Forum Discussion

adamis's avatar
adamis
Nomad II
Sep 14, 2020

Resealing Compartment hatches, what do I use?

I've started the process of resealing the compartment hatches all around the camper in preparation for winter weather. I did a couple of quick repairs while on the road using silicone sealant but now it's time to do it right.

On the bigfoot campers, there is the fiberglass exterior and then a layer of foam for insulation. The frames of the doors are held in by screws that bite into the fiberglass shell. When I pull the frames out, I see there was a thin layer of foam tape around the border of the inside of the frame. A lap sealant of some type appears to be used to fill gaps between the fiberglass and frame when installed on the camper.

Looking at products on amazon, I see there is foam tape and butyle tape options. It appears that butyle tape is more commonly used on windows. Looking at what was present on the frames I've removed, it appears that foam tape is more common on compartments. Why the differences I don't know...

So anyone who has resealed their exterior compartments, what product(s) are you using and what suggestions / tips might you offer?

Also, on the propane compartment, it appears that some sort of rubber compound was used to completely seal the gas from being able to leak into the camper. This was a bear to get the compartment frame out of and I've never seen anything like it. Wondering what I should use when I put it all back together to keep it air tight.
Truck Campers
  • covered_wagon's avatar
    covered_wagon
    Explorer
    Sep 14, 2020
    You have to add screws to the compartment frames so that you can put the 'squeeze' on the butyl tape. It won't work without pressure from the screws.

    The foam tape leaked on my camper so all was removed and added countersink screws to the frames.
  • towpro's avatar
    towpro
    Explorer
    Sep 14, 2020
    Butyl tape will appear as if its squeezing out as you tighten the screws (it is)
    That is how it seals. I have heard RV dealers say as long as it keeps squeezing out its doing its job.

    Now foam is just that, foam with some built in glue to hold it in place while tightening parts together. When I think of foam, I think of a sponge that soaks up water. I had an RV that all the external joints were sealed with foam and it had delamanation issues at most external joints. the manufacture was quick to say "you know you need to take that whole RV apart and replace that foam every 5 years?".

    I have also used a good TriPolymer like Geocel Proflex RV for a better seal after installs. My wolf creek the dealer sealed every joint with Proflex RV before I picked it up, so I had him do the same thing when i traded that on an Arctic Fox.

    If it was me, I would use Butyl tape. And I see there is white, gray and black and some putty tape not marked Butyl at all. I Keep a role in my cabinet at home.
    for some reason the black seems to be sticker to me (maybe because it reminds me of that stick stuff I used to seal windshields with back when I worked for Mopar) but the white looks better when it squeezes out.

    But than the Marine world seals underwater fittings with stuff like 3m marine adhesive.

About Travel Trailer Group

44,025 PostsLatest Activity: Feb 22, 2025