the sun and long term canvas effects

[BeNos]

hey all
im about to move for work for roughly 3-6 months. and while im looking for a house i havent ruled out the camper trailer in a park as an option due to easy to say na moving on. but being very new and me being very careful with it. just wanting to know having it set up for that amount of time wreck or discolour the canvas to much? was tossing up a tarp over the top but want it to be easy to pack up for quick overnighters when town gets to annoying.
its a trackabout with the wax converters canvas which im led to believe is good but is it that good that it will stand up to the sun for 6 months?
cheers all

[Kit_e_kat9]

wax converters canvas which im led to believe is good but is it that good that it will stand up to the sun for 6 months?
cheers all

That's why we purchased a camper with the same fantastic canvas.  God help us if it won't stand up to being in the sun that long ... as I plan to have this camper for ages (read a blardy long time) and I plan to put it through some of Australia's worst sunny, windy, wet conditions ... what ever I can find for many, many, many, many, many years.  Of course, I'm going to do my best to keep it in good condition ... by keeping it clean, treating it as well as I can and keeping up the regular maintenance.

I think retirement is for caravans ... and I'm far too many years off that to have to worry about replacing canvas every 5 minutes.

Kit_e

[BeNos]

i have though most campers would spend more than this time in the extremes anyway but id just hate to wreck it being so new. like i have no doubts it would last the time but dont want to wreck it for later on. though treating it would probably be a good idea after a while

[Beachman]

Thinking another approach, say worst case scenario 6 months of being up does wreck the canvas, The money you would have saved in renting a house/unit would easily pay for the canvas to be remade.

Another option is do a very nice set up in the caravan park with a big trap over everything, then just use a tent for your weekend getaways.

[Maîneÿ . . .]

Can't see any real problem, I say that because I was based in one caravan park in WA for almost 14 months with-out moving the camper.
I eventually bought a huge silver synthetic tarp from Bunnnings ( $100 + ) and put that over the entire setup, it helped with cooling and kept the rain and leaves off the canvas too.

I was traveling from 1996 till 2008, so as can be imagined I spent some long term stays in various places, when I sold the camper in 2009 it had no major problems with the canvas, other than stains from something like the 'honey' substance that leaks from some trees.

[Matto]

...was tossing up a tarp over the top...

That will make a big difference. I'd rig up something to attach the tarp with bungee cords or similar, so that it's not a chore to put it up and down.

Ours has been used a bit (not 6 months continuous), and it's still in perfect condition, other than the tree sap and bird droppings on the roof. A tarp will fix both those problems.

I would imagine the canvas would be perfectly fine for the length of time you're talking about - there's people on here like Mainey that have lived out of their CTs full time for well over a year as they travel around the place. The WaxConverters canvas that Trackabout use is excellent.

Good luck!
Matto

[D4D]

Yup, tarp over the top and enjoy life