ZEP/Red Max Pro

Daveinet wrote:
One of the reasons people like ZEP is that it is a harder finish than any other product you can buy including those products designed for automotive use. Because of the hard finish, it washes off much easier.

I would also suggest that if anything is turning yellow, it is probably the aging of the paint below the surface. The primary ingredient in ZEP is Acrylic. The scientific properties of Acrylic is that it is completely transparent to UV, which means that it can not be affected by sunlight. So, there is no reason for ZEP itself to turn color. Now the other aspect is, since acrylic is 100% transparent to UV, it does not protect the surface below from UV damage.

There are other scientific factors that will affect bond. Acrylic expands and contracts with temperature at a different rate than fiberglass. We know this, because when you install acrylic boat windows, you have to allow for expansion, otherwise the windows will shatter. (I just bought a sailboat with that exact problem). If you read on the boat forums, you also find out that many of the cracks in gelcoat are a result of putting the gel coat on too thick. Where it is too thick, it is not able to stretch with the expansion and contraction of the fiberglass. So translate this into using ZEP, it is a temperature sensitive product. So if you have dark colors and live in a hot climate, the expansion rate of the fiberglass will cause the ZEP to crack.

So one solution is don't put it on so thick. You all get so excited about that deep shine that looks like a million coats of clear, but you are asking for trouble, especially on dark colors, and hot climates. I only have 2 coats on my RV and it does shine pretty well. If I want more shine, I can wax over the ZEP.

According to the MSDS sheet on ZEP wet-look floor finish, on the ZEP website, it is an alcohol based product, not an acrylic. The two ingredients are:

Ethoxydiglycol; 2-(2-ethoxyethoxy)-ethanol
Tri(butoxyethyl) phosphate; tris(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate

You are right that it offers no UV protection for the paint surface but wrong that it is an acrylic coating.
Even the back label, also from the website, does not use the word acrylic in the description.
On their website, under questions and answers, there is even a question about using this product on an RV. They recommend against it but what do they know? They only formulated it and manufacture it.

I didn't intend this to become a flame war amongst posters. I appreciate the advice given and am taking it all into consideration. It's obvious that much like there is passionate Ford, Dodge, and Chevy fans there is the same about the different methods on upkeep of their rigs. I think that's a good thing because no one way is right or wrong.

firecopfl wrote:
I didn't intend this to become a flame war amongst posters. I appreciate the advice given and am taking it all into consideration. It's obvious that much like there is passionate Ford, Dodge, and Chevy fans there is the same about the different methods on upkeep of their rigs. I think that's a good thing because no one way is right or wrong.

As it turns out, this is such a hot button issue to one individual, it will probably go to private communication between interested as did the last post on the same subject. Most people can feel strongly about a subject but still understand that there is a difference of opinions and be able to deal with it. Not this subject.

I put four coats on my m/h last year and it looked great. Now I have noticed it is starting to peel in some areas. Guess I will start the removal process. Has anyone used ammonia to remove it?

There are literally thousands of products in use today that are not being utilized per the intended design. Kleenex was originally intended and marketed as a cold cream remover not to blow your nose. WD-40 was a water displacer and corrosion inhibitor. Rogain was for high blood pressure. Play-Doh was wallpaper cleaner.

If we always followed the rules and never deviated from intended uses of a product would we even have the RV's we have today? Someone many years ago took a truck chassis and built a house on it and that has matured into what we enjoy today. The chassis manufacture never intended this use. I suspect the first AC in a coach was when someone pulled a window unit from their home and hit the road.

Granted breaking the Law of Unintended Consequences can resulting in rather severe penalties but unless we try, unless we live on the edge how will we ever know. By human nature we will always try to do new things with old stuff to see what happens and with this application for many of us the results have been excellent. Necessity is the Mother of Invention.

Following postings here, on IRV2, boaters forums and such concerning this use of product not as intended I think there are much more with positive results than problems but then I may be biases considering my success.

Zep makes a stripper for just that task. It works very well. If you want to hear more, send me a PM.

I preped mine very well and applied the Zep 2 years ago. We spent the last two winters in Florida but spent the summers in the desert southwest. Mine is peeling badly on all the dark color sections of the motorhome, the white still looks great. I put on about six coats so I believe it was too thick and cracked because of the hot dark colored sections. I am now trying to get it off and yes it is a hard job. The stripper softens the paint and did ruin part of one of my doors so I am back to ammonia only which is much slower. I am not sure at this point whether I will reapply two coats or just leave it off. I would not recommend using it if you plan to spend any time in the extreme temperatures of the desert.

ZEP is 20% solids. Stated on their website. Last time I checked water was not a solid. (although it was earlier this year) I'm headed off to my morning shower, I'll check again, just to make sure :)