Cleaning air conditioner unit

[Nellie]

I am partway through a restoration on a 73 Overlander. I have stripped most of the old caulking in preparation for recaulking, but I want to clean up before I go any farther. Starting with the roof, of course. The A/C unit is filthy, and the plastic has become rough and pitted from years of weather. Is there anything I can use to polish it or protect it so it will stay cleaner? We get lots of rain in the winter here, so moss and green slime grows on everything unprotected- I am hoping to prevent this (or at least slow it down). Any suggestions? Thanks

Nellie

[TomW]

Originally Posted by Nellie

... the plastic has become rough and pitted ... moss and green slime grows on everything unprotected- I am hoping to prevent this (or at least slow it down). Any suggestions? ...

Have you checked your axles? They're probably worn out. Worn axles will vibrate air molecules against the plastic and allow it to pit.

New axles will raise the height of your Airstream to an altitude where algae won't grow. There's a vendor on this forum that has a guide for checking axles, but he rarely posts the link to the guide.



I'm joking, of course. But here lately it seems that EVERYTHING gets blamed on on old axles.

Having repaired an algae-covered, pitted shroud, I know what you are faced with. You can clean it up with Clorox and then repair it, or you can buy a new one.

InlandRV.com sells new ones.

Tom

[Nellie]

Ha-ha you had me going for a minute! Thanks for the info. I have cleaned it as best I can with soapy water (it still isn't lovely), but am considering replacing it in the near future, because it is cracked and very brittle. I accidentally put a tiny bit of weight on it and cracked it even more. My next question is, should I polish before re-caulking, or after?

Nellie

[TomW]

After.

Tom

[Lumatic]

I would guess the fiberglass shroud is very brittle. You can repair any cracks or missing pieces with fiberglass. I also painted mine with aluminum spray paint. It will forestall the inevitable for a few years.

[Nellie]

That was my thought, too, and my next question. It is white plastic (well, somewhat white), but I wondered if it would look better silver. 'Cause it kinda looks like a giant porta-potty on the roof. Would the aluminum spray paint stick to the plastic, or would it just flake off and look uglier?

[Lumatic]

I painted the OEM plastic shroud on the Armstrong on my 73 Aluminum with El Cheapo hardware store spary paint and it still looks good. In fact I think it looks better after the paint has aged 3 years. I do like the look better than the original dirty beige of the plastic and from a distance it looks like real aluminum. Besides purdy it may block some UV which is what rots the plastic .