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kazeej · 07-26-2020, 04:25 PM

Last year, I sealed all of the seams and vents on my camper roof with EternaBond and Dicor self-leveling caulk. All of my leaks went away! Now, I'm noticing cracks in the EternaBond on one of the seams. The rest of the tape looks like new, or has a little discoloration, but there are no cracks. I did all of the repair with one roll, followed the directions carefully, etc. I am at a loss as to why one seam would discolor and crack like this. Has anyone had this experience? The top pic is when I first installed it, the next is what it looks like today. The other two are current pics of the tape around a vent, and across the rear seal.

MRUSA14 · 07-26-2020, 04:36 PM

I’ve never seen this before but it looks to me like the expansion of your roof has exceeded the elasticity of the Eternabond.

tuffr2 · 07-26-2020, 07:33 PM

Holy smokes I wouldn't think that stuff would crack. Can you tell, is it cracked the whole way through?

bddadles · 07-27-2020, 06:01 AM

I agree with Mark about exceeding the elasticity of the tape. Never seen that before but I would be covering that with self leveling caulk and watch it.

Conesus1 · 07-27-2020, 07:57 AM

Looks like just the white outer covering has cracked which is not rubber.

chuckbear · 07-27-2020, 10:06 AM

Is this Eternabond OR "Eternabond Like" tape? Chuck

kazeej · 07-27-2020, 10:09 AM

Thanks for the replies! It looks like the EternaBond must be flexing at that joint, and cracking from the strain. This is what it looked like before I stripped off all the sealants and re-sealed it. Apparently, this was an ongoing issue for someone else before it became mine. Stripping off the layers was like an archaeological dig. There were multiple layers of different kinds of caulk and silicone sealer over an inch thick. Some layers even had water sitting in them.
So now I know to keep an eye on this seam, and and take care of any cracks that show up. I just won't let it get this bad before stripping it off and replacing the sealant.
I am also going to see if I can beef up where this front cap attaches to the rest of the body of the camper, and reduce the amount of play between the two.

kazeej · 07-27-2020, 10:09 AM

That was the first thing I checked. It's the 'real deal' EternaBond.

kazeej · 07-27-2020, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tuffr2

Holy smokes I wouldn't think that stuff would crack. Can you tell, is it cracked the whole way through?

At least some of the cracks go all the way through. The storage area below this was wet.

billyb · 07-27-2020, 12:13 PM

Several years ago, I noticed my tape job on the roof was cracking, after it had been on about 6 years. The tape has a warranty of 15 years, so I sent them a note with pivtures, and they pretty much told me that was too bad, and they wouldn't do anything about it. So it won't hold up like they say, some warranty.

jergle · 07-27-2020, 01:57 PM

It shouldn't degrade that bad in a year, but I would guess that front seam gets a lot more sun exposure than the other areas on the camper. Looks like you might keep it in an open shed, but that front seam may get a lot of direct sunlight. Might help it last longer to keep it covered some way.

kazeej · 07-27-2020, 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billyb

Several years ago, I noticed my tape job on the roof was cracking, after it had been on about 6 years. The tape has a warranty of 15 years, so I sent them a note with pivtures, and they pretty much told me that was too bad, and they wouldn't do anything about it. So it won't hold up like they say, some warranty.

I hear ya. My roof will be on a regular three-month check from now on.

kazeej · 07-27-2020, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jergle

It shouldn't degrade that bad in a year, but I would guess that front seam gets a lot more sun exposure than the other areas on the camper. Looks like you might keep it in an open shed, but that front seam may get a lot of direct sunlight. Might help it last longer to keep it covered some way.

That's what I was thinking, too. The rear seam looks almost new, and the front looks like a very old installation. I never really checked, but the front probably did see a lot more sun than the rest of the roof. I got a canopy a couple of weeks ago for the camper to live under, so that should help out quite a bit. The south Florida sun can be brutal.

aboatguy · 10-11-2022, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billyb

Several years ago, I noticed my tape job on the roof was cracking, after it had been on about 6 years. The tape has a warranty of 15 years, so I sent them a note with pivtures, and they pretty much told me that was too bad, and they wouldn't do anything about it. So it won't hold up like they say, some warranty.

I know that this is an old thread, I just want to add to the eternabond tape is cracking for others in the future.
My tape job is cracking (It is real eternabond) it lasted about 9 years! It is cracking at different locations around the roof. I noticed the outer surface starting to peel in some areas but now it looks like I have full thickness cracking in numerous locations and peeling in some others.

I won't bother calling eternabond for the warranty.

At least I know what one of my winter projects will be.

Mike