Cleaning/sealing RV Roof........

WIMUSKY

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O'yeah. I opened up the vent for the frig/heater for the first time. There was a rectangular piece of cardboard in there for whta I don't know... Pulled it out. Looked like a fire hazard to me being by all the wiring.... It was from the box for the cover. Apparently, I have a:
ADCO
All Climate Designer Series
3 layer RV Cover...

I don't know what the previous owner was thinking......
 

MTboatguy

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""I don't know what the previous owner was thinking...... ""

He wasn't!

:eek:
 

GA_Boater

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He put the cover specs in a safe place and has been looking for it since 2011 until you picked her up, Musky. :doh:
 

WIMUSKY

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Looks like the warranty doesn't cover issues like windows leaking. It appears it covers components not construction. Even with the top level warranty. I called the our insurance co and filed a claim.....

Under Excluded Components:

This agreement does not provide coverage for any of the following repairs/replacement......
Windows, Window assemblies, Window seals and gaskets, weather stripping, roofing material, sealants......bah, blah blah. So apparently, they can do shotty construction and don't have to back it..... Ridiculous.....

So, I called the ins. co. and they're going to send out an adjuster......
 

WIMUSKY

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Well, "a guy" showed up and took pix. He was taking pix all over the trailer. I asked him why? It wasn't close to the damage. In fact, it was the back of the trailer.... Huh? He just shrugged his shoulders. He didn't even take detailed pix of the damage like I did. Not very thorough. I'll send them to the adjuster if I'm contacted.

Still waiting to get a call/e-mail from the adjuster. We have a snowstorm headed our way Friday, so I put the cover on.......

 

bruceb58

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They do that to have in case there is previous damage you try to collect on later.
 

WIMUSKY

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Update:

In short, I'm hosed. Talked to the Ins guy, had a nice long conversation with him even after I lit him up almost right away, he said water damage is not covered.

My policy supposedly states:
Damages must be sudden, direct and accidental in nature and not related to wear and tear, freezing, weight of snow and ice, "manufacture defect", improper maintenance, rot and/or biological deterioration.

Really? That's when I got hot under the collar. He didn't blame me tho, I suppose he hears it all the time.... Talk about covering ones butt. So unless I wrap it around a tree(or the like), I'm not covered. He said if they covered water damage that no-one would be able to afford the premiums. Water damage and damage from tire blowouts are the top 2 claims. Ones covered and ones not.

So the manufacturer can put out a shotty leaky trailer, which sounds to be common, and it's too bad for you. He said th best trailers were made in the 80s. Now they build them and push them out the door s fast as they can being rving is very popular at the moment.

He told me how one guy wanted to use his parents trailer that had been sitting for 3yrs due to his fathers death. After taking the cover off, he found out by pushing on a window the whole wall moved. O'well. And they still owed $50k!


He recommended 90 day inspections and resealing everything once a year. Really? And you thought boats were bad.... I mentioned about having to take the window out to reseal. He said just seal around it from the outside. Well, that would look like crap, imo.

We had a tire conversation too. Very similar to what we have on this forum. Basically said all Chinese tires were junk and recommended using Maxxis. Also recommended in this forum. I told him I just finished a 2000 + round trip and he mentioned I was lucky I didn't have a blowout with my Towmax tires.

He talked about a scenario when a guy who was pulling a 5th blew 2 on the same side at one. Everything flipped. They covered that to the tune of $20k+ for the trailer. Thankfully, there was just the driver and he wasn't hurt.

70/30 tongue weight.

He also mentioned the clearance lights were probably not sealed from factory.

With my cover, I believe I shouldn't get water penetration on the roof. It's made from material like a plastic tarp.


He recommended these products if anyone is interested:
http://dicorproducts.com/catalog/roof-products/
Sikaflex Sealant for, well, sealing

I can't imagine all the trailers out there with rot that owners no nothing about......
 

wrvond

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I don't agree with him on all points - specifically his method of resealing windows. Removing ad re-bedding is the only sure way to prevent leaks. He's right about the clearance lights. It's common practice to simply run a bead of RTV across the top of the fixture to direct water away . The logic is water doesn't flow uphill or sideways. Of course, they are failing to account for the vagaries of wind as you drive down the highway at 60 mph.
 

ezmobee

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That sucks but is not surprising. RV insurance is really for if a tree falls on it or it burns to the ground I guess.
 

WIMUSKY

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That sucks but is not surprising. RV insurance is really for if a tree falls on it or it burns to the ground I guess.

You're right. I like to say, it covers components not construction......... At least the warranty that's still valid. Some warranty... I thought about extending it when it expires this spring. Now I'm having second thoughts........
 

bruceb58

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This is similar to boat insurance not paying for stringers that rotted out do to poor construction.
 

WIMUSKY

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Stringers would equate more to the main framing of the trailer, which is aluminum. This issue would more represent hatches or windows leaking in the cabin and causing delamination.......

Sounds like this happens to trailers only a couple years old. I suppose they leak from factory, just takes a while to notice the damage... Need better quality control.... Or, maybe any kind of quality control.....
 

bruceb58

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My friend had a Fleetwood motorhome that had exact same issues as you are having. Poor construction as well.
 

MTboatguy

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Stringers would equate more to the main framing of the trailer, which is aluminum. This issue would more represent hatches or windows leaking in the cabin and causing delamination.......

Sounds like this happens to trailers only a couple years old. I suppose they leak from factory, just takes a while to notice the damage... Need better quality control.... Or, maybe any kind of quality control.....

Actually every single trailer and motorhome that is built goes through a leak test tunnel, problem is, there is no way to test them after they have bounced and been run up and down the road, they shift and move so much when they are being towed with the road, it is amazing what they go through on the road. I suspect what happened in they did put the sealer in the window, but failed to tighten it down as much as it needed.

What you need to do in the spring is pull the window and you will probably have to fix a couple of studs in the wall right under the window area, which is really not as hard as it seems, then get some putty tape, put the window back in and tighten it back down until the tape just starts to squeeze out, then trim with utility knife so the putty tape is even with the window frame.

Then it will need to have a sealant applied along the top of the window frame and I am not talking about RTV, RTV is not for RV's the stuff does not hold up, they make special clear sealants for use on RV's

You want something like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Geocel-ProF...ash=item1e8fa0b3fe:g:p3oAAOSw34FVDfLp&vxp=mtr

It will last several years. Also if you have delamination going on in the outside wall, when you pull the window, you will want to pull slightly on the outside wall to see if it has separated from the luan if it has put small shims between the luan and the outside filon and let it dry for a few days, then get some 3M industrial grade spray on contact adhesive and spray is much as you can down inside between the outside and the luan and then between the luan and the studs, let dry for about 20 minutes depending on temps and then squeeze them together and let set for a couple of hours. Make sure to get the red contact adhesive that way it will not eat into the foam board insulation.

If you have any questions when spring gets here, don't hesitate to let me know, or send me a PM and I will send you my number so I can answer any questions that you might have.
 

ezmobee

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Need better quality control.

I have two buddies at camp each had a brand new Forest River. I've been fairly appalled at the number of issues they've had with them. One has had a new A/C unit installed after only 1 year and the fresh water tank/pump system was apparently never working as there was nothing we could do to make it pump antifreeze the first winter. The other one had really bad fitment issues with the outdoor kitchen door, noticeable chunks of junk under some of the vinyl, minor plumbing leaks and power jack connections what were just hanging never hooked up underneath.
 

WIMUSKY

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Yup. They seem to be money pits....

I'm saving all the info including this thread so I can remember products and processes next spring.....
 

ezmobee

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I don't know a ton about campers as I've only owned a used one for 3 years: a 2004 30' Keystone Cougar. Despite it's age we've had few problems with any of the systems. Heat, A/C, hot water, plumbing, etc. The roof started to look really rough last year and was really starting to disintegrate this year so I coated it with liquid EPDM which was pricey but should hold up for the length of time I plan to own it. It's a fiberglass sided camper which I think I'd avoid in the future as it has a fair amount of delamination going on. I think I'd insist on an aluminum sided one. We hope to get a few more years out of it and get a big fifth wheel or park model. We don't tow, it just sits on our seasonal site year round. From what I've seen from others' new ones I'm of the opinion that it almost doesn't pay to buy a brand new one. Almost better to let someone else work all the bugs out it and deal with all the warranty issues. I wouldn't buy one more than 4 or 5 years old though because then your up against worn out awnings and things like that plus your roof is on the time clock as well. However if I couldn't find a real nice used one in a price range fairly substantially lower than a new one, I'd go new.
 
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