Upkeep

Well I finally got around to the dreaded roof washing, side washing, and waxing.
Noticed the trim was starting to yellow after cleaning. All my rigs have done this.
So...masked the door, windows, and painted them up too. Looks good.
Hit the fridge vent while I was at it.

It makes a big impact. The yellowing really makes it look older than it is.

What paint product did you use?

They're made of high impact polystyrene (HIPS) or ABS. So they'll hold paint unlike a polypropylene.
So I used High Performance Rustoleum (rattle can). Says it has Xylene and Acetone in it. I can only assume that will help it etch better in our case. Our last camper I sprayed the frames in black. It held up to UV / fading for years. It's always worked well for me. I would think White would be even better really.

Pete, I use the Krylon plastic paint. Holds up really well here in Socal.

Krylon is a good product. However, a couple warnings with it.

1) Watch painting with it in the sun. Krylon is a lacquer product. It'll bubble if it doesn't cure right.
2) There's a clear UV protection for for Krylon. Although again white might not show fade for years.
3) I read some folks have problems with protectants like 303 and Armorall. I don't know anything about that so YMMV there though...

I'm sure it's a good choice too really.

Thanks for the inspiration! We opted to remove ours and paint it. Well, what a fiasco!! We removed the silicone and got everything disassembled fine... However, putting it back together was much more of a challenge. We thought we could apply the silicone to the frame, then sandwich the glass and install at the same time. Unfortunately, pressing the glass into the freshly siliconed outer portion caused it to pop out, which made us react to catch it... Creating a huge silicone fingerprinted mess. Lol! Second attempt after cleanup went better. Notice after install I didn't get the yellow covered as well as I'd hoped... And the glass still has evidence of silicone on it. Lessons learned...1. 'Tape-and-paint' may give you a better result.2. It takes a minimum of 5 hands to remove/install the door glass/frame.3. Use clear silicone to re-install the glass, not white.4. Install the glass into the frame with silicone and let it dry well BEFORE attempting to install window into door.5. Don't attempt this when there is gusty wind. Holding the door and trying not to fall off the step stool become a challenge.6. With above-mentioned gusty wind, covering the open hole in your door turns into a comedy routine.7. Don't do any of this in 100 degree heat. Your brain will fry and you will get VERY frustrated with anyone trying to help.Good luck!Erika

ooohhhhwww...Ya know what? You can SO bad mouth me for that. I should have mentioned not to try and remove it. I did that on the last camper and it was a huge pain. I had the exact same experience you did! Augh, I feel bad now for not mentioning it. It never crossed my mind.

GPSHEMI,

No hard feelings. Easy to block that memory! All in all, we will remember this as another one of our 'fun adventures' with Mammoth (our ElkRidge).

Also, I failed to mention, we also removed the stove vent to paint it, as well. I managed to break the flap within 2 minutes, trying to wash it to prep it for painting. DH went and bought a new one (1 hour round trip to the nearest dealer).


--Erika