Window Weatherstrip Cleaning

[GAP]

I am starting my fall clean up.  Noticed that the weather stripping around the exterior of the windows, has some funk and grey blotching.  I did a search here and found that one person was getting modest success by soaking the strips in a bucket of bleach water.  I do remember reading in the forum some time past that the was a product that worked well in bringing these strips back to white.  Can anyone share what that product is?

Gerry

[JohnL]

I have been using Star Brite Mold and mildew stain remover. It seems to be very effective at removing similar stains from my weather stripping. It's available on Amazon and West Marine.

[topgun2]

Or ----

You could simply ditch the white window molding and get the black.  Once and done versus dealing with the funk and grey.

Bill

[bhncb]

5 hours ago, JohnL said:

I have been using Star Brite Mold and mildew stain remover. It seems to be very effective at removing similar stains from my weather stripping.

I second this recommendation. I also follow up with their Mildew Stain Blocker.

http://www.starbrite.com/item/mildew-stain-blocker-with-nano-tech-barrier

[csevel]

7 hours ago, topgun2 said:

Or ----

You could simply ditch the white window molding and get the black.  Once and done versus dealing with the funk and grey.

Bill

Here's the link to order the black glass seal. 🙂

https://www.pellandent.com/Half-Inch-Glass-Vinyl-Seal

[ShallowGal]

Nothing works. After trying several products designed to clean mold and several products designed to clean other tough stains (CLR, Tidy Bowl, Hull cleaner, TSP) I thought, what the heck & soaked one overnight in undiluted outdoor bleach. Nothing. Buy the black ones.

[Trainman]

I just buffed and waxed the trailer as I posted under this section and the window white trim is the last thing I need to deal with. I was going to call Oliver Service and see who manufactures these windows and see if I could buy the materials from them. I could go with the black if need be and if the white is going to do the same thing again (my trailer is a 2019) then black would be the better choice. My back emergency window has black and not white and it looks just fine to me, it does go well with the deep tint glass and is pretty much unnoticeable. The black looks like a better choice over the long haul. 

trainman

[dewdev]

I just replaced mine with black. I ordered 18 feet (as recommended in a past post) which was enought to do the 3 large windows and the bathroom window, with a little left over, but not enough to also do the back window which already had a black gasket. If you want to do all the windows including the back window, I think you should order around 21 feet. You should take your own measurements to confirm the length though. 

The black looks really good, a lot better than the white. 

[SeaDawg]

I've seen photos of the black installed,  and I agree with dewdev. I think it looks really sharp, and makes the windows look larger. 

 

[RunninOnMT]

 Earlier this past summer I too replaced the white seals with black on our 2017 Ollie.  Totally agree with the above comments that it looks much better!

I ordered the material from Pelland Enterprises.  Their website is  www.pellandent.com.

You'll want to order 1/2 inch Glass Vinyl seal, #H109-376.  And you'll need to specify Black.

Jim

 

 

[Trainman]

Wow, I just looked it up at Pellandent and it is priced a $5.17 per foot, plus shipping. I think I can take my white out and repaint it with a black vinyl spray paint and do a very good job. What is the worst that can happen, I have to repaint it in 2-3 years and it will probably do the same thing the white did over a period of time as it probably the same material. I will let you know how this works out in the future.

trainman

[csevel]

50 minutes ago, Trainman said:

Wow, I just looked it up at Pellandent and it is priced a $5.17 per foot, plus shipping. I think I can take my white out and repaint it with a black vinyl spray paint and do a very good job. What is the worst that can happen, I have to repaint it in 2-3 years and it will probably do the same thing the white did over a period of time as it probably the same material. I will let you know how this works out in the future.

trainman

I too am a little apprehensive to spend $100 on a gasket, especially since ILOVHER has had quite a few additional expenditures as of late.  Your idea sounded intriguing to me so I went down the investigative rabbit hole.  Looks like a can of VHT vinyl dye in black might just be a worthy and less expensive option.  I may just try it!

https://www.amazon.com/VHT-SP942-Vinyl-Black-Satin/dp/B000CPIN9S?th=1

[Trainman]

csevel, thanks for that info on a dye, I see that it is for interior, so using it outside may require using it more often, but I see that is not being a problem. Let us know how will it holds up, I know it will take time for your posting on this.

trainman

[Trainman]

One other thing I thought of using is black vehicle 3m striping, does hold up well on exterior use, so clean the vinyl with a good cleaner product for vinyl and put it on. This striping is sold in different sizes, so measure an order the color and size you would need, 1" should work well. I would put it one with the molding installed on the windows because of the rounded corners. Being a retired body shop for 35 plus years I see no problem why this wouldn't work. If your not good with working with decals/striping materials get help from someone who is. 

trainman

[dewdev]

Yes the Pellandent gasket is pricey but you will only hopefully be doing it once. Install is quick. After all the Ollie is pricey. Why compromise?

[SeaDawg]

When we replace our old gasket,  we'll order black. 

Like dewdev , I'll do it once, and done 

[JohnL]

If it gets to the point where routine cleaning doesn't work, I'll go with the black. No problem so far.

[ADKCamper]

Some observations regarding the window seals on our Elite:

The exposed top width of the seals on the rear emergency / escape window is about 3/4", while the exposed top width of all the other window seals is about 1" (0.960" according to Pellandent). I haven't pulled the rear seal out, so I don't know if the ID is the same 1/2" that it is for all of the other windows, or not. I also didn't see any 3/4" (top exposure) window seal on the Pellandent website... so... do folks trim the 0.96" top exposure down to 3/4" with a razor knife before installing, or what?

After measuring the length of the window seals on my 2018 Elite, noticing the varying lengths of window seal to purchase being recommended above, looking at photos of the Elite and Elite II, and taking into account the option of replacing the emergency/escape rear window (or not), I can only conclude that the windows on either side of the rear dinette/bed area are larger on the Elite II than they are on the Elite.

Approximate window seal length measurements for my 2018 Elite are as follows:

• Rear Emergency/escape window: 3/4" wide top exposure, 47" long
• Curbside bed window: 1" wide top exposure, 39" long
• Streetside bed window: 1" wide top exposure, 39" long
• Streetside dinette window: 1" wide top exposure, 57" long
• Bathroom window: 1" wide top exposure, 24" long

Total 2018 Elite window seal length (not including rear emergency/escape window): 159" = 13'3"

Total 2018 Elite window seal length (including rear emergency/escape window): 206" = 17'2"

So for all windows on a 2018 Elite, *assuming* we can use the same size seals for the rear emergency/escape window, 17'2" (plus a little bit of spare... rounding up to 18' as recommended above) should be enough.

The Elite II *appears* to have larger rear dinette/bed windows, likely with 57" seal lengths, so the 21' measurement referenced above *should* be sufficient for the Elite II. I don't have an Elite II handy to personally measure, so if someone with an Elite II can confirm this window measurement assumption, that would be helpful for the sake of clarity.

Echoing what many others have already said... thank you so much for documenting and sharing "everything Ollie" 🙂

 

[SeaDawg]

@ADKCamper, it's quite possible that your Elite windows could use a different weatherstripping. The only Elite owner that I remember replacing the weatherstripping is @Bshaffer. Her trailer, however, is a 2008, and I  know the windows have changed since then. 

You might open a service ticket and see if Oliver can verify the proper product for you.

[C&MCurrie]

I’d like to offer another alternative to replacing the white weather seal. I just painted mine with SEM ColorCoat spray paint specially developed for flexible vinyl. I had a half full can of satin black from a previous project. Turned out beautifully but I guess time will tell how well it holds up. 

[topgun2]

C&M C

I like the way you think!  Hopefully the paint will hold up well and since there is little reason for that seal to get scratched or nicked it will be good on that front too.

Let us know in a year or so how its going.

Bill