Plumbers Putty vs Closed Cell Foam

[Mike-n-Teri]

I've replaced all my marker lights. They came with closed cell foam as a gasket between the base and fiberglass siding.
The old lights were replaced after the lenses and bases deteriorated.
I do not feel the closed foam will stand up to time like the plumbers putty.

Does anyone have experience with the closed cell foam?
Thanks,

Mike

[Mike-n-Teri]

I've replaced all my marker lights. They came with closed cell foam as a gasket between the base and fiberglass siding.
The old lights were replaced after the lenses and bases deteriorated.
I do not feel the closed foam will stand up to time like the plumbers putty.

Does anyone have experience with the closed cell foam?
Thanks,

Mike

[450Donn]

Plumbers putty??????
Do you really mean putty tape? That is the stuff that comes in a roll you buy at the RV parts store for 10 dollars. Plumbers putty would be a definite nono. Personally I have always used the putty tape for everything in and around the RV except for the roof.

[Lorna]

I've used the closed cell on our vintage pop-up. I also ended up tossing the closed cell gaskets because they got water loaded, deteriorated, leaked,and sucked up dirt like a sponge. For the class C, I used the elastometric sealant in the caulking tube. It took two coats, one when attaching the clearence light - filled the wire hole then squeezed out a base to set light on and another coat once it completely dried as I ended up with a pin hole or two around the edges of the light base. We also used Butyl tape (also called mobile home tape) to seal the metal corner mouldings on. I then covered those edges with more of the Elastometic caulk stuff. So far we are leak free. Parts of our RV are so beat up (looks like someone backed into a post or tree) that just the butyl tape or caulking alone would not seal. As far as our clearance lights, they had leaked in the past (apparently based on the gobs of slilicone I scraped off) and I figured the elastometic stuff would seal out the water better while remaining flexible.

[Mike-n-Teri]

That's it - the butyl tape. I could not think of the name. The stuff I removed sure reminded me of the plumbers putty. just like the putty used on drains and such. Thanks Lorna and 450Donn. Guess I'll be removing lights again.
It will be worth it in the long run.

Tks,
Mike