Community Forums

kevinlongisl · 07-18-2021, 03:44 PM

I have a roll of Beech Lane RV Roof and Leak Permanent Repair Tape and it's not adhering to my RV roof. Are there silicone roof sealants/coatings that the tape won't adhere too? I've got an epdm roof with a coating applied to it. I tested the tape on a scrap piece of plastic and it had great adherence, so it appears the tape itself is good. I did small test sections with the following cleaners, but the tape still would not adhere well

Alcohol only
Mineral Spirits only
Mineral Spirits then alcohol
Acetone then alcohol

CRV2 · 07-18-2021, 03:58 PM

What roof coating do you have? I have heard about issues with tapes and sealants not adhering well to silicone. What I would suggest is to try Eternabond and see if you get the same results. I wouldn't spend a lot of time with anything that wasn't adhering well. I have used Eternabond but not Beech Lane so I am not sure of the difference (if any), but for the Eternabond I used a roller made for the eternabond tape and that allowed me to put a good amount of pressure down on it while applying it, which is stuck where I placed it very well and likely will never come off, least not without a lot of work. ~CA

CRV2 · 07-18-2021, 04:07 PM

BTW, Welcome to the IRV2 forums.

One thought to share is that certain cleaners (I think Mineral Spirits in particular) have been known to damage the rubber in the rooftops. Some I know are safe though, but I would be very careful and check to be sure which ones are safe. There have been many reports of RV'rs that have used certain solvents and the roof bubbled up and softened the rubber. I used Spray Brake Cleaner as one of the recommendations from Eternabond and didn't have any issues with it and mine is epdm. ~CA

https://www.eternabond.com/articles.asp?id=163

https://forestriverinc.com/files/Com...aintenance.pdf

kevinlongisl · 07-18-2021, 04:18 PM

The previous owner thinks this is what they used on the roof:

Henry Company Elastomeric Roof Coating

richard5933 · 07-18-2021, 04:29 PM

Henry has products with silicone and without. If they used the product which contains silicone, not much will stick to it, if anything. Another silicone product will sometimes stick, sometimes not.

Bigger question is why are you trying to stick repair tape to your roof? Is there some defect you need to repair? If so, let's see if there is another way to accomplish it. Tell us what you're dealing with.

JoeSR · 07-18-2021, 05:22 PM

kevinlongisl

Try Goo Gone to remove silicone residue. Use any other normal cleaner such as Windex to remove the Goo Gone residue. Do a test next with a strip of tape, such as, painters tape. The tape will adhere well to a clean surface and slide right off a surface that has silicone on it. A before and after cleaning tape test is what I would do.

RVRoofMagic · 07-19-2021, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevinlongisl

I have a roll of Beech Lane RV Roof and Leak Permanent Repair Tape and it's not adhering to my RV roof. Are there silicone roof sealants/coatings that the tape won't adhere too? I've got an epdm roof with a coating applied to it. I tested the tape on a scrap piece of plastic and it had great adherence, so it appears the tape itself is good. I did small test sections with the following cleaners, but the tape still would not adhere well

Alcohol only
Mineral Spirits only
Mineral Spirits then alcohol
Acetone then alcohol

Hi with our customers after they had cleaned with mineral spirits or Xylene and they still don't have adhesion they have used eternabond tape and had success Thank you
Greg

THenne1713 · 07-19-2021, 11:43 AM

May not stick if damp at all, or of moisture being pushed up after/ during tape application? Fans, Heat gun maybe useful? Wash well w/ alcohol, and allow to dry 15-30-minutes, then try again? Yes, silicone maybe the issue, and if so, NOT sure of the cure? Is entire roof coated?

kevinlongisl · 07-20-2021, 01:39 PM

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm going to post in the Southwest region part of this forum to see if I can find someone that will give me a small 1" square piece of eternabond to try on the roof, don't want another useless roll of material sitting around.

@richard5933, the roof coating that was laid over the epdm is breaking down and there is a leak. I want to use repair tape on the common areas that leak, like front leading edge and rear trailing edge. The epdm should probably be replaced, but it's a 2004 model (and I don't plan on owning for more than a year or two), so for me, a less intensive repair seems more prudent.

@JoeSR, thanks for the advice to use painters tape as a first test instead of the more expensive rv repair tape.

@THenne1713, yes, the entire roof is coated.

JoeSR · 07-20-2021, 04:08 PM

kevinlongisl,

My suggestion on Goo Gone came from personal experience.

My skylight over the shower cracked. I removed the old skylight and the self-leveling stuff that Winnebago applied to seal the skylight to the roof. Even after making the area "perfectly clean", painter's tape would not stick. I suspect silicone.

I tried every solvent in my shop without success. My wife suggested the Goo Gone. Smart wife = happy man!

I sealed the skylight with Eternabond tape. 4 years ago without a leak.

kevinlongisl · 07-20-2021, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeSR

kevinlongisl,

My suggestion on Goo Gone came from personal experience.

My skylight over the shower cracked. I removed the old skylight and the self-leveling stuff that Winnebago applied to seal the skylight to the roof. Even after making the area "perfectly clean", painter's tape would not stick. I suspect silicone.

I tried every solvent in my shop without success. My wife suggested the Goo Gone. Smart wife = happy man!

I sealed the skylight with Eternabond tape. 4 years ago without a leak.

Thanks Joe, I will try that next!

richard5933 · 07-20-2021, 05:31 PM

Given your goals and the possibility that there is a silicone product on the roof, what about getting a gallon of Henrys silicone roof coating and just applying another layer over the problem areas? Or just using silicone caulking with a putty knife to seal over the cracks/leaks?

Still need to get it as clean as possible, but if it's silicone not much will stick to it other than more silicone and only if you get it clean. Unlikely that a solvent will remove the roof coating if it's got silicone.

kevinlongisl · 07-21-2021, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richard5933

Given your goals and the possibility that there is a silicone product on the roof, what about getting a gallon of Henrys silicone roof coating and just applying another layer over the problem areas? Or just using silicone caulking with a putty knife to seal over the cracks/leaks?

Still need to get it as clean as possible, but if it's silicone not much will stick to it other than more silicone and only if you get it clean. Unlikely that a solvent will remove the roof coating if it's got silicone.

That's what I'm thinking as well as the next step. Just get some more of the roof coating they used and use it to re-seal.

Ray,IN · 07-21-2021, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by craigav

BTW, Welcome to the IRV2 forums.

One thought to share is that certain cleaners (I think Mineral Spirits in particular) have been known to damage the rubber in the rooftops. Some I know are safe though, but I would be very careful and check to be sure which ones are safe. There have been many reports of RV'rs that have used certain solvents and the roof bubbled up and softened the rubber. I used Spray Brake Cleaner as one of the recommendations from Eternabond and didn't have any issues with it and mine is epdm. ~CA

https://www.eternabond.com/articles.asp?id=163

https://forestriverinc.com/files/Com...aintenance.pdf

I use Turpentine to clean things, it does not contain any petroleum byproducts.
There is a specific cleaner to remove all silicon residue too.