FF Still Leaking

[steve dunham]

The roof fan on our Scamp leaked in the rear corner ,drivers side .
The PO had smeared silicone all over the roof in an attempt to stop the leak . I finally got tired of the water dripping and removed the fan and replaced it using butyl tape and Lexel . No more leaks.What I discovered was the cause of the leak was several broken rivets and hairline cracks in the fan frame and cover.
Adding caulk on top of caulk to fix a leak has never worked for me
Unfortunately it takes longer to clean off all the old caulk then it does to replace the fan.
Sometimes it's better to go back to square one and start over IMHO

[melissab]

I did have the boat shop remove the fan and inspect it as well as remove all the old sealant from Scamp when they re-installed the fan. They said ething was tight and looked good (it is stored under cover so less sun gets to it) so I'm pretty sure it's not an issue with the fan itself. Definitely gonna turn the hose on it from different angles and see what happens.

[swenny]

OK..............I received my Moisture meter. I probed all over the ceiling thru the rat fur in and around the fantastic fan, escape hatch and the AC.
Probed down the walls even. No unusual moisture readings found anywhere except the front carpet under my dining table only in the center near the front step up ledge. I'm going to leave that for another time. Seems to be a very small area.

I got my sprinkler out and aimed it at the Scamp and let it run for 1/2 hour. Went inside to investigate and after removing the plastic trim piece from the fan. I could see the source of the leak. Along the front edge (nearest the AC) water was steadily dripping from the inside of the fan. It was not the carpet side(dry). I could only conclude this was coming from rivets that hold the fan down and found a path inside. Water would drip from the far back driver side corner because the trim piece would direct it that way(lowest point).

I did re-caulk most of those rivets a few years ago and it must have kept the water out then because we had no leaking until now. So.............re-caulk again? Scamp suggested removing fan and re-installing with new butyl tape Then re-caulk.

I choose a different plan. I did not remove the fan but installed over all the rivets a 4" wide Eternabond sealant tape. Very sticky stuff. I read good things about it and decided to give it a try. Hopefully it will last more than a few years. Gave it the sprinkler test and all is good.

[Mike Magee]

Good for you! I thought about suggesting Eternabond but wasn't sure if it would work since it would really depend upon the location of the leak.

I got tired of the sunroof drain tubes plugging up on my old Mercury, and we never use the doggone sunroof, so I taped it shut this summer with Eternabond. So far so good.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

The roof fan on our Scamp leaked in the rear corner ,drivers side .
The PO had smeared silicone all over the roof in an attempt to stop the leak . I finally got tired of the water dripping and removed the fan and replaced it using butyl tape and Lexel . No more leaks.What I discovered was the cause of the leak was several broken rivets and hairline cracks in the fan frame and cover.
Adding caulk on top of caulk to fix a leak has never worked for me
Unfortunately it takes longer to clean off all the old caulk then it does to replace the fan.
Sometimes it's better to go back to square one and start over IMHO

Exactly! Fact is that removing the fan would most likely reveal the source of the leak through simple observation even if the fan was not the source.
While clearly not necessary...
I would reinstall it using a wood frame with screws (predrilled). This makes the install more rigid and more firmly seated without flex or contouring.