I am very dissapointed today. We've been quite late in getting ourselves organised and yesterday was the 1st time we've opened up our Pennine Pullman this year and its suffered some kind of leak.
We really tried hard in securing it for winter but last last winter the winter tarp that came with it disintegrated so we bought one of the Kampa outdoor covers for it but that wasn't until about Dec/ Jan so it was a couple of months just with the standard cover on it.
Anyway the leak seems to have been on the back corner, the outer corner of the seat bench has a wet patch but this seems to have tracked and the actual table had loads of water on top of it (not smelly) the little fold down table was saturated and has expanded and that wooden panel that it sits against has the black mould on it. The seat pads were wet at that point but not smelly or mould on them. The plywood under the bed has black mould on too but again has not affected the mattress.
So after feeling very sad I realise things could be worse. So my questions are for the forum
*what do you think has caused the leak?
*how can I remov the black mould stain from the wood panel?
*is anyone selling the little fold down table or know of anywhere we can get spares?
*the bungee on the standard cover is perished, we have ordered a new one. Do you think that could have caused some ingress of water?
Btw the outer canvas is not really that damaged either....it's all very strange!!
Unless the bungee is really bad, and the cover has been flapping, then it is far more likely that the water has come in through one of the seams. They are pretty good at keeping the water out, but wont tolerate standing water for ever. I always keep my Sterling garaged, for this reason.
There are a number of products available for removing mould. Most will do the job well, and the golden rule with that is just make sure you keep it away from the main canvas, so it doesn't mess up the waterproofing.
Pennine do the drop down tables. I've just bought one last week for my latest Sterling, and I got one from them for my previous one, as well. They are rarely the cheapest option, but not too bad. You will need to speak to them, though, as they're not shown oh the web site. The metal brackets that support the table are shown on there, but not the table top, itself. Give them a call on 01254 386978 and have a word with Julie. She should be able to sort both out for you. Think, from memory, it was around £56 all in, or something of that order, for table top and brackets, but, if the brackets aren't damaged, then may save you a bit more, as well.
------------- The one good thing about being wrong is the joy it brings to others..
Or you could make up your own ... especially if the brackets are OK.
Shouldn't be a big job as a DIY?
We got mould on our bed platforms about five years ago ... treated it, but didn't get all the marks off ...I sanded the whole thing, lightly, and gave it three coats of Yacht varnish, both sides and all edges.
It's been perfect since then ... and looks a lot smarter!
Our newly acquired Sterling has sat on the drive for a few weeks now (as yet unused) but the first thing I noticed was how water collected in pools on the tarp, right on top of a seam at that. Solution was to simply store it at a steep angle, now rainwater just runs off.
I found the best solution is to get an old carpet cardboard roll (they come quite long and carpet shops will just give it to you)slice the ends to fit and to a point place central under waterproof cover ,bobs your uncle you have a ridge all the way down the trailer ,no more leaks ,puddles, standing water, it all just runs off, it also has the other advantage of airing the inside as cover lifted about 4" up central an slowly dips to the edge,(there's a reason houses have ridge tiles)
hope that helps you all out
Found a very small leak from some standing water, so a combination of a second tarp under the cover, a scrunched up ball of news paper in the corner where the standing puddle was, and also setting a strong angle on the trailer to keep water running. Touch wood been perfect ever since.
I stored my roofbox, sitting on a couple of planks, on top of the travel cover, but under the winter cover ... made a brilliant dome, and run off was excellent.
Also, make sure your jockey wheel is wound up to create maximum tilt (front to back), as this helps run of no end.
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Topic: Black mould
