Leaking Oliver Light

[Geronimo John]

On 5/29/2024 at 6:34 AM, jd1923 said:

BTW, the only mold/mildew on our Oliver, inside or out, is on the caulk outer surfaces! 

I battle it on my white outside window trim.  Some day I'll go black.

GJ

[jd1923]

12 minutes ago, Geronimo John said:

I battle it on my white outside window trim.  Some day I'll go black.

GJ

I did the black trim last year, and yeah I had mildew stain on those too. 

[Geronimo John]

17 hours ago, jd1923 said:

I did the black trim last year, and yeah I had mildew stain on those too. 

Drats.  At least it likely was not as obvious.  

Could new black ones be "clear coated" with some product to seal out the spores?

GJ

[jd1923]

5 hours ago, Geronimo John said:

Drats.  At least it likely was not as obvious. Could new black ones be "clear coated" with some product to seal out the spores? GJ

Sorry GJ, my post was poorly written. I meant that the original white ones were very soiled. The new black ones have no sign of mold/mildew. About 9 months now, still look new though very little grows in Arizona sun, and mine is parked outdoors. I don't believe black rubber needs any treatment. For city cruisin' you could trick them out with some tire shine! 🤣

[MAX Burner]

I'm thinking the black option actually looks a bit better than even new white ones...  

[DavePhelps]

I have the black seals. I take them out every year, and clean them with the same soap I'm washing the trailer with.
After they're dry I give them a good wipe down with 303 Protectant.

https://www.amazon.com/303-30313-CSR-Protectant-Plastic-Fiberglass/dp/B00KN0UOEE

This has worked well and has kept the rubber supple, although they have shrunk a bit and don't fit completely around the perimeter of the windows. Maybe an inch short, the gap I place at the top. Can't remember if it came this way. I May replace them just for the tighter fit, but the 303 has otherwise kept them in good shape 8 years later.

Dave

[jd1923]

1 hour ago, DavePhelps said:

… they have shrunk a bit and don't fit completely around the perimeter of the windows. Maybe an inch short… Dave

My old ones were also an inch short. When installing new, starting from the bottom, I pushed hard as I could to compress the new rubber into the channel. I feel I got an extra inch in and later it should shrink from a very tight fit to looser, but hopefully not another inch gap.

Thanks Dave, I’ll have to get a bottle of 303 for the rubber on all my cars and trucks. 

[Mike and Carol]

14 hours ago, DavePhelps said:

I have the black seals. I take them out every year, and clean them with the same soap I'm washing the trailer with.
After they're dry I give them a good wipe down with 303 Protectant.

https://www.amazon.com/303-30313-CSR-Protectant-Plastic-Fiberglass/dp/B00KN0UOEE

This has worked well and has kept the rubber supple, although they have shrunk a bit and don't fit completely around the perimeter of the windows. Maybe an inch short, the gap I place at the top. Can't remember if it came this way. I May replace them just for the tighter fit, but the 303 has otherwise kept them in good shape 8 years later.

Dave

I do the same.  Mine are also about an inch short, I put the gap at the top too.  303 has kept them functional.  Mike

[Geronimo John]

18 hours ago, DavePhelps said:

After they're dry I give them a good wipe down with 303 Protectant.

Dave:  I like the idea of going black and actually maintaining them (Wash/303) on a regular basis.

It might be icing on the cake, but my goal would be to get two years between service. 

Would post removal and washing, then soaking them in some sort of mold/mildew preventer, drying and then 303ing them.

Would that work with the material and the 303 product? 

GJ

[Mike and Carol]

4 hours ago, Geronimo John said:

It might be icing on the cake, but my goal would be to get two years between service. 

Would post removal and washing, then soaking them in some sort of mold/mildew preventer, drying and then 303ing them.

Would that work with the material and the 303 product? 

In my experience I think every two years would work.  I try to do it every year, but I have missed that goal a couple of times with no adverse results.  If you saw something you didn’t like you could always increase your frequency.  To do all the windows doesn’t take a lot of time.  Mike

[DavePhelps]

5 hours ago, Geronimo John said:

Would post removal and washing, then soaking them in some sort of mold/mildew preventer, drying and then 303ing them.

I'm pretty much on the same page with what Mike said above. With the black seals, I have never had a mildew issue, so haven't used bleach or other products as part of the cleaning process. My Ollie is stored out in the open, but if I lived where it was very hot and humid all summer, and mildew became an issue, I would change. Then I would wash the seals, then use a mild bleach solution, then 303.... Just don't add bleach to Dawn detergent if that is what you use. The ammonia in Dawn will combine with the bleach to make chlorine gas, not something you want to be breathing!

The seals are easy to remove and replace and have to come off for window track cleaning anyway, so I try to get to them once a year if I can, sometimes I miss a year.

Dave

[Geronimo John]

45 minutes ago, DavePhelps said:

Just don't add bleach to Dawn detergent if that is what you use. The ammonia in Dawn will combine with the bleach to make chlorine gas, not something you want to be breathing!

I had not heard of Dawn outgassing chlorine gas with or without bleach being added.  Its MSDS does not warn about such a hazard.  So I went to Mr. Google:

Below is a very good video about Bleach and Ammonia.  

BLUF: 

• Dawn and Bleach does not create Chlorine Gas.
• BUT: Mixing Ammonia and Bleach CAN kill you.  

CONCLUSION:  Right idea in stating Ammonia and Bleach should NEVER be mixed.  But Dawn can be mixed with bleach and not omit toxic chlorine gas.

GJ

 

 

 

[Geronimo John]

1 hour ago, DavePhelps said:

The seals are easy to remove and replace and have to come off for window track cleaning anyway, so I try to get to them once a year if I can, sometimes I miss a year.

Thanks Dave, you read my mind!  I will be putting the seal replacement on my 2025 Summer Tour Task List.  Wash, dry, 303 them!  Easy.  Without interuptions, about how long does it take to do yours?  

GJ

[DavePhelps]

52 minutes ago, Geronimo John said:

BLUF: 

• Dawn and Bleach does not create Chlorine Gas.
• BUT: Mixing Ammonia and Bleach CAN kill you.  

Wow, thanks for the update GJ!! I don't know if Dawn changed their formula, but back in the day, the label said "do not add bleach"! I checked my latest bottle and this warning was not on there! I love Dawn so am not disparaging it in any way. I will say, however, that when some bleach has found its way into my Dawn mix, the smell definitely changes and is more noxious. Maybe there is a Ollie chemist among us who can enlighten us....
Cheers,

Dave

 

 

[Geronimo John]

Any idea how old that bottle of Dawn is?  My new does not give any warning about bleach.  It also says "50% less scrubbing" and "dawn believes in safety and quality of our products".  

Pretty good evidence that they changed their formulation.

I too use Dawn a lot.  Regardless of what those "Experts" say, I'll follow your lead and not be mixing the two.

Good catch between the two of us!

GJ

Edited June 17 by Geronimo John
Typoos. :-)

[Mike and Carol]

On 5/23/2024 at 6:30 PM, Mike and Carol said:

I know there are several threads on leaks from the Oliver light on the back of the trailer.  I’ve read them all.

I have a small drip from the Oliver insert that runs down to the window.  We noticed water dripping from the middle of the bottom of the window on this May trip.  Our first leak!  All the marker lights are good.

I would rather not remove the Oliver insert.   Just caulk around it.  I don’t want to use silicone, I usually make a mess with it.  From what I’ve read some owners used 3M 4200 or 3M 4000.  3M 5200 is not recommended.  Any thoughts on what to use?  Mike

To close this out…

I cleaned out all the old caulk and wiped it down with mineral spirits.  I used 3M Marine 4000 and layed a bead all around the Oliver light.  The next morning I simulated a good rain storm on the back of the trailer.  No leaks.  Hopefully this will last.  When I was cleaning out the old caulk I was surprised that there wasn’t much to clean.  Mike

[mountainoliver]

I have posted this before when talking about this light’s propensity for leaking. My light leaked four times in the first three years of owning our trailer. Oliver caulked it twice and I caulked it twice. I realized that this issue was going to come back over and over so I decided to do one final repair. When I picked up our trailer, I asked for and picked up several sheets of fiberglass scrap cutouts from windows and doors. I used a piece of this to make a plug for the hole. I removed the light and epoxied the plug into the hole from the inside. I used a high solvent based epoxy for this then I later fiberglassed over the plug to reinforce the patch. Now four years later still no leaks. 

[Mike and Carol]

2 hours ago, mountainoliver said:

I removed the light and epoxied the plug into the hole from the inside. I used a high solvent based epoxy for this then I later fiberglassed over the plug to reinforce the patch. Now four years later still no leaks. 

If my leak returns this will be my final solution!