Silicone caulking
Just a rant on dang Silicone, I bought a 1997 Lance camper a few weeks ago, and I need to be kicked in the rear if I ever buy another RV thats had silicone slathered everywhere. This poor camper has ...
Forum Discussion
rwiegand wrote:
I've used silicon caulk for many decades, installing bathrooms, kitchen sinks, gutters, some window and door installs, and yes, occasionally when I've needed to make a hole in my TC. It seems to work fine in all of those applications and holds up well for decades of use. It's only as messy as the installer, as far as I can tell. Sometimes it take a couple extra minutes to remove when setting a new fixture after 20 years in place, but doesn't seem to be a big deal-- I want it to stick and seal, after all. t'm still missing what's to hate.
Silicone has four problems: it has poor adhesion, it attracts dirt, and it is difficult to remove entirely, and nothing else sticks to it. While it is very widely used on RVs, it is generally shunned on boats. The real test of a sealant is whether the manufacturer recommends it for below the waterline use on boats, where a failure will sink the boat. No manufacturer of silicone recommends it for this service. Not reliable enough. The product itself lasts well enough in the sun ("30 year warrantee"), but after a short time is no longer adhered to the surface and therefore worse than useless, trapping more water than it sheds.
All that said, NO sealant works well slathered on the outside of a joint. Almost every joint on an RV has an overlap, the sealant belongs between the surfaces in the overlap. If (when) that joint fails, the proper fix is to remove the part, clean the surfaces in the overlap, and re-seal. Anything less is a temporary fix - which unfortunately defines the standard of the RV industry.
