Community Forums

cracker1 · 08-20-2012, 02:06 PM

Hi, i recently bought a used travel trailer. In the bathroom there is a skylight. I was putting some dicor around the skylight on the roof and noticed quite a bit of condensation.
I removed the under piece from inside the bathroom and indeed there is alot of condensation between the 2 layers.
Is this normal?
What should i do?
Upon further inspection, the skylight does not look cracked. I am assuming the water was getting in passed the cracked dicor. I reapplied dicor all around the skylight and caulked around the inside with some geocell 2300.
I guess i will wait til we get some rain and see what happens next??

Qwert66 · 08-20-2012, 03:54 PM

On our double layer skylight in the bathroom there is a very small hole (appx 1/32") in the corner of the inside dome to allow the inside air to equalize. I had to replace the outer dome due to hail damage and even though there was 1" of water between the layers (before repair) the water cleared out in appx 4 days of direct summer sunlight through the vent hole. After repair even with this hole there has never been condensation like in your picture so I suspect it's a leak somewhere in the outer dome. Our 2 domes were stuck together with 2 sided thin tape which effectly sealed the gap.

Hope you get the leak sealed and are able to locate the inside breather hole in your rig for future reference.

cracker1 · 08-20-2012, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qwert66

On our double layer skylight in the bathroom there is a very small hole (appx 1/32") in the corner of the inside dome to allow the inside air to equalize. I had to replace the outer dome due to hail damage and even though there was 1" of water between the layers (before repair) the water cleared out in appx 4 days of direct summer sunlight through the vent hole. After repair even with this hole there has never been condensation like in your picture so I suspect it's a leak somewhere in the outer dome. Our 2 domes were stuck together with 2 sided thin tape which effectly sealed the gap.

Hope you get the leak sealed and are able to locate the inside breather hole in your rig for future reference.

I do not have a hole in my inside dome, just the 8 screw holes.
It is going to rain here very shortly, so maybe then i can see if the outer dome is leaking, or it was leaking through the old dicor.

TXiceman · 08-20-2012, 06:15 PM

If you have a ducted A/C unit, look for air leaks into the area between the sky light inner and outer covers.

As to how to seal the leaks, you will have to see where you can acess things.

Ken

Mr_D · 08-20-2012, 06:28 PM

That's not "condensation"! With that much water it's a leak.

We got a little bit of moisture between our inner and outer dome. They had me drill a small hole (1/16") through the inside dome, never a problem since. Did the same to our taillights for the same reason.

cracker1 · 08-20-2012, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_D

That's not "condensation"! With that much water it's a leak.

We got a little bit of moisture between our inner and outer dome. They had me drill a small hole (1/16") through the inside dome, never a problem since. Did the same to our taillights for the same reason.

i dont know about that, when i took the inside dome off it was like a sauna up in there. But like i said i just got done caulking with dicor around the skylight. So i guess the water might have been getting in around the edge and traveling up to the highest point on the outside dome.
Time will tell, i will keep an eye on it. I dicored the crap out of it.
If i get any more water now, the skylight is coming off and getting replaced!

cracker1 · 08-20-2012, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_D

That's not "condensation"! With that much water it's a leak.

We got a little bit of moisture between our inner and outer dome. They had me drill a small hole (1/16") through the inside dome, never a problem since. Did the same to our taillights for the same reason.

i was thinking about doing that, where did you drill the hole at? middle?

ahicks · 08-20-2012, 06:47 PM

I think it's a leak too. The dome is screwed directly to the frame in the roof, and over a period of time the plastic dome will crack because of the difference in the rate it expands and contracts at is different than what it's been fastened to. You may be able to spot the cracks by looking at the area just above your Dicor carefully.

It's going to need to be replaced eventually. When you do, the new one will have "dimples" molded into the outside of it, designed to allow you to space your screws evenly. I only use every third or fourth one of those to allow the plastic to move around as much as possible, and screws are barely snugged down. The Dicor or tape is going to do the majority of the sealing anyway?

Mr_D · 08-20-2012, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cracker1

i was thinking about doing that, where did you drill the hole at? middle?

No, in as inconspicious a place as possible.

On ours the inner and outer dome are two seperate pieces just placed one on top of the other and not sealed with an inert gas between them like a Thermopane window would have

ahicks · 08-21-2012, 07:06 AM

2 pieces is what I think they all are. All of them that I've had to mess with anyway. There's a tall one and a short one stacked on top of each other, sealed with butyl tape between them. I don't think there's much attempt made to keep that joint air tight.

Location for the hole differs, usually on the road side as it's the lowest, allowing as much water to drain as possible. Standing water left in there could easily start a biology science project...

cracker1 · 10-30-2012, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_D

That's not "condensation"! With that much water it's a leak.

We got a little bit of moisture between our inner and outer dome. They had me drill a small hole (1/16") through the inside dome, never a problem since. Did the same to our taillights for the same reason.

ok, i am thinking it is definitely condensation. I have the inside underlay on the inside unscrewed to observe after this hurricane.
I went out this morning after several inches of rain and the skylight was bone dry!!
Just last week with the underlay screwed in there was alot of condensation in between the 2 layers.
No doubt about it, it's a condensation problem.
And i already bought a new skylight and some eternabond tape too!