Hi Scamp world,
I am new to this forum and Scamp ownership, but i can already tell that I'm going to love future adventures in my Scamp! I wanted a fixer-upper, and boy did i find one! My first mission is to get it to stop leaking, i'm working from the top down with fixing problems - it seems the most logical way.
So my first and probably most major problem - or lets say challenge, is that the ventilator on top (see above) is leaking and has been for a while. The second picture shows where i removed the wooden plate to reveal some beautifully moldy wood - clearly this HAS to be fixed. Now it seems that the previous owner may have cut the hole too big because the wood part had one main piece then another smaller piece added at the side. Regardless, the whole thing needed to come out.
Oh and i forgot to mention the fiberglass attempt. I can understand why they did it, but i think where it went wrong was around the 6 large screws holding the cover on. They were clearly not stainless steel and had completely rusted because the fiberglass lacked enough resin over the screws, the fiber was literally just fiber in places.
So off it came leaving me with this giant hole in the roof and praying that it doesn't rain anytime soon.
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With a lot of manual labor i managed to get the old fiberglass off, so now its at least a clean hole. Now i have to somehow wrestle the actual ventilator out of the mix of wood, fiberglass, glue and some sort of sealant.
Today, i tried to break it free, but apparently the 16 screws holding the frame to the wood that then has fiberglass on top, they are stainless steel and i wasn't able to cut through them with the tool i have. So this has all got me to think...one, how on earth am i going to re-frame this thing in a better way to make sure it doesn't leak this time, or two, do i really need this ventilator at all. The Scamp has windows and a side mounted AC unit. I'm just wondering if all other Scamps have a ventilator like this, because mine was clearly an addition and not factory installed. Also wondering if there is a smaller option that could be mounted by or around the window where the kitchen is and where it would be needed most ( i haven't looked into this part yet). So i'm sending this message out into the world of Scampers to see what you guys think and if you have any advice for a newby. I don't mind some hard work, or getting dirty, I am just trying to fix this myself...with the help from some friends if they are willing :) So any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you so much, and happy camping to all.
I am no expert, by any means, but that hole looks to me like the original escape hatch (or perhaps a roof air conditioner?). You could probably buy a new escape hatch from Scamp and just install that properly if that is what was removed. In other words, take it back to original. This would probably be the easiest and least prone to leaking. Of course, this would depend it the new hatches are the same dimensions as the old.
If this was an air conditioner hole, you may have a more difficult project.
I looked at the Scamp website, and didn't find the entire hatch listed, only the cover. Perhaps a phone call might convince them to sell the entire assembly to you. They are real nice folks.
For ventilation, you can get an Endless Breeze fan. It is made by Fantastic Vent, a verycommon, well-known and respected company. The Endless Breeze is powered by 12 volt with very low drain. It's 3-speed and has hangers that allow you to hang it in an open window, facing in or out. Plus it has legs that allow it to sit on a counter, like a box fan. Works very well.
Hi Lyle,
Thank you for your response. I looked up the Endless breeze fan that you suggested and that seems like a great idea. I'm not too concerned about the heat in the camper (even though i live in Florida) because i have the AC unit which blows out some pretty cool air. I'm more concerned i guess about extracting the air if and when i cook something stinky like broccoli - love to eat it but hate to smell it for the rest of the day. I've never put a fan in the window to test the theory, but i'm guessing turned the right way it would clear out the air in the camper pretty fast.
Also you are probably correct about it being the original escape hatch, because when watching the scamp videos i saw that others had one and i don't. I also thought about just making and putting in a skylight or simple window. I want it to look nice obviously, but most importantly i want it to be secure :)
IF you can find a rooftop unit (fan or AC) that fits the hole, it should be fairly simple to complete this job!
Definitely looks like an old AC or Escape Hatch opening. I'd probably build a sandwich with a nice 1/2" or 5/8" birch ply on the interior and sandwich the FG with Aluminum on the roof using ss screws. Use butyl tape for the join and then put a layer of dicor self leveling over the ss screws, and seams. I'd put a 14"x14" opening in the new setup so that it would fit the universal RV Vents and put in a nice Maxxfan or something similar. If you do that you'll never have to worry about finding a vent or fan replacement going forward.
What power runs exist there? 12V? and/or 110v?
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