New member and Work and Play owner

[036.6turbo]

More pics of the vent cover replacement.

[036.6turbo]

So with $55.00 in (3) covers, and $2.97 for (1) broken cabinet door hinge, everything that was broken or inoperable on the rig has been repaired. I'll have to wait for warmer weather to check out the plumbing. Next we will deep clean the inside, and hope for a break in the weather to shine and buff the exterior!

[EnduroRdr]

Is that a EPDM Membrane roof? Kinda looks like it in the pics (or maybe it is just snow covering the aluminum) - something we never see in south Louisiana. One of the trademarks of the "Work & Play" trailers is that they are constructed with a single sheet of aluminum sheeting with minimal seams (at sides for transition to walls). But a 34 is a long roof it may have a seam connecting 2 sheets to cover full length.
My previous 2 trailers had EPDM roofs and one leaked, I swore that would be my last one like that. One of the reasons I wanted a W&P was to get a solid one piece aluminum roof.

[Iwannacamp]

OK... I will say it. I have a goose neck adapter on my 5er. I cannot wait to finish my install of the 5th wheel set up...OK I guess i can it has been 2 months and never finished the install... long story with bed removal and age of installer, but i would definitely GO for the 5th wheel. Frame crack issues and looking at the geometry of the 5th conversion and the stress it "appears" to do. I an nervous about it when I even think about pulling. My .02

[Iwannacamp]

OHHHH and welcome to the forum from Arkansas!!!

Merry Christmas

[beyerjf]

Good luck with your 34RL. I have a 2008 34 FK I purchased 6 months ago. I live in it full time and didn't notice any leaks even during storms. HOWEVER:
I have now discovered 2 48"x24" rotted wall sections in the garage area starting at the ceiling. The way to test it is easy. Take a hammer and tap the inside wall close to the roof, the soft areas if there are any will be obvious. Check the entire length of the trailer even in the cabinets. If you find any go down the wall to see how bad it is. The way the roof meets the wall is the culprit. The walls have Gel coated fibreglass on the outside and a thin layer of clear fibreglass inside. The water soaks the plywood in between and sits and rots. You don't know it until it is too late. PM me if you need to and I will tell you how I am repairing mine..

[036.6turbo]

Originally Posted by EnduroRdr

Is that a EPDM Membrane roof? Kinda looks like it in the pics (or maybe it is just snow covering the aluminum) - something we never see in south Louisiana. One of the trademarks of the "Work & Play" trailers is that they are constructed with a single sheet of aluminum sheeting with minimal seams (at sides for transition to walls). But a 34 is a long roof it may have a seam connecting 2 sheets to cover full length.
My previous 2 trailers had EPDM roofs and one leaked, I swore that would be my last one like that. One of the reasons I wanted a W&P was to get a solid one piece aluminum roof.

Roof is aluminum, (1) full sheet. It's just the snow that makes it look different.

Originally Posted by Iwannacamp

OK... I will say it. I have a goose neck adapter on my 5er. I cannot wait to finish my install of the 5th wheel set up...OK I guess i can it has been 2 months and never finished the install... long story with bed removal and age of installer, but i would definitely GO for the 5th wheel. Frame crack issues and looking at the geometry of the 5th conversion and the stress it "appears" to do. I an nervous about it when I even think about pulling. My .02

I've done a lot of reading about the goose neck conversion. I have yet to see a documented case of frame cracking? It seems to be some sort of internet hype? That one is the Anderson, rated for 16k lbs, GVRW is 14,230lbs for my 34RL. I'm gonna go with it.

Originally Posted by beyerjf

Good luck with your 34RL. I have a 2008 34 FK I purchased 6 months ago. I live in it full time and didn't notice any leaks even during storms. HOWEVER:
I have now discovered 2 48"x24" rotted wall sections in the garage area starting at the ceiling. The way to test it is easy. Take a hammer and tap the inside wall close to the roof, the soft areas if there are any will be obvious. Check the entire length of the trailer even in the cabinets. If you find any go down the wall to see how bad it is. The way the roof meets the wall is the culprit. The walls have Gel coated fibreglass on the outside and a thin layer of clear fibreglass inside. The water soaks the plywood in between and sits and rots. You don't know it until it is too late. PM me if you need to and I will tell you how I am repairing mine..

Thanks for the heads up, I have looked the rig over quite a bit, but not as much in the garage area. The damage to mine seems to be from excess heat, judging by the faded paint, and melted vent covers?

Some of the paper covering on the ceiling panels has released, but no evidence of moisture at all? Just looks like the glue gave up, from excess heat.

It looks like it was parked, closed up and abandoned? But for the amount I paid for it, I'm OK with a little sweat equity.

[036.6turbo]

Originally Posted by beyerjf

Good luck with your 34RL. I have a 2008 34 FK I purchased 6 months ago. I live in it full time and didn't notice any leaks even during storms. HOWEVER:
I have now discovered 2 48"x24" rotted wall sections in the garage area starting at the ceiling. The way to test it is easy. Take a hammer and tap the inside wall close to the roof, the soft areas if there are any will be obvious. Check the entire length of the trailer even in the cabinets.

Merry Christmas!

Well I did the hammer test yesterday, I couldn't rest until I did. Good news, No loose or weak areas were found. The interior paneling is loose in a couple of areas, but the walls are stiff, firm and sound.

Thanks for the heads up!

[youroo]

Originally Posted by 036.6turbo

More pics of the vent cover replacement.

Now to (Finish the Job) go buy (3) Max Air Vent covers. They come in diff colors & will outlast your (lids). Read up on them,they should be (Standard) on all units! PS throw the wood boxes away. Youroo!!

[036.6turbo]

Originally Posted by youroo

Now to (Finish the Job) go buy (3) Max Air Vent covers. They come in diff colors & will outlast your (lids). Read up on them,they should be (Standard) on all units! PS throw the wood boxes away. Youroo!!

Will do (read up, that is). The boxes have already been burned! We had an ice storm here, I had a lot of down limbs, big bonfire, boxes went right on top!

[036.6turbo]

Well, I peeled all of the decals off, with the exception of the long strips. Not sure if those are staying or going.

Power washed to whole rig, then began polishing off the oxidation, then the cold weather came back. It is so cold out there, the compound freezes, before I can get it out of the container.

Have the front nose section, 95% done, but may have to wait till it gets back up around 32deg, to do anymore.

[EnduroRdr]

65'f yesterday but today we are dropping to low 40's.
I don't know how your folks deal with such low temps up there - I got chills just thinking bout it.

Of course in August I'll be wishing I was in your neighborhood!

Keep posting (especially the finished photos) - bet it turns out pretty nice with a polish!

[036.6turbo]

Originally Posted by EnduroRdr

65'f yesterday but today we are dropping to low 40's.
I don't know how your folks deal with such low temps up there - I got chills just thinking bout it.

Of course in August I'll be wishing I was in your neighborhood!

Keep posting (especially the finished photos) - bet it turns out pretty nice with a polish!

Temps really dropped today, -5 with the wind chill. Burrr! We got aprox. 3" of new blowing snow, I'm glad my son was home to tag team me plowing on the old Cub Cadet!

Thanks for the encouragement, I'll post more pics as we go. It should turn out pretty nice.

[036.6turbo]

Thanks!

[036.6turbo]

Back at it. Really struggled to get a game plan together. I was hopping I could just wheel it out, but alas it was not to be. Even the most aggressive 3M compund will not remove the oxidation.

Plan "B" was to wetsand, then wheel.

Started out with 2000 grit, kept dropping to croaser grits until I got down to 800 ! That is what it's going to take to get any kind of shine back into it.

The nose, "entry door" side and rear door (done) will all have to be wetsanded with 800 / wheeled out / then buffed & waxed.

The "utility" side of the rig can be restored with just a aggressive wheel / buff / wax.

All of the stripes and decals are now off of it. The metal "chrome" stripes were a special kind of challenge, ended up with a heat gun and putty knife process to get them all off.

Next is use an eraser wheel to get any remaining adhesive residue off. then wetsand.

Here is a picture of the test area on the rear door;


Tools being used;


I was looking under it and noticed my water tank has a buldge in it, should I be concerned about this? it does not appear to be leaking;


I assume this is the drain valve? But I could not get any water out of it;


Sorry for the poor pictures.

[EnduroRdr]

The drain valve is not a twist type - you have to pull the little T handle to get it open. Did you try that? First time for me had me fooled I kept twisting and nothing then I figured it out.

My decals are starting to peel at the edges on some of them (not the grey metal looking ones) but the red stripes are. So I think I too am going to remove them all then buff out the rig and wax. So I am real interested in how yours turns out.

thanks for sharing.

[036.6turbo]

Originally Posted by EnduroRdr

The drain valve is not a twist type - you have to pull the little T handle to get it open. Did you try that? First time for me had me fooled I kept twisting and nothing then I figured it out.

My decals are starting to peel at the edges on some of them (not the grey metal looking ones) but the red stripes are. So I think I too am going to remove them all then buff out the rig and wax. So I am real interested in how yours turns out.

thanks for sharing.

No, I did not try pulling on it? I'll give that a shot, thank you.

And hindsight being 20/20, I may have tried to save the metal stripes on mine. I hit them with the wheel at one point (after I had 4' of them pulled in another section) and they seemed to clean up?

But no time for regrets!

I did not work on it last night, but I did manage to get another eraser wheel bought so I'll have it the next time I get a few minutes to spend on it.

[036.6turbo]

Well I have given up. I had hoped to be able to recondition the exterior of this rig to it's former glory, but without a paint job, I do not believe that is possible.

I have come to the realization that the "shadows", I have been chasing in the finish, are too deep for me to reach. The shadows are where the decal were. Those areas are darker than the rest of the surrounding areas.

What I came to realize is that the color difference in "inside" of the gel coat. Not on the "outside" where I have been sanding and polishing. I think the surface I have been polishing is a "clear coat" layer. The color layer is deeper. The color layer has been faded by the suns UV rays, everywhere except where the decals were.

So I will make it shiney, polish up the aluminum and call it done. Yes, I have not ruled out some new decals to cover where the old ones were. That is a possible option.

Yesterday I only had a few minutes to mess with it, so I thought I would hook up a garden hose to the water system and see if it had any leaks. It does. The outside shower head leaks water when the valves are opened.

I was able to get the water heater to light, but only for a few minutes. I hit the switch, the red light came on. I went back outside and could feel heat at the unit. Then It went out and would not re light.

But as I said, I only had a couple of minutes, so more to come on that.

[036.6turbo]

$14.00 for a new outside shower faucet. I showed the guy at the RV place where the water was spraying out from, he said the the "flow back diverter" had failed. Easy fix, resealed the compartment when I put it back together.

I did a little looking around and found there was no water going into the water heater, I took the access panel off, open the bottom valve and closed the other one. Then the water filled the tank, the burner kicked on and all was right with the world!

[Rolling buckeye]

Well heck, it looks ALOT better!! How long till you take her out?