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01-04-2023, 10:56 AM
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#1
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Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 16
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Little Black Spots
Hi,
We've had a Escape 17A since 2014 that is stored outside in Alberta. It is not under a tree. It gets small black spots all over it. No pattern, random.
I cleaned it once with soapy water and a sponge. Took all day. The cleaning lasted a year.
Any ideas of a cure?
Don
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01-04-2023, 11:14 AM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Trailer: 2012 E19
Posts: 1,773
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Mildew, perhaps? Does it occur mainly on the non- or less-sunny sides?
__________________
Losing weight puts one at much greater risk of becoming thin.
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01-04-2023, 11:25 AM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Madison area, Wisconsin
Trailer: 2016 Escape 19 Chevy 2012 Express 3500 Van
Posts: 1,769
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Sounds like mildew
There are spray cleaners that may make cleaning easier, and bleach works pretty well too. Cure? Wash & wax, or try Poli-Glo acrylic polish or keep it out of the weather.
Just about anything will mildew if kept in a frequently damp environment.
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01-04-2023, 12:23 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: SLO County, California
Trailer: 2014 Escape 21C 2019 Expedition
Posts: 5,215
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Depends on the size; I believe my really samll pencil-point spots are soot from passenger jets that sometimes fly over during takeoff & landings.
__________________
"We gotta get as far away as we can!"
- Russell Casse, Independence Day
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01-04-2023, 02:11 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
Trailer: 2013 19' & 2013 15B
Posts: 2,637
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Andersen
Hi,
We've had a Escape 17A since 2014 that is stored outside in Alberta. It is not under a tree. It gets small black spots all over it. No pattern, random.
I cleaned it once with soapy water and a sponge. Took all day. The cleaning lasted a year.
Any ideas of a cure?
Don
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I have had my 19' since 2013, and am also in Alberta. I get the same spots. The longer I leave them the tougher they are to remove. If you wash the roof a couple of times per year it seems to keep the spots away mostly. I have no cures for preventing them altogether.
__________________
2013 19' \ 2013 15B, 2020 Toyota 4Runner TRD Offroad
"It is better to remain silent at the risk of being thought a fool, than to talk and remove all doubt of it." - 1907, Maurice Switzer
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01-04-2023, 02:11 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: St. Thomas not BVI., Ontario
Trailer: 2014 Escape 5.0TA / 2016 Ram Eco Diesel 4X4
Posts: 8,038
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Andersen
Hi,
We've had a Escape 17A since 2014 that is stored outside in Alberta. It is not under a tree. It gets small black spots all over it. No pattern, random.
I cleaned it once with soapy water and a sponge. Took all day. The cleaning lasted a year.
Any ideas of a cure?
Don
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Hi: Don Andersen... We live on a county road frequented by 18 wheelers. I always wondered what happened to the rubber that wore off tires. I think it causes black streaks below the window. The small black spots on the fiberglass in our case are Artillery Fungus IMHO. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie
__________________
Quote Bugs Bunny..."Don't take life too seriously, none of us get out of it ALIVE"!!!
'16 Ram Eco D. 4X4 Laramie Longhorn CC & '14 Escape 5.0TA
St.Thomas (Not the Virgin Islands) Ontario
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01-04-2023, 03:37 PM
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#7
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Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 16
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Further info,
Alberta is sunny for the most part with the most sun each year in Canada. THe shadow side is equally effected as the sunny side.
After I cleaned it, about 2 years for the spots to return.
They seem to grow when the weather is cooler.
It gets cold here with lows in the -35F range.
There is very few airplanes over my house and the highway is about 1/2 mile to the North East when the winds are generally SW, NW or SE.
Most cleaning this spring I guess. I'm going to try auto cleaners and polish.
regards,
Don
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01-04-2023, 05:03 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: North Van., British Columbia
Trailer: 2014 Escape 19, sold; 2019 Escape 21, Sept. 2019
Posts: 8,873
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rossue
Depends on the size; I believe my really samll pencil-point spots are soot from passenger jets that sometimes fly over during takeoff & landings.
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Better that than Blue Ice.
Ron
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01-04-2023, 05:42 PM
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#9
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: Steveston B.C., British Columbia
Trailer: 2012- 17'B.... 2016 Tacoma SR5 TRD
Posts: 51
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Fly and bug droppings. bugs like lo sun bath on white warm surface... and poop
Spider droppings are the worst.
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01-04-2023, 06:05 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Trailer: 2012 E19
Posts: 1,773
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Aerosolized airborne residue from the tar sands oil fields?
You have an enemy who dirties your trailer for revenge?
Residue from the jet contrail cloud-seeding, weather alteration efforts?
UFO spent-fuel droppings?
__________________
Losing weight puts one at much greater risk of becoming thin.
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01-04-2023, 07:20 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Madison area, Wisconsin
Trailer: 2016 Escape 19 Chevy 2012 Express 3500 Van
Posts: 1,769
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike G
Aerosolized airborne residue from the tar sands oil fields?
You have an enemy who dirties your trailer for revenge?
Residue from the jet contrail cloud-seeding, weather alteration efforts?
UFO spent-fuel droppings?
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All good speculative possibilities, but here's mine.
A fiberglass trailer LOOKS smooth, and some are even shiny. But at a microscopic level, the surface looks would look like a mountain range. Morning dew, rain and moisture get in those valleys of the surface and provide habitat for airborne mildew spores.
Things are not always as they seem. Or so it seems.
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01-05-2023, 08:28 AM
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#12
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2021
Location: Canada's East Coast, New Brunswick
Trailer: 2022 E19
Posts: 385
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gingerdog
Fly and bug droppings. bugs like lo sun bath on white warm surface... and poop
Spider droppings are the worst.
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I would second this, especially if it is parked anywhere near a light that is on all night.
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01-05-2023, 10:53 AM
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#13
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Site Team
Join Date: Nov 2021
Location: Framingham, Massachusetts
Trailer: 2019 Escape 21C, NTU April 2022
Posts: 1,051
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Andersen
Further info,
Alberta is sunny for the most part with the most sun each year in Canada. THe shadow side is equally effected as the sunny side.
After I cleaned it, about 2 years for the spots to return.
They seem to grow when the weather is cooler.
It gets cold here with lows in the -35F range.
There is very few airplanes over my house and the highway is about 1/2 mile to the North East when the winds are generally SW, NW or SE.
Most cleaning this spring I guess. I'm going to try auto cleaners and polish.
regards,
Don
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Do the spots grow? Or does the number of spots grow?
If the former, then maybe fungus. If the latter, then maybe insect droppings.
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01-05-2023, 05:45 PM
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#14
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Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 16
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The black spots vary in size and they are very thin.
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01-05-2023, 06:13 PM
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#15
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Madison area, Wisconsin
Trailer: 2016 Escape 19 Chevy 2012 Express 3500 Van
Posts: 1,769
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Fungus amongst us
Sure looks like mold/mildew. Less likely it's critter droppings, given the vertical position.
Ultimately, does it matter what it is? It is, what it is.
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01-05-2023, 08:55 PM
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#16
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Trailer: 2014 Escape 19', 1974 Boler
Posts: 473
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I live in Calgary and on my previous Casita quite a few of these black spots appeared on the roof. I had great results cleaning them off with this marine cleaner. https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/s...p.html?loc=plp
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01-06-2023, 11:15 AM
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#17
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Trailer: 2012 E19
Posts: 1,773
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For mildew I'd wet it with a hose, spray it with Tilex, wait a minute, then use my long-handled car wash brush. Rinse with the hose to finish. Normally the spots come off pretty easily that way. I have done this on fiberglass trailers as well as my house siding.
__________________
Losing weight puts one at much greater risk of becoming thin.
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01-06-2023, 12:23 PM
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#18
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Member
Join Date: Mar 2021
Location: Penticton, British Columbia
Trailer: 2021 17B
Posts: 94
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I used to use Tilex on the boat decks as well when it got a bit spotted, similar to the look in that photo.
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01-06-2023, 03:19 PM
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#19
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Site Team
Join Date: Nov 2021
Location: Framingham, Massachusetts
Trailer: 2019 Escape 21C, NTU April 2022
Posts: 1,051
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Andersen
The black spots vary in size and they are very thin.
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I wonder what those spots would look like under high magnification, say under a microscope. Mold spores might be visible. . .
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01-06-2023, 10:46 PM
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#20
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Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 16
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Folks,
Thanks all for your help.
I'll try both Tilex and the CDN Tire Marine Cleaner.
Regards,
Don
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