petrofun in Quebec

[petrofun]

Hi I am Pierre.
I have just signed up yesterday and I am in need of knowledge about how to take care of the fiberglass nose piece on my 253 FBS 2012 Puma by Palomino.
The fiberglass seems to be lacking a couple more layers of gel coat...the finish is very rough....and the dealer as suggested that I put on a few coats of a high quality polymer wax products that are sold in auto parts in order to restore the glossy and slippery finish.
My conclusion after at least 10 coats of that polymer wax (emptied the bottle on that nose piece exclusively) is that there is hardly any progress except in the speed it now takes me to do it.
So it would be well appreciated if somebody could tell me what to do with that problem,so it can be fairly easy to remove the crushed bugs and other materials .... molded on the surface and keep on waxing some more for a lack of another solution.
Thanks
Pierre

[Donna D.]

Hi Pierre, welcome to FiberglassRV. Sorry, I can't help with your problem, I'm not familiar with your brand of trailer. Hummm, wonder if this is a common occurance? Perhaps you'd get help at iRV2 - RV Forum Community

[petrofun]

Hi Donna
Well to be honest there is one other guy a couple of streets down and he did buy his 5fth whl. in the states and imported it,in Canada. I went and see him and ask him about his nose cone and we went over it.
Compared to mine, his, is definitely a whole lot better.
There is also another owner, who bought the exact same model as mine,from the same dealer and it as the same roughness to its finish.
He hasn't had it for long enough,so that he could take notice of that roughness...he found out when I went to check out on his nose piece.
I had hopes, that RV FIBERGLASS .com peoples would have a better understanding of fiberglass problems and solutions than others has the name implies,but thats allright,no bad feelings.
For now ,the only suggestion I have received is about using heavy cutting buffing compounds with an electrical rotary buffer,and for the sake of the thinness of the gel coat,I dont want to go that way.
So I will keep on searching.
Hey! thanks a lot.
Pierre

[Mike Magee]

It does sound like it was poorly made. We have had some discussions about keeping our smooth trailers looking shiny, but I can't recall anyone having a really rough finish that they were trying to smooth up.

[Donna D.]

Pierre, we wish you luck in your quest, truly.

[petrofun]

Good morning Donna and Mike
To answer to Mike,yes it was poorly made as I have found out with two more Puma 5th whll. yesterday ,that were in another town dealership and they both had smooth nose piece. But I am not expecting nothing out of my dealership,he didn't even offer a bottle of the expensive polymer wax which was right in front of us on the shelf while talking over the rougness problem as a good will fix.
That is exactly the reason I am trying to find a way around to fix my problem,if I succeed he is going to get some free "advertisement".
Thanks ,have a nice day
Pierre

[Roy in TO]

Originally Posted by petrofun

For now ,the only suggestion I have received is about using heavy cutting buffing compounds with an electrical rotary buffer,and for the sake of the thinness of the gel coat,I dont want to go that way.

Hi Pierre,

Have you spoken with the manufacturer?

The gel coat is sprayed into the mold before the fiberglass is laid, not afterwards. A 2012 should have ample thickness to handle a single compound buff. If you are really concerned about the gelcoat thickness while compounding with machine, this product works well by hand.
On-line Product Catalog:*3M
The 3M compound has mineral oil in it, so I would suggest washing with a degreaser or TSP prior to applying anything else.
I'd strip the wax you put on before trying anything else. 3M also makes a compound with wax built in. Plus a glazing compound that is finer.

If it does not handle a single hand compounding, I'd suggest you have a warranty issue. There is a good thread on what some people are doing here to bring a shine back to their trailers.
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ell-43004.html

The thread recommends that the Barkeepers friend be applied with a Scotch Pad. I just noticed from a link in another thread that the Scotch pad are equivalent to a 320 grit sandpaper.
Vehicle Guard Block

There is a lot of info on finishing gelcoats in the boat forums and on Youtube. Just look up gelcoat.

These are just suggestions, what you decide to do, is your responsibility.

Let us know what you end up doing and how it works out. Although you do not own a molded fiberglass trailer. Your experience might benefit us all. I get ideas from the boat people all the time.

(I see boat people)

[petrofun]

Thanks Roy
Your suggestion about the(Poly-Glow) Red Max floor wax,will be toroughly researched.
I am sorry to say that the warranty issue is not for me ,since there is only one year of guarantee.
My guarantee is now over since mid July 2012 and even hard opening slide windows are not covered as of 2 weeks ago.
I am not at all impressed with the Palomino guarantee.
Thanks
Pierre

[Ron in BC]

Bonjour Pierre,

The previous responses have contained some good advice. I'll try and clarify one aspect about roughness in the finish.

Really old fiberglass that has been exposed to lots of UV and never waxed can degrade and become rough. I don't think that's what's happened in your case. In fiberglass shops mold maintenance is ongoing. It's not a matter of making a shiny mold and then cranking out hundreds of smooth fiberglass parts. Molds need to be waxed repeatedly and periodically need to be serviced. It's possible that your fiberglass part was made in a mold that hadn't been properly maintained and wasn't in really good condition. A poor mold surface gives poor quality results.

The key to what can be done to make a smooth surface in your case depends on the thickness of the gelcoat. There ~should~ be enough thickness to allow for wet sanding and buffing the surface to a glossy surface. As you indicate though there is some risk to that process as going through the gelcoat results in a situation worse than the original problem. Without a photo to see how bad your situation is it's hard to judge if it's worth doing what a lot of boat owner's do when their fiberglass becomes past remedial buffing etc. In their case they sand and fill to make the surface flawless and then paint with a polyurethane paint.

Probably too drastic for you to consider. Maybe you should see how many other units you can find that also suffer from the same problem. Seems like pretty poor customer service.

Good luck

Ron