Roof Liner Issues

[erod]

anyone ever had anything like this happen...its been raining like cats and dogs here lately...never really noticed it until recently. claire thinks its just condensation but i am a little worried, especially with a long, wet winter ahead (i hope ). I installed a yakima rack a while back and siliconed the $%&# out of the holes when i reinstalled the tracks as well as the tracks themselves...pretty sure thats not the issue...recent discussion about the lack of the vapor barrier in the older campers has gotten me thinking...anyway, heres some photos, let me know what you guys think. thanks

 

[benburnett]

roof

Can't really see anything in the pictures. Considering that you are living in the camper in that type of weather you probably are experiencing some condensation in the roof. That year of camper doesn't have any type of vapor barrier in it and will condensate more than the new ones.

I assume you have a heater in there and are using it also.

 

[erod]

hey ben, sorry the pics are so bad...yea, i am sure there is some condensation going on...i am hoping that is all...the 3rd pic shows it best i think, its kind of a "ripple", or sagging in the fabric. maybe its nothing, just wear and tear...i don't know. sorry the pics are such poor quality...camera kind of sucks and that tan fabric creates a wicked effect when the flash is on. anyway, thanks for looking.

oh yea, haven't really been using the heater much...cool but not cold, and...still raining .

 

[benburnett]

fabric

Well unless you can put your hand up there and feel moisture or it is dripping on you it looks like the fabric has just been stretched a little. Lot of causes for this but the most common on that material is someone at some time put their hand in the wrong spot to lift the roof and stretched the material some.

If you are not using the heater that much, especially at night in that kind of weather with two of you in the camper, the condensation is really going to build up. The heater actually helps to keep the condensation down. Between the humidity from the weather and from the two of you breathing all night in the camper without the heater going, I would expect to see some condensation on the liner and panels in the mornings. Nothing to worry about though. Just wipe it down if you do see it so that it doesn't soak into the panels on you.

 

[Brian]

ceiling fabric...

I have noticed that since having the new sideliner installed I have had some stretching/sagging of the outer areas also. I believe that it has happened because a few times I have left the outer flaps rolled up while the top is down. Once I noticed it however, I started rolling the flaps down every time I drop the roof, no matter how soon I set up again. I bought a nice little steel folding two-step ladder to step on when rolling up the flaps. Very simple and easy to do and I am tall enough to reach up and give them a pull when ready to drop-top. I don't think it is a good idea to have that extra bulk of the rolled up flaps in there when lowered as regards the ceiling fabric.
Brian

 

[benburnett]

storm flaps

Brian,

Thanks for the heads up on that. I have heard of that before but will pass it on to the customers from now on. Appreciate the tip.

 

[WarpathEngineering]

Vapor Barrier

Ben,

I still have my roof apart and since I live in a high humidity area, what are you doing now to the roofs that my '98 didn't have as far as a vapor barrier?
Might as well upgrade since I can.

Rick

 

[benburnett]

vapor barrier

Rick,

I know we talked already, just though I would post the answer to what the vapor barrier is now that I have found out. I always thought that we put the barrier between the headliner and the frame of the roof. Don't know why I thought that. Talked to Jeff today to make sure of the size foam and found out that it actually goes between the roof skin and the roof frame.

We put 1/8" thick foam 1" wide on all the frame members before putting the roof skin on. The previous owner of FWC before me was an engineer and understood the reasoning behind this better than I do. I just know that it works for the camper compared to what the condensation used to be like in humid and cold climates before it was installed.

So anyone that I have told the wrong information too, I apologize for that.