Missing Insulation in 2021 BT5210 Ceiling and Ducts

[Just two]

We have almost done a complete rebuild of our 2021 5210. They call them Covid campers and we know why. They were built fast to meet the extreme demand for campers during the pandemic. We started the rebuild on this fairly new camper because of all the defects we found. Replacing the floor and ceiling I found a lot of spaces with missing insulation. I thought that I had found and fixed them all. Today I replaced the leaking shower skylight and decided to replace the ceiling above the shower. I found almost no insulation in the ceiling. There was two small pieces of white styrofoam that were rolling around in the voids. I filled the cavities and install the new skylight.

This camper isn’t advertised as a four season camper. If you intended to boondock in it you had better plan on perfect weather.

 

[Just two]

Heads up for anyone wanting a more energy efficient rig.
Several other places where insulation can be added.
The rear wheel wells. They were just sheet metal boxes, no insulation. Added stick on insulation, boxed them in and sealed with foam.
The lower metal strip between the cab and house. This too is bare metal. Added stick on rattle stop type insulation and the rubber pad. Also found open holes at both bottom edges. A good place to seal up.

 

[Just two]

More heat and cooling loss area is the fiberglass fairing. We removed the TV shelf to access the space for more storage. We found very little fiberglass insulation loose up there. We applied adhesive insulation, rock wool and a vapor barrier to hold everything in place. The storage we gained is awesome. The sound deadening is a plus +++.

 

[Just two]

Heads up for anyone wanting a more energy efficient rig.
Several other places where insulation can be added.
The rear wheel wells. They were just sheet metal boxes, no insulation. Added stick on insulation, boxed them in and sealed with foam.
The lower metal strip between the cab and house. This too is bare metal. Added stick on rattle stop type insulation and the rubber pad. Also found open holes at both bottom edges. A good place to seal up.

Found this picture of one of those holes behind the front seats low.

Before I sealed them I was able to use the holes to pull wires.

 

[Just two]

You probably won’t pull down your ceiling. We did on our 2021 BT5210. We found several sections of insulation missing. Mostly in the area that would have taken more time and effort to install. I was able to correct this missing insulation.

But one of the worst things discovered by replacing the ceiling, each of the 4 main duct trunks had open gaps over 1” wide. There was foil duct tape present that had blown free long ago. The ducted AC air was blowing free between the ceiling and roof. I added metal sleeves and insulation and what a difference in the amount of air coming from the registers. The coach cools so much better. I guess a check using a bore scope can tell if this is an issue with your unit. Look between the last and second to last ceiling registers.

 

[Just two]

You probably won’t pull down your ceiling. We did on our 2021 BT5210. We found several sections of insulation missing. Mostly in the area that would have taken more time and effort to install. I was able to correct this missing insulation.

But one of the worst things discovered by replacing the ceiling, each of the 4 main duct trunks had open gaps over 1” wide. There was foil duct tape present that had blown free long ago. The ducted AC air was blowing free between the ceiling and roof. I added metal sleeves and insulation and what a difference in the amount of air coming from the registers. The coach cools so much better. I guess a check using a bore scope can tell if this is an issue with your unit. Look between the last and second to last ceiling registers.

For those that asked for a view of the finished ceiling.

Greg, you can see the larger over head cabinets in the first picture. 15” x 15”.

 

[wildtoad]

Nice job. Nice to have the skills to do the work.

 

[Ronald1955]

We have almost done a complete rebuild of our 2021 5210. They call them Covid campers and we know why. They were built fast to meet the extreme demand for campers during the pandemic. We started the rebuild on this fairly new camper because of all the defects we found. Replacing the floor and ceiling I found a lot of spaces with missing insulation. I thought that I had found and fixed them all. Today I replaced the leaking shower skylight and decided to replace the ceiling above the shower. I found almost no insulation in the ceiling. There was two small pieces of white styrofoam that were rolling around in the voids. I filled the cavities and install the new skylight.

This camper isn’t advertised as a four season camper. If you intended to boondock in it you had better plan on perfect weather.

Our 5230 is intended as an escape rig for daytime trips with occasional boondocking during summer months. We live in Northern California with normally good weather. Please post you completed photos.

 

[Just two]

Our 5230 is intended as an escape rig for daytime trips with occasional boondocking during summer months. We live in Northern California with normally good weather. Please post you completed photos.

We also do a lot of boondocking. Harvest Host, dispersed camping. We have 1000 watts of solar on the roof 400 amp hour of 24 volt and 300 amp hour of 12 volt lithium. We also charge with 2 - B2Bs using a 400 amp alternator. We visit warm and cold areas I added a 24 volt Air Conditioner and we love our added diesel heater.

 

[Ronald1955]

We also do a lot of boondocking. Harvest Host, dispersed camping. We have 1000 watts of solar on the roof 400 amp hour of 24 volt and 300 amp hour of 12 volt lithium. We also charge with 2 - B2Bs using a 400 amp alternator. We visit warm and cold areas I added a 24 volt Air Conditioner and we love our added diesel heater.

Nice workmanship, I just looked at the diesel heaters. We lack storage space for that upgrade.

 

[Just two]

We started our camper experience building out vans. We had several diesel heaters. We mounted this one above the generator in front of the fresh water tank. We actually ducted it to the bathroom heat vent from the propane heater. We kept the propane furnace. Nice to have options.