July 27, 2009
I have a problem with our 2008 Montana 5th wheel that has me stumped.
Beginning sometime in Dec 2008 the ceiling and wall beams on the inside of our trailer began to turn dark. At first we thought the lines were shadows, but soon realized that was not the case. The ceiling material (dust/diesel exhaust, ?, etc.) can be wiped off, but the around the ceiling staples is stained terribly. Virtually every horizontal and vertical beam in the trailer is discolored. I wrote to Keystone in April this year, sent pictures of the problem and this is their response:
May 4, 2009
I have had 2 technicians review your statements and pictures. One worked on the Montana line, the other ran a dealership and is a master certified technician and the product developer for the Montana line. The diagnosis was the same and here are their comments listed below:
In regions with high humidity the aluminum tubes will absorb heat at different rates than the material around it i.e.; wood, Styrofoam, or fiberglass. As a result the cold spots will draw more surface moisture from the ambient air than any other place in the wall or ceiling. Any air born particles such as dust, diesel exhaust soot, or environmental pollution will collect in these areas and cause discoloration. As too why some coaches’ do this and other coaches don’t I have seen this happen to motor homes with cloth ceilings all the way down to small travel trailers with vinyl paper ceilings. This is not anything new and other than appearance does not affect the unit in any adverse ways. Some of the factors that may apply to why one unit does it and another one does not would include ambient temperature, Air quality, Interior temperature, type of use, Ventilation, and so on. No two units are exactly the same and no two owners use them in exactly the same way.
At this time, there isn’t a recommendation that would remove the staining short of replacing all the materials. We regret that this condition would not be eligible for warranty consideration.
Regards,
Robyne Hakes
Keystone Customer Relations
866-425-4369
I have spoken with every Montana RV'er I have seen for the last 4 months and no one has ever seen this. We are full time RV'ers and Keystones explanation just doesn't make sense to me. Other trailers should exhibit this problem and we've talked to people that have been on the road a lot longer than we have (2 years). The Mike Thompson dealership in Colton, CA told me it was "diesel" exhaust. That doesn't explain the walls where the discoloration is coming from "inside" the wall and cannot be washed off. Also, how come no other Montana has a problem like this? Why would diesel exhaust stick to just the beams in the ceiling and nowhere else? Just because they are colder? We also use 3 of the moisture collecting "dry Z's" in the trailer to collect extra moisture. Plus, most of our travels have been in CA, OR, WA, AZ which are usually pretty dry in the summer.
I would appreciate any assistance you could give me in this matter. I am not really sure what to do next. We believe that this is a Keystone manufacturing mistake and should be fixed by them. It does not appear that cleaning the ceiling would do any good, just change us from a Zebra trailer with “stripes” to a Leopard with “spots”. The material in the walls cannot be washed off so cleaning the ceiling would still leave a problem.
I wish I could attach my pictures of the problem so you could see the extent of our dilemma.
Thanks,
Bob
rgg1943@gmail.com