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Old 06-24-2022, 01:44 PM   #61
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JimS View Post


Oh, and while I think of it. The thin wire probe that comes from the controls of the AC, should that be tucked up to where? I thought I seen a video where it was placed right into the fins. Is that true?
Hi Jim,

You did a great job, and good find on the water weeping in around the corner bolt. Your Dicor patch should work well and allow some flex and still seal. Thank you for reporting back and with such great pics. This will help many in the future.

To the capillary tube, the thin (approx. 1/8" dia, copper tube) that is the thermostat sensing tube for your mechanical control system. You have the tip of that tube to sense the return air coming into the system inside the camper. Meaning it is just above the ceiling grill above the foam filter. It senses the incoming room air for temperature. See these two pics.


With the ceiling shroud removed


You "do not" want to stick that tube into the fins of the inside coil. That tube if it gets pinched will not long work right as the mercury inside has to flow through the tube.

You have what Dometic calls a "non ducted" system. On these units there is no frost controls as the fan never shuts down even if the compressor does. The fan blowing through the inside coil defrosts the unit.

On the "ducted" units,(have air ducts in the ceiling) they have a smarter control system with a remote T stat and the defrost sensor does stick into the inside coil fins. The defrost sensor alerts the control system to shut down the compressor and let the fan defrost the unit and then, shut down the fan and all.

Hope this helps,

John

PS, sorry this took so long, we were out camping out of state and my phone died, no internet connection any more... We just got home and dealt with buying and setting up a new phone. Amazing how "unhooked" we get when we have no internet or phone connection. Nine days and no phone glued to my hip, boy, it's been a long time since that has happened. It may have been over 20 years...
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Old 06-24-2022, 03:10 PM   #62
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Hi John,
Thanks for getting black to me on the AC probe.
Hey, we should all unplug the phone, intentionally, every once in a while. It’s a good thing to just focus on the near and present without distractions.

A big “THANK YOU” for all the help dealing with this. It wouldn’t be possible without you! And also a thanks goes out to other members, who didn’t chime in with this, but helped in a tremendous way for the older threads where so much can be learned and helped me with past info.

And while on this subject of the greatness of this site: is there any place to make small donations for the cost of running this forum?

I will be posting a few more photos soon, hopefully this evening. I have one more place that is questionable and like to seal up with Dicor, but before I do, I want to make sure it’s the best plan.
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Old 06-25-2022, 06:13 AM   #63
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I did more meter scanning recently and came up with this area(s). I didn’t notice this when I did my initial moisture checking. I may have missed it, but the camper was also covered at that time. So possibly it has taken on moisture since I’m now leaving it uncovered again. There is also the possibility that it is normal for the meter tobe picking up a reading here. The reason this might be is that each side of the camper(driver side and passenger side) reads the same moisture level in exactly the same pattern and location. Possibly some hardware inside that is doing it?

Anyway, I thought about putting a bead of Dicor in the seam that starts on the roof and comes down the front(to just below the window). The siding on the front of the camper appears to be not metal. Possibly a vinyl? Is there any bad effects of putting the Dicor here? Also thinking about if the Dicor is removable off this siding if/when the front siding panels come off?

Pic below is where moisture levels increase. Notes area stuck on exactly at spots with reading levels. Note the “0”between the two spots that read “6”. It quickly drops to zero once you get away from the 6. Probably within an inch and it’s down to O. Window could be suspected as well I guess. But figuring water usually falls down leads me to think the top corner. There is no water levels present on the front wall.


B141F9FE-C11F-4A16-B47B-F26532E88AA4.jpg

And this pic shows the area from the outside.

EF39DAAA-8C5D-40FA-870D-08CEC2ECADFE.jpg



Pictures below are the outside areas I’m wondering if Dicor is the best solution to seal with. Will it be possible to remove Dicor from vinyl when needed.


987CED36-732D-47FC-9FA3-92DCE4FFF328.jpg

36DC8274-BFCF-48B4-887A-5B870F690D5F.jpg

I’m just about to start using the camper steadily again for the next few months, and was thinking that this might be a quick fix, if it even needs fixing.

Thanks for the time in taking a look.
- Jim
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Old 06-25-2022, 07:19 PM   #64
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Hi Jim,

I'll answer some of your questions and ask you a few for more claification.

Quote:
Originally Posted by JimS View Post

Anyway, I thought about putting a bead of Dicor in the seam that starts on the roof and comes down the front(to just below the window). The siding on the front of the camper appears to be not metal. Possibly a vinyl? Is there any bad effects of putting the Dicor here? Also thinking about if the Dicor is removable off this siding if/when the front siding panels come off?
I see you have moved from the roof, now to the siding of the camper. The siding can leak as bad if not worse then the roof at any joint/opening/penetration in the siding. As the years and towing miles go by, these siding leaks get worse.

This pic of yours shows the perfect classic water entry point of a camper siding leak. It may not be leaking now, or has been and dried out, but from what I have found, the 4 corner moldings on the camper (2 at front, 2 at the rear) are bad actors for leaks.




The joint your arrows point to is a problem area. And so is the same molding joint where that corner molding meets the long side wall. Both of those joints need attention if you want to keep the camper leak free as time goes on.

The problem is, the siding sealing (all siding penetrations) was done using what is called "putty tape". It is a more easily trimmable lower cost version of sealing tape. And as the camper ages, the seal will start to release from the molding or the siding due to UV rays from the sun. It starts to shrink, then fine cracks start and the putty tape starts lifting off the siding or the molding or both. As time goes on, the split/cracks gets larger until it reached the inside of the camper. Then water can wick in.

You say the front is made of vinyl, well yes and no. The siding is aluminum just like your roof. The moldings are aluminum. What is vinyl is a screw strip cover on the molding. It hides the screws that holds the molding on. That vinyl is only a cover, it is not a water seal for the camper. Yes, it helps keep water off the screws, but if any water wicks behind that cover, it will flow to the bottom and drip out unless someone caulked it shut which is a no/no as the water can't get out. That cover is replaceable, it is not very expensive and most times gets sun baked and cracks. You do caulk the top to have water not get in at the end of the vinyl at the roof.

These 2 links will drop you into repair projects showing what the molding looks like off the camper. And how to up grade the sealing when the moldings are put on. I use different sealing tape and techniques.

https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f...tml#post131986

scroll down, you will get to the moldings
https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f...tml#post154534

This same leak issue happens on any joint/penetration in the camper siding. Meaning, any door, window, furnace vent, power cord door, clearance light, tail light etc.

You have a few options on these siding penetrations, on how to seal them up.

1. Reset the molding, window etc. Remove the entire molding or window etc. Take off all the old putty tape, clean both the siding and the molding etc, install commercial grade high quality butyl tape used in steel buildings etc. using the technique in my links. Put the molding back onto the camper, trim off excess butyl and then go to option 2. Caulk seal the exposed butyl.

2. Clean and caulk the exposed putty tape or new butyl tape joint. I'll write this for cleaning over the old putty tape. The exposed old putty tape has dirt and mold stuck to it. This must be cleaned off before caulking. You can use soap and water to clean the dirt, scrub with plastic bristle brush, then hose rinse.

After the dirt scrub, you do a bleach clean to get the mold off. Use 3 parts water to 1 part unscented household bleach in a bucket. You do not need a lot of solution, 1 to 2 qts of mixed solution goes a long way. Use gloves and apply mixture with a scrub brush. Keep it wet all the time for about 15 minutes, scrub lightly as needed. Water rinse well when done. You may notice the color of the old putty tape change from black (mold) to the original color, many times it is grey but not always. If there are stubborn spots, retreat.

Let the area dry completely. Caulk the joint using Dicor no sag/no leveling caulk or Proflex RV flexible sealant. The caulk "must" touch the siding and touch the molding to create a total seal over the exposed putty/butyl tape.

Doing option 1 and 2, is the method I use on a total camper restoration. It takes a good amount of time to do all the joints on a camper. They can be done in stages, they do not have to all be done at once.

I'll give you some background on just doing option 2 with what you have now. I have done this on my own camper (2004 T310SR) when I obtained the camper back in 2007. In 2018 I pulled the front corner moldings to install a diamond plate lower siding upgrade on the front wall. I stopped corner molding leaks that where active in 2007 and that repair was still holding in 2018 (11 years later) when I took the corners off.

Here is my front left corner molding off with Dicor caulk used to seal out the active leaks that I did not know was going on.

The corner molding off


Close ups of the failing putty tape. The black dirt on the gray tape is where the putty tape lifted and water and dirt started to penetrate the joint. Some cracks never made it to the inside and I stopped them with the Dicor. You can see the white Dicor still intact.




Another area showing the crack/leak progressing that stopped with the Dicor



The backside of the molding


The side wall looking on, you can see the dicor still intact


Point: Option 2 by itself is not a bad option, it can buy you years (10 plus) of time before you start into Option 1 and 2 if ever. You do need to inspect the caulking annually and address any tiny splits or shrinkage.

You can get off the Dicor and Proflex RV if needed to do a repair. The Dicor comes off a little easier then the Proflex, but I have removed both successfully. A heat gun is your friend on this task.

Now to use Dicor or Proflex RV? I have used both, both work well at sealing the camper. Both apply using the same wet soapy finger and short application length then smooth out technique.

I now use the Proflex RV or standard Proflex for homes if I cannot buy the Proflex RV, as the dirt does not stick to it as the Dicor can have some slight dirt sticking to it over time. The Proflex just works a little better. Either are very good and you can apply Proflex over the top of Dicor once cured if wanted to help with the dirt thing.

From all that.... your choice, going to option 2 is a lot quicker, and can be done in stages. It takes 8 to 9 tubes of caulk to do an entire 30 ft Sunline camper to do every siding penetration. Yours may take 7 to 8 tubes, the length is not that different, the smaller campers have about the same siding penetration's as a longer one.

One heads up, do not apply either Dicor or Proflex on a hot (80F plus) sunny day with the siding heated up. The caulk dries too fast and shrink wrinkles end up in the caulk. Go for early morning application on dry siding if the afternoon gets up close to 80F.

Start with the 4 corners of the camper, then the windows and doors, then everything else.

Hope this helps

John
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Old 06-25-2022, 07:29 PM   #65
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Jim,

Here is another thing I see in your pics, it appears you have a gutter rail at the roof link, but no gutter spout to direct water away from the camper siding. This is not good. Water out of that gutter hits the front corner molding and leaks down excess water onto the window siding joint. Some of the older campers never had gutter spouts, they came as the new campers where built.



I use these gutter spouts now from Camco, they help direct the water further away from the camper.

Here is one during a repair


The gutter spouts themselves on Amazon. The cost is down at the moment, it is all over the place on these.
https://www.amazon.com/Camco-42134-W...SS8/ref=sr_1_2

Consider adding them.

John
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Old 06-25-2022, 07:37 PM   #66
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Hi Jim,

Quote:
Originally Posted by JimS View Post
Hi John,
Thanks for getting black to me on the AC probe.
Hey, we should all unplug the phone, intentionally, every once in a while. It’s a good thing to just focus on the near and present without distractions.

A big “THANK YOU” for all the help dealing with this. It wouldn’t be possible without you! And also a thanks goes out to other members, who didn’t chime in with this, but helped in a tremendous way for the older threads where so much can be learned and helped me with past info.

And while on this subject of the greatness of this site: is there any place to make small donations for the cost of running this forum?
You are very welcome. Glad to help.

You did the work and did a great job of it. It takes time to post all the pics you did, and that really helps you can others coming behind you. You are paying it forward.

I'm not sure there is a monetary donation spot for the site, I'll check. What really helps, is members posting what they have learned and just having fun while camping. Pass on what you learned to others, this helps keep everything going. We all come from different backgrounds, we all can contribute, and all is welcome as we learn from each other. Since the since factory closed up in late 2006, we are a self help support group.

As time goes on, report back on how things are holding up. This helps too.

Thanks

John
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Old 06-26-2022, 10:35 AM   #67
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Thanks John,

I’m not done with the roof yet! Far from it. I had just noticed the moisture level in those spots and think it’s best to first seal the known problems as fast as possible.

The siding I thought was plastic is this area. I’m really surprised it is metal. Previous owner must have painted it. It shows no metal tint in any areas like the rest of my siding.


30F53E60-9A36-493A-A457-A475BA40144C.jpg

I see in your photo that it’s the same stuff and you sealed it with Dicor, and had no problems getting apart. Since I thought it was plastic, I was worried that the heat gun or other cleaners would harm it when removing the seal.

B6495B2D-FBD9-4697-BAFF-FBFC80EBAC48.jpg

And thanks for the gutter links. I had noticed them in other threads and was going to eventually ask about them .
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Old 06-26-2022, 02:40 PM   #68
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Hi Jim,

Yes, the front top panel is metal. It is made a little different by the bending curved pattern versus the rest of the camper siding corrugations, but it is metal. And it does fell a little different as it is a large sheet and not a lot of support behind it. The lower (approx. 15" tall) siding staples at every joint to a wall stud making it feel stiffer. The large top sheet is about 40 some inches wide x 8 ft long. It it only fastened at the roof line seam, the corner moldings, the bottom seam, and held in place if a window goes through it. The large open area does not have support behind it, so it feels more softer. But that is only a feel from not having wall studs every 16" or so behind it.

Here are a few pics of the front sheet off a camper in repair. This camper had a window in the front so that is what the big center cutout is.

Cleaning off old putty tape at the front window siding seal.


Cleaning up the back side, here you can see the shinny silver of the metal with no paint on it.


All cleaned up stacked on top of the rear top siding waiting to go back on the camper.


Thanks

John
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