Removing self levelling Dicor

partsman01 wrote:

Gau 8 wrote:

CA Traveler wrote:
Use a propane torch to warm (to hot to touch) up a putty knife.

Please don't use a torch. An electric heat gun!

DITTO!!!!!
Do not ever chance using an open flame!

Guys your on a roof using the torch to heat up the putty knife. Hopefully using it in a safe manner. Safety is just as important using the propane stove etc. JMHO.

Gau 8 wrote:

CA Traveler wrote:
Use a propane torch to warm (to hot to touch) up a putty knife.

Please don't use a torch. An electric heat gun!

DITTO!!!!!
Do not ever chance using an open flame!

CA Traveler wrote:
Use a propane torch to warm (to hot to touch) up a putty knife.

Please don't use a torch. An electric heat gun!

Industrial Maintenance Coating Thinner by Klean-Strip at $20 a can at Home Depot does a great job of dissolving the Dicor sealer and providing a perfectly clean surface for new sealant to stick to. Works OK with Proflex as well though not as well as with Dicor.

Using heat is the very last thing I would do. Even mechanical scrapping is safer. Home Depot also has a $3 set of 3 yellow plastic tools that work well for scrapping Dicor and for applying a new bead. Ice cubes also help with smoothing the new Dicor.

The trick with using a solvent on rubber roofs is to be sure its a hot solvent, in other words, a solvent that evaporates fast, such as lacquer thinner. Also, as someone else suggested, do not pour it on the roof or let it puddle and soak in but put it on a rag then rub on the roof. Lacquer thinner also makes an excellent cleaner when it comes time to touch up the chalking on the roof seems. Cleans the seems of dirt and makes them snow white ready for touch up.

I have a fiberglass roof on my Winny. Thanks for all of the good information.

I need to remove the self leveling Dicor from my RV roof so I can put on Eternabond. What is the best way to remove the Dicor?

What material is your roof made of?

First scrape off all of the big globs with a plastic scraper, being careful not to damage the roof surface. Then put on a pair of gloves and use a rag dampened with mineral spirits (make certain that your workspace is well ventilated)... this will easily removed excess Dicor.

Despite all of the naysayers, petroleum distillates (mineral spirits) can be used safely, even on TPO, as long as you don't allow it to pool & soak on the roof. Note that Dicor has petroleum distillates in it which evaporate out during the curing process.

See this thread:

Removing Dicor

EB tape WILL stick to Dicor just in case you can't get it all off. You don't need to remove 100% of the Dicor, just the globs and make sure the surface is smooth and level. For Dicor removal, I use a cheap HF heat gun on low setting (use caution) and plastic putty knives. Lowes sells an assortment of red plastic putty knives for about 3 bucks. I rounded the corners on the putty knives as I found them quite sharp, even for plastic.

Dicor is quite easy to remove once it's heated up.

Most important thing when installing EB is to make sure the surface is cleaned with the solvent EB recommends and all areas are clean with no loose Dicor.

I used a hair dryer and putty knife on one end cap -- then I got smart and put Eternabond over the dicor - isn't picture perfect/pretty but it's water tight.