Removing pop rivets... How??

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OK, just so you know, i am not a complete idiot. I have worked with pop rivets many times before, on sailboats.

The rivets on sailboats are stainless steel. The method i used on the boat was to drill out the rivet with a bit that was a little smaller than the mandrel part. Once through, try to pull it out with needlenose pliers. If it didn't come out, try a larger bit. Repeat until rivet comes out.

I tried this today when replacing one of the vent pipe covers. However, when it came time to pry out the rivet, the head came off, and the "stem" fell into the hole and i could not get it out. This happened two more times, as once i had started, i had to remove them all because it's supposed to rain tonight. It's not that big of a deal as this is above the closet, where there is that carpeting. I can feel some of the rivets that fell through, and being anal about my Casita, i will probably cut a small slit in the carpet and remove the offending rivets.

Anyone have a better method for removing aluminium rivets. It seems they are so soft that when i try to pry them out, they break and half the rivet falls in......

I'm sure there's a better way....

Thanks for any suggestions..

[Legacy Posts]

You are doing it right.

Most times you drill a tad off one end, push the rivet through ... and remove it from the other side (unless, of course, you are in a "blind" application, where you can't see the other side.)

In a blind application, having a "spent" rivet or two between the carpet and the shell isn't going to cause you any problems.

I have to admit ... I've never replace a vent pipe cover, so I'm not even sure what type of rivet Casita uses for that application.

Some of the rivets are short, and spread in all 4 directions, rather than grab, bend and pop.

You might give Jay a call at Casita and ask him if you are doing it right ... and which rivet they used to secure the pipe cover.

If you don't have it already, ask him to send you a "rivet package" containing a selection of all the rivet types. Might be a slight charge for them.

[Legacy Posts]

Orginally posted by Charles Watts

You are doing it right.

Most times you drill a tad off one end, push the rivet through ... and remove it from the other side (unless, of course, you are in a "blind" application, where you can't see the other side.)

In a blind application, having a "spent" rivet or two between the carpet and the shell isn't going to cause you any problems.

I have to admit ... I've never replace a vent pipe cover, so I'm not even sure what type of rivet Casita uses for that application.

Some of the rivets are short, and spread in all 4 directions, rather than grab, bend and pop.

You might give Jay a call at Casita and ask him if you are doing it right ... and which rivet they used to secure the pipe cover.

If you don't have it already, ask him to send you a "rivet package" containing a selection of all the rivet types. Might be a slight charge for them.

Thanks Charles.

The rivets on the vent pipe cover are the 1/8'' kind. I will call and get the rivet kit from Casita.

I thought i was doing it right. Now that you mention it, i remember that some rivets spread out in four directions, like a bannana peel. I just didn't think that they would use those kind of rivets in an area where you could not access them for removal.

I am replacing the vent pipe covers with some nice galvanized ones i got online, as the old plastic ones had developed many hairline cracks in them. I'm taking some else's advice and not reattaching them with new rivets. Instead, im securing them with a liberal amount of heavy duty RTV silicone. I checked this morning and it's on there tight..


Thanks for your help...

[Legacy Posts]

I think they have several different "blind" application rivets ... and the "banana peel" (good analogy you made) is one of them.

Once you drill of the rivet head, when you push in the rivet, the spreading "banana peels" retract back a bit, allowing you to remove them.

[Legacy Posts]

>>use RTV

Good idea! Let us know how that works!