|
|
Post by clane5687 on Sept 3, 2012 20:09:05 GMT -5
We recently purchased a used 2007 Frontier 2205. We've only had it two weeks and during a recent rain storm I walked in and the front had leaked and the skylight in the bathroom leaked. I purchased Dicor roof sealant and re-caulked every seam that looked cracked. It rained four hours later and the skylight still leaked. There is one screw over the bath tub that has a steady drip of water. I placed a bucket in the tub and hopefully this will contain it to the tub until I can re-caulk again. Any suggestions?? This is our first camper and I am hoping we didn't buy a lemon!!!
|
|
|
|
Post by ozandus on Sept 4, 2012 7:02:52 GMT -5
Sure. First, you can't put down a self leveling lap sealant like Dicor and expect it to cure completely in just four hours as it takes days to properly skim over ... no wonder it still leaked. Secondly, you can't (or shouldn't) just caulk over where you think a seam may be leaking and call it a day ... in this case you should have removed the vent entirely, cleaned up the area around the vent hole, and after correcting any damage that may have already occurred, re-installed the vent. You'd do that by first sealing any holes left over from the original installation, laying down a layer of butyl tape around the vent hole, securing the vent to the roof with screws, then finally caulking the entire vent flange to the roof. Anything less and it's little wonder the vent would still leak. You've got a specific problem that has nothing to do with anything else in the trailer so you need to specifically address just that issue, correctly ... referring to your trailer as a "lemon" just because you've so far discovered this one issue with it is pointless and won't put you any closer to a solution. Recreational vehicles are manufactured products that even when new are often less than perfect ... as time goes on other issues that are the result of use and exposure to the elements will be revealed so it's only reasonable that any RV owner should expect to deal with "stuff" from time to time. If you're not willing to do that then you're a poor candidate for owning any type of recreational vehicle. |
|
ken2457
Newbie RV’er
My 6th RV is a 2004 Sportsmen 2457.
Posts: 3
|
Post by ken2457 on Dec 12, 2012 19:08:30 GMT -5
I agree with the comment regarding curing time for sealant based repairs. Four hours is not enough time and the other issue may be surface preparation.
I have an ability to put mine inside for a week but not everyone can do that. This is one of the advantages of Eternabond tapes. The seam is waterproof as soon as you roll it down, if done properly. You don't have to worry about curing time as you would for a 'sealant'. I've seen some repairs where it was obvious they squeezed it out of the tube and it rained before the sealant cured and the repair failed.
The key is to fully clean and ensure mechanical stability of anything before you try to repair with the best materials you can buy; sealant like Dicor, M1 AND Eternabond tape.
Removing the original sealing material, probably a Butyl compound is the first step. Then evaluate further to see if you need to remove the skylight completely and reseal underneath it. The other issue is the screws holding down the skylight. You need a good mechanical attachment to the roof decking for most of the old Butyl sealants to work very well. But they still harden over time which leads to cracking and failing.
If you can get a good mechanical attachment all around with the screws, you can fix it with Eternabond. Remove old sealant, make sure your screws are all holding the skylight down properly, and clean the surface well with a suitable hot solvent like Eternaclean or acetone. I cannot overstate the importance of surface preparation. Fill any voids with M1 only if necessary. I usually cover the screw heads with M1 just to smooth out the look and because I don't want one of them working up through the tape later. Then lay down Eternabond Doublestick at the transition and maybe over the screw heads. Roll down the Doublestick before you pull off the top release layer. Last lay the 4" Eternabond RoofSeal Plus tape around the seams of the skylight on top of the other materials. There are documents on their web to show you how to work with corners. Form the tape well and without any bubbles and buy a roller and roll it down well. Rolling it down is very important. This activates the sealing material.
If you feel you can't get all of the original sealant off or have some spaces that you don't feel are clean, use Eternaprime BEFORE you lay down the Doublestick tape and then again before you lay down the RoofSeal tape. This resin grows into the cracks and in fact is hard to keep inside the can. The Doublestick will allow for a little movement at the joint as well as provide smoother transition.
If you want your Eternabond RoofSeal tape seam edge to look pretty, run a 1/8" bead of M1, Dicor or you might try Eternacaulk. I've used M1 and Dicor to go along that seam edge where a slice of the Microseal material is visible and both work. But M1 does not stick well to the TPO and the white surface of the Eternabond Roofseal is TPO. Dicor wrinkles TPO so it does not make as pretty a seam as the M1. I have not used Eternacaulk but that is what I plan to try when I make my next Eternabond RoofSeal tape repair.
My 2004 KZ Sportsmen is the 4th travel trailer I've owned. I've owned 2 tent campers as well. They will all leak, eventually. The last tent camper I owned did not but it was new and I only kept it 2 years and always stored it indoors. Keeping an eye on every seam and checking the roof frequently will ensure you catch the leak before it turns into a very expensive repair. We crawl along the edges and open all the cabinets when it rains looking for evidence of a leak.
In my 30+ years of owning and repairing my own RV, the available repair materials are way better now. Reliability of seams and joints is not much better than it was 30 years ago in terms of the frequency that leaks or seams fail. So, if you want to keep the water out, inspect and do the best repair job you can. I try to fix it so well it will outlast the time I keep the trailer. This was not possible 30 years ago but as I said, we have better repair materials these days.
The best of all options is to store it under cover. I stored two our RVs in the barn and without doubt I had the least trouble with both of them once I fixed all of the problems left by previous owners. This KZ is spending most of its off time in my warehouse. In fact the first 6 weeks I owned it were spent indoors because I had to strip down the front and back cap to roof seals and repair them. Both were leaking.
I had to remove two poorly applied repair jobs, take off the original sealing material, stabilize the joints, replace the termination strips and only then was I able to start cleaning and making a permanent repair or one that will out last the TPO roof. It is all about surface preparation selection of the right repair materials.
Yours is probably not a 'lemon', just another camper that leaks and needs some maintenance. They take a lot of abuse and require a fair amount of maintenance after about the 4 year of use. If you don't have any rotten wood, you caught it in time and should have years of good service from the RV.
Ken
|
|
