Fixing things to roof

[danes-on-tour]

I have never fixed anything to the roof of my 2007 Diplomat, but I have just received an extra solar panel which I intend to fix to the roof via the provided stainless brackets and bolts.

What's beneath the exterior skin of the roof? What kind of screw-fixings would be recommendable? Do I pre-drill and hole and then insert a stainless screw with a big thread or........?

Once the brackets are fixed in place I will of course cover the fixing and base of bracket with a Dicor type caulking.

[rex]

I am not sure what type roof you have, but would guess it is fiberglass. If that is the case you can clean and sand the area where you wish to mount the panel, then use fiberglass and resin over and around the mounts to glue the mounts to the roof. You can get a kit at most Auto Parts stores for this.

If you don't want to do that, it may become a bit harder as the roof material will not be thick at all and is most likely over thin plywood or just Styrofoam. Screwing the mounts down would not work well just to the roof. There is some metal framing under the roof but it is aluminum so you cannot find it with a magnet. If you do find them, you can screw into them using self drilling screws, but use stainless steel type available at Fastenal stores.

You can also use 3M 5200 to glue the mounts to the roof. When first applied you will see and think it to be too thin and liquid. It takes several days to cure, but the stuff will really hold. Best to do a test on scrap material. You can get a small tube of 3M 5200 in the sporting goods section of Wal-Mart.

Best of luck with the project.

[danes-on-tour]

Thanks Rex.

I am not best friends with glue and/or resins for some reason. I think I am the only person in the world who can't get JB Weld to stick to anything at all.

I will check out the 3M stuff you recommended and maybe I could do both - i.e. glue the brackets with 3M and then apply a mechanical screw fixing. I will have to say that the brackets have a very small footprint and for that reason the glue will not have an enormous surface to bind to.

I suppose that the panel will not get a lot of lift from the wind when driving, but I would hate to see the panel in my rear view mirror when it flies off down the Interstate .

[moisheh]

The 3M glue is the best idea as the stress is spread over a large area. You could also use welnuts, rivnuts or even the spring loaded hollow wall anchors. 3M has some really good high tech items.

[TXiceman]

Can you mount the panel on the frig vent or the roof A/C cover? Then snake the wire down through the A/C or frig. Save making holes in the roof.

Glad y'all made it to San Antonio.

Ken

[nodine]

Originally Posted by The Danes Are Coming

I have never fixed anything to the roof of my 2007 Diplomat, but I have just received an extra solar panel which I intend to fix to the roof via the provided stainless brackets and bolts.

What's beneath the exterior skin of the roof? What kind of screw-fixings would be recommendable? Do I pre-drill and hole and then insert a stainless screw with a big thread or........?

Once the brackets are fixed in place I will of course cover the fixing and base of bracket with a Dicor type caulking.

You say you just received an extra solar panel so does that mean you already have one. How was it mounted? I suspect you can find the aluminum frame strut locations by using a high quality stud finder. The stud finder will show changes in density of the surface below it. I had a Direct TV Open faced dish mounted on the roof and they used screws for that. I have the fiberglass roof but was not on the roof when the dish was mounted so don't have a clue as to how it was done.

Good luck,

Bob

[KIX]

A suggestion from my boating days.....use the already suggested 3M 5200 to adhere a 1/4" thick fiberglass sheet to the roof where you wish to mount the panel. After that joint cures then fasten, again, with 5200, the panel brackets to the newly adhered fiberglass sheet. Mechanical fasteners will not the necessary. The point is that someday those mounting brackets may need to be removed and the roof is just too thin to chance trying to separate a 5200 fastened bracket from the actual roof. The other advantage is you will be spreading the load of the small footprint mounting bracket.

[RCLImperial]

What I did with my '97 HR Endeavor, which had a thin aluminum roof skin was to use 5200 to glue 3 inch squares of 1/8 inch aluminum at the points where the anchors were to go. In my case, I was attaching small nylon cleats so that I could lash things down. Those cleats were screwed through the 1/8 inch aluminum before I glued them down.

The whole point of the aluminum squares was to keep the stress distributed and spread the load out so that there was no chance for any screws to pull out.

[H. Miller]

Henrik,
I will bring a "stud finder" to Boerne......
Hal

[rex]

I have used stud finders on a rubber roof. It failed to find a real stud. It would indicate a stud where the Styrofoam was more dense.

Some stud finders also can detect metal and this type may work to find the aluminum framing.

[Bob (WA0MQE)]

Been putting solar panels on every type of roof made for years, and larger thread screws will work just fine. Obviously Stainless screws are best since they won't rust. You can use a small ice-pick type of punch and tap a small hole into or through the roofing, or if you pre-drill with a drill bit make sure you use a very small drill for a pilot hole, or use the type of screws that drill themselves. Make sure you squirt a small amount of RV roof sealer on the screw hole and also on the bracket and snug the screw down tight. Don't use an electric drill/driver as they have too much torque, do it by hand. Be sure and seal real good around and over the top of the brackets and covering the screw heads. I've seen some of the smaller panels held down solid with just sealer itself and never come off. Matter of fact it takes a lot of effort to dig out the sealer once it's been on awhile.

[H. Miller]

Sorry that B&M didn't get to that project at Boerne. What does everyone think of pop riviting (stainless rivits) a 3 or 4 inch square aluminum plate to the bottom of each of the mounting brackets that come with the panel then use 3M 5200 to glue the "enlarged" brackets to the MH. Connect the wires to the existing panel.....No new holes whatsoever.
The new panel is approx. twice the size of the Monaco factory panel.
Aluminum available at Lowes/Home Depot (whichever one owns stock in)

[Conquest102]

Why not mount it to the A/C cover I have seen several this way they just lay them flat.

[H. Miller]

Originally Posted by Conquest102

Why not mount it to the A/C cover I have seen several this way they just lay them flat.

It's larger than the a/c cover.