Dust Dust Dust

[Lumatic]

Just returned from several days in our 71 Tradewind off paved roads in flour dust conditions. There is a fine coating of dust throughout the trailer and closets. Under these conditions it is probably impossible to completely eliminate dust in the coach, but I am looking for suggestions to minimize it. I have the following thoughts:

1. Dust is entering through the vent in the belly pan under the refrigerator. Temporarily seal off this vent while traveling in dusty road conditions.

2. Dust entering through doors and windows. Change gaskets.

3. Dust entering through gaps around wheel wells and belly pan. Caulk and use foam in a can.

4. Use roof fans to blow air into trailer while traveling, pressurizing the coach to reduce dust infiltrating the nooks and crannies.

Thanks.

[AWCHIEF]

Check out the Burning Man threads and web site for other creative methods.

[Lumatic]

Originally Posted by AWCHIEF

Check out the Burning Man threads and web site for other creative methods.

I assume dust at Burning Man is primarily blowing dust. The dust condition I am referring to is dust from towing on severely dusty dirt roads.

[AWCHIEF]

Silly me I assumed the result would be the same. A trailer full of dust.

[Lily&Me]

Once dust is inside....I find that microfiber cloths do a good job of removing it from surfaces, including ceilings and walls.


Maggie

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Lumatic

I assume dust at Burning Man is primarily blowing dust. The dust condition I am referring to is dust from towing on severely dusty dirt roads.

Dust is dust. Doesn't matter if it's kicked up by wind or thrown up by tires.

Dust is dry particulate matter ranging in size from 50 to 10 microns, meaning that individual dust particles are too small to see with the human eye. Airborne dust looks like a cloud of dirty air and it's pervasive; it can get in anywhere that air can. You can see piles of dust or a film of dust, but not individual dust particles. Any cloth (or a HEPA vacuum filter) that has openings smaller than 10 microns (microfiber) can pick up dry dust. Anything with larger opening sizes will just stir it up.

Wet dust is easier to pick up than dry dust. This is where Lemon Pledge comes into its own. Spraying the dusty surfaces coats the dust particles and makes them bigger, as well as making the dust particles stickier so that you don't need microfiber to pick up the dust.

The only way to block dust from getting into your trailer in the first place is to seal every opening where air can get in— including your roof vent. Or to avoid parts of the country where you can encounter airborne dust.

[Lumatic]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

Dust is dust. Doesn't matter if it's kicked up by wind or thrown up by tires.

The only way to block dust from getting into your trailer in the first place is to seal every opening where air can get in— including your roof vent. Or to avoid parts of the country where you can encounter airborne dust.

Dust is dust but the condition I am talking about is thick clouds of dust kicked up by towing, thicker at the ground, otherwise no dust conditions. Here in the southwest to avoiding parts of the country where dust is encountered is tantamount to avoiding some of the best camping and just about all boondocking. Dust is ubiquitous but surely someone out there has specific suggestions about what has worked, at least partially, for sealing up a 40 something year old trailer.

[kscherzi]

Try useing duct tape to seal over every possible crack.

[Aerowood]

Being I'm still towing without an interior, I found the biggest culprit to be the wheel wells. I thinned down some sealant and poured it in the gap between the wheel well and exterior skin. This helped the most, new seals on windows and door finished it off. I'm good now.

[Lily&Me]

You can buy a dark colored, flexible, foam type sealer strip for gaps around doors that might work to poke into interior areas....can then be removed and replaced as they get filthy with dust, which they will.


Maggie