Removing screens in ceiling vents

[Director]

I have a (new to me) 1965 26' Overlander. It has two ceiling vents fore and aft. There are two knobs which turn to raise the cover and allow the fresh air in (and presumably the hot air out). I want to clean and remove the screens and it looks like to do so one must remover the knobs. I notice some small holes in the shaft of the nobs for that purpose, but I'm not sure if that is the answer, they seem too small for an allen wrench... any one with the correct answer so I can get the cob webs out and wasp nests too...??

Thanks!

Director

[scottanlily]

Hello DIRECTOR ,

the knobs just pull straight down off the operators ,the operator shaft has a spring loaded ball bearing that secures the knob .The screens then can be carefully pulled down also .I cleaned ours with soap and water ,huge difference ,they look brand new .

Scott of scottanlily

[Director]

Originally Posted by scottanlily

Hello DIRECTOR ,

the knobs just pull straight down off the operators ,the operator shaft has a spring loaded ball bearing that secures the knob .The screens then can be carefully pulled down also .I cleaned ours with soap and water ,huge difference ,they look brand new .

Scott of scottanlily

Thanks Scott! Just my luck I would have tried something and without knowing what to do and I would have broken off the handle! I'll give it a try...just pull eh?
Thanks a bunch!

Director

[clancy_boy]

Scott was right, just pull down. Try and support the rest of the knob mechanism to prevent bending of the support bracket but the knob just pulls off as described above.

[Sugarfoot]

Scott, thanks! I always thought I needed an Allen wrench in those little holes. I'd been putting off investigating further for months. Now I can do that screen cleaning that is much overdue.

[airdrmr]

I have the same roof vents on my '67 safari. I need to replace the gasket that seals the vent when it is closed. Can anyone steer me in the right direction for a replacement gasket? It's hard for me to tell what it should look like since so little of the original gasket is still there.

Thanks for any assistance.

[Ganglin]

This is available from Inland RV or check your local hardware.

[airdrmr]

Thanks, Gary. That does look vaugly like what is left of mine. Do you glue it down?

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by airdrmr

Thanks, Gary. That does look vaugly like what is left of mine. Do you glue it down?

The ceiling vent gasket has an adhesive backing.

Remove the old gasket, clean the surface "VERY WELL," take the paper backing off the new gasket, and simply apply the gasket to the bottom side of the vent cover.

The square covers (solardomes) use 5 feet and the rectangular covers (astrodomes) use 7 feet.

Andy

[airdrmr]

Thanks, Andy!

by the way, this is waaaay off this topic, but I bumped into someone the other day who had an airstream a little older than mine and it had this neat A/C shroud. It was silver and it looked like aluminum. He said he got it from Inland. I am wondering if his shroud could be part #69807, put it's painted?

Thanks again,

[dwightdi]

You do not want to use the open cell foam gasket material that is shown above. It allows water to come right thru it as well as air when not fully compressed. If you compress it fully, then it takes a set. 3M and others offer a closed cell version of this gasket material with adhesive attached which is much preferred. The closed cell version also has longer life as it is not completely exposed to the air and has more material in it.

[thecatsandi]

Meridith,
With the right paint and prep and I strees prep yes you can paint almost anything. I want to apint my AC shroud silver as well. A good wipe down with de-natured alcohol and some krylon fusion should do the trick.
They don't appear to have silvver but they do have a pewter grey that looks close.
If the krylon fusion does not work color wise. A primer and a normal spray paint should work fine.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by airdrmr

Thanks, Andy!

by the way, this is waaaay off this topic, but I bumped into someone the other day who had an airstream a little older than mine and it had this neat A/C shroud. It was silver and it looked like aluminum. He said he got it from Inland. I am wondering if his shroud could be part #69807, put it's painted?

Thanks again,

All of our AC shrouds have a gel coat exterior.

You can easily paint them any color you wish.

We suggest that you use a decent quality paint.

Andy

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by dwightdi

You do not want to use the open cell foam gasket material that is shown above. It allows water to come right thru it as well as air when not fully compressed. If you compress it fully, then it takes a set. 3M and others offer a closed cell version of this gasket material with adhesive attached which is much preferred. The closed cell version also has longer life as it is not completely exposed to the air and has more material in it.

Airstream has used the open cell vent cover gasket for over 40 years, with absolutely no problems, except those related to age.

When the cover is down, the gasket is compressed. It would take a direct blast of water from a high pressure hose to go thru it.

Also, the open cell gasket does not take a set, unless the covers stay closed for many many years.

The same type gasket has been used on the screen doors since 1965, also with great success. It doesn't compress there, either.

Andy

[Ganglin]

I like the open cell for the exact reason that it allows a least a minimum of heat migration out of the trailer when it's closed up. We close the vents down just until the gasket seats and have never had any water get in. Heat build up in the trailer is the enemy of laminates, drapes and upholstery in our experience.

[plaidbunny@a]

I have posted a picture of my ceiling vents here on my blog.
Sweater Surgery: Airstream vent parts missing
is this the mechanism you are talking about? I am missing all the handle/knobs on my 51 Flying cloud and am looking for the missing part/handle any advice or can you send a picture of what is missing?
Thanks
Stef
plaidbunny@aol.com