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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2016 9:16:50 GMT -8
Hello friends I have been a bit baffled by my door at the hinges. Could anyone perhaps take a minute or two to send a photo of how their door is sealed on that side? Because at night, when the door is shut I can see light peeking through from inside the camper where the door hinge is all the way down. And I bet there used to be some kind of seal originally there. But mine doesn't have any, just the hinge itself.
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kirkadie
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Post by kirkadie on Jan 29, 2016 11:18:24 GMT -8
I have no picture but Scotty had cloth tape that ran down the door and the jam which covered the hinge. It was od and dried out so I peeled it off. I'll place it with something after painting the door frame.
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mobiltec
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Post by mobiltec on Jan 29, 2016 12:14:11 GMT -8
Most have no seal there. Yes you can see daylight through the hinge. Lots of air get's through the openings in these old trailers. Jalousie windows are notorious for that. The hinged baggage doors on older Shastas are the same. Many of the stove hoods were vented with no way to close off the vents. Probably some safety involved there too. Maybe not planned but just the same it's a good thing the trailers were not air tight what with the gas stove and lamps in them.
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HeavyD
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Post by HeavyD on Jan 29, 2016 17:39:00 GMT -8
Mine had a piece of some type of vinyl material over the hinge. I'll try to get a pic tomorrow sometime.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2016 19:16:04 GMT -8
Ok, thanks for all your responses and mobiltec for telling me it's pretty common like that. Makes me feel better. It would be peace of mind to have it sealed though, any photos or suggestions like perhaps a non intrusive door strip of some mind. Have a great eve
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SusieQ
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Post by SusieQ on Jan 29, 2016 20:24:44 GMT -8
Same here, I have ventilation through the hinges. Mine had no evidence of ever being sealed. And a note about the jalousie windows, if you notice, the seal at the bottom of the window does not go all the way to the end on one side. At first I thought they had just worn like that, but I bought another window and it was the same way. Looked a my other trailer, same way! There is a gap there for ventilation. I did have to temporarily seal that gap on the front when it was raining HARD and the water was getting thrown UP the front of the trailer while I was traveling. It looked like a fountain shooting up the window!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2016 21:37:52 GMT -8
Oh boy SuzieQ I am sorry that happened to you! Such a helpless feeling. Well I do appreciate that it must be a normal thing with the hinges. First time I saw the openings between them I said wait a minute! Lol, probably like you did with the windows.
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SusieQ
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Post by SusieQ on Jan 29, 2016 22:13:46 GMT -8
It's funny because I don't notice the daylight in the hinges until after I finished the trailer and was camping in it. I'm going to try some weather stripping and see how that works, one day. But it's not really a big deal. No water has ever come in my door and I've been through some big storms.
The water that came up through that little tiny spot in the window didn't hurt anything. It was right in front of my sink/counter. It scared me when I first discovered it because I had stopped to get drinks out of the camper and there were sprinkles of water on the counter. Of course I thought "leake." I was relived to look in my review mirror and see the fountain shooting up in the window. I stopped, opened the window just a little and stuck a sponge in that corner and shut the window on it. It was all I could think of at the time and it worked. I drove through torrential rain after that, with no sponge and it didn't happen.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2016 22:51:32 GMT -8
Whew I am glad that worked for you! It have been a nasty storm and you know how they can be in the south!
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swirlygirls
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Post by swirlygirls on Jan 30, 2016 6:44:25 GMT -8
My trailer didn't have any seal on the hinge either. It did, however, have lots-o-rot in the floor by the door. When I camped in a big rain storm I had some water come in there. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do about that yet. This thread has gotten me thinking about it again.
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mobiltec
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Post by mobiltec on Jan 30, 2016 7:27:54 GMT -8
One thing many of you will notice about your doors... Many trailers were built with what are called suicide doors. That means that the hinge is to the rear of the camper door opening. So the door opens from the front. When traveling wind can get in there so to mitigate the problem many manufacturers put a piece of J Rail vertical to the door opening and just adjacent to the edge to help keep the wind from getting under there. That not only kept the wind out of there but the rain as well to some extent.
The reason that many doors open that way is because if they opened the other way they could easily take out the front side window if they had a protruding door handle which many of them did in the day.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2016 10:41:38 GMT -8
Hmm. My door opens opposite to what you are saying mobiltec, so my hinge is in the side toward the front of the camper, and nothing covering the hinge area from the elements. Its interesting what you are saying though that makes a lot of sense.
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HeavyD
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Post by HeavyD on Jan 30, 2016 14:41:10 GMT -8
Here is a picture of the vinyl material over the hinge. Hope this helps.
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Post by bigbill on Jan 30, 2016 14:43:30 GMT -8
If you wish to seal the hinge side you can buy some small foam tape, it is about 3/16 thick and very soft install it and most of your problem will be solved. Some hinges gap enough to allow insects/mosquitoes in.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2016 15:22:18 GMT -8
HeavyD thank you I definitely don't have that on mine! Helps me to see what I am missing.. Bigbill that sounds good to me the foam tape probably has just the right amount of thickness to seal it and not cause an obstruction.
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