Seal the rear Oliver Light (re-caulk?)

[csevel]

So after struggling and cursing at my caulking gun and the stupid thick expensive marine sealant above.. Ive had success!  Used the sealant as the adhesive and the outer caulk line.  A little more detailed cleanup and I will be golden! 

[Wayfinder]

Great job. Looks better than mine, but apparently my sign will remain on the Ollie during a category 5 hurricane. 

😁

[ScubaRx]

19 minutes ago, Erika E said:

Great job. Looks better than mine, but apparently my sign will remain on the Ollie during a category 5 hurricane. 

😁

Don't be too concerned about the 5200 sealant. If it's not leaking now, it's unlikely you would every need to remove it again. I did use some of that stuff to affix a metal plate to the roof to stick a magnetic antenna to. Then I decided I wanted to move it. It's still there...and will be, apparently.

[ScubaRx]

1 hour ago, csevel said:

So after struggling and cursing at my caulking gun and the stupid thick expensive marine sealant above.. Ive had success!  Used the sealant as the adhesive and the outer caulk line.  A little more detailed cleanup and I will be golden! 

Wow, great job. Any sign shop can recut that vinyl appliqué for you and make it say whatever you might want.

[SeaDawg]

That looks great! I think you need to give yourself a HUGE pat on the back. And, enjoy an evening with your feet up.

None of the really good adhesive sealants are easy-to-use, imo. Nor, do they store well. Short shelf life, even sealed with foil and refrigerated.

Next time you need it, loctite marine can be ordered from Lowe's.  They don't stock it on the shelf. We can get it at our local store within a day or three. With a fresh julian date. 

[csevel]

37 minutes ago, SeaDawg said:

That looks great! I think you need to give yourself a HUGE pat on the back. And, enjoy an evening with your feet up.

None of the really good adhesive sealants are easy-to-use, imo. Nor, do they store well. Short shelf life, even sealed with foil and refrigerated.

Next time you need it, loctite marine can be ordered from Lowe's.  They don't stock it on the shelf. We can get it at our local store within a day or three. With a fresh julian date. 

I did in fact use the Loctite Marine from HD in the big caulk tube.  I won't be buying it again as it was a bear to get flowing and it was not particularly easy to work with.  I'm sure it's a great product, just wish I would have bought the smaller hand held tube.

[John E Davies]

Great job, that repair looks great. FYI everybody, this dirt pattern is the classic indicator of a water leak. The gaps are one reason I really dislike using any kind of tape. The odds of it leaking in the future are significantly higher IMHO.

Also FYI, the rear egress window comes from the factory with huge gaps in the lower seal, it may leak a little water when towing but that should go back out the gaps. Dust however will not, and you will see significant dust accumulations along the inside of the window and track, on the rear of the blind, and above the chrome belt line strip. Oliver Service told me that they were all made this way and they don’t bother fixing the problem. I guess it isn’t a problem until the day you venture off pavement…. which bothers me because the trailer is prominently advertised as off-road capable. Unlatch the red handles and swing the entire window up to inspect or fix the seal.

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

[csevel]

3 hours ago, John E Davies said:

Great job, that repair looks great. FYI everybody, this dirt pattern is the classic indicator of a water leak. The gaps are one reason I really dislike using any kind of tape. The odds of it leaking in the future are significantly higher IMHO.

Also FYI, the rear egress window comes from the factory with huge gaps in the lower seal, it may leak a little water when towing but that should go back out the gaps. Dust however will not, and you will see significant dust accumulations along the inside of the window and traaack, on the rear of the blind, and above the chrome belt line strip. Oliver Service told me that they were all made this way and they don’t bother fixing the problem. I guess it isn’t a problem until the day you venture off pavement…. which bothers me because the trailer is prominently advertised as off-road capable. Unlatch the red handles and swing the entire window up to inspect or fix the seal.

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

Thank you.  This is why I pushed the egress window out and thoroughly cleaned all the tracks.  I even lifted the rubber up and cleaned everything and toothbrushed the weep holes!  Now you can understand the reasoning behind naming my Casita 'OCD' ~ Obessive Casita Disorder! 

I'm hoping that I don't get too much dust now that I finally figured out how to pop the screen back in.  Looks like such a poor design to use those metal clips to hold it in.  I had no idea that screen is stationary which is why I couldn't figure out how to put it back. There's at least a quarter inch gap and a dust collector there.  Certainly something to keep an eye on.

Now ~ On to installing the MaxxAir Window Vents that I purposely took off my Casita before selling her to use on the ILOVHER!

[John E Davies]

cseval, I removed that rear egress screen, wrapped it carefully and stored it on my garage shelf. I rarely open that back slider, the two side windows take care of cross ventilation, and I like the view much more with it and those two stupid peeling exit stickers gone. I mounted a new single sticker above the opening, not on the glass.

John Davies

Spokane WA

[SeaDawg]

3 hours ago, csevel said:

On to installing the MaxxAir Window Vents that I purposely took off my Casita before selling her to use on the ILOVHER!

We put the maxxair window vents on ours about ten years ago. So glad we did. And so disappointed that they are no longer available.  So nice to be able to leave the window open a bit in the rain.

[DavePhelps]

That was a great repair you did csevel, very clean!!

This whole lense issue seems seems to be a pita to me. They all eventually leak, and the way Oliver cuts them in is just not good practice. Referring to John's pic above, a square corner cut has no place in fiberglass work, especially work that is subject to the stresses that boats and trailers are.  Why Oliver does not properly radius their corners really bugs me as I know they must know better. Square corners concentrate stresses to a point greatly increasing the likelihood of fracture. I already have small fractures in the gelcoat radiating out from my rear lense corners. In fact, all the cutouts in my trailer were hacked out with what looks like a sawzall! Some corners are even overcut! It is just poor workmanship plain and simple. It may seem trivial, but when I lift up my seat access panels and see overcut square corners, it just makes me feel bad, as I know Oliver could do so much better. And they should do better if they really want to live up to their claim of building a superior trailer, which I will admit, they almost do. But, they still have lots of room to improve....  Personally, I'd prefer a small light bar up there or nothing at all.  Finally, I believe a continuous ribbon of good quality marine butyl tape with a tight, carefully scarfed butt joint will not leak (best done on a cool day). Follow up with a thin bead of 3m 4200 around the exterior perimeter to clean it all up and you should be good to go for a very long time. My 2 cents!

Dave

[SeaDawg]

The lens does have a radius, though tight.

I "think" the lens is probably acrylic, like most boat ports, to allow similar flex to fiberglass.  Therefore,  I would avoid 3m 4200 (polyurethane) , as it doesn't  really play well with acrylic. Polycarbonate doesn't flex as well as fiberglass or acrylic,  from my experience,  though it's tougher, and more uv resistant.  I'm not sure, so tried to cover the spread.

If I  were to use a 3m product. I'd probably choose 3m 4000uv, a polyether, in that application. 

I'm not sure, @DavePhelps, what you meant by good marine tape.

I totally  agree, as I've said previously a dozen times, that an applied light would be a better solution . It would save a ton of of resealing and aggravation,  imo.

 

[DavePhelps]

Seadawg,

Yes, the lense is radiused, but more importantly, the cut out in the fiberglass is square cut, this is not good practice.
As for the butyl tape, not all are created equal. Best I've found so far after reading many boating forums and personal use is Bed-it tape from Compass Marine.
Here is a link talking about the tape and how fiberglass should be properly worked:
https://marinehowto.com/bed-it-tape/  It is of course directed towards marine users, but all the fundamentals still apply for our trailers!

The 4200 has stuck to my lense so far. I carefully wiped the edge of the lense with MEK on a Q-tip before installing and sealing. But you may be right about there being better sealants for that particular application. I have 3m 4200 around as it works well for everything else on the trailer.

Dave

 

 

[SeaDawg]

I love good synthetic butyl. It's my go- to sealant product for ports and windows. It's a wonderful,  old school sealant, flexible, self -healing, wide temperature range, etc.

 But, butyl still requires mechanical fastening with a trim ring or multiple screws. It's not an true adhesive . That's where modern, compatible adhesive/sealants take the place.

3m 4200 is a great adhesive sealant, with many materials. But not for fg to acrylic. Imo. They'll definitely "stick."  Great adhesion, and elasticity,  but 4200, as a polyurethane,  isn't long term compatible with acrylic, according to my research.  

The older I get, the longer I want my work to last. (The harder it is for us to redo. 😅)

The lens is radiused. It will probably do the most movement,  as its applied to the outside,  within the radiused molded inset. I'm  not concerned about the squarish cutouts. Not exactly square peg in a round hole,imo..  

[Maverick]

There has been a lot of discussion about re-sealing the rear Oliver Light; if there is no water leak and no need to remove the light fixture completely so what is the best caulk to go around the perimeter of the light fixture?

[SeaDawg]

Use your preferred marine caulk, but keep some caveats in mind. 

 Don't use 3m 5200. 5200 shouldn't be used in any situation that's not permanent.  Too difficult to remove. Besides, it's not a good choice as a sealant, anyway.

Don't use any polyurethane caulk, as polyurethane doesn't play well with acrylics and polycarbonate.  Some formulas just don't stay affixed. Others actually attack the plastics.

We've been using loctite marine fast dry, lately,  as it tested well in Practical Sailor. Not as easy to use as silicone based, but I  am personally not a fan of silicon with fiberglass. Lots of people do like it, it's easier to use, and I  have read that some of the marine silicone will last for years.

West Marine did a good article on choosing the right sealant for the job at hand:

https://www.westmarine.com/WestAdvisor/How-to-Select-Sealants-and-Caulk

I usually research any new sealants we're looking at on Practical Sailors testing reports.

 

[DavePhelps]

Here's a link to a Practical Sailors article/review on different sealants that SeaDawg may have been talking about. Our discussion above got me thinking a bit more about sealants in particular applications and I came upon this fine review:

https://www.practical-sailor.com/boat-maintenance/marine-sealant-adhesion-tests

Education is ever evolving!

Dave

[SeaDawg]

@DavePhelps, thanks for posting that link. It's one of the many I use. Practical Sailor doesn't accept advertising or compensation.  Kind of like the consumer reports of the marine world. Much of which applies to our boats on wheels .

[SeaDawg]

Paul and I  just talked (again) tonight about sealants, and our many (20 or more)  ports and hatches on our 40+ year old sailboat. Many of the original ports are still fine, probably bedded with butyl, many years ago..

The few (4)  plastic (acrylic or polycarbonate) ports we replaced with metal, 14 or 15 years ago, and were bedded with good quality butyl.

We've never caulked any of the butyl bedded ports, old or new, and they don't leak.

This is the source of my love affair with butyl.

[csevel]

To put the sealant conversation to rest, we had a significant rain all day yesterday and the sealant held well!  No leaks.. So far! 

Here is the silver lining in all this ~ The land yacht got a name! 

[topgun2]

Twist likes it too!

 

[John E Davies]

An important caution about 3M 4200 from the manufacturer 

“Note: Alcohol will interfere with the curing process and extra care must be taken when using alcohol as a cleaning solvent to prevent any contact with the sealant.”

https://3m.citrination.com/pif/000890?locale=en-US

I continue to use and like this stuff, maybe some issues result from misapplication by people using isopropyl alcohol to prep the surfaces…? 3M Adhesive Cleaner (08984), $15 per quart at your local automotive paint supplier, is a great choice and it won’t hinder the cure. It is really important to read these product labels carefully, don’t proceed blindly.

John Davies

Spokane WA

[Wayfinder]

Thanks @csevel. I know Erika will want to change the logo too. How easy did the sign go onto glass?  I assume it's vinyl?!  

[SeaDawg]

9 hours ago, John E Davies said:

I continue to use and like this stuff, maybe some issues result from misapplication by people using isopropyl alcohol to prep the surfaces…? 3M Adhesive Cleaner (08984), $15 per quart at your local automotive paint supplier, is a great choice and it won’t hinder the cure. It is really important to read these product labels carefully, don’t proceed blindly.

It's great, for the right job.

I personally wouldn't use it for the third tail light.

And yes, always important to read all the instructions. 

[csevel]

So if anyone is still following this thread or is remotely interested...after all that fuss and muss over the lens install, on my state park shakedown trip, just 10 minutes from my house, my husband noticed that the brake light is not illuminating!  Holy smokes, I'm irritated!  I realize we can troubleshoot from the inside of the trailer but still!   I imagine something got wet and shorted.