October 24, 2020 - A Couple of Cold, Dreary, Covid Day RV Projects

I don't know what gets into me but it seems like I'm always looking for another RV project particularly on dreary, cold days. I recently watched a YouTube video showing that the insulation in the ceiling vents in many RVs is not taped down properly thus allowing cool air to blow partly into the attic area rather than into the room. This morning I decided to pull Marge's vent covers off to see if hers were like that. As it turned out all but one vent opening was nice and tight. One needs a little tape to make it good.  An easy fix.

While I had the six vent covers down I decided it would be a good time to clean them. The vent covers are made of white plastic. White plastic always turns yellow over the years. Marge's vent covers are fourteen years old. Surprisingly the four vent covers in the living area were still pretty white. The one in the hall and the one in the bedroom were really yellow though. I have no idea why there is a difference other than those two are two steps higher. Maybe those areas retain more heat thus causing more discoloration. 

While I soaked the vent covers in hot water I got on the internet and looked up how to get their white color back. The methods I saw involved soaking them in bleach or peroxide. Neither method seemed to work that great plus it could soften the plastic. I tried the peroxide fix on my yellowed outside scare light lenses last year and it did nothing. I decided to paint them flat white instead. I did this on numerous plastic items in Homer sometime back and it worked great. 

These vent covers not only open and close, they spin around to direct the air flow where you want it. After soaking them I noticed that several had lots of tiny bug parts down in them which inhibited their turning movement. Each vent had four tabs holding the flapper section into the round vent case. I carefully pried on one and got it out. I had to be really be careful with all of them because fourteen year old plastic not only yellows is gets brittle. Here is a picture of five them with two taken apart. 

In this picture you can clearly see that two are really yellowed compared to the other four.

Here is a picture of one vent taken apart showing all the little bug parts in both turning sections even after soaking them in hot water. Gross.

The orange bug parts are from beetles that have invaded Marge for the last several years. Two years ago as we headed to Florida, and as the rig warmed up, they came out everywhere. It literally took a week after we arrived in Florida to get rid of them. They like white areas and hung out primarily on the ceiling. They are pain to get rid of because if you smash them they stain the area and they stink. We used a loop of Duck Tape on a stick to impale them.

The fact that the vent covers came apart made it much easier to paint them and will ensure that the flappers will rotate and not be stuck in place with paint.  Here is a picture of the painted parts.

Here is a picture of the six vent covers put back together and ready to be re-installed. 

I reinstalled all vents and they look like new. Here is a picture of the one by the door. While on the ladder I installed a battery in the smoke alarm and re\installed it as well.

While on the ladder in the area of the air-conditioner return I noticed that it looked pretty dirty. Walking from the front to back it wasn't so noticeable. Here are a couple of pictures.

After taking the grill off this is what the filter underneath it looked like. It definitely needed cleaning.

It looked even worse when I laid it down in the kitchen before cleaning it.

I washed the filter out in warm water and scrubbed the grill with a brush. When both are dry I will reinstall them for another season. It doesn't seem to me that this 1/4 inch thick piece of foam does a very good job of filtering the return air. I would like to put a piece of pleated furnace filter in there but it may restrict the air flow too much. I'll have to ask others about that on line.

A couple of Covid day projects completed as we get ready for the winter in Florida.