Remove the rain seal on the awning?

[SeaDawg]

18 hours ago, Jps190 said:

I removed with an auto trim removal tool.  

One of my friends in the boat business carries the yellow nylon set from harbor freight in his car.  He swears by them. 

[Jps190]

On 4/14/2019 at 3:56 PM, John E Davies said:

The folks that assemble these trailers do not always think about drainage. The cabin steps trap lots of water when folded and need some holes. My suggestion before you remove the rubber seal is to drill a couple of 1/4” or larger drain holes as indicated.

 

 

They need to be large enough so that tree droppings won’t plug them up. In winter that may not be enough. If you store it outside the seal should be removed entirely or you will get a large ice dam.

 

Since I started this thread I have had no regrets about taking it off. Well, one regret. The tech who installed it used a permanent blue ink pen to lay out some guide lines and they won’t come off!

 

Have you alerted the factory about this issue? It is not something minor and they need to know.

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

Looks like they fixed that issue on my 2021.

[VBistro]

3 hours ago, topgun2 said:

Since you are still under warranty, I'd email, call or submit a Service ticket and see what they recommend for reattaching that seal.

Bill

I submitted a ticket yesterday and Jason's response was to try to reattach with double sided tape.  If that failed, they would replace.  I supposed that means they would have a local shop replace it?

 

mb

[topgun2]

36 minutes ago, VBistro said:

I supposed that means they would have a local shop replace it?

I'd suppose the same thing and would keep a copy of Jason's reply in my files just in case.

Bill

[VBistro]

31 minutes ago, topgun2 said:

I'd suppose the same thing and would keep a copy of Jason's reply in my files just in case.

Bill

My inclination right now is to remove the street side seal since we will only ever use that side for shade.  I do want a gutter/seal on curbside, though, so we'll do our best to fix that.

And I will save my email from Jason.

mb

[Patriot]

On 3/24/2022 at 5:24 PM, VBistro said:

I submitted a ticket yesterday and Jason's response was to try to reattach with double sided tape.  If that failed, they would replace.  I supposed that means they would have a local shop replace it?

 

mb

Last May Oliver service replaced our awning seal under warranty and they also drilled out our awning brackets so they drain properly and they now do. The new awning seal was installed just low enough that there is no longer an issue with water puddling and water drains off as it should.
When washing the roof of our Oliver I did not see any water puddling along the awning seal or brackets as it just drains off the rear of the trailer as designed. When I wash and detail our Ollie I usually have it a little nose high to facilitate water draining off the roof area. The water also drains off when the Ollie is level.

I am fine with how the new seal works now. Regular washing keeps the seal and roof area nice and clean. 

 

[hobo]

On 4/30/2022 at 5:51 PM, Patriot said:

Last May Oliver service replaced our awning seal under warranty and they also drilled out our awning brackets so they drain properly and they now do. The new awning seal was installed just low enough that there is no longer an issue with water puddling and water drains off as it should.
When washing the roof of our Oliver I did not see any water puddling along the awning seal or brackets as it just drains off the rear of the trailer as designed. When I wash and detail our Ollie I usually have it a little nose high to facilitate water draining off the roof area. The water also drains off when the Ollie is level.

I am fine with how the new seal works now. Regular washing keeps the seal and roof area nice and clean. 

 

At the rally last month, I noted the demo trailer had the weather stripping applied about 4 or 5 inches below the brackets vice right up against them.  It looked really nice and you can see where the collected water and debris issue is mitigated.  I got the product information from them and will be ordering the same weather stripping to replace on both awnings on my 2018.  Always hated the stained, brown water running down the corners.  I didn't see any other trailers modified the way but I liked what I saw.

[J-Rhett]

On 9/1/2017 at 2:14 PM, Mike and Carol said:

I still have mine and have thought about removing it.  I'm not sure it does much good. It does collect debris and is hard to clean. Will be interested in what others have experienced. Mike

I'm in the process of taking mine off now.  It has deteriorated badly and I've pulled off about 10" from the rear and there is glue still on the trailer.  Looks like I'm going to have a time of it.  I will also take off the awning completely as a little wind came up in TN and broke my mid-support plastic on the end of it and bent the opening cover of the awning.  Maybe I can fix it with a rubber hammer as it's not too bad, maybe now.  Hope I can just by the parts I need.  I've spent too much money on other things as of late.  

[John E Davies]

42 minutes ago, J-Rhett said:

I'm in the process of taking mine off now.  It has deteriorated badly and I've pulled off about 10" from the rear and there is glue still on the trailer.  

3M General Purpose Adhesive Cleaner, Quart, 08984

If you have a local Automotive Paint supply store, buy it there, I pay about $14 per quart locally. It is voodoo magic for stuff like this, and for road tar on the gelcoat or your TV. Wear gloves and have some ventilation,, it has all sorts of unpleasant solvents. It won’t hurt gelcoat or paint but it does completely strip off the wax. Body shops use it a lot for prepping the paint.

John Davies

Spokane WA

[Frank C]

For anyone removing the awning seal adhesive or other “sticky stuff” from the hull,  here’s a tool I’ve found very useful on the Oliver for removing caulk or adhesive without damaging the gel-coat.  Plastic razor blade scrapers.  Gets most of the stuff off, then final cleanup with isopropyl alcohol or automotive wax/tar remover.  

Limited-time deal: Plastic Razor Blade Scraper, 2PCS Scraper Tool with 60PCS Plastic Blades, Cleaning Scraper Remover for Stickers, Decals, Adhesive, Labels, Paint, Glass, Car, Window, Stove Top, Caulk, No Scratches https://a.co/d/4bf3egM
 

[AlbertNTerri]

I saw someone recommend those plastic "razors" a couple of months ago and bought one on amazon. It comes with about 100 blades and it was only about $12, WOW, what a great product. I used it to remove the caulking around the access panel on the bathroom vanity and it worked better than anything I've ever used in the past to remove silicone caulk with no worries about damaging the gel coat. I highly recommend it!

albert

[Trainman]

I removed mine the day it came home from the factory, due note it does remove with no problem as it was new and just installed. Older ones will most likely need some help as the sticky attaching glue will be harder to get off.  I used a commercial product sold at body shop supply stores, it's runs $25.00 per gal, but boy does it remove grease, wax, glues, etc., this product can soften paint in some cases, so testing with it is always recommended, ok for fiberglass. Do not go looking for this product at Home Depot, Lowes, Ace Hardware, etc., they don't have it. its professionally sold only. The product I use is, 5900 5 Star Xtreme. https://5starxtreme.com/cleaners/5900-maxx-solv-wax-and-grease-remover I paint a lot of models, plastic and metal, I use it as a cleaner before I paint. 

trainman

[John Dehne]

I removed them 8 months after we got Hull #901. Really  helped eliminate the black streaks where it wasn’t completely attached to the fiberglass, Trailer looks nicer without them and I do believe that on very hot and sunny days it helps ventilation under the awning to remove the heat but it is hard to tell.

 

[csevel]

It's apparent there are two 'camps' of opinion on removing the awning seal. 

I, for one, make a living space out of the shade and invariably it will rain when I camp, so keeping that area dry is a high priority.

I really like to keep runoff to a minimum and have found the seal to be pretty darn effective!

Today, I replaced my deteriorated and flaking seal with a new 1" slide out seal.  The leftover adhesive from the old was pretty easy to remove with 'Spray Nine' a cloth and a plastic razor blade.   No heavy duty removers needed.  It took maybe 30 minutes.  

My take is that you may have to replace it every five years or so, and I'm ok with that.

Here's to DRY camping!

 

[SeaDawg]

10 minutes ago, csevel said:

Here's to DRY camping

I'm with you 

If and when our old seal dies, we'll replace it with same. 

In the east, we often can leave our manual awnings out, pitched, and get a nice patio in soft rains and our typically lighter winds.

I'm on the "porch " now. Soft rain. No wind. It's pretty sweet..

All our trailers live big,, on the outside. 

[Hokieman]

We have left our awning seal installed for same reasons.  It rains often in the Southeast, daily this time of year.   My trailer has drain channels in the awning brackets, so not too much stuff collects up there.  I get up top periodically to clean the solar panels anyway, so no problem cleaning the ditch created by the awning.  The new J-channel strip Oliver is using now looks like it might be an improvement.  I look forward to reading some feedback on how well it works.  

[Mike and Carol]

12 minutes ago, Mike D. said:

The new J-channel strip Oliver is using now looks like it might be an improvement.  I look forward to reading some feedback on how well it works.  

This interest me as well.  I will be interested in how folks like it.  Mike

[csevel]

19 minutes ago, Mike and Carol said:

This interest me as well.  I will be interested in how folks like it.  Mike

I debated this pretty long.. came to the conclusion that I didn't want to clean another channel like the window gutters.  I like the dam effect of the style I have.  The rain seems to just channel to each end of the awning.

 

[hobo]

On 7/20/2022 at 6:29 PM, Frank C said:

For anyone removing the awning seal adhesive or other “sticky stuff” from the hull,  here’s a tool I’ve found very useful on the Oliver for removing caulk or adhesive without damaging the gel-coat.  Plastic razor blade scrapers.  Gets most of the stuff off, then final cleanup with isopropyl alcohol or automotive wax/tar remover.  

Limited-time deal: Plastic Razor Blade Scraper, 2PCS Scraper Tool with 60PCS Plastic Blades, Cleaning Scraper Remover for Stickers, Decals, Adhesive, Labels, Paint, Glass, Car, Window, Stove Top, Caulk, No Scratches https://a.co/d/4bf3egM
 

I purchased a set.  Thanks for the heads-up.

[skalywag]

I just removed the awning seal on our 2017 LE1 and it had deteriorated to where it was no longer effective. I was able to really clean that area for the first time while I was washing and waxing her. I plan to forgo replacing it and apply an over the window rain gutter. Amen.

[Mike and Carol]

4 hours ago, skalywag said:

I just removed the awning seal on our 2017 LE1 and it had deteriorated to where it was no longer effective. I was able to really clean that area for the first time while I was washing and waxing her. I plan to forgo replacing it and apply an over the window rain gutter. Amen.

That’s what I did four years ago.  I don’t regret the decision!

[routlaw]

5 hours ago, skalywag said:

I just removed the awning seal on our 2017 LE1 and it had deteriorated to where it was no longer effective. I was able to really clean that area for the first time while I was washing and waxing her. I plan to forgo replacing it and apply an over the window rain gutter. Amen.

Just did this myself earlier in the summer. Mine was also pretty much dry rotted and ugly. It's a job make no mistake. Have yet to install rain gutters over the windows though, probably should do that soon.

[Mountainman198]

Pulled mine off last week. Disgusting holder of all things gross. Came off in two pieces while only pulling by hand. Residual adhesive came off easily using plastic razor blades. Whole job took under 30 mins. Good riddance!

[routlaw]

5 hours ago, Mountainman198 said:

Pulled mine off last week. Disgusting holder of all things gross. Came off in two pieces while only pulling by hand. Residual adhesive came off easily using plastic razor blades. Whole job took under 30 mins. Good riddance!

Wow, lucky man. Mine was a bit messier and more difficult than that. 

[jd1923]

I'm assuming mine was removed by previous owner, replaced with a nice drip edge. Can somebody confirm who knows the OEM "rain seal?"

Edited October 9 by jd1923