Replacing roof vent - Boler 1700

[LeftToaster]

This may be a silly question, but how do you work on the roof of your fiberglass trailer? How much weight ca it support?

I need to replace both roof vents on my Boler 17 footer and I'm wondering if I have to do all of the outside work reaching over from a ladder.

[John in Michigan]

I replaced my Boler 17 rear roof vent and resealed the forward roof vent after removing an enormous amount of silicone caulk from both. The incredible amount of silicone caulk didn't help. They both leaked. Anyhow, I found that while I was on the roof, if I stayed on the supported portion of the roof (above the side cabinetry) it was very strong.

Also, congratulations on owning a Boler 17. Keep us posted on your progress!

[Eric Frye]

I would echo John's comments. I have been up on mine a number of times. Before I go the bath walls in I did use some 2x4s and with a 12x12 piece of plywood to support the roof.

[LeftToaster]

Thanks - I'll be getting on this on the weekend.

[Borden]

Originally Posted by LeftToaster

Thanks - I'll be getting on this on the weekend.

Our 17' boler's 1700's have some great features and design Congratulations !!
on your purchase and welcome to fiberglassRV

We have 3 truck bed spreaders , I put them floor to ceiling when working on roof to prevent sag and leaks later. Purchased spreaders I use for roof support from princess auto during a sale. the Stanley closed end pop rivets can pull in brackets connecting walls and roof to cabinets holding up our roofs and leak later due to the thin wall design.

The design saves us a lot of weight but has to be considered when working on the bolers.

I changed out our two original power vents recently with new ones; the new vents have smaller coverage on inside of roof and had to trim the inner piece with Dremel to go flush due to the roof thickness.

You may need the old flashing to use with the new vents to get the width, cut the center out and place over new flashing and push both up to ceiling after trimming it to thickness needed or some aluminum work to cover inner screws.

hope this helps
Borden

[Borden]

Originally Posted by Eric Frye

I would echo John's comments. I have been up on mine a number of times. Before I go the bath walls in I did use some 2x4s and with a 12x12 piece of plywood to support the roof.

Well said have done the same with our boler.

[stevebaz]

my feet don't like me working from the ladder anymore so I had to succumb to working from a scaffold much safer than a ladder. so I sucked up and bought the harbor freight model. I can put it up and take it down by myself. I use an A frame aluminium ladder to transfer on and off the thing. I do not trust myself climbing up on the end ladder of the scaffold. it works great for me just a little big to store. I have a fear of height and a bigger fear of falling these days.

https://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-...old-63050.html

https://go.harborfreight.com/coupons...arbor-freight/

when I bought mine they were on sale for even more discount. they go on sale a couple times a year. i use it when I re Zep my trailer every other year.

[LeftToaster]

Thanks for all the advise - this place is great.

Since I have already removed the cabinets and supports above the kitchen area, I'm thinking I will brace the roof while I am working on it. One of my other 'hobbies' is building guitars. Luthiers use "go bars" to clamp braces to a guitar top.

Go bars

I can do similar to brace the top from inside with just strips of flexible plywood a bit longer than the height of the ceiling and a thin sheet of plywood to distribute the force.

I'm also planning on building a plywood and fiberglass ring around the vents to raise / offset them so they don't protrude into the interior so much (I'm tall). Here is an example:

Raised roof vents

[BolerMark]

Does a Boler 1700 have a dummy ceiling? Meaning is there a sub ceiling on My Boler 1700? I had a small leak in my ceiling light and found it was screwed to to the ceiling. Nothing coming through the roof. Any reasons for this?

[John in Michigan]

BolerMark, congratulations on your new to you Boler 17 and welcome to the forum!

The Boler 17 does not have a "sub-ceiling". Insulation layer is attached directly to the fiberglass shell. My Boler 17 insulation layer is 1/4" ensolite, which is a VERY tough closed cell black foam rubber (similar to neoprene) with a very thin outer layer of grayish white textured vinyl/plastic. The fiberglass shell is roughly 1/8".

Is it possible that your ceiling fixture is screwed to a mounting plate that is glued to the ceiling??

[BolerMark]

Thanks, I think I found my leak. My boler does not have Ensolite , it has original 1/2inch opencell foam with a popcorn texture. I am currently looking at cleaning and then resecuring sections of it with super77. I will prime then paint.

[John in Michigan]

OK BolerMark, now I am curious. How is your ceiling light attached? Also, what is the source of the leak?

[stevebaz]

Originally Posted by BolerMark

Thanks, I think I found my leak. My boler does not have Ensolite , it has original 1/2inch opencell foam with a popcorn texture. I am currently looking at cleaning and then resecuring sections of it with super77. I will prime then paint.

please use 3M super 90 it has a higher temperature rating than super 77.
160F Vs 250F

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/bonding-...BoCfwoQAvD_BwE

[BolerMark]

It looks like the light was screwed into the sub ceiling. I am pretty sure it is a subceiling for 2 reasons. The light was screwed into it and there are no holes in the top of the boler. second when you press the ceiling inside the outside does not bow. The screws were rusted off because of the moisture.

[Eric Frye]

The raised center of the B1700 is two layers of fiberglass sandwiching what appears to honey comb fiberboard or possibly structural cardboard. If you have both skylights out you can run a rod between the fiberglass layer from hole to hole.

[BolerMark]

Thanks. I will be replacing the rear vent with a fantastic fan this spring. There is a roof air conditioner that was installed the year it was bought in 1980. Still works.I will be keeping it. Any idea if the subroof has a drain? I am now concerned there might be water between the roofs.

[Eric Frye]

No drain on mine. The water would find its own way out without much problem. With mine if found that the water was seeping out towards the front and rear were the slope blended into the roof. Mine was also easy to find because the POs had removed everything from the interior and all I had to start with was a fiberglass shell.

I also found water intrusion around the window (no surprise) and around the belt line. The Mfg applied a single layer of fiberglass around the belt line on the interior after joining the upper and lower shells which created a small void. They made no attempt to ensure it was water tight, just to hold the shells together. Water can enter around the aluminum belt and get in the void then find its way out through the fiberglass. So you want to make sure that the bead of chalking is maintained around the belt line as well.

[Natalie21]

Sorry if this sounds naive but How does rv vent fan work? What wires do you hook it up with? And will it drain too much battery if on overnight? I am using Fan-Tastic Vent 801200 3-Speed RV Roof Vent

[Eric Frye]

You need a positive and a ground wire to operate the fan. For campers the ground wire will be white. The positive wire can be about any other color. You will need a minimum 4 amp circuit for the fan with a 4 amp slow blow fuse. If you have a standard deep cycle battery fully charged you will be able to run the fan for several days on low if you don't have any other power draws.

[BolerMike]

I needed access to the roof to apply an emergency patch on our 13' Boler so I backed the truck up beside it a few inches away and worked out of the truck bed. The only downside is you have to pull around to the other side if you need to reach something over there.