The Door

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Engineer_Ted
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The Door

Well, I'm pretty disappointed with the door.  When I bought a brand new Scamp, I really expected to have no major issues until at least five years in.

My trailer is currently less than 18 months old.

I'm finding that the bottom of the door doesn't fit tight and I keep having to chase mice out, and mice are a$$holes.  They chew into stuff, poop all over the place, arg.  The pic below is with the door completely shut.  It's pretty dark inside when I took the pic, but you can see plenty of sunshine coming through the hole at the bottom.  

Now, part of the rubber strip was chewed away by a mouse, guess I need to replace that, but shouldn't the door fit tight to start with?  What's to stop the mice from chewing through the replacement rubber piece?

I'm guessing I'm not the only one with a door fit (along bottom) issue, so posting here to see what people have done to address.

 

Second issue, holy cow, while on a recent trip to the Smokies, I opened the door to my 13' and bam, the upper hinge breaks off.  Luckily, I'm pretty handy.  Swapped bottom hinge to the top (to make it easier to open/close while holding the door), went into town and got some JB weld.  Unfortunately, JB takes about 24 hours to really cure and I had to rush that time table.  Bottom line, I got enough JB cured to hold the door in place while traveling home (with visions of the door ripping off and landing on the freeway somewhere), but the second time I opened the door, the hinge gave away where the JB was.

I've sent an email to Scamp's customer support, hasn't been 48 hours yet but no reply yet.  What really gets me is replacement hinges look tougher (so I got sold a crappy pair at first) and the new hinges are $64.  This is a crazy price for a pair of hinges.

Interested in people's experiences with these issues, and how to keep mice out of the trailer is a plus.  I'm trying to figure ways to insert a fitted piece of wood along the bottom to block mice from coming in through the bottom.  Or does Scamp owe me a new door that fits?

 

 

ELongest
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Unhinged

When Scamp came out with the new door hinges I think in 2018 several people had issues with the hinges cracking.  Scamp was suppose to redesign or procure heavier hinges. Evidently your trailer had the weaker hinges and your replacements were the newer hinges. I'm sure there was not a recall. They just replaced if the hinges you complained. That' the story I got.

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f55/new-scamp-hinge-problem-88632.html

The older Scamp doors (old hinge style)  fit pretty tight with the newer style seals. The bottom of the door had a 3/4" gap but it had a 3/4" weather strip which sealed fairly good. The bottom seal would fall off some times leaving a pretty big gap. Your lower seal seems to be in place. The light coming in the vertical side could indicate a sprung door or your bottom seal is too wide. There is a aluminum bull nose trim piece which the lower seal is attached to on the floor edge that can sometimes be adjusted to adjust the gap at the floor.

 Is your trailer plugged in?  The mice like to enter through the power cord hole. 

Eddie

Engineer_Ted
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Still waiting to hear back

Still waiting to hear back from Scamp customer service.  If I don't hear back today, I'll try calling them directly.

Yes, it's plugged in and I've had several trailers in the past.  I'm familiar with the mouse climbing through the power cord hole, which is why I'm studious about closing the flap and sliding down the tab.  I'm certain mice aren't getting in through that access.

The hole/gap shown in the picture is due to a mouse that chewed through a good hunk of rubber stripping.  The mouse was able to access that area because I have a nice gap at the bottom of the door for the mouse to position itself.  

Engineer_Ted
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By the way, failed to thank

By the way, failed to thank you for the information you provided.  I now realize it's a class issue (suspected so when they are selling different replacement hinges).

So far the customer service isn't stellar, still waiting to hear back from them...

lkarpiak
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Joined: 05/09/2019 - 18:53
Bottom door Gap

Thanks for your post.  I just checked my 3 week old 13' Scamp and I have a similar 1/2+ gap through out  the entire bottom of the door as well. I can clearly see light from the left to the right side,  I guess I start looking for a weatherstrip to add to the bottom.    NOT GOOD

Sstratto
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Joined: 06/30/2024 - 13:04
Weatherstripping for bottom of door to fill gap

What type of weatherstripping did you use? How did you attach it? Did it last? Thanks in advance. 

Engineer_Ted
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9/6/2019 update - Still no

9/6/2019 update - Still no reply on my website contact form with Scamp, so called today.  Got presented with a menu, I chose warranty assuming this is the best option (I think they owe me new hinges because it's obvious they provided defective hinges for the 2018 model).  Apparently it's just one guy and he wasn't there so I had to leave a voicemail.  

I like the Scamp trailer but I'm finding the customer service lacking.

Reminds me of another issue I had when I picked it up.  I'd swear I asked for the four pin trailer connection as my car doesn't support the bigger connection.  I get there and it has a typical, I don't know, 7 or 9 pin truck connector.  I had to buy a converter at their shop for heck, I think it was over $50.  I wasn't happy about that transaction but I needed it to get that trailer out of there.

ac0gv
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7 pin

Did Scamp change to the 7 pin only?? They may have because it adds battery charging, backup lights, (and brakes if you have them).

Sstratto
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More weatherstripping for door gap

I want to attach some tube-type weatherstripping to the bottom of my 2018 short door, to fill the gap along the bottom and vertically 5 inches.  What should I use to attach the rubber tube-type weatherstripping to the weatherstripping that was installed at the factory?  Or should I use flat weatherstripping and build up a few layers of it instead of the tube-type? Is the self-adhesive on weatherstripping strong enough for this use?

Engineer_Ted
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I eventually sold the unit as

I eventually sold the unit as is, letting the new owner know about the door gap.  The new owner didn't seem to be worried about mice, guessing storage location of the camper was generally mouse free.