Noob in South New Jersey (1988 T-2263)

[johnnybgood]

Originally Posted by JohnB

The degrading vinyl cover


The vinyl cover that is breaking down is not really a sealing cover against water. It is a cover over the screws to make it look nicer. And that said, having the cover on helps keep some wet off the screws that can rust, so on the vertical corners, it helps.



John

Tell me about it. I was doing a roof inspection on my daughter's 2017 Keystone Bullet and decided to pull out a little of the gutter rail vinyl screw cover (nice, new, and pliable)....it was full of water. Kinda' surprised me as it hadn't rained in 2 days.

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by johnnybgood

Tell me about it. I was doing a roof inspection on my daughter's 2017 Keystone Bullet and decided to pull out a little of the gutter rail vinyl screw cover (nice, new, and pliable)....it was full of water. Kinda' surprised me as it hadn't rained in 2 days.

Hi John,

Yes, the RV gutter system is about the same across most of all RV's.

I gave up on the vinyl cover when I found this.




When I found that, I knew I had to change something and I Eternabonded that entire area. I wash the camper roof 4 times a year and keep the roof clean along with the gutter rail, and yet I still have yuk growing in the gutter behind that vinyl strip.

We like to camp in wooded areas. Many people also. We like the great outdoors and trees. This is camping right? When a few twigs or pine needles get in the gutter, it restricts the gutter from flowing. And even when camping in the wide open, a heavy rain will flood the gutter even if it is totally clean. What happens when the gutter is full and flowing is, water fills behind that vinyl strip. It then lives in there as long as it can. Over time the water starts working on rusting out the screws. Then the screws become water wicks into the camper wooden roof structure.

The pics above is when my camper was 7 years old. I had 2 goo rusted screws when I replaced them all and went to E bond on all roof seams. Come 10 plus years, the issue just keeps getting worse. My camper also lived outside for 10 years of it's life until the new barn came. Those that are garaged all the time have a better chance to not get water infected, but still, if you have ever camped in the rain, water is getting behind that cover and it takes a real long time to evaporate out.

I'm kind of passionate (if you hadn't noticed...) about water leaks and poor industry wide design. We can only hope the industry will change a few things to make all campers live longer. Our Sunnies are better then most in a lot of ways, but they too have some of these industry wide issues.

Sorry for the rant....

Thanks

John

[johnnybgood]

Originally Posted by JohnB

Hi John,



Yes, the RV gutter system is about the same across most of all RV's.



I gave up on the vinyl cover when I found this.









When I found that, I knew I had to change something and I Eternabonded that entire area. I wash the camper roof 4 times a year and keep the roof clean along with the gutter rail, and yet I still have yuk growing in the gutter behind that vinyl strip.



We like to camp in wooded areas. Many people also. We like the great outdoors and trees. This is camping right? When a few twigs or pine needles get in the gutter, it restricts the gutter from flowing. And even when camping in the wide open, a heavy rain will flood the gutter even if it is totally clean. What happens when the gutter is full and flowing is, water fills behind that vinyl strip. It then lives in there as long as it can. Over time the water starts working on rusting out the screws. Then the screws become water wicks into the camper wooden roof structure.



The pics above is when my camper was 7 years old. I had 2 goo rusted screws when I replaced them all and went to E bond on all roof seams. Come 10 plus years, the issue just keeps getting worse. My camper also lived outside for 10 years of it's life until the new barn came. Those that are garaged all the time have a better chance to not get water infected, but still, if you have ever camped in the rain, water is getting behind that cover and it takes a real long time to evaporate out.



I'm kind of passionate (if you hadn't noticed...) about water leaks and poor industry wide design. We can only hope the industry will change a few things to make all campers live longer. Our Sunnies are better then most in a lot of ways, but they too have some of these industry wide issues.



Sorry for the rant....



Thanks



John

Don't apologize for the rant. Trust me, I get it.

Seems to me a camper would be better off without the vinyl screw covers on a horizontal surface. Might not be pretty but at least the screws wouldn't be submerged in water. So to be clear, you used the eternabond without the vinyl cover underneath?

Another thing that concerns me about my daughters water inside the cover is the fact that it never really rained that hard prior. We left on Friday in good weather, then it rained lightly off and on Sunday afternoon and evening and I checked it on Wednesday evening. I can't imagine it ever rained hard enough to overwhelm the gutters, but maybe it takes less than I realize.

Hard to believe the manufacturers wouldn't use stainless screws. I know it would cost more but from what I gather they just consider their products disposable and want to sell them cheap.

I need to inspect the roof of a cargo trailer to see how they're made. My brother has one that's got to be 20 years old with no leaks and no maintenance.

Sorry for the rant[emoji3]

John
1996 T-1700

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by johnnybgood

Don't apologize for the rant. Trust me, I get it.

Seems to me a camper would be better off without the vinyl screw covers on a horizontal surface. Might not be pretty but at least the screws wouldn't be submerged in water. So to be clear, you used the eternabond without the vinyl cover underneath?

Hi John,

Yes, there is no cover over the screws, E bond right over that area. See this thread, it shows I ended up countersinking the screws, (also did one side just over the head of the screws) and E bonded from the bottom of the gutter, up and over the top onto the roof. That entire area is sealed. All the Dicor was good before I E bonded it too as I have 2 sets of seals. We did my sons camper the same way. He E bonded it this spring. Neither camper has any roof seals that are relying on caulking as the primary seal. Well only one, I still use Dicor on the tank vent covers. My son changed his vent covers to a different brand and he even did away with that area.

http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f7...ics-11610.html

Hope this helps

John