Leak

[Kip in Ga.]

Originally Posted by Ray N

I know that silicone is usually not recommended around fiberglass, but over the past couple of decades I've had good luck with limited use of "flowable silicone" a.k.a. "Windshield and Glass Sealer." It's silicone, but runny, and flows into cracks, and other small holes to seal out moisture. I've used it on tail lights and one camper window where there was incomplete sealing between the rubber gaskets and glass or plastic. The flowable silicone seems to be sucked into tiny cracks by capillary action, but maybe it's just gravity, but either way it's done the job for me two or three times. I wouldn't use it instead of butyl tape on any kind of gasket job, it's only for very tiny leaks.

Ray,

Why do folks not recommend silicone around fiberglass.

Kip

[bbuehler]

...just HOW and with WHAT, one can take off the yucky old globs of slicone used by a former owner...
Was acetone the answer for rubbing off just the small silicone residue left on the Egg, after you've used your fingernails to get off the great gobs of glued on silicone, from things like rivet heads?
I'm just trying to replace the old oxidized and decomposed rivet covers with new snap-on caps and bands. How do I 'glue' the bands for the new caps to snap onto, down onto the fiberglass of my Eggie? And once it's glued down properly, do I put a piece of the butyl putty tape on top of the rivet head...or do I put a vey small dab of some other sealant on it, prior to 'snapping' on it's shiny new plastic beauty cap?

I really appreciate all of you WISE Fix-It Folk...'cause I certainly didn't absorb any of those 'genes' during my 59 years of living...never too late to learn (AKA: absorb), huh?!

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Kip in Ga.

Ray,

Why do folks not recommend silicone around fiberglass.

Kip

I'm not Ray, but silicone is a temporary fix and is one of the worst things to try to get OFF fiberglass. Some of the silicone permanently changes the structure of the gelcoat and if you ever choose to paint the trailer it will cause fish eye and a multitude of other problems. Do not even use silicone-based wax "products." There are MUCH better solutions to whatever the problem may be.

[Kip in Ga.]

Originally Posted by bbuehler

...just HOW and with WHAT, one can take off the yucky old globs of slicone used by a former owner...
Was acetone the answer for rubbing off just the small silicone residue left on the Egg, after you've used your fingernails to get off the great gobs of glued on silicone, from things like rivet heads?
I'm just trying to replace the old oxidized and decomposed rivet covers with new snap-on caps and bands. How do I 'glue' the bands for the new caps to snap onto, down onto the fiberglass of my Eggie? And once it's glued down properly, do I put a piece of the butyl putty tape on top of the rivet head...or do I put a vey small dab of some other sealant on it, prior to 'snapping' on it's shiny new plastic beauty cap?

I really appreciate all of you WISE Fix-It Folk...'cause I certainly didn't absorb any of those 'genes' during my 59 years of living...never too late to learn (AKA: absorb), huh?!

ACE Hardware sells a product by McKanica called Silicone Caulk Remover.
Took 3 application, applied heavy, to remove what I couldn't with a putty knife. Follow instructions.

I have several loose outside rivit "Caps" loose on my Casita. Apparently, when the old ones came off, the inner ring (band) came off with them and the new caps were just filled with silicone and stuck on. They are not holding very well.

I'm thinking of an aluminum screw, nail, or rivit to insert through a new inner band and into the exposed rivit, (not to deep) to hold the band in place. Silicone or other sealer to go between the band and the rivit. Then snap the cap onto the band.

Kip

[Kip in Ga.]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

I'm not Ray, but silicone is a temporary fix and is one of the worst things to try to get OFF fiberglass. Some of the silicone permanently changes the structure of the gelcoat and if you ever choose to paint the trailer it will cause fish eye and a multitude of other problems. Do not even use silicone-based wax "products." There are MUCH better solutions to whatever the problem may be.

Donna,

What would be a better product for sealing? Obviously a new gasket would work where gaskets are used. But what about those leaky places that something is going to have to be applied, as so many of us have used silicone for other such problems.

What wax is suggested and recommended for figerglass? Something that is UV resistant.

Thanks,
Kip