Leaking roof vent

[Happycamper2019]

nice job!!! gives me hope for when i go mine! that styrofoam in between the sheets of aluminum has anyone replaced it? i measured the thickness its 1in thick in width. its glued on as well, can i just buy Styrofoam from home depot or hardware store?
i got a little crazy on the inside of the camper and started pulling foam off the roof lol.

[Expanderoo]

Success! Well, it's not time tested yet but we had some really really heavy rain the night before last and we couldn't find any leaks.

I did notice when I lower one of the shells (have to pay attention if front or rear), there is some way that comes out at that point in time. I also found some bag gaps that I think are allowing mosquitos in -- one above the stove area between the front and rear shell and another by the rear bed from the rear bathroom wall a little forward and about 1.5 feet back (I think this was the worst -- we were getting a lot of mosquitos during the night as they are vicious here in the Upper Peninsula). I put a cloth napkin in the area about the stove and I cut a swim noodle into 4 sections and used that to plug the gap by the bathroom. In case it's not clear, that gap by the bathroom is between the upper and lower shell.

Overall, we're really happy with the trailer. Toilet is working great. I need to go update the 3d printed vent thread as we decided it's fine as is for us -- we don't really notice a bad smell. But it could be the climate we're in so we'll keep an open mind and maybe I'll return to that project more in the future if toilet smell becomes an issue.

[Expanderoo]

Two month report: still no leaks with a fair amount of rain. We used it full time up until now. The gaps in the various bag seals are the number one thing to fix next. But with 10 minutes of extra time plugging gaps, it's working great.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[Larryjb]

Originally Posted by Happycamper2019

brand new to this forum, dont really know how to be posting... but we jsut purchased a 2002 3124 trailmanor, come to find out the roof is leaking. started ripping the inside ceiling apart to determine the leak. deff looks like the sun roofs are letting water seep in. the roof has been eterbond and painted with some type of water proof coating from previous owners, we were thinking of just replacing the entire roof...

Has anyone tried to do this or successful done this on their T.T?

any help or advice would be amazing, thank you! happycamper2019

Replacing the roof is essentially replacing the entire shell. This would cost more than what you paid for the trailer, I'm sure.

Use a heat gun on low heat and keep it some distance from the Eternabond and shell, and you should be able to remove the old Eternabond tape and other sealants. I'd suggest you get something like Heng's EZ vent which has flanges to secure the vent from below instead of using screws from above.

Before you climb on the roof, place a sheet of plywood (1/4" or 3/8" should do) to spread your weight around on the roof. Don't stand on the roof either. The roof is strong, but not that strong. It's not meant to support a person standing on it.

For a leak free installation, remove the old sealant and vent as best as you can. Use heat to soften any sealant to make it easier. Be careful with any type of solvent as this can dissolve paint.

As you install the new vent, run a continuous bead of RV-Pro sealant along the sealing edge of the vent. Don't skimp on this sealant, but don't go too crazy either. Place the vent in the roof hole, then install the flange from below. Tighten down evenly (don't just tighten one screw all the way before tightening the others. Tighten each one until you feel a little resistance, then alternate tightening the screws 1/2 turn each until it's secure.

I used Eternabond to help seal some leaks, but I'm no longer a big believer in the stuff.

[Larryjb]

Originally Posted by Happycamper2019

nice job!!! gives me hope for when i go mine! that styrofoam in between the sheets of aluminum has anyone replaced it? i measured the thickness its 1in thick in width. its glued on as well, can i just buy Styrofoam from home depot or hardware store?
i got a little crazy on the inside of the camper and started pulling foam off the roof lol.

Get some low expanding spray foam, the stuff used for sealing around window frames. I've used this in a few places and it works well.

[Larryjb]

I am no longer a fan of Eternabond, at least for things like roof vents. I tried my hardest to get this stuff to lie flat, and for the most part it did. But all it takes is one part lift up just a little. I suppose my failure with Eternabond comes down to my application, but I distinctly remember seeing one part that I could not get to lie flat.

Well, it still leaked. Not so badly as before. The reason I used the Eternabond in this case was that some one had screwed a vent in through the riser into the roof. Some of the screws were stripped because so I couldn't easily remove the vent.

I finally did get to removing the vent this week. 5 screws had to be "lifted" out. One of the previous owners did not install this vent properly. They did not remove the riser to reseal it to the roof, and there was no sealant between the vent and riser. They relied on gobbing sealant over the screws and edges of the vent and riser. This method always seems to fail.

This is what I have done and has worked to fix any and all of my leaks:

1) REMOVE the vent (or whatever you are sealing).
2) CLEAN the surfaces.
3) APPLY sealant to the area BETWEEN the vent and riser, and BETWEEN the riser and trailer.
4) I'm using the EZvent, so there will be no screws to leak.

But I will not use Eternabond for the roof vents anymore.

[Expanderoo]

Did you use the double sided Eternabond between layers or the single sided as a cover? Just curious...

I only used the double sided between the (well cleaned -- both mechanically and with alcohol) metal roof and the newly made PVC riser (I put the smooth side down on top of the eternabond as I used PVC trim). I think my 3rd photo in my post up thread has a picture. My double stick eternabond was actually too wide so I had it go to the outside of the PVC riser and then folded it up on the inside. Then I used the 3M products between the riser and the vent.

This will be the second season so I'm curious to see how mine is going to hold up but I think I did it in a way that should in theory be strong and it is held in place to some degree by the vent itself and gravity.

It seems like a big problem is when any sort of silicone product is introduced by the vents -- the clean up is just so hard. I went mechanical with one of the sanding discs to remove a layer and then alcohol but I think it is still hard to get it all if the prior owner(s) or maintainers used any at all. Not saying that was your problem but it's just annoying how much problems silicone can cause down the road.

[Larryjb]

I used the single sided Eternabond because I was unable to remove some of the screws holding the vent down.

Last month I finally got around to remove the vent properly. That Eternabond stuff is really hard to remove. Only silicone is worse. I'm curious why you did not use Proflex or even putty tape? The manufacturer of my vent said to use putty tape between the vent and roof, then a bead of sealant around the perimeter. If you are going through all the trouble to remove the vent, I'd have just used a bead of Proflex all the way around, then inserted each screw into the nozzle of the Proflex to coat the threads with sealant before installing them. I really like Proflex because it seals well, remains soft, and is easy to remove when resealing. The key is, as you did, remove the vent and put the sealant between the vent and roof. The main reason you are leak free is because you put the sealant between the vent and roof.

I used the Heng's EZ mount so that I wouldn't have screw holes to leak in the future. But I also learned that you should squeeze a little sealant into each screw hole. Don't rely on sealant on top of screws.

[Expanderoo]

I think mine are Heng's EZ mount too -- the screws hold together the two parts of the vent assembly without going through the roof material (just at edges of the roof cut out for the vent) right? Just curious if same thing.

I used Eternabond double stick as I didn't know what else to use and I honestly wanted to do the job once and be done. After using it, I can see how removing it would be a huge chore. I would picture using heat, scrapers and... I don't know, it's just so dang sticky. On the other side of that though is I was hoping it would be so sticky that it would hold on and not have to be bothered with for a long time.

But I will look into the products you mention. I can see something less sticky and/or easier to remove and work with being better. I just didn't know what my options were basically. Is putty tape the butyl tape?

I did use some double stick to waterproof screws that go through the roof of my sailboat. I was able to make a small ball and wrap it around the screw and then it makes a nice seal as it tightens up. Maybe a bad idea but going to see how it goes. It worked well over the winter keeping water out of the boat (I think that was one entry way).

[Larryjb]

Butyl tape. That's the word I was thinking of. I think both you and I have the right idea. What you did to seal the screws on your sail boat was good and would work well. The idea is to "clamp" the sealant. If something is screwed onto the roof, I just like the extra protection of coating the screws so that IF something gets through the vent/roof connection, it won't go through a screw hole at least. (better to not have screw holes, IMHO. We do have the same vents, BTW.)

You're probably going to be good with your vents for a few years, at least. If you do need to remove the Eternabond, heat works really well along with a plastic scraper. Don't bother with solvent. One person said duct tape works well for the remaining residue. I haven't tried it though. Because you used Eternabond under the vent, heat and scraping would be good enough, and then you could use one of the other sealants in the future if you wished.