Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidEM
It finally turned clear after a 12-16" snowfall here in NW Connecticut last Monday. So I went over to the storage yard to shovel the snow off of the roof of my MH. Came prepared with a snow shovel and a push broom. My primary purpose was to get the snow off of the solar panel so the batteries would stay charged.
I crawled up on top and was amazed. The solar panel was clear and there was only 3" or so of snow around it. It was quite windy and cold so the snow was dry and apparently the wind blew it off as it fell.
I don't think this would be the case with a wet snowfall with little wind.
But, you never know.
David
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That's the same here, after the sky stops sending it down the wind typically removes half of it.
As far a snow loading, the calculations that you can look up for density, weight, loads, etc. are set up for buildings and the ratings are also and assume a safety factor. RV's are only about 8' wide and buildings are much larger in span between supports. So engineers talk about fully distributed loads and point loads. RV's should be able to handle a fully distributed large static load of a few thousand lbs., the concern is a point load where the weight is concentrated at the center (worse case) of the span between the sides. A drift in the center around a A/C unit causes a point load that is more than the applied load at other locations.
In all my years have yet to see a failure of an RV roof where the snow caved it. Have seen trailers such as car trailers, trucking trailers, small utility trailers where the load was too great in the center and caused the support ribs to buckle.
I would guess that somebody has seen an RV somewhere that buckled!
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