hasheel
Durham,NC
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This was weird. Parked the motorhome last friday, went into the bathroom, and noticed that the vent was open.Or so we thought. It looked wide open. Went up to the roof, and found
that the vent cover had deteriorated and basically broke off in pieces. Our rig is only 4 years old.
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2008 Tioga Ranger 31 W
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bucky
Eastern Shore of MD
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Joined: 05/07/2003
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That happened to us also. Wierdly, only 2 of the 3 did it and the third one is still kicking 4 years later. We did have vent covers so no harm done, but it could have been a disaster with as much rain as we had this weekend.
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shoreco
Long Island NY
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hasheel wrote:This was weird. Parked the motorhome last friday, went into the bathroom, and noticed that the vent was open.Or so we thought. It looked wide open. Went up to the roof, and found
that the vent cover had deteriorated and basically broke off in pieces. Our rig is only 4 years old.
Last fall I put my rig into storage for the winter. I would go take a look at least once a week to make sure everything looked ok. One day I pull up in front of my rig and there is what is left of a smoke colored lid cover. I turn to my wife and say "oh man, someone is going to be in for a surprise"...
I got out of my car, went into my coach and "viola"...water on the floor and mother nature blowing in (the lucky sucker was me)...
Thank god I caught it early, no damage other than a small clean up...
I changed "all the lids" and I noticed they were all dry and brittle...
They are cheap and easy to replace..not replacing them can cause thousands in damage...
Happy Travels;
2002 National Dolphin 5355
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Irelands child
Upstate New York
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While your rig may be only 4 years old, that vent might be several more. It was probably sitting in in a box at the back of a shelf and was just waiting for the 'right unit' to be installed on - and you were the 'lucky soul'. Generally if one of them breaks, I've found the others will follow suit pretty quickly. I replace them all then with a premium version, if available, for that brand hatch.
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Fizz
Ottawa, Canada
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Joined: 07/28/2003
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Same happened to us. I found replacements at Walmart, good brand names, UV protected.
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Homer
Northeast Indiana
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I have had something as small as a hickory nut just shatter a vent lid to bits. They do not stop aging once they are put on and the sun hits them. I keep the heavy duty covers over mine now.
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past-MIdirector
Michigan
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Joined: 03/03/2007
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That why my last two rigs I installed MaxxAir covers over the vents. Even these covers break down over time but it's that extra protection from the elements that's important.
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powderman426
ohio
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And vent covers are not all. The air conditioning covers also get brittle and then end up along the freeway. When mine left town all that was left were 4 screws with large washers and a tiny piece of the plastic cover.
Ron & Charlotte
WD8CBT since 1976
28' Prowler & 05 Ram QC LB
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naturist
Lynchburg, VA
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Let this be a warning to us all: be aware that those things DO age and degrade with time.
I put a Maxxair all-weather cover over mine after waking in the middle of the night to hear the rain falling . . . and realizing that I left the bathroom vent up. Yup, wet in there. Made sure I was awake, cleaning up. I put the Maxxair on it so I wouldn't have to get up in the wee hours again for that problem. But having the extra protection for day of the ultimate disintegration of the vent cover is a bonus.
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SteveRuff
Bacliff, Texas, USA
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My unit was bought new. It was a 2006 that I bought in 2008. We were staying in a campground less than 60 miles from the dealer and my vent cover disintegrated in that very first drive. They replaced it for free and mentioned that sitting in the hot Texas sun would do that. I replaced the same vent cover this past Christmas. Seems like 3 or 4 years is about what I can expect to get out of a cover. I hope my skylight over the shower lasts longer!
Both retired. Travel with Nicky the Schnoodle. Son graduated and is teaching high school math. We still love our 2006 34' Allegro Bay XB and have 40,000+ miles on her.
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