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Old 08-25-2013, 02:55 PM   #21
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The door is made in a mould. It's not some flat piece that's bent into shape and thus liable to go back to flat over time. It also has bends in it that give the form strength.
There has to be some tolerance allowed for the door to fit the opening, which is why the rubber gasket and foam tape. Same as the door on your car.
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Old 08-25-2013, 03:12 PM   #22
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Can you share what other issues you had with your new trailer? Are you saying they were not fixed with your new trailer warranty, that you had to pay for them yourself? Thanks.

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.... they were not real responsive on other issues I had with the trailer.

..... Just disappointed I had to make numerous DIY repairs on a new $32,000 trailer.
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Old 08-25-2013, 03:32 PM   #23
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gocamp, Look at my previous posts

http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f9...anty-2337.html
Once I criticized the above solar panel mounting issues - the offer of warranty disappeared
.
http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f9...fire-2681.html

Additional items;

-Door on water heater; missing screw wood screw that just goes into fiberglass, installed pop rivet

-Poor radio reception; found antenna wire cut in half, reconnected wire

-Cracked molding in shower, didn't fix

Didn't even call them on the additional items listed. Just fixed them.
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Old 08-25-2013, 10:40 PM   #24
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There's no doubt that the curved shape is stronger than a flat shape. But that doesn't mean it's strong enough to avoid flex.
It at least isn't any worse (likely to flex) than a flat door. It seems to me that the only advantages of a flat door are:
  • ease of fabrication
  • ability to use a piano hinge
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Old 01-06-2014, 01:59 PM   #25
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Door Seal

I found that if it is freezing outside (-4 deg. C) and you have the heat on inside the trailer, the door warps due to the temperature differential between the outside and inside. The inside expands due to the warm interior and outside remains contracted due to the cold. Insulating the inside of the door would reduce the temperature differential of the door and would probably reduce the warpage.
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Old 01-06-2014, 03:42 PM   #26
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I wonder if it would be possible to insulate the doors with the limited expansion type (window and door) cans of expanding foam? The problem would be determining how much to put in and I imagine one would have to drill several hole to get it into all the space and some vent holes....
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Old 01-06-2014, 06:54 PM   #27
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Insulating between panels might make it worse, as it would increase the
temperature differential of the inner and outer door skins. I think the insulation would have to be attached to the inside door skin to keep the whole door from warming up to the interior temperature. Maybe the wall/headliner material would be enough and it would also match the rest of the interior. It,s just a theory.
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Old 01-06-2014, 07:20 PM   #28
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I don't think you can control the expanding foam enough to not distort the door. I won't try it. If it was really cold and your door has zero insulation, maybe (temporarily) glue reflectix or backpacker foam to the interior of the door (and maybe the outside!). Rubber cement is easy to remove. Hummmm.
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Old 01-06-2014, 07:49 PM   #29
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This thread is the first I've heard of a door warping. What have you observed and does it return to normal when the temp returns to normal?
Quick fix would be to open the door.
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Old 01-07-2014, 01:00 AM   #30
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The door did return to normal when it warmed up outside.
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Old 01-07-2014, 10:56 AM   #31
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DaveD ( Vancouver) and I brainstormed an idea we have yet to try. Removing the lock gives access to the door interior. We thought if we removed the door and turned sideways. We could fill the cavity with "bean bag" beads. Good insulation and no overfill problem. We have not worked out the static problem yet we think would occur in trying to funnel the beads through the door lock area. Once in the beads would have to be sealed in to preventing migration into the lock area.
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Old 01-07-2014, 12:46 PM   #32
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Quote:
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DaveD ( Vancouver) and I brainstormed an idea we have yet to try. Removing the lock gives access to the door interior. We thought if we removed the door and turned sideways. We could fill the cavity with "bean bag" beads. Good insulation and no overfill problem. We have not worked out the static problem yet we think would occur in trying to funnel the beads through the door lock area. Once in the beads would have to be sealed in to preventing migration into the lock area.
Interesting idea - let us know if it works. I think you could safely seal around the lock with a small amount the window/door type expanding foam.
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Old 01-07-2014, 12:53 PM   #33
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I'm still trying to envision this 'warped' door. Can you describe it?
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Old 01-07-2014, 01:56 PM   #34
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I'm still trying to envision this 'warped' door. Can you describe it?
As you are aware, the door is curved convex on the outside and concave on the inside. Simply put. the door 'straightens out' and looses some of the curve, which causes the bottom and/or the top to come away from the seal while the centre (lock area) will be shut tight. Insulating between door skins may not work if the door is affected by the inside and outside temperature.
When I experienced this condition, it was -4 C outside and +22 C inside. Materials usually expand when heated and contract when cold. If the door is freezing cold on the outside (contracted) and warm on the inside, the door will 'straighten out' a bit from its normal curved condition. I have difficulty proving this as we have warmed up considerably in the Vancouver area and I don't have a huge freezer to conduct a controlled experiment.
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Old 01-07-2014, 02:10 PM   #35
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Got it now.
So, if the seals expanded more than they do, would that prevent leakage?
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Old 01-07-2014, 04:41 PM   #36
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Got it now.
So, if the seals expanded more than they do, would that prevent leakage?
I suppose it would prevent leakage if the seals expanded, but I don't know how this could be done.
Perhaps the seal could be made like a skinny inner tube. The air displaced from the tight areas would get pushed to the open areas and seal them. Each seal could then be inflated to the right amount depending on the trailer involved.
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Old 01-07-2014, 04:52 PM   #37
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If the door is losing its curvature over time or due to thermal effects, the problem may be solved at the manufacturing end by stiffening up the doors. I know that in my Escape 19', it is possible to see daylight out of the bottom corner of our door when sitting in the dinette. I have bought a length of foam with tape backing to try to fix (by placing behind the existing foam weatherstripping), but was planning on waiting for a bit warmer weather first.

Don't know if such a thing is available or even feasible to construct, but a door with latches at top, middle, and bottom would help to keep a flexible door snug against the trailer sides.
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Old 01-07-2014, 06:43 PM   #38
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If the door was made of carbon fiber composite rather than fiberglass composite it would resist distortion due to thermal effects, it would be stiffer, and resist distortion over time. Carbon fiber has a negative coefficient of expansion, while the matrix has a positive coefficient of expansion, resulting in a nearly zero net coefficient of expansion which takes care of the thermal effect. The cost would also be somewhat higher.
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Old 01-07-2014, 10:53 PM   #39
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Not too sure about the engineering issues about the door fit but it was a big disappointment to see light coming in around the door the morning after we took delivery. We had camped close enough to return to Chilliwack for repairs. Escape paid for a night in the RV park across the freeway and replaced the entire door the next am. They also used the tube foam to supplement the door seals which seemed to be a bandaid approach to me. Also had a water pump fail on the trip home which they promptly replaced (they still owe me 5 rolls of TP). After all of that, I received a nice "care package" from Kim and an apology. Don't know that I could ask for more. I think they are really trying to produce a superior product with superior service. It's not the perfect RV but it's awfully close.
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Old 01-09-2014, 11:13 AM   #40
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When I owned a Escape 19ft had the same door seal problems the factory fixed the seal and replaced the threshold with heavier material with wire in it. My foot was wearing through the rubber. The heavier rubber threshold solved my problem. Escape is very good when it comes to service at the factory or away.
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