Outside reflectors

[Steph and Dud B]

Both of our amber reflectors on the front of the trailer are filling with water. Anyone know how these are attached?

[John E Davies]

They are glued on, cut the outside sealer away and carefully pry them off using a thin flexible putty knife. If you are careful you can use a mallet to tap the putty knife, to shear the glue. I don’t know what type of glue they used, I personally would use a silicone adhesive sealant like 3M 4000 UV Fast Cure. I removed one of the rear red ones a couple of months ago to run wires there, the old stuff came off the hull easily with a plastic razor blade and some solvent.

Flexible Putty Knife Scraper Tool, Spackle Knife Stainless Steel Blade with Soft Grip Handle,

FYI, I would drill a teeeeny drain hole (1/6” or smaller) at the bottom of each of the lenses to let the water out, then see if it dries out OK when it gets in direct sun. If it does, you can reseal the outside and not replace them. Don’t leave the hole open, dust will enter. You could actually leave the water inside, but the next time it freezes it will probably break.

John Davies

Spokane WA

[Rivernerd]

23 minutes ago, John E Davies said:

FYI, I would drill a teeeeny drain hole (1/6” or smaller) at the bottom of each of the lenses to let the water out, then see if it dries out OK when it gets in direct sun. If it does, you can reseal the outside and not replace them. Don’t leave the hole open, dust will enter.

Great suggestion!  But, how about drilling the small hole, letting it drain, then filling the hole with clear caulk?  If the reflector fills with water again, it should be easy to drill out the caulk, drain again and re-caulk.

[AndrewK]

Speaking from experience, they are attached with a paper backed adhesive and then caulked.

They come off very easily with a plastic razor blade.

They fill up with water because they are mounted on a rounded part of the trailer and do not adhere flat.  Water gets in around the caulk and soaks the paper backing.

I have replaced ours and adhered them in spots where the trailer is flat.  

Andrew

[Frank C]

I’m having the same issue.  I may just remove the old reflectors and replace them with these DOT approved reflective stickers.  No caulking needed, no place for water to enter.  Available in amber and red.   And they have the added benefits of less weight and lower wind resistance! 😂

3" Inch Round DOT-SAE Amber/Red High Visibility Reflective Stick-On Prism Reflector | Strong Adhesive/Weatherproof | Trailer Camper RV Flatbed Fender Property Boat Marine (Amber, Qty 4) https://a.co/d/5fPFVUT

 

[Galway Girl]

My front reflectors failed first...so I had Oliver Service sell and ship me the replacement reflectors for a few $.
Like others I found them a bit tricky to remove initially, but after realizing that the paper left behind could be scraped off with the plastic razor blades it went much faster.

I also  like the idea of finding a flexible DOT approved sticker as mentioned earlier. In my case bought a similar set of 2 each the Red and Amber 3M version from Amazon as my backup for the next time I have to do that repair.  I threw them in my travel parts kit.