Did I mess up using a cover?

yankeeslover · 10-12-2015, 02:24 PM

2014 Tracer 2670... im seasonal camper up in the Adirondacks in NY. I no longer have a truck and a way to pull camper so I leave it up to my seasonal campground this winter. It is parked under a bunch of trees and im afraid that the roof is gonna take a beating with falling sticks/twigs... since this is my first year leaving it up there i decided to buy an ADCO cover.. I purchased the heavy one made for heavy wind..
I installed the cover yesterday.cover seemed way big for camper.. I measured the camper like they said... anyways i have cover on and strapped all nice and snug... I have now been reading horror stories on these covers wearing holes in the rubber roof.. Problem is, campground is 2 plus hours from me and is now closed...
Has anyone else used a winter cover? we get tons of snow and ice up here.... Should i purchase some eternabond tape for this spring just in case there are holes in the rubber? or is this just a case that 1 person out of many had an issue just like most other things on the internet? im not sure i can get back up to the campground to remove the cover.. and not sure i want my roof pounded by sticks all winter long... I put the cover on so the cover takes the brunt of the ice/sticks...but now im alittle worried...thanks..

merrykalia · 10-12-2015, 02:57 PM

I don't usually cover mine, but we use it about 11 months out of the year, either for camping or for an extra bed or just somewhere to get away from the kids for a little while. (Mine is a fifth wheel)

When we had our TT, we did cover it for several years and it worked fine until we had a really bad wind/snow thing and did not have it strapped on well. This is when Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast and we got 18" of snow in October and 45-50 mile per hour wind. The wind ripped the cover, but it still did it's job and kept the snow off of the roof because it was whipping around with the wind. After the storm and the snow had melted, we took the remains off, but had no damage from it.

I wouldn't give it too much worry, there's really nothing you can do about it now. I think that more than likely, this is the case of the squeaky wheel getting the grease. I know many people do cover theirs with no problems and many people don't cover them.

If the building codes and the campground allow it, a metal or wood carport would probably be my next years plan.

Sc00ter · 10-12-2015, 03:16 PM

Have owned multiple campers over the last 15 years and covered all of them in the winter (colorado and can have heavy snow/ice). Never have seen damage on the roof from the covers. I did see some discoloring on the plastic squeezable trim that covers screw heads, but that trim was several years old and I am not sure if the discoloration was from the rubbing of the cover or its age. We have used several brands of covers from adco, camco, and others found on the Internet. Usually the cover is the one to get damaged from a sharp edge on a bumper or one of the rain gutters if you don't use padding. Sliced pool noodles are great for the rain spouts and old towels pad the bumpers and other sharp edges. Keep it snug and you should be fine.

Sc00ter · 10-12-2015, 03:18 PM

Regarding the eternabond tape, we keep a small roll of it in the tool box in case a tree branch tears a small hole while on a trip. Cheap insurance.

riverrat958 · 10-12-2015, 03:28 PM

upstate ny here also- I have always covered mine- no problems

rlocicero · 10-13-2015, 12:00 PM

Also in NY, Rochester, where we normally get 100 to 120 inches of snow a year. We have never covered ours, never had a problom with wear or damage. 10 different units over the last 43 years.

oxcamper · 10-13-2015, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yankeeslover

2014 Tracer 2670... im seasonal camper up in the Adirondacks in NY. I no longer have a truck and a way to pull camper so I leave it up to my seasonal campground this winter. It is parked under a bunch of trees and im afraid that the roof is gonna take a beating with falling sticks/twigs... since this is my first year leaving it up there i decided to buy an ADCO cover.. I purchased the heavy one made for heavy wind..
I installed the cover yesterday.cover seemed way big for camper.. I measured the camper like they said... anyways i have cover on and strapped all nice and snug... I have now been reading horror stories on these covers wearing holes in the rubber roof.. Problem is, campground is 2 plus hours from me and is now closed...
Has anyone else used a winter cover? we get tons of snow and ice up here.... Should i purchase some eternabond tape for this spring just in case there are holes in the rubber? or is this just a case that 1 person out of many had an issue just like most other things on the internet? im not sure i can get back up to the campground to remove the cover.. and not sure i want my roof pounded by sticks all winter long... I put the cover on so the cover takes the brunt of the ice/sticks...but now im alittle worried...thanks..

We cover ours. We're in the NE Ohio Snowbelt and park under a lot of trees too. In the course of the camping season, our roof is covered with twigs, leaves, sap, and green slime. So I can' t imaging what it would look like after a winter and snow too. After washing the roof in the fall (i.e. last week), we'll put the cover on it.
We haven't had any problems with the roof. It also protects the AC and other items (antenna, seams, etc) up there.
The one problem we did have was with the cover itself wore a small hole where it went over one of the guttter spouts on the corner. Good duck tape and not putting the cover on too tight took care of that.

MilCop4523 · 10-13-2015, 04:11 PM

We had close to 15 feet of snow last winter.
Never covered ours...
No issues covers not only will cause some degree of sweating but possible chafing

ColoradoRick · 10-13-2015, 04:17 PM

Our roof is probably the toughest and thickest part of whole RV. I've never covered but do get up on the roof with a broom if we camp underneath trees for any length of time. (For the roof and also for my slide out cover...that sucker was too expensive to let branches and pine cones and stuff get rolled into it.)

Whatever you decide, be sure to keep an eye on it...once those covers start to tear and tatter, they can do real damage in high winds.

CNYCamper · 10-13-2015, 04:40 PM

My heavy duty ADCO cover lasted from 2008 until 2014 despite me putting a hole in it from the rain gutter the very first time I used it (after that fiasco I wrapped the gutters with blue painters tape which held up well and didn't leave glue residue when I removed it). The cover never caused any damage to the camper.

silverback 35ts · 10-13-2015, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yankeeslover

2014 Tracer 2670... im seasonal camper up in the Adirondacks in NY. I no longer have a truck and a way to pull camper so I leave it up to my seasonal campground this winter. It is parked under a bunch of trees and im afraid that the roof is gonna take a beating with falling sticks/twigs... since this is my first year leaving it up there i decided to buy an ADCO cover.. I purchased the heavy one made for heavy wind..
I installed the cover yesterday.cover seemed way big for camper.. I measured the camper like they said... anyways i have cover on and strapped all nice and snug... I have now been reading horror stories on these covers wearing holes in the rubber roof.. Problem is, campground is 2 plus hours from me and is now closed...
Has anyone else used a winter cover? we get tons of snow and ice up here.... Should i purchase some eternabond tape for this spring just in case there are holes in the rubber? or is this just a case that 1 person out of many had an issue just like most other things on the internet? im not sure i can get back up to the campground to remove the cover.. and not sure i want my roof pounded by sticks all winter long... I put the cover on so the cover takes the brunt of the ice/sticks...but now im alittle worried...thanks..

I also live in NY and have been a seasonal for over 15 yrs and have been a camper for now over 25 yrs and have used adco covers for that hole time. I have NEVER had any type of issue with it doing any type of damage to any of my coaches, from a pop-up to the 39 ft 5th wheel i own now. I just ordered a new cover and should have it this week, will be closing our coach this weekend and will be covering it like i have for over 20 yrs and it will be just as i left it in the spring and as is when i cover it in the fall. I do not understand anyone saying it did damage to their rubber roof, all of my 5th wheels have rubber roofs (sorry to say) and not a one of them have been damaged. If you read most any article about winterizing your rig they will tell you to cover it to "Preserve it" and if all these covers did some kind of damage that people claim they would be out of business by now!

So you did the right thing you like i are just sorry the season is over enjoy your winter and pray for a early spring to get going again.
Happy Camping

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