Scamp rivet issue

[alan H]

Ok so I'll probably get hammered on this and possibly rightly so
I have a scamp with a number of rivets missing both the caps as well as the piece the caps snap on to
Had anyone simply glued ( not sure what product) the caps on without replacing the rivets
It doesn't appear that they are leaking( hey here in so calif it hasn't rained significantly in 4 years
Or am i taking the lazy route



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[alan H]

Fyi i did use a fairly hi pressure wash and nothing is leaking


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[D Davis]

The right way to do this can be found on the Casita website members forum. Basically take out all rivets, then redo with the new rivits that have the washer things that hold the caps on. That is what has broken. Takes two people, one on the inside of camper. Some have to be cut off. Having said that, my friend choose to go the tempory easy route, he globbed his with Proflex and then put the new caps on. We shall see how long this lasts. New ones can be ordered from Scamp or an RV Service Center.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by alan H

Or am i taking the lazy route



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LOL definitely the lazy route

Drilling out the rivet and popping in a new one with a new cap holder is not difficult or time consuming. But as has been pointed out if it is one that has an acorn nut on the inside then two people are needed to do it.

Scamp will sell you a package contained various right sized rivets and caps & acorn nuts, that will make the job easier.

[alan H]

Ok
Well that settles it ill call scamp and order the rivets/ caps
My trailer has the rat fur.... Whoa Happens to old rivets ... Do they just fall behind the fur ?


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[Darral T.]

Where are the rivets that would be hidden behind the ratfur? My cabinets, closet etc. have the ratfur "sandwiched" between the outer shell and what ever it's holding. I still believe the "give" or compression of rat fur and insulation in time is what causes some of the unprecedented loosening of the rivets in the closet/cabinet areas anyway.

Yer reading the words of one Scamp owner here that literally HATES the rivets!

Originally Posted by alan H

Ok
Well that settles it ill call scamp and order the rivets/ caps
My trailer has the rat fur.... Whoa Happens to old rivets ... Do they just fall behind the fur ?


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[FJ40Jim]

Originally Posted by Darral T.

Yer reading the words of one Scamp owner here that literally HATES the rivets!

Your math is not right.
There two of us here.

Sez the guy who's replaced ~30 leaky rivets w/ M5 SS panhead, SS washers & SS nylocks.

[Darral T.]

With your "fix", it sounds like we're definitely on the same page. Here's some photos I uploaded of one fix. It may look familiar to ya. FWIW, I've been blasted even on the FIX saying basically that it may cause the rest of my Scamp to crack open. WHAT??? Anyway...that's life on a forum.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/503516...57633366995497

Originally Posted by FJ40Jim

Your math is not right.
There two of us here.

Sez the guy who's replaced ~30 leaky rivets w/ M5 SS panhead, SS washers & SS nylocks.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by FJ40Jim

Your math is not right.
There two of us here.

Sez the guy who's replaced ~30 leaky rivets w/ M5 SS panhead, SS washers & SS nylocks.

So you'd rather have fiberglass failure than rivet failure. To each their own.

Did you use 1/4" bolts or bigger, to make it look really red neck?

[FJ40Jim]

I use M5, which is a little smaller than the rivet, but still a good fit. A 1/4" is definitely too big and would have required drilling the holes oversize. Additionally, as you noted, anything larger than M5 would be WAY stronger than the FG hull, which is pointless.

[KevinScamps]

I replaced every single one of my rivets with stainless steel hardware. I used finishing washers on the outside and they look great, haven't leaked, and most importantly with 5 years of hard use, have not cracked or stressed the fiberglass. Rivets are just cheap and Scamp LOVES cheap!

[Steve in NY]

I put a piece of vinyl tape over the rivets that were missing caps for the summer. It worked so good I can't believe it isn't used in production. A simple disk of white vinyl tape. You could replace it with a fingernail, solvent and 1 minute when it looked bad.

My trailer has all the the rivets to be replaced as the cap holders are bad. Eventually I'll get to it.

Take Care,
Steve

[varmint]

I take the easy way when I lose a rivet cap. I purchased 20 or 30 of the two sizes of caps Scamp sells. Each year I have to replace about 5-8 of them. They come off most often when I wash the Scamp. Generally I don't even lose the cap. I squirt a little white silicone on the rivet and in the cap and press it back on. I have found they stay on a bit better if I drill a small hole in the cap so a little silicone comes through. I wipe any extra silicone off with a cloth. I've done this for a couple of years now and think I probably have enough spares for maybe the next 10 years or so.

[FJ40Jim]

Varmint, my friend Al has been using your technique for many years now. It works fine for him, but I had many bad rivets so went the threaded replacement route.

[RogerDat]

For a quick and easy one season (be that summer use or winter storage) white liquid electrical tape will seal a rivet. Pretty thin stuff going on but does seal around the edges and over the top with just a dab. Is white and last at least 6 months here in Mich. Actually I think it would do OK for longer but I also waxed with Zep over the top which may have extended it a bit.

YMMV

[Byron Kinnaman]

Every threaded fastener has a tendency to want to loosen. How often do you have tighten your stainless steel nuts and bolts or do you use a thread lock to keep that from happening?

[Darral T.]

I used Nylock nuts...the same ones I've used on RC model helis (they get the crap beaten out of them) and I've never had one to loosen on either. These on my Scamp were #10's. The pictures I posted clearly show the nylock nuts I used. I will NOT go back to rivets on my closet and risk more leaks. I've had this fix now about 3 yrs and not one single loosening....and yes, I keep a watch on them. It's easy with this setup.

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

Every threaded fastener has a tendency to want to loosen. How often do you have tighten your stainless steel nuts and bolts or do you use a thread lock to keep that from happening?

[Darral T.]

Varmint....I just reread your post here and I like it! One of the "leaking" rivets I had was due to a bad cap. They didnt "seal" the rivet where the anvil goes through and it was leaking there. I simply put a new snap-cap on...BUT....I had trouble getting it to stay on initially. I believe some of it was trapping excessive silicone and/or air underneath. I small hole would fix that AND allow a bit of silicone to seep through allowing a little extra holding power. Up on the very top of my Scamp (where I had the leak) I would probably leave a bit of silicone on there and let it act as a bit of retainer AND sealer..... I think you wiped yours off? Thanks.

Originally Posted by varmint

I take the easy way when I lose a rivet cap. I purchased 20 or 30 of the two sizes of caps Scamp sells. Each year I have to replace about 5-8 of them. They come off most often when I wash the Scamp. Generally I don't even lose the cap. I squirt a little white silicone on the rivet and in the cap and press it back on. I have found they stay on a bit better if I drill a small hole in the cap so a little silicone comes through. I wipe any extra silicone off with a cloth. I've done this for a couple of years now and think I probably have enough spares for maybe the next 10 years or so.