, I went through winch/tracks and powermover, along with TM mods to make it fit. The next step was to devise removable trim, which is probably a relatively simple solution. You don't need 3 inches of clearance (speaking from experience!), but 1/2 inch will be annoying and difficult.

You may want to do trim removal and tracks -- the tracks are cheap and really, really helped until I got the powermover.

I'm here to help, just let me know!

Thanks! Yep, I have 1/2" clearance now, and "annoying and difficult" is the exact description. I could probably get it through, but if it's "difficult and annoying", we're not going to use it much. So, the solution's gotta be simple.

Removable trim sounds like the best solution. Started on that yesterday. Discovered some termite damage behind the trim, so that'll get fixed too.

I'm having trouble visualizing how the tracks would work. If they're mounted to the garage floor, for the tires to use them (assuming backing in), the back half of the TM would already be through the door opening (the hard part of backing it in is getting it perfectly squared up). Seems like they'd have to be mounted to the driveway to be of any use.

Pulling in tongue first (using a track for the tongue jack wheel) is out of the question, right now. It'd be too many steps to get it into the garage (pull in driveway, chock wheels, disconnect trailer, move tow vehicle out of the way, connect winch, pull into garage - Then do it all over again when we need it out). Sailors launching deep keel boats use a similar method, with straps or chains, to get the trailer deep enough to float the boat off. Too much work for me - I'd probably do it once and then call it off after that.

My dad suggested tracks also, so I know it's a viable solution, just trying to figure out how they'd be used.

-Joe

 

[jjplumley]

Knowing a bit about construction - I think that conversion of the two single doors into a "double" will not be viable, due to high cost for that reconstruction. The "middle" post was almost certainly built as one (or two) load-bearing posts for two short and separate header beams on each door.

If it was built that way, then the two header beams themselves would have to be replaced by a longer structure, at a high cost (due to complexities of supporting the load while the short beams are removed and replaced). I hope that width+trim changes can provide enough room for you to avoid the big conversion.

Garage door guy just left. You're exactly right on the construction! We talked of adding a structural beam across both doors, but there's not enough clearance. It would've cost a bundle anyhow with all the work to do it.

If not for my new camper, I would've never removed the trim or discovered two of the four 2X4's supporting the middle are completely gone due to termites! So, it's a good thing I'm digging into it and can make the repair.

-Joe

 

[Shrimpburrito]

If not for my new camper, I would've never removed the trim or discovered two of the four 2X4's supporting the middle are completely gone due to termites! So, it's a good thing I'm digging into it and can make the repair.

See, the camper is saving you money already! Maybe now you should consider adding a boat?

Seriously, I miss a couple days checking the forums, and you're all up in my business!!

Haha!!

I'm having trouble visualizing how the tracks would work. If they're mounted to the garage floor, for the tires to use them (assuming backing in), the back half of the TM would already be through the door opening (the hard part of backing it in is getting it perfectly squared up). Seems like they'd have to be mounted to the driveway to be of any use.

Pulling in tongue first (using a track for the tongue jack wheel) is out of the question, right now. It'd be too many steps to get it into the garage (pull in driveway, chock wheels, disconnect trailer, move tow vehicle out of the way, connect winch, pull into garage - Then do it all over again when we need it out). Sailors launching deep keel boats use a similar method, with straps or chains, to get the trailer deep enough to float the boat off. Too much work for me - I'd probably do it once and then call it off after that.

My dad suggested tracks also, so I know it's a viable solution, just trying to figure out how they'd be used.

Joe - So why not install tracks in the driveway? Not permanently, but drill a few holes in the driveway for some 1/2” bolts, and when you’re ready to pull the TM in or out of the garage, lay down the tracks on the driveway, and just drop the bolts through the track and into the cement/asphalt to hold them in place. Then after the TM has passed, simply pull the tracks up and put them in the garage. The only thing permanent is a few holes in the driveway, which could easily be filled if needed. Then mount additional track in the garage to meet up with the ones in the driveway.

I have 2 such holes in my driveway for long bolts that anchor a 6x6” timber that secures large wood chocks that keep my TM from rolling down my driveway into the street. It’s a belt and suspenders approach, but it works great.

Since your holes would be open most of the time, which is the opposite of my situation, you might consider plugging them with something pretty flat to keep dirt out (and ice from forming in the winter, if it gets that cold where you are).

Dave