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Problem with Scamp 16' trailer, please advise!

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Steve

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Apr 14, 2002, 11:35:17 PM4/14/02
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Before purchasing a used Scamp trailer on E-Bay, I contacted the
manufacturer to find out what things were most likely to be a problem.
At no point did they warn me that the WOOD floors were likely to rot,
even though I asked, as they assured me the wood was impregnated and
covered with resin and fiberglass.

Two months after buying a used '91 Scamp 16' and working on it to fix
up misc. minor neglect, I found out that the wood underneath the water
heater was rotted out. I am now suffering a serious case of buyer's
remorse. I will NEVER buy an item on Ebay again unless I am thoroughly
knowledgeable about the item and ask ALL the right questions and check
all the answers prior to handing over any money.

If anyone has replaced wood in one of these trailers I would like to
hear from them. It looks like a pain in the neck to do, but maybe I'm
wrong.

I'm in the Tampa-St.Pete-Clearwater FL area and would really rather
pay someone else to fix the floor. Any suggestions?

Alternatively, I would sell it as it for $3990. I just rewired the
electrics and the electric brakes and replaced the wheel bearings. It
also has side AC, toilet & shower, 3 burner stove & oven, 3 way
fridge, screen door, microwave oven and sleeps 4. I had it weighed at
a moving company and it came in at 1920# dry. Everything seems to work
fine and it even tows OK behind my '95 Windstar, which I just had
fitted for towing trailers with electric brakes. The electric brakes
work great too.

I wanted to go camping, not work on a trailer.

Kenneth Shelton

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Apr 15, 2002, 10:10:02 AM4/15/02
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Don't be so discouraged.

Ask around for people who repair boats. They're good at working with
fiberglass, plywood, and tight spaces, and they'll do a good job. On wood,
you want epoxy, not polyester resin for the fiberglassing (polyester doesn't
stick to wood very well). Be sure you all agree on the scope of the work
and the finished cost. You'll end up with a nice trailer. Friends of mine
who have Scamps are very satisfied.

Ken


Guy Noir - private eye

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Apr 15, 2002, 1:57:13 PM4/15/02
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first, you have to stop the source of the leaks which caused the wood to rot.
There are expoxies available for boaters that soak into the wood to make it
stronger. Very expensive though. That's the problem buying something sight
unseen. You never get all the details until its too late.


D.B. Young. Team OS/2!
-->this message printed on recycled disk space<--
antique computer virtual museum, turbo pinto + more at
www.nothingtodo.org

Delete the obvious (Aolsucks) to reply.

Crashj

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Apr 15, 2002, 2:52:55 PM4/15/02
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"Kenneth Shelton" <she...@cablespeed.com> wrote in message news:<ublnp69...@corp.supernews.com>...

> Don't be so discouraged.
>
> Ask around for people who repair boats.
<>
Ab-so-lute-lee
Epoxy all the way.

here is the man:
http://www.rotdoctor.com/

Crashj 'if it cain't rot, it ain't a real boat' Johnson

Lon VanOstran

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Apr 15, 2002, 7:32:47 PM4/15/02
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Check this out. www.rotdoctor.com

Lon

Pete Dumbleton

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Apr 16, 2002, 1:06:09 AM4/16/02
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I'd be willing to bet good money that the source of the leak is the
water heater itself; had the same problem with a Jayco, only it had
more wood and it was part of the frame (very difficult to dig out and
reinforce) and had attracted carpenter ants.... There are far fewer
leak opportunitites on Scamp, Casita, BigFoot, Boler, Burro, Trillium,
et al, because of the fiberglass shell. Stuf is fastened with pop
rivets on snap-cap washers and seldom leak (in both my experience and
from what I hear from other owners).

Pete, who doesn't have a water heater in his Scamp

supr...@aol.comAolsucks (Guy Noir - private eye) wrote in message news:<20020415135713...@mb-mq.aol.com>...

Neon John

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Apr 16, 2002, 3:20:55 PM4/16/02
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On Mon, 15 Apr 2002 19:32:47 -0400, Lon VanOstran <rv...@voyager.net> wrote:

>Steve wrote:

>> I wanted to go camping, not work on a trailer.
>
>Check this out. www.rotdoctor.com

This stuff is pretty worthless. It's about 95% solvent. When it dries, the
tiny bit of epoxy that remains imparts no perceptable strength to the rotted
wood. Meanwhile the solvent damages anything plastic or otherwise
solvent-sensitive.

These guys make a 100% solids penetrating epoxy that actually deos what Rot
Doctor claims they do.

http://www.systemthree.com

John
---
John De Armond
johngdDO...@bellsouth.com
http://personal.bellsouth.net/~johngd
Cleveland, Occupied TN

Dfrenchy

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Apr 16, 2002, 3:42:50 PM4/16/02
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>
>These guys make a 100% solids penetrating epoxy that actually deos what Rot
>Doctor claims they do.
>
>http://www.systemthree.com
>
>John

John, do you think this would work on rotted window sills?
Don in NH

Neon John

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Apr 18, 2002, 10:55:12 PM4/18/02
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Yes. That's exactly what I used it for. I tried that other crap on another
windowsill. It penetrated and looks to have stopped the rot but it added
absolutely no strength to the wood.

Steve

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Apr 21, 2002, 10:06:03 PM4/21/02
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I tried to get a boat repair company to do this and found a
knowledgeable person, but he wasn't able to take on any new work for 2
months. I have been doing it myself, and am almost finished. There was
even more rot than initially found, requiring the entire back trailer
floor to be replaced.

Scamp trailers have such a nice design, but I am mystified by their
use of OSB instead of plywood. OSB is such junk. They also seemed to
skimp on the resin in their fiberglass work. I am using plywood and
epoxy to replace it, as the back floor seems to be structurally
important in holding up the exterior shell. Water and Scamp trailer
floors do NOT get along well.

I did not even try any of those rotten wood repair resins, as the OSB
was way too far gone. So far I've spent about $200 for materials, but
many hours in work, mostly rotten OSB removal and surface preparation
work.

Thanks for the encouragement.

Watch out for rotten trailer floors.

Crashj

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Apr 22, 2002, 8:56:37 AM4/22/02
to
Neon John <johngdDO...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message news:<85dnbu49vu0pkmkub...@4ax.com>...

<>
> These guys make a 100% solids penetrating epoxy that actually deos what Rot
> Doctor claims they do.
> http://www.systemthree.com
> John

Very good site, thanks. The epoxy catalog is a fun read, and full of
good advice. We always say the job is not done until the paper work is
finished. These guys point out the correct time to START a job.

So, what sorts of repairs have you done with this stuff?

Crashj 'stick to the subject' Johnson

Neon John

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Apr 22, 2002, 8:08:05 PM4/22/02
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I've made a wide variety of projects using fiberglass or carbon fiber and
epoxy. Probably the most interesting to most people is the fiberglass intake
manifold. An example of which can be seen on my personal web page.

I used the penetrating epoxy to repair some rotting window sills on my
restaurant building and to fix some water damage on my MH. Worked great for
both applications.

John


>
>Crashj 'stick to the subject' Johnson

---

Tom

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Apr 22, 2002, 9:57:05 PM4/22/02
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<< An example of which can be seen on my personal web page. >>

John,

I'm impressed! You have one of the few pages that opens quickly.

Tom


Neon John

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Apr 23, 2002, 10:28:26 PM4/23/02
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That's cuz there's NO gimmicks and only the tiniest bit of HTML code necessary
to make the server happy. I just HATE web sites that waste my time and
bandwidth with empty flash so I did everything I could to go to the opposite
extreme :-)

John

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