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katoomer's avatar
katoomer
Explorer
Sep 30, 2015

clear coat flaking off roof edge panels

A couple months ago I noticed the clear coat peeling or flaking off in a half dozen or so spots on the radiused roof edge panels on our coach. Always in the middle of the panel, never near the edge and only on a horizontal area not vertical. I can actually peel it off with my fingernail. Coach has been winter stored under cover for the first 4 yrs. and had a cover for the last 2 winters. Always kept clean and waxed twice a year. Local body shop that I trust
says it it caused by poor adhesion when originally painted. If it was from cover rubbing on the paint I should not be able to scratch it off with my fingernail so please don't suggest that. I also noticed a soft spot in the middle of one panel in the fibreglass to the point that I could poke a hole in it with my finger if I pushed hard enough (poor fibreglass work). I'm hoping to do a bit of touch up with spray clear in affected areas only with the hope of stopping any further progression. Has anyone else had this problem with their Newmars?
Lucky for Newmar it didn't appear until long after my warranty expired (not lucky for me).
Class A
  • rgatijnet1's avatar
    rgatijnet1
    Explorer III
    Sep 30, 2015
    Tom/Barb wrote:
    rgatijnet1 wrote:
    The bad thing is that your clear coat contains the most UV protection


    Do you have a reference for that statement?

    I've never seen any paint manufacturer make that claim.


    House of Color urethane clear
  • Tom_Barb's avatar
    Tom_Barb
    Explorer
    Sep 30, 2015
    rgatijnet1 wrote:
    The bad thing is that your clear coat contains the most UV protection


    Do you have a reference for that statement?

    I've never seen any paint manufacturer make that claim.
  • katoomer's avatar
    katoomer
    Explorer
    Sep 30, 2015
    Thanks for all the quick responses. My body shop recommended that I sand lightly and polish it with a polishing compound. I'll try that for starters
  • Bruce_Brown's avatar
    Bruce_Brown
    Moderator
    Sep 30, 2015
    I'm even seeing this issue showing up on cars now too, usually the darker colors.

    As far as not being able to apply the clear quick enough, the base coat I use gives you 24 hours to clear it before needing any extra prep work.

    Having said that, I'm sure in a production facility they're using a more environmentally friendly paint, which certainly creates an entirely different set of issues - as seen here.
  • rgatijnet1's avatar
    rgatijnet1
    Explorer III
    Sep 30, 2015
    The clear coat peeling is not unique to any brand of RV. It is caused by not using enough painters applying the clear coat to be able to apply it before the base coat has set up. To aggravate this, the clear coat is not put on evenly and it is common for the clear coat to be applied too thin in some areas, especially on flat panels.
    It is a paint application problem rather than a paint problem. The bad thing is that your clear coat contains the most UV protection and when it is applied too thin, the base coat does not get the protection that it should have.
    The only permanent solution is to sand it all down and apply the paint properly.
    They do make gauges to check the paint thickness that can be used to tell if the clear coat has been applied properly all over the RV. It is something you cannot tell by looking at the coach and unless you accurately measure the paint thickness before taking delivery you will have no recourse when the paint fails a few years down the road. Even a poor paint job will last for a couple of years, or well past the warranty time frame.
  • s_N_s's avatar
    s_N_s
    Explorer
    Sep 30, 2015
    It's an ongoing problem with a lot of coaches that I have seen. Ours has the same problem. It's been painted once by the factory already and is peeling again. The quoted me $3300 to re-paint it. Mike's Custom Painting in IN quoted me $1875. I just haven't had the opportunity to get to there location to get it done. Newmars excuse to me was I didn't wax it enough. Yeah right. :R Mike's site is www.mikescustompaintinginc.com I've corresponded with Livia.
  • byronlj's avatar
    byronlj
    Explorer
    Sep 30, 2015
    I don't have a Newmar, but my front cap which is painted and clear coated, is peeling like yours. It is occurring right at the transition of where I quit waxing. I lightly sanded mine smooth and applied several clear coats. I am going to apply wax over this tomorrow. Luckily this is occurring on the top horizontal surface where it is not noticeable from the ground. I will have to keep an eye on it and see if my cheap fix works.
    Dave
  • Tom_Barb's avatar
    Tom_Barb
    Explorer
    Sep 30, 2015
    Our Newmar is 15 years old, and yes we have peeling clear coat, All I do is pressure wash the spot, get all the loose stuff off and buff the area with a buffer and #1 polishing rouge, wax and leave it alone.

    You can't tell where we have clear coat and where we don't
  • imgoin4it's avatar
    imgoin4it
    Explorer
    Sep 30, 2015
    Very common problem with Newmar products in that time frame. Per Newmar it was a problem with the clear coat product and they corrected it sometime later. Happened to mine and many others. I tried fixing mine. The color coat was so thin that it would sand off when sand paper touched it. Got an estimate to fix for $3000. Found that Newmar at that time had a special price to fix meaning repaint the roof and radius for $1200. I took mine to the factory and it was redone. Three years later still good.

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