Hello Everyone--
I have a 2000 25' Excella that I bought new, and I used it and loved it for about a year, then I had to put it in outside storage for what I thought would be a few months but turned into 14 years. I was at the sametime hopeful and anxious this past October when my wife, Kathy, and I drove to the storage lot to inspect the condition of the airstream - the first time since 2001.
The roof and window edges had thick moss, some surface rust on the a-frame part of the trailer, the 7-way plug was missing (vandalism I assume), but otherwise the outside was surprisingly in good condition. And then I opened the door and a wave of nostalgia wafted over me -- both the smell and appearance was almost as I remembered when I first set foot in it 15 years ago. That new smell is surprisingly persistent. Then we began noticing little things -- rodent droppings and acorn shells in the cabinets, a dinner plate size carpet stain, and and lots of orange-brown sticky residue on the wallpaper down the kitchen side of the trailer. All-in-all I was pleasantly surprised there wasn't more advanced disrepair.
We made arrangements with a local RV service center to transport the trailer to their shop to work on the obvious things: repalce tires, repack bearings, check brakes, repair the 7-way plug, and replace batteries. We also asked them to inspect all the various appliances/systems, and the seals on the roof. Three months and $5k later, we have a "usable" airstream. Kathy and I are very excited about getting it on the road and already have three mini vacations booked, but our work isn't over yet.
We moved the trailer to an indoor storage place that specializes in storing boats and RVs. Very nice and accommodating owners. Kathy and I have been there the past two Saturdays cleaning the interior and exterior, and developing a punch list of additional repairs we plan to do ourselves. Although I'm not a brand new owner, I am essentially still a newbie trying to figure things out. I hope to get some advice from the kind folks on this site. I won't overwhelm with our entire repair list here, but I would like to ask about just a few of them now, as follows:
1) a-frame surface rust. I read somewhere on Airstream Forums that the Airstream Store sells a "Touch Up" product but I can't seem to pull it up. Do they still sell it? What do others do about their surface rust?
2) Window Shades. Some of the chord anchors are broken and some of the other chords seem too short to fasten to the anchors that are still intact. (Truthfully, I think the RV center that did my initial repairs didn't know how to operate the shades and broke the anchors.) Any advice on where I can find matching replacement anchors? My initial web search was unsuccessful.
3) Wallpaper Stains. The orange-brown sticky residue on the wallpaper and carpet I mentioned earlier is a challenge to remove. I believe the seal around the airconditioner had cracked, allowing water to come in and caused this residue somehow. Has anyone experienced this? How did you clean it up short of replacing the wallpaper and carpet?
We have a lot more on our list, but this is enough for now. Thanks for listening!
--Steve
P.S., the repair center chased two mice out of one of the interior compartments, but we cannot figure out how the rascals got into the trailer because all outside access doors to the interior comparments still have new-like seals. And unless mice eat acorns, I assume we had squirls in there as well.
I have a 2000 25' Excella that I bought new, and I used it and loved it for about a year, then I had to put it in outside storage for what I thought would be a few months but turned into 14 years. I was at the sametime hopeful and anxious this past October when my wife, Kathy, and I drove to the storage lot to inspect the condition of the airstream - the first time since 2001.
The roof and window edges had thick moss, some surface rust on the a-frame part of the trailer, the 7-way plug was missing (vandalism I assume), but otherwise the outside was surprisingly in good condition. And then I opened the door and a wave of nostalgia wafted over me -- both the smell and appearance was almost as I remembered when I first set foot in it 15 years ago. That new smell is surprisingly persistent. Then we began noticing little things -- rodent droppings and acorn shells in the cabinets, a dinner plate size carpet stain, and and lots of orange-brown sticky residue on the wallpaper down the kitchen side of the trailer. All-in-all I was pleasantly surprised there wasn't more advanced disrepair.
We made arrangements with a local RV service center to transport the trailer to their shop to work on the obvious things: repalce tires, repack bearings, check brakes, repair the 7-way plug, and replace batteries. We also asked them to inspect all the various appliances/systems, and the seals on the roof. Three months and $5k later, we have a "usable" airstream. Kathy and I are very excited about getting it on the road and already have three mini vacations booked, but our work isn't over yet.
We moved the trailer to an indoor storage place that specializes in storing boats and RVs. Very nice and accommodating owners. Kathy and I have been there the past two Saturdays cleaning the interior and exterior, and developing a punch list of additional repairs we plan to do ourselves. Although I'm not a brand new owner, I am essentially still a newbie trying to figure things out. I hope to get some advice from the kind folks on this site. I won't overwhelm with our entire repair list here, but I would like to ask about just a few of them now, as follows:
1) a-frame surface rust. I read somewhere on Airstream Forums that the Airstream Store sells a "Touch Up" product but I can't seem to pull it up. Do they still sell it? What do others do about their surface rust?
2) Window Shades. Some of the chord anchors are broken and some of the other chords seem too short to fasten to the anchors that are still intact. (Truthfully, I think the RV center that did my initial repairs didn't know how to operate the shades and broke the anchors.) Any advice on where I can find matching replacement anchors? My initial web search was unsuccessful.
3) Wallpaper Stains. The orange-brown sticky residue on the wallpaper and carpet I mentioned earlier is a challenge to remove. I believe the seal around the airconditioner had cracked, allowing water to come in and caused this residue somehow. Has anyone experienced this? How did you clean it up short of replacing the wallpaper and carpet?
We have a lot more on our list, but this is enough for now. Thanks for listening!
--Steve
P.S., the repair center chased two mice out of one of the interior compartments, but we cannot figure out how the rascals got into the trailer because all outside access doors to the interior comparments still have new-like seals. And unless mice eat acorns, I assume we had squirls in there as well.
0 commentaires:
Enregistrer un commentaire