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Factory adhesive/sealant


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For years the go to adhesive/sealant has been 3M 4000.

 

Recently, the factory began using something else in addition to the 4000. I’ll get the name and report back.

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Steve, Tali and our dog Rocky plus our beloved Storm, Maggie, Lucy and Reacher (all waiting at the Rainbow Bridge)

2008 Legacy Elite I - Outlaw Oliver, Hull #026 | 2014 Legacy Elite II - Outlaw Oliver, Hull #050 | 2022 Silverado High Country 3500HD SRW Diesel 4x4 

 

             801469912_StatesVisitedTaliandSteve08-23-2021-I.jpg.26814499292ab76ee55b889b69ad3ef0.jpg1226003278_StatesVisitedTaliandSteve08-23-2021-H.jpg.dc46129cb4967a7fd2531b16699e9e45.jpg

 

 

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I had to replace the little antenna on the back of the Oliver. I asked Jason in service if they used 5200?. He said no, they used white silicone. He thought it was more flexible. I had a small tube of clear that I carry anyway and it has worked great and easy to use. (I usually coat electrical butt splices and such with it to waterproof, has worked well for years in a salt water environment at the coast)...

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Bill,

 

The rear Oliver LED exterior red lens started leaking into the upper rear cabinet during 2016. Removed the the exterior lens and cleaned out the original sealant. It was tough to remove the original sealant. The lens was temporarily resealed with clear silicone and taken to Oliver, they resealed it during 2016 guessing with 3M 4000, it eventually started leaking again. Removed the lens and sealant again, decided to use a more flexible sealant this time. I used white Marine silicone last year, no leak issues since.

 

The other Bill :) ,

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LE2

 

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4000 is a great choice - it is very resistant to UV and will not yellow - but all of the high tech 3M sealants are a pain because they must be used within about a day or two. Once exposed to air the entire tube will “kick off” and you won’t be able to use it the next time. I really wish they would offer these products in a 2 ounce size for say $4. It is very expensive to use the bigger tubes for a small repair. ... https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-products/~/3M-Marine-Adhesive-Sealant-4000-UV/?N=5002385+3293242579&rt=rud

 

Be aware that regular cheap silicone sealers are generally a poor choice, the ones that do not include the word “adhesive” in their name. The better grades of Marine ADHESIVE sealer work fine for small stuff. But none of the silicones stick very well to stainless steel. If you have a job that penetrates the roof, use 4000.

 

5200 is for super permanent jobs. Do not mess with 5200 if you ever plan to remove it wthout a lot of swearing!

 

I think I told this story before, but I will repeat it. I bought a 27 ft SeaRay cruiser new in 1988. They built it with cheap clear silicone and within six months every joint on all the stressed parts on the deck (such as cleats and life rail stanchions) opened up and let water into the balsa core. We are talking about several dozen holes. The upper and lower surfaces delaminated, when the core swelled and became mushy. When you walked on it, water would squirt out of fittings. They had to ship it to Arizona where it had been built. I insisted that they use 5200 for the big hull to deck joint, and 4000 for all the small parts when they installed a completely new deck. That blew three months of a short Seattle boating season....

 

It taught me a big lesson about balsa core construction, stainless parts, silicone sealer and idiotically poor build quality in general. Maybe that is why I expect a little too much from Oliver in terms of quality control....

 

As far as prep work, NEVER use alcohol for cleaning parts that you will glue with 4000 or its brother products. It will prevent the sealer from bonding. Use MEK, lacquer thinner or a similar commercial solvent. It says this in the instructions on the tube.

 

It pays to use a good product, even if it costs a lot more. Weigh the extra cost against getting a leak, having to deal with the mess and possible damage, and having to do the repair all over again .....

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

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SOLD 07/23 "Mouse":  2017 Legacy Elite II Two Beds, Hull Number 218, See my HOW TO threads: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/john-e-davies-how-to-threads-and-tech-articles-links/

Tow Vehicle: 2013 Land Cruiser 200, 32” LT tires, airbags, Safari snorkel, Maggiolina Grand Tour 360 Carbon RTT.

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We used GE Silicone that is available from any Home Depot or Lowe's (I am sure most hardware stores have it too). The nice thing is it comes in a small tube, about the size of a large tube of toothpaste. No caulking gun needed. There is a built in nozzle, that when capped is reusable the next time you want some. The tube also fits in your tool pouch. It works extremely well, sets overnight, and remains flexible.

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Many silicone adhesive sealants are for compression gasket applications. After I removed what I believed to be 3M 4000 two times on the rear exterior Oliver LED lens above the rear window, did not want to remove it again since it's very tough stuff.

 

Both times water leaked down from the LED housing, between the inner and outer camper shells around the rear window dripping from the bottom of the rear window onto the curbside mattress.

 

Ended up using a flexible Marine silicone sealant to mount/seal the lens.  This silicone is a multi purpose marine sealant/adhesive for above and below water applications (compression gasket) and it also bonds to fiberglass, plastic, wood, glass, metal, and ceramic tiles. No leaks for over a year since using marine silicone to seal/secure the exterior LED lens.

 

 

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LE2

 

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Ended up using a flexible Marine silicone sealant to mount/seal the lens.

The other Bill:

 

What was the name of the product that you used?

 

(Another) Bill

 

 

Bill,

 

Starbrite white marine silicone sealant/adhesive used.

 

IMG_2032-M.jpg

 

Here's the Oliver lens that was removed along with sealant and resealed with white marine silicone:

 

IMG_0145-M.jpg

 

Off Topic:

 

Bill,

 

Update, going to test 3" black tank valve for bypass next week after cable adjustment. If the valve needs to be replaced, will post photos/installation in your original thread about this topic, will see how it goes.

 

William  :)

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LE2

 

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  • 10 months later...

I’ve had to remove the shelf under the bathroom sink. I found some plastic razor blades and scraped the old sealant off the fiberglass around the hole and the plastic around the shelf edge. I can’t scrape any more off. Is there a solvent that will remove the thin layer of remaining sealant or do I just put it back together and seal with new sealant?

 

This is the sealant I will be using

 

https://www.boatlife.com/product/lifeseal-sealant-tubes/

Bill and Martha

2018 LEII Hull 313

2019 Chevrolet 2500HD Duramax

 

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The sealant that is now used at Oliver is ASI (American Sealants, inc) 335. It’s a 100% neutral cure RTV silicone. I have used it and it’s very good. I have also used a GE silicone product stock number SIL2KB WHT 140648. This seems similar (don’t really know) and it works pretty good as well.

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2017 Elite II, Hull #208

2019 Chevy HD 2500 Duramax

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