polling maggiolina airtop owners regarding the seal between the shells

[djg1971]

hello all. i installed a medium airtop (via a custom baja rack) on a toyota 4runner in july 2011. it stays on all the time. from what i had read and heard, i expected that the seal between the shells would not only keep the tent dry during driving, but also prevent dirt, dust and bugs from getting inside. (note that i mean inside the shells, not inside the tent itself)

in my experience this is not the case: driving for any appreciable distance on normal roads will result in some amount of dust, dirt, and bugs getting inside the shells (and after a long enough drive some dirt does get inside the tent also). when you open the tent you will see this, particularly on the front-facing exterior of the tent (i.e. random gunk is plastered onto the exterior fabric of the tent, and the top of the aluminum side rail on the lower shell is dirty enough to suggest that wiping it off before closing the tent again would be smart).

i contacted autohome-usa numerous times by phone and email in august and september, and sent photos, to try and get some feedback as to whether this was typical (and hence fine), or a sign that something was defective with the seals on my tent. i never got a reply (except from greg, saying that some useful reply would be coming very soon). so after giving them 5 months i've decided to poll the forum and see what the other owners have to say.

please respond and let people know your experience(s)...

 

[Corey]

I have the AirLander, but I think the seals are the same?
My tent stays on full time, and has been on my roof since spring of 2008.
I have never noticed any dirt on the tent or the seals.
Found a few spiders on the metal lip inside, but never inside of the tent.

And with all of the rain here in the PNW, not one drop has ever gotten inside.

 

[RttH]

Mine is the Maggiolina Extreme and gets stored in the garage during the winter. I find some little bugs and some dust at the front on the outside of the tent material (not in the tent). It doesn't bother me, I just brush it off with my hand. Never any water in there. I recently had the trim come unglued returning from an elk hunt, but re-glued it once I got home. No other issues ever!

 

[spressomon]

I had a Maggiolina Grand Tour that did the same thing. They're not 100%...not even 99% dust/waterproof in the closed/traveling position based upon a couple years of using my then GT. You will notice, when the tent is open, looking up from underneath into the upper clam shell's corners, the weather stripping in the corners is mitered. And its the space between the miters/cuts that allows some dust and water, in the right conditions, to enter.

It sure doesn't seem like it would take much imagination for the factory to utilize better weatherstripping at the time of assembly; but it'd be somewhat of a PITA to retrofit something at the consumer level.

I'm starting to get interested in an Airtop...so I'm disappointed to hear they haven't addressed the issue...especially given how simple it would be for them to solve...and for what they cost today!

 

[Lemsteraak]

It has been a few years since I had a Maggiolina but I might be able to shed a little light on your problem. I don't believe the design of the Maggiolina has changed that much, the production methods certainly have though. What you are calling a defective seal, actually isn't a seal at all, I understand it was put there to protect the outer fabric from chaffing if pinched between the shells when closed.

The shells of the older Maggiolinas until about seven years ago (ones with blue fabric) were pretty rough inside because of the way Ziffer cast the fiberglass. The problem is that the shells move when you go off-road, the front and rear clasps do help but don't stop it completely. The rubber weatherstrip is softer than the fabric so it wears and not the fabric. The new fiberglass I understand is all high tech vacuumed bagged so it is smooth on both sides but the black foam weatherstrip is still there to protect your fabric if you accidentally pinch it between the shells.

So, how does the Maggiolina keep dust and dirt out without a seal? The outer lip of the roof acts as a drip rail and the alloy "Z" channel fitted to the base of the tent fits inside and higher to minimize water intrusion. You actually want air to get in to dry out the fabric. Many times you have to close up the tent wet. The airflow will allow the fabric to slowly dry out and keep your bedding and gear dry. You will get bugs and dust on the outside of the fabric but if you have the windows and doors closed when the tent is closed dust and dirt shouldn't be a problem.

Now I've never met Greg but I have met the folks in Italy that make the Maggiolina. Unfortunately, a lot of them don't speak English but some of the front office people do. If you have a question, give them a call. Years ago I was chatting with Angela, their office manager, and asked her which tent she liked the best. She told me which one and why and which one she owns. They are all a bunch of enthusiasts and really appreciate it when you have suggestions to improve their tents. If you go to http://www.autohome.it you can get their contact information and check out all the folks around the world they work with, it is impressive. You are one of an elite group.

Rich

 

[Mike S]

I was traveling in July, August and September and Greg - who is new - was watching the shop. It may be that your problem did not cross my desk, or it was one of a thousand back-logged e-mails and voice messages that I was not able to respond to. In any case, I apologize.

On some AirTop tents we see this problem - minor invasion of bugs or road debris under the leading edge. As stated, it is pretty harmless and I know of no tents that leaked or sustained damage from this. On a couple of occasions we retro-fitted a strip of foam on top the the existing seal and that solved the problem. The other Maggiolinas have a cam latch that adjusts for tension, and we do not see this problem nearly as often on those models. Another thing that will help, if possible, is to move the tent further to the rear so that it is in the slip stream of the vehicle, thereby avoiding much of the debris problem.

If it persists, let me know (mike@autohomeus.com) and I will see if work a fix for you.

 

[mrchips]

I have a Airtop since March and have not had any issues with it at all, would highly recommend this tent, I use mine once a month

 

[djg1971]

mike,

i had several conversations with greg in august and september, and was aware that you were away. on sep 23rd greg sent me the following:

++++++++
Hi David,

I forwarded your email & pics to Mike as stated below. I did speak him on Wednesday and he was in an area where he could receive email, so I believe he is taking this under review. I'll check in with him again to see if there is anything new to report.

Thanks for your patience,
++++++++

i'm really not thrilled by all this. but since you responded here: i just took out the mattress last weekend to prepare for winter (tent is going to stay on forever though). the problem, to the extent it is one, is clearly not going to go away without something being done to mitigate it. that said, some people that responded have said their seals don't work superbly either; assuming i can take them at their word, this is therefore not out of the normal range of airtop experiences. i have noticed that on some baja racks (e.g. the fj cruiser maggiolina model that corey has), the slanted front panel actually extends sightly higher than the point where the shells meet. clearly that would help this issue immensely. i also have a baja rack, but it is for a 4runner, and the slant on mine angles down from the front lip of the rack (not up). this seems like it might exacerbate the problem. by next spring i will have tried to fashion a new panel on my own, or perhaps ask them to make one since they had promised me some refabbed side extensions which never showed up. if that helps reduce the intrusion of random stuff then i'm probably set as is. if not i will contact you and hopefully the strip retrofit will do something.

 

[monkeyplunger]

I have had a similar experience with dust. My airland doesn't seal that well.

 

[Mike S]

In fact, I have been discussing these issues with the factory in Italy. I suspect that the problem is that the new laych system needs to be improved. So I AM working on it. When I get a solution worked ut I will post here on the EP and inform everyone.

Monkeyplunger - I do not know your real name and I cannot respond to whatever issue you have. Please contact by phone or e-mail and we will deal with it. We have changing rooms in stock. If we do not have one that suits your needs, I will do my best to find a solution. I apologize for being hard to reach while I was on vacation. Even business owners take time off to smell the roses.

If you want to sell your Maggiolina please let me know... we will buy it back from you.


Mike

 

[Mike S]

I have discussed the Air Top problems that we have seen on a few tents with the factory. Of course, they are Italian and have been on vacation from the week before Christmas until the 9th of January... but they jumped on the issue right away this week.

They have been very forth coming with their responses.

1. They have seen this issue on some Air Tops.

2. They are providing US with a fix to the foam sealing gaskets. I should have these in a couple weeks. Please contact me if you are having these issues. If not, you need not be concerned, but please read on.

3. The fit and function of the current Air Top hard shell requires care in closing at the front. If the top and bottom shell are not carefully aligned there may be leakage into the front fabric of the tent. Perhaps the reason that I have not seen the problem is that I have been careful to align and close the front first, then the rear. Just a thought. The new closure latches are NOT the problem.

4. There is now a new mold that incorporates some tweaks to assure that the fit at the front of the Air Top is more positive. This should completely eliminate the problem.

Thanks for your patience.

Mike

 

[spressomon]

That's good news Mike! Having them admit they are cognizant of the issue is 3/4 of the battle

 

[Mike S]

That's good news Mike! Having them admit they are cognizant of the issue is 3/4 of the battle

Dan, AutoHome Italy has been very responsive in the 10 years or so that we have been dealing with them.

 

[kilimats]

Hey Mike,

I am also experiencing this leak on my airtop tent, I sent you a PM thanks

 

[kramme]

Maggiolina Airtop - no issue with the seal but a dif issue

Trust this is ok to post here, figured many Maggiolina Airtop owners may be looking and be able to help or Mike

Not sure if this has happened to others, but shortly after I purchased my Airtop I opened up the top to find I had several small tears (rips) in it on the side. Apparently when tucking in the sides they can get in the path of the "scissors mechanism" (it is right over that area). I will take a pic in the next few days to show this.

Is this something that anyone else has experienced? Is Maggiolina is aware of this issue? I am not comfortable to use it again until it gets repaired to avoid further damage. Any suggestions? It was suggested to iron on a patch. If I do this, would I do this patch on both sides of the fabric? If any other ideas let me know, camping season is coming up and ready to use to my Penthouse again on my Element.