# Vent Covers



## MiamiFamily4 (Sep 3, 2007)

Down in Miami it gets REALLY hot and rainy. I had a few questions regarding vent cover.

1.) Is it really safe to leave vents open with the covers?
2.) Can you stand on the rogh of a trailer to install them? What is the weight limit?
3.) If you store the trailer for a few months can you leave the venst open with the covers?
4.) What would be long term storage preoperations for a trailer?

23RS here!


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

We leave our Maxx Air vents open all year round. They are made so that rain cannot enter while the vents are open.

Yes, you can carefully get up on the roof making sure to stay on the tresses (roof supports)...Placing plywood up there will help to distribute your weight as well. We had our dealer install them on all vents









I'll let someone else answer your storage question, our Outback is in our driveway so we don't really have to worry about long term.


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## Eagleeyes (Aug 1, 2007)

MiamiFamily4 said:


> Down in Miami it gets REALLY hot and rainy. I had a few questions regarding vent cover.
> 
> 1.) Is it really safe to leave vents open with the covers?
> 2.) Can you stand on the rogh of a trailer to install them? What is the weight limit?
> ...


Vents open all the time, yes, unless you expect snow....like I do!

As for standing, when I installed the vent cover on our old 21RS, I was on my tummy. Those roofs are NOT made for standing. Do as LITTLE of that as possible, or use some plywood. Belly crawling is best...

Bob


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## BoaterDan (Jul 1, 2005)

Mine stay open all year 'round, snow and all. The theory behind leaving them open in the winter is to avoid buildup of moisture which will condense.

The roof question has been discussed, and opinions vary. I was assured by my delivery tech that you can walk on there. I use plywood when I'm up there washing the roof, but I've stood and walked several times without it too.

By long-term storage preparation, do you mean for the winter? The big thing is winterizing the water system, of course. There should be instructions on that you received, and there are several threads here you could search. Probably want to take the battery inside if you won't have a trickle charger on it. I think that's about all I do.

One thing - I read a couple years ago that's it bad for the tires to sit for long periods on asphalt. Since that's what's at my storage location, I have to pieces of plywood that I drive the trailer wheels onto. Helps with positioning it into the storage slot correctly too. Don't know if that was an urban legend or not.


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

Mine are also open all year. As for standing, Keystone says yes, but I would be cautious. I would recomend at least a piece of 1/8 in plywood (its what I use). Your knee print is smaller than your foot print. The other reason is a place to lay your tools down instead of on the rubber roof while you are working.

John


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## battalionchief3 (Jun 27, 2006)

Mine are open all year too. I cover my camper in the winter and they are still open. Never had a problem with rain. I had the dealer install mine. Winterizing the water system is the main thing but in Miami you dont really have a freeze problem but I would put the pink stuff in just to be safe incase you get a wierd cold snap or at least if you know its going to get cold put in a small space heater.


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## MiamiFamily4 (Sep 3, 2007)

Can I install the Vent covers myself? Or should that be done by professionals?


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## ntputter17 (Aug 17, 2007)

You can do them yourself. I did mine last week and it took about an hour for 4 of them......

Kirk


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## Lady Di (Oct 28, 2005)

We leave them open all year round. DH puts some kind of wood up there before he goes up. And yes you can do it yourself. Save the money for camping.


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## FZ1dave (Jul 10, 2007)

I gotta say that the roof is alot more sturdy than some will lead you to believe. I weight 225 and had no problem crawling around up there when I installed my vent covers. Even between the trusses there were no soft spots.

This goes against some of the opinions, but I wouldn't dare lay a piece of plywood down up there. It wouldn't take much to cause an abrasion to the roof through friction, or have an edge tear into it. This is overkill IMO.

Don't wear anything with metal (i.e. zippers, buttons etc.) and leave your shoes behind. Be cautious with the tools and you shouldn't have any problems.

As far as leaving the vents open, I plan to do so this winter, though it will be under a cover.


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## BoaterDan (Jul 1, 2005)

ntputter17 said:


> You can do them yourself. I did mine last week and it took about an hour for 4 of them......
> 
> Kirk


And I think most of us experienced that was 30 minutes for the first one and 10 minutes for subsequent ones.


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## The Fett (Aug 20, 2007)

I did mine (2 vents) in about an hour. I stayed on all fours to distribute my weight (240). No flex at all, no issues. The roof is stronger than people think.


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

I leave mine open all year around. During the winter months I leave them 1/2open. I store my trailer against the house and found out that leaving them fully opened aloud the bloowing snow to enter the trailer.

Thor


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## Sayonara (Jul 23, 2007)

Good info. One question to throw in to the mix.... What is preferred - White, opaque, tint, black? I plan to buy some before winter.


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## Lady Di (Oct 28, 2005)

We got white, to match the rest of the camper.


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## FZ1dave (Jul 10, 2007)

I wanted white but CW was out of them when I was there, so I got the opaque (if you can even call them that). They look white to me, and everyone else I've asked.


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## MiamiFamily4 (Sep 3, 2007)

Thanks for all the replies guys....ordering them today.


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## ntputter17 (Aug 17, 2007)

Sayonara said:


> Good info. One question to throw in to the mix.... What is preferred - White, opaque, tint, black? I plan to buy some before winter.


I put a tan/beige color on....Not sure what they called it, but it matched the tan on our trailer. If I was to do it again, I would put a darker (black) one over the bedroom. And someone else called it right, it took about 30 minutes for the first and 10 minutes for the others..........

Kirk


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## Sayonara (Jul 23, 2007)

ntputter17 said:


> Good info. One question to throw in to the mix.... What is preferred - White, opaque, tint, black? I plan to buy some before winter.


If I was to do it again, I would put a darker (black) one over the bedroom. 
Kirk
[/quote]
I like that idea!!


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