Dome Set-Up. The Definitive List

2. Unroll the dome, make sure it's right side out (screen coverings go outside), then slide the attached awning rope through the track over the rPod door. One can push, and one can pull. If you sand/lube the track up, and make sure all the screws are tight before hand so you don't snag a screw head (hello, Forest River quality control) it actually slides in pretty easily, and one person can just push it through.

 

3. With a healthy amount of fear, and possibly protective eyewear, begin assembling the very long aluminum arch pole segment by segment as you push it into the slot in the front wall of the dome. Do not attempt to pull it through. If you pull on it, it will come apart somewhere inside the dome. Do not ask how I know this. Don't try to assemble it into its finished length before you start inserting it into the dome, because it will come apart before you get done. Don't ask how I know this.  The second person can help by smoothing out wrinkles and kinks ahead of the advancing arch pole. Keep pushing it through until you have equal amounts of pole sticking out each end.

 

4. Bend the pole into an arch and temporarily plant the ends in the ground. Connect the threshold strap together to keep the ends of the arch pole from sproinging apart. You can fine tune this later. Have your helper stand in front of the dome,  holding the side support straps to keep the front wall of the dome from tipping over.

 

5. Go inside with the telescoping roof poles. Insert the ball of the center pole into the socket (you may need a short stool like I do), extend the pole, and clip the other end onto the aluminum arch pole through the slot provided in the dome. Extend the pole just enough to take the wrinkles out of the roof, then lock it. Make sure the locking handle itself doesn't rub on the inside of the roof, because if there's any breeze at all making the dome flutter, you'll have yourself a hole in the roof in a surprisingly short time. Don't ask how I know this. Repeat for the two end roof poles. At this point your helper doesn't need to hold the straps anymore, the dome will stand on its own.

 

6. Try opening the pod's door. You may want to slide the whole shootin' match within the track toward the front of the pod a wee bit, so the door can open all the way and clear the front roof pole. Engineering change needed here, I'd say.

 

7. Come outside, zip the doors closed. Make any minor adjustments to the position of the arch pole ends, moving them closer to or farther away from the rpod so the dome just comes up flush against the pod itself. I like to  make mine look nice and even and pretty.

 

8. Make any needed adjustments to the length of the threshold strap. The key is to keep the arch in the pole tight enough that you don't have any pressure trying to pull the big door zipper apart. Run the side straps out and stake them down, with very very little tension. Too much tension here will also tend to spread the door zipper apart, making it tough to open and close when you get near the top of the zipper's travel.

 

9. Go around inside and stake the loops down, with the gray rain runoff flaps all sticking outside.  I usually put a stake over the threshold strap near the base of each end of the arch pole, and one over the strap right in the middle. This minimizes the chance you'll snag the strap with your toe, which can make you spill your beer. Don't ask how I know this.

 

10. The first time you slide the bug screen in the bottom track, you'll probably want to make a simple horizontal slit for the rpod step to poke through, and a vertical slit where the rpod axle is.

 

Thanks again....we'll let you know how it goes when we try it in the next few weeks.

 

 

That actually sounds like it might work better than the horizontal slit I used.

 

Aw, shucks, it was nothin', really. I had some purty good English teachers.

 

As a freshman in English 101 I was assigned to write a booklet called "The Comprehensive Guide To Setting The Table For Tea." My professor's comment after reading the booklet was simply, "Comprehensive, indeed."