Caulking and maintenance

westend wrote:
3M Caulk Remover will soften and loosen any silicone caulk. Follow up with a rag and a solvent or very strong butyl soap. Usually, I will apply the caulk remover and cover with plastic wrap to sit over-night. The next day, the remaining caulk can be removed with a rag or plastic tool.

Hi Westend,

Will the 3M caulk remover soften and lift paint on aluminum or fiberglass surfaces? Or even rubber roofing for that matter

Thanks

John

Thanks everyone for the help. I called around the local RV shops today and I was somewhat surprised how they all said that they just use straight silicone to seal the corner trim pieces.

After further inspection today I can push against the side of the trailer and see the gaps where the front trim is not connected so I'm going to order some proflex online and use a plastic razor along with some acetone and get the gaps sealed this weekend

Is this a major issue I should be worried about??

3M Caulk Remover will soften and loosen any silicone caulk. Follow up with a rag and a solvent or very strong butyl soap. Usually, I will apply the caulk remover and cover with plastic wrap to sit over-night. The next day, the remaining caulk can be removed with a rag or plastic tool.

Proflex RV or any of the other Geocel polymer sealants will take days to dry in typical ambient conditions. After drying, the polymer sealants are impervious to dirt and dust. Sikaflex, AFAIK, is a urethane sealant. It cures in the presence of water vapor. It dries much faster than the tripolymer sealants, has less flex, and less adhesion.

Have used ProFlex for years but don't like that ProFlex seems to attract a lot of dirt and always looks dirty. I have switched to Sikaflex 221. It goes on smoother, lays down better and is easier to smooth out with paint-thinner-covered-finger. It's also staying put over formerly silicone areas.

Since it is a new trailer, I believe what can be seen in your posted pic is crumbling butyl tape. Butyl tape can crumble at the edges as it dries out. Just clean up all loose pieces and place a bead of ProFlex clear. I would be very hesitant to use any sharp tool to remove loose caulk/butyl tape. Plastic tools with a dull and thick edge....like plastic body panel tools should work well

The problem with silicone is that if a seal goes bad nothing will stick to it again, not even more silicone over it. It will lift off after it is cures. There is a cleaner out there but at this moment I don't know what it is to clean old silicone off so that the surface will accept another bead of sealant.

The ProFlex that is clear LOOKS like silicone when cured but it is not silicone. You are going to have a couple of different tubes of sealant around, one for the roof seams (EDPM,TPO compatible) and one for side pannels, non sagging for verticle seams. Your RV parts dealer can direct you to the proper stuff if you ask them.

Wild Card wrote:
Most mfg use silicone or a siliconized caulk. Make sure you do the propper prep before applying new.

What's the best way to clean off the old stuff?? Scrape with a plastic razor blade??
Please see picture posted earlier and zoom in to determine if silicone??

EPDM roof.....Dicor self-leveling in your choice of color.

For vertical items on trailer side walls such as windows, handles, vents, etc....use the Geocel Proflex RV as already mentioned

Just clean up/remove any loose/dried out pieces and apply sealants as recommended by manufacturer

The pervious owner of my TT caulked everything with silicone twice over. Now several years later you can peel a lot of it loose.

Generally I leave it alone. My mom used to say (If you pick it; it will never heal). :)

Fortunately nothing leaks so far.

As you can ell there are much better sealants available now.