25 Feb 2017

Website Update – Parts Page

by | posted in: Uncategorised | 1

If anyone has dabbled with building and maintaining websites they know how much work they are and how much time they consume. When technical problems arise the frustrations increase, the ultimate kick in the seat of the parts is when something crashes and you loose what you created.  Well this happened to me a while ago, a database crashed, I was able to restore 99% of the content but I lost over 200 pictures.  Well they are not really lost, I have them all but I need to reattach each one to the location in each page.  To add insult to injury the crash effected two of my sites, the total impact is over 100 pages …. you get the idea.

I have been procrastinating on this chore, I have better things to do, and most are a lot more fun but today I gritted my teeth and decided to start the long tedious chore, starting with the Boler Parts Page, this page is very popular and being as spring is coming I wanted to get some information up for everyone to reference.  I will continue fixing the Boler-Camping website, but I also want to get going on building the ultimate Boler resource site  Boler.ca.

18 Feb 2017

Spring 2017 – Getting Ready for the Summer

by | posted in: General Boler Information, Uncategorised | 2

This winter has been a long and cold one, as spring approaches I am starting to think about our upcoming summer travel plans.  This summer our Boler will be used more than usual, our retirement allows more time for adventure and to join more fibreglass gatherings and events.  Even though the snow is still piled high the planning and preparation needs to start as soon so I am ready to jump into the Boler upgrades and maintenance as soon as the snow melts.

Anyone who has seen Buttercup (our Boler) quickly notices the curved wood arches on each wall, these clear, unfinished, cedar arches were never intended to be feature items, they were intended to be painted white to blend into the walls.  I painted the aches next to the door opening white but never made painting the remaining two a priority, over the past few years many friends have commented (some even threatened) that it would be criminal to paint the arches white, they should be finished to highlight the woods beauty with a clear varnish or stain.  I listened so this spring I will sand the paint off the doorway arches and finish all four arches in a way to enhance and protect the woods beauty.

The second item on my “to-do” list is to upgrade the roof vent fan and inside trim.  If you look in the Modifications section I have instructions for a DIY power roof vent, this system using two computer fans has worked quite well but as you know a trailer rides quite rough when on the road and the many miles and aging plastic on the vent trim has cracked around the mounting screws.  Also this summer we are going to some hotter locations so I want to try a much larger single computer fan (230mm vs 140mm) mounted in a low profile wood frame.

Item number three is the power centre.  Like almost all RVs we have been using a deep cycle battery, monitoring the power use of this large and heavy item I believe it is complete overkill.  The few LED light in the trailer consume very little power, the water pump is run for only short bursts, our portable 80 watt solar panel recharges the current battery to full capacity easily so this summer I am going to try an experiment.  I am going to replace the large group 27 deep cycle battery with a very small 5AH sealed gel cell designed as a backup battery for trailer brakes.

And last at this time is the usual spring maintenance, repack wheel bearings, check all the frame for cracks or problems, inspect tires, a thorough cleaning, waxing …..

14 May 2016

Fibreglass Cracks

by | posted in: Painting the Outside | 15

Question

” We are going to start the exterior updates and have some questions.
If you have the answers or can send me to links that I can research.
1. Fiberglass cracks. We assume we need to grind it down, create a channel to put fiberglass in – do we use mesh or strand?
2. Do you have a recommended brand of fiberglass to use?
3. We are painting it ourself. What brand of paint and where do you look for the supplies? Boating supply?ow do I fix”

Answer

First I always encourage people to go slow.  Try out the trailer, use it, see how you like to camp, you may want to change something.
The last thing you want is a finished outside and then have to touch-up or patch something.
I also recommend the last thing you do is the outside finish,
A couple of questions on the cracks, first any crack in fibreglass is the result of stress, this stress could have been caused by snow on the roof or a bent or broken frame.  You always want to identify why the fibreglass cracked before you try to repair it.  If you don’t fix the cause then the cracks will reappear.  Second how deep are the cracks, there are different processes to use if the cracks are just in the surface and the gel coat vs cracks through the fibreglass matt that effects the structure.  The best source for information on fibreglass and repair is from fibreglass boat repair, our trailers are exactly the same and the repair process is identical.
Just about all polyester fibreglass resin is the same, so Bondo, 3M, any of those are good quality and available ot Home Depot, Canadian Tire, etc.
For DIY paint jobs I recommend using the Roll & Tip method (again used on boats) using marine topside paint.  I personally like Interlux Perfection, this is a premium quality 2 part top coat and it is available in Calgary at Industrial Paint and Plastics http://goindustrial.ca/index.php/en/   they can tint the paint to almost any colour.http://goindustrial.ca/index.php/en/rice I think is about $85 gallon.