Smokecreek1
Smokecreek1
Well guys, here is one for the books! As we all know the weather conditions this winter have been horrible, rain, snow, sudden heat waves, then temp drops to zero and below and back into the 40's or 50's, then sunny and clear. days at or below freezing with nights in the teens. Because of these weather conditions every week or ten days I have gone out and checked the camper for leaks and other problems. A few years ago i got a roof leak when I didn't properly seal one of my 100w solar panels to the roof and it leaked at one of the connections( fixed that, and no problems of late.)
Starting yesterday, it looked like the weather was going to give us up here on the east slope a 4-5 day break of nice weather (sunny and clear with temps in the 40-50's with lows above freezing). A good chance of snow again after that. Wow, a chance to really air out the camper and then head to Eagle Lake for a few days! So I headed out to the truck to check it out, pop the top and pack for a quick run north. Climbed in the back to do some cleaning before I popped the top. One of the pillows on the couch seemed stuck to it and (my God ), a patch of ice was keeping it there! Looked up and yep the liner above it was wet and I could feel/see damp spots/shadow heading toward the front panel. (First thought)Somehow that last storm (a couple of nice days [clear cold and sunny] followed by a sudden 6" of snow-and below freezing temps for two days again followed again by this latest heat spell must have weakened the seal and let in some snow melt??
It gets worse now, I could not pop the front panel because it was frozen stuck to both the roof and my sleeping bag and the comforter and the mattress and in turn to the the wooden bunk frame. The back panel went up though so that was a start. So I started to thaw out the camper and after an hour our so I got the front panel extended and pulled the sleeping bag off the bunk and into the washer. As I type this thread the bunk is still frozen and melting slowly., I can't use a out side heater to thaw things out faster because a large portion of the extension cord that I use to charge the camper is either frozen solid or under the snow; The truck is parked in my drive way and gets sun most of the day, so at least it is thawing. Could always use the Wave heater inside, I guess, but will hold off for now.
So guys, here I sit, (soon to make an adult libation) and wait for things to thaw so they can be dried out and cleaned. Not much water so far melting on to things so, this last day or two of semi-warm weather must have started the thawing process on its own. I can hardly wait to see what damage had been done and once the roof warms up I'll look for the leak. It almost looks like a slow or a small leak caused the water damage and dripping (I hope) not many wet spots except over the bunk and one spot that pooled on the couch. I have until Sunday before the next snow storm is due but I have a nice tarp to put up if I have not fixed things up by then(I hope).
Looks like no quick trip up north-any comments, suggestions, etc,. Don't know what I could have done other than doing a better job of sealing things up or checked it every day, but like we say here owning these things is a learning process and owning one for ten years is worth a lot of learning I guess!!! Better make that drink now and be happy this happened when the weather was nice here and I was not out in the boonies in several feet of snow! I got to stay positive and get ready for some serious cleaning! Wish me luck!
Smoke
.
Starting yesterday, it looked like the weather was going to give us up here on the east slope a 4-5 day break of nice weather (sunny and clear with temps in the 40-50's with lows above freezing). A good chance of snow again after that. Wow, a chance to really air out the camper and then head to Eagle Lake for a few days! So I headed out to the truck to check it out, pop the top and pack for a quick run north. Climbed in the back to do some cleaning before I popped the top. One of the pillows on the couch seemed stuck to it and (my God ), a patch of ice was keeping it there! Looked up and yep the liner above it was wet and I could feel/see damp spots/shadow heading toward the front panel. (First thought)Somehow that last storm (a couple of nice days [clear cold and sunny] followed by a sudden 6" of snow-and below freezing temps for two days again followed again by this latest heat spell must have weakened the seal and let in some snow melt??
It gets worse now, I could not pop the front panel because it was frozen stuck to both the roof and my sleeping bag and the comforter and the mattress and in turn to the the wooden bunk frame. The back panel went up though so that was a start. So I started to thaw out the camper and after an hour our so I got the front panel extended and pulled the sleeping bag off the bunk and into the washer. As I type this thread the bunk is still frozen and melting slowly., I can't use a out side heater to thaw things out faster because a large portion of the extension cord that I use to charge the camper is either frozen solid or under the snow; The truck is parked in my drive way and gets sun most of the day, so at least it is thawing. Could always use the Wave heater inside, I guess, but will hold off for now.
So guys, here I sit, (soon to make an adult libation) and wait for things to thaw so they can be dried out and cleaned. Not much water so far melting on to things so, this last day or two of semi-warm weather must have started the thawing process on its own. I can hardly wait to see what damage had been done and once the roof warms up I'll look for the leak. It almost looks like a slow or a small leak caused the water damage and dripping (I hope) not many wet spots except over the bunk and one spot that pooled on the couch. I have until Sunday before the next snow storm is due but I have a nice tarp to put up if I have not fixed things up by then(I hope).
Looks like no quick trip up north-any comments, suggestions, etc,. Don't know what I could have done other than doing a better job of sealing things up or checked it every day, but like we say here owning these things is a learning process and owning one for ten years is worth a lot of learning I guess!!! Better make that drink now and be happy this happened when the weather was nice here and I was not out in the boonies in several feet of snow! I got to stay positive and get ready for some serious cleaning! Wish me luck!
Smoke
.