I did the Zep floor finish process on my motorhome last fall. It looked great but now I am in the desert southwest and the wax is turning white and peeling off only on the stripes on the sides of the motorhome. It is still fine on the white where it stays cooler but on the dark gray stripes it is peeling bad. Any ideas? How could I remove the wax on the stripes and not affect the white parts? I would hate to start a whole new process.

its not wax ,its a floor finish. hope some body can help.

I too was going to do the Zep wax thing, then I read how heavy exposure to sun can make it peel. I did some reserch and found that Zep does not have UV protection. I came up with Polyglow, originally made for boats. Just finished it this weekend, looks great. You might be able to recoat with Polyglow.Ken

I suspect something is wrong with the prep done before applying the Zep. I live in south TX and applied Zep to my 5th wheel 14 months ago. It sits in full sun year-round and there is no sign of peeling on any surface, including "stripes" and decals.I'd suggest buying some Zep floor stripper, testing a small area to be sure it works without removing your stripes, then use it to remove the flaking Zep areas. Ammonia may also work.If it were me I would then use Barkeeper's Friend to be sure everything was off the flaked area, wash the entire RV with TSP, rinsing thoroughly before allowing to dry and re-ZEPing the entire RV. You will have to apply several coats (4-5) on the stripped area, but one coat elsewhere will probably do the job.

REWahoo wrote:I suspect something is wrong with the prep done before applying the Zep. I live in south TX and applied Zep to my 5th wheel 14 months ago. It sits in full sun year-round and there is no sign of peeling on any surface, including "stripes" and decals.I'd suggest buying some Zep floor stripper, testing a small area to be sure it works without removing your stripes, then use it to remove the flaking Zep areas. Ammonia may also work.If it were me I would then use Barkeeper's Friend to be sure everything was off the flaked area, wash the entire RV with TSP, rinsing thoroughly before allowing to dry and re-ZEPing the entire RV. You will have to apply several coats (4-5) on the stripped area, but one coat elsewhere will probably do the job.That's just what I did before I applied it. I put 5 coats on all the stripes. Not sure what happened but all the stripes are turning white. I used some Acetone to remove the wax off a small area and the stripes were fine underneath. I am going to go into town Tuesday and pick up some stripper and amonia to try on them. If I have too I will redo everything but I hope I can prevent that. The white areas still look great, only the dark stripes are peeling. They are much hotter than the white.

My RMP started to flake last year. I washed it and put more RMP on. 4 coats, this year the flaking is worse. I do feel the prep was done correctly in the beginning. I have used Zep stripper to remove the old floor polish and it was quite a job getting it off. Also used some compound on it which helped. The ends which seem to be gel coat were the bad area for me, the filon sides did not show any flaking. Used Nufinish this time.

Zep wax problem | Good Sam Community

timmac
Explorer
Jun 25, 2013
topflite51 wrote:
I guess this is what happens when a product is used for unintended purposes.

I would have to say this product is good for older fiberglass motorhomes, the only problem I had with it was the graphics were shrinking and drying up on the south facing side of my motorhome and this cause the wax to lift off and turn white, the rest of the rv had no issues, the wax made my rv look like a new rig and it sold fast because of this..

The fix was easy and it looked new again, sun can destroy just about anything especially here in the south west..
fpresto
Explorer
Jun 24, 2013
The use of RMP started many years ago on boats in Florida before it migrated to RVs. Most sit out in the sun year round with no issues from UV. In August it will have been on my 5th wheel 3 years. I did add another coat to the front cap this spring as it was looking a little dull. The rest of the unit still only has the original application. The key to using it is surface preparation. This can't be stressed enough. Too many people give a quick wash job and then put the RMP on. It just doesn't work that way.
wildmanbaker
Explorer
Jun 24, 2013
Red Max Pro and ZEP are a floor finish. True, but think about the wear a floor gets between applications of finish. This is intended as a time and labor savings thing to do, and it does it.

The Clear coat on the front cap, on our MH is peeling from bug strikes. This is a top of the line 5 Star clear coat finish, and I am heart broken. It was final washed, then wet-sanded starting with 400, and ending with 1,500 wet/dry paper, then wiped down 2 times. Then it was masked, a big job in itself, including all decals, then a final wipe-down with thinner, before spraying. I have done this type of painting before, but am at a loss to explain why the clear coat is peeling. The bug strikes cause a small craze, that apparently causes a lifting of the clear, and then it can be pulled off in large sections. The back end cap has not had any problems as of this date. The front cap looks stellar, where it is not peeling. This product was/is being used for its intended purpose, but still failed. When I get all the clear coat off the front end cap, I will Zep it.
larry_barnhart
Explorer
Jun 24, 2013
I have the red max pro #3 on our alpenlite and this is will be the 3rd winter coming up since I did the job. I added 2 more coats last summer and will again soon. I have had some flaking on the dark green decals. I have waxed this fifth 2 to 3 times each year and it is a 2001. Wax if you want to do the job but I hope to never wax again. Our alpenlite had never looked this good with any brand of wax. I did really work hard before doing the red max job. That might be the reason for some fella's having flaking.
chevman
royl
Explorer
Jun 24, 2013
Dale.Traveling wrote:
RMP on my coach will flake a bit on the corners of the front and rear caps. Suspect there is a wind vortex at the locations and it's more or less getting sand blasted over time. Easy to fix during the yearly wash. I think what is happening on the OP's coach is the graphics are shrinking in the heat which occurred on my coach. RMP and Zep are a pretty hard and thick coating. As such as the decals move the coating will separate (turn white) and flake off. Scrub the decals with a strong detergent and maybe a bit of Bar Keepers, Rinse well and then rewax. Worked for me this weekend. Can't tell where the coating was coming off and the coach looks like it just came off the production line.

Good idea, I will try that first and maybe save a whole lot of work.
Daveinet
Explorer
Jun 24, 2013
Hopefully we don't over react to this, but just learn one aspect about using it effectively.
Dale_Traveling
Explorer II
Jun 24, 2013
RMP on my coach will flake a bit on the corners of the front and rear caps. Suspect there is a wind vortex at the locations and it's more or less getting sand blasted over time. Easy to fix during the yearly wash. I think what is happening on the OP's coach is the graphics are shrinking in the heat which occurred on my coach. RMP and Zep are a pretty hard and thick coating. As such as the decals move the coating will separate (turn white) and flake off. Scrub the decals with a strong detergent and maybe a bit of Bar Keepers, Rinse well and then rewax. Worked for me this weekend. Can't tell where the coating was coming off and the coach looks like it just came off the production line.
steelpony5555
Explorer
Jun 24, 2013
Hmmmm Mine has had RMP on it for the past 1 1/2 years in the Texas sun and is still shiney and my graphics look great, no peeling at all.....
REWahoo
Explorer
Jun 24, 2013
topflite51 wrote:
I guess this is what happens when a product is used for unintended purposes.

Oh yeah - that never works out...

9 Stellar Examples Of The Unintended Use Of Products

And this short list doesn't include Post-It Notes, superglue, Teflon, Viagra, and countless others.:)
spritz_55423
Explorer
Jun 24, 2013
topflite51 wrote:
I guess this is what happens when a product is used for unintended purposes.

Sorry, but I have to "AGREE" with topflite51, I used a oxidation remover @ first and waxed the whole MH 30ft with McGuire's (sp) last season and re-waxed it again this season. I keep my 99 Deville and my 64 deville convertible shining like new. I guess I have to much time on my hands. I remember we used a floor wax on our boots back in the Army...JMO, Tim

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