Motorhome side window leak

John O Gorman
John O Gorman Forum Participant Posts: 5
edited July 2023 in Motorhomes #1

Hi

I have a Knaus Sun Ti motorhome. We had a small leak in one of the side windows recently. I took out the window, cleaned the old adhesive off the rubber seal with white spirits, (which is a slow and very messy job). I put rubber seal back using dab off sealant – Dekalin Dekaseal 8936. I then sealed the very edges with Wurth PU Marine adhesive sealant. This is what I had used last year to reseal all the roof lights and it has worked very well. My plan now is to prevent another leak by taking out the remaining side windows and resealing them as well.

The dab off Dekaseal, while excellent for the roof lights is very chunky for the side windows. It prevented the rubber seal going in as flush with the wall of the motorhome as previously. 

I have 2 questions:

1 - Is there an alternative sealant to reseal the windows that will enable a flusher fit to the side walls?

2 – what is the best way to get the old adhesive off the rubber seals before putting on any new sealant?

Any suggestions welcome

Comments

  • peedee
    peedee Club Member Posts: 9,383 ✭
    1000 Comments Name Dropper
    edited August 2023 #2

    I am guessing that the answer to 2 will depend on the type of sealant used. I found I could peel most of mine off using my thumb and fingers and finally clean up with white spirit. Perhaps my windows are of a different make to yours but the rubber seal can simply be pushed into its recess with no need for a dab of sealant. I use Sikaflex 512. I think there is also a marine version available. I bought it once from a chandlery and thought it a better product but it is more expensive than the normal 512.

    peedee

  • John O Gorman
    John O Gorman Forum Participant Posts: 5
    edited August 2023 #3

    Thanks peedee for your reply. My rubber seals fits on both the inside and outside (its U-shaped) and had some form of white adhesive holding it inplace in addition to metal staples all the way around. The adhesive was really difficult to get off - unfortunatley unable to peel it. I have used marine sikaflex before on a boat. It is super but really difficult to ever get off again if you have to work on it 

  • John O Gorman
    John O Gorman Forum Participant Posts: 5
    edited August 2023 #4

    I finally went for a replacement butyl tape, removed the rubber surround and cleaned it out with white spirits - a very slow and messy job. I suspect it would be easier to replace the rubber surround rather than clean the old butyl adhesive from the existiing one. It would save a considerable amount of time but would cost an extra £300 in material if i do all the side windows as a preventive measure. 

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