Community Forums

mojoracing · 04-03-2016, 08:46 AM

Silicone has no place in the rv world. Beware, once you use it, you will never get anything to stick to that area again without extreme measures. Not to mention silicone doesn't have the flow characteristics to properly seal in many applications.

bdpreece · 04-03-2016, 10:35 AM

I am glad to hear the consensus is that the leak is probably not the sat itself.

What I have is wet carpet next to my left foot when in the drivers seat. This has been an ongoing problem which seems to show up when it is too wet out to work on but while I seal everything I can see when dry I don't seem to be finding it. Where the coach is stored the front is always low although the last time I parked
I used the levelers and the leak almost seemed worse to me.

Yesterday I pulled the trim molding between the windshield and the dash and there was water laying under it. I had already removed the trim on the left vertical post and placed paper towels in the post about a week ago. The towels were dry and we had had two or three days of rain so don't think the leak is coming down the left side. Probably need to place paper towels under the upper windshield molding to see if water is dripping down but I see no evidence of it.

The front cap joint was sealed with Eternabond last year so that area has pretty well been eliminated.

Yesterday I removed, cleaned and resealed all the running lights. I have not re-sealed the horns yet so that will probably be today's project.

They are forecasting showers for tomorrow but then the weather is supposed to take another turn for the better with maybe even 80 degrees.

If I don't fix this soon Sealtech is probably my next option.

98FPA · 04-03-2016, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lonfu

By the way, I wouldn't use the recommended dicor SL, it is for a rubber roof only. Heny's has come out with some new silicon roof sealing systems. I have not tried them yet, but they sound very promising. Don't expect cheap.

Not sure about the Dicor statement as both of my 551LSW and 501LSW Dicor tubes state in the "General Information" - "A flexible compound designed for sealing EPDM rubber, some TPO, fiberglass, wood, aluminum, steel or masonry, which may be painted over after outer skin has formed." I would not hesitate to use on fiberglass. As of matter of fact I just put it on my front cap about a month ago.

Dr4Film · 04-03-2016, 11:14 AM

Here is my advice for your fiberglass roof.

Remove the old sealer used around all fixtures on top of the roof such as the ladder, skylights, fans, antennas, vents, etc.

Then purchase enough tubes of Sikaflex-715 RV Roof Sealant to seal all of the areas needed on top of your roof.

Using a oscillating multi-tool to remove the old caulking makes short work of the job. Tape off the area to be caulked and have at it.

You should be good to go for many years before needing to redo the roof once again.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

MSHappyCampers · 04-03-2016, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 98FPA

Not sure about the Dicor statement as both of my 551LSW and 501LSW Dicor tubes state in the "General Information" - "A flexible compound designed for sealing EPDM rubber, some TPO, fiberglass, wood, aluminum, steel or masonry, which may be painted over after outer skin has formed." I would not hesitate to use on fiberglass. As of matter of fact I just put it on my front cap about a month ago.

Totally agree!

BoDu · 04-03-2016, 07:18 PM

Everyone has focused on the roof, but we had the experience of a leak around one of our windows. This one at the back of the coach. I have also read one experience on the forum of a person having a leak around the drivers window that was severe enough to cause a wall of mold. Sometimes it is not obvious where a window is leaking. Thor removed and resealed my window (under warranty) and we have had no further problems.

AbdRahim · 04-05-2016, 10:43 PM

Ionfu: Which white roof coating did you use?

Brian W · 04-06-2016, 10:06 AM

Don't forget to check that the marker/clearance lights are sealed properly.

lonfu · 04-07-2016, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AbdRahim

Ionfu: Which white roof coating did you use?

I have found that there are several different brands as well as different grades with in each brand. Some are warrantied for 7 years others for 15 years. Kool Seal, WHITE, is the brand that I used on my moho with a fiber glass roof. But that said, I've used Henry's brand from HD on house roofs with great success too! Some of the Henry's is suppose to last 15 years, after 5 years it still looks great when I put it on some roll roofing. I used Kool Seal on my all steel house roof as well as the fiber glass moho roof. So far I have found that it lasts about 8 years on the house and still going. I store my moho inside, so I saw some cracks start to develop around my vent jacks when it was about 10 years old.

I masked off a straight line just before the roof drops over the coved edge. That way the roof coating is invisible to some one on the ground. wash the roof and then use some 220 sand paper to very lightly scuff up the gelcoat roof surface. Lightly steel brush your all your roof jack/fixture sealants and your front and rear end cap seals. Tape off front and rear caps, one to two inches past the seal seams so that the seams get coated too! rinse the roof and wipe the seams down with paint thinner or lacquer thinner. 2" Paint brush and 1/2 roller size seem to work the best. I put on one thin coat and then 2 thick coats. For my 26 class A I used about 4 gallons the first time. I'd go with a 5 gallon pail the first time. Take the time and do 3 full coats!!!! 10 years later I put on 2 coats. I used 2.5 gallons. They also make a Kool Coat caulking that helps get the stuff into hard to reach spots where the paint brush just won't fit.

Side note, bought my coach brand new 1998, installed Kool Seal, never had a leak. But....... after 16 years, on a trip to Cali, 1/2 through the desert we hit some 60mph side winds, low and behold the coved edge of the roof came untucked from the side wall trim extrusion. Had to stop, borrow a ladder from the Mohave True Value hardware store, get some good silicon, and resealed the entire side that came untucked. The original, factory caulking had simply failed. I used carb cleaner, steel brush, razor blade, sand paper, finger nails and flat blade screwdriver to clean the old caulking off. I got lucky because the coved edge only tore in the front and I could fake a good repair. Can't imagine HD lending me a ladder....... Thanks Mohave True Value, you guys rock! You saved my behind.....

lonfu · 04-07-2016, 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoDu

Everyone has focused on the roof, but we had the experience of a leak around one of our windows. This one at the back of the coach. I have also read one experience on the forum of a person having a leak around the drivers window that was severe enough to cause a wall of mold. Sometimes it is not obvious where a window is leaking. Thor removed and resealed my window (under warranty) and we have had no further problems.

Yes, the seal they replaced was the compression seal I wrote about earlier. I still put a thin coat of silicon along the edge to prevent dirt from collecting along the top edge and then some yahoo with a pressure washer trying to get the dirt out and washing out the compression seal. If you notice the silicon missing it is much easier to replace it than pulling the window to do the compression seal.

gemini5362 · 04-07-2016, 09:44 PM

When they replaced my windshield it leaked the next rain. took a while to figure out where it was leaking. Now I am seeing it leak again 3 years later. When it rains heavy and I can I will have them look at it again. I would look at my windshield while I was looking at other stuff if i was the original poster.

bdpreece · 04-08-2016, 09:33 PM

Update:

Made the decision to remove all the old sealant and and reseal with Eternabond before throwing in the towel and going the Sealtech method.

While I was on my knees on the roof cleaning off all the old caulk from the horns I happened to look at the satellite dish base and I saw somewhat of a gap in the caulking. After removing the old caulking around the sat base I found one screw that I could pull out by hand as it had no grip. Since the roof slopes off on both sides there was at least an eighth of an inch gap under the sat plate . Repaired using toggle bolts and Eternabond. Hopefully that will solve my leaking problem.