Community Forums

keninvic · 04-26-2014, 07:38 PM

I have been chasing a water leak ever since I purchased my 2004 Dolphin in 2010. Well I finally found it and thought I would pass this on. Generally, I have been quite impressed with the build quality of this motorhome, but not so much on this item. The skylight had no caulking at all, no putty tape, no gasket, it was just screwed down to the roof! I am sure that National's policy would be to install it properly with some kind of seal, but it it only takes one idiot to screw things up. You can't tell if there is a seal without removing it to check, and the plastic covers inside hide the damage. Easy way to check would be to remove the plastic cover, inside, over the shower, and see if there is any water damage. I am now replacing the destroyed wood in that area.

jfran304 · 04-26-2014, 07:43 PM

Are you sure a previous owner didn't replace the skylight? Most factory installed ones are caulked on the outside.

Jon

keninvic · 04-28-2014, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfran304

Are you sure a previous owner didn't replace the skylight? Most factory installed ones are caulked on the outside.

Jon

I know the previous owner, he never replaced the skylight. There was no sealant from the factory, not good.

keninvic · 04-30-2014, 10:28 AM

Do a search on skylight in this group and you will see that 'kennersonf' had a leak here as well, and National had not put any sealant on the flange. Check your skylights if you had a build date 2003-04.

kennersonf · 04-30-2014, 11:06 AM

Keninvic is right. I had a skylight leak and found that National had not put sealant under the flange. There was sealant on top of it, but it had hardened and cracked. Some of the cracks were letting water through.

I've seen a lot of post about removing the old sealant and how hard it is to do sometimes. If you use an oscillating tool with a scraper blade, you'll find that the old sealant comes off like butter. I purchased a cordless oscillation tool just for the motorhome to make repairs on the road. I have a corded one for the stick house.

bruceisla · 04-30-2014, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennersonf

Keninvic is right. I had a skylight leak and found that National had not put sealant under the flange. There was sealant on top of it, but it had hardened and cracked. Some of the cracks were letting water through.

I've seen a lot of post about removing the old sealant and how hard it is to do sometimes. If you use an oscillating tool with a scraper blade, you'll find that the old sealant comes off like butter. I purchased a cordless oscillation tool just for the motorhome to make repairs on the road. I have a corded one for the stick house.

And worth every penny !!!

Kliwks · 05-02-2014, 04:28 PM

My 03 Seabreeze developed a leak right after I purchased it and stained my ceiling in the shower. I removed the old sealant and used Eternabond to re-seal. No more leaks. The following year I replaced the skylight because the old one looked dry and brittle. I was never able to remove the stain. I tried several different products. Here are a couple of photos of the eternabond job.

keninvic · 05-02-2014, 07:47 PM

I put eternabond over the skylight flange the 1st week I owned the motorhome. It looked just like your photos, but I obviously didn't get a good seal cause water seeped in over time and did a lot of damage, National not using any sealant under the flange caused the problem, putting eternabond over top did not prevent this damage. Even with eternabond it is difficult to get a water tight seal around the screws.

trode · 05-03-2014, 07:00 AM

I have a 2004 Seabreeze and had a leak at the shower skylight, took to local RV shop and was told that he "removed and resealed it" couple of months later leaking again. Went up there on ladder (very hard for me!!, scared of heights) and found they had smeared sealant around it in a very messy manor, charged me $250!! Went back in a fit, then they removed, rebedded and sealed it correct this time, no leaks since. I do not know if it had originally had a sealant under flange. BTW...when the correct fix was made he had the nerve to say "we aren't going to charge you for this"!!

Only response I could come up with is "good, because I paid for it last time" And reminded him that now I still have to deal with the staining thanks to his ineptness.

keninvic · 05-03-2014, 08:30 AM

They want to keep you coming back, a quick fix insures that the trouble will return and you will be back in 2 years with another $250. Also why they dont use sealant with eternabond, that would be the last they see of you.