Winterizing Skylight???

ggadwa wrote:
Thanks to help from various great folks on the Truck Camper Forum. I got all the right parts, snaps, screw in snaps, Vinyl and 2 inch insulation board. Fixed up great against the cold now. Looks pretty nice too. Even framed up a piece of foam board to cover the window to the truck cab.

Nice job. I used all my snap-on covers this weekend camping in Branson, MO. Sure makes a difference.

that looks great, I want to do something with mine too. Not sure how I missed this thread but I like the ideas. Not sure where to find the foam though.

Thanks to help from various great folks on the Truck Camper Forum. I got all the right parts, snaps, screw in snaps, Vinyl and 2 inch insulation board. Fixed up great against the cold now. Looks pretty nice too. Even framed up a piece of foam board to cover the window to the truck cab.

ggadwa wrote:
Couldn't find anywhere to buy the 2 inch or 2 1/2 inch Blue board other than a sheet of it so still trying to resolve that issue as its 130 plus miles to Boise and carrying a 4x8 sheet is out of the question right now.GARY

You can make the 2" to 2-1/2" rigid insulation thickness that you need by building up layers of thinner foam board, gluing them together and sealing the edges of the expanded polystrene and the isocyanate foam with tape as they absorb moisture (not needed for extruded polystyrene). The thinner foam board is easier to cut, or score / break, and fit into your vehicle.

You can use solvent based contact cement on the aluminum/paper faced polyisocyante foam board (Rmax) or the plastic faced white expanded polystyrene board. Keep the glue away from the unprotected edges or it will dissolve the polystyrene. For this reason you need to use nonflammable contact cement (Dap Weldwood brand at Ace Hardware) on the pink corning or blue dow extruded polystyrene foam.

In another thread thread Buzzcut1 used the slightly compressible, closed cell polyethylene foam (same type of foam as the pipe wrap at building center / hardware stores) that he got in flat 4x8 sheets. Great stuff, but expensive to get via the net. Not locally available unless you have 7-8 million people living nearby like he does:D.

The clear/white version of closed cell polyethylene foam can sometimes be found in fabric stores, although it is only 1/2" thick (same stuff you find as shock absorbing blocks in shipping cartons). Building up layers is easy. Heat up the surface with a heat gun and the softened (barely melted) polyethylene will bond to itself when pressed together. No edge treatment necessary.

I have 3/4" Styrophoam SM cut to size in my skylights. A snug fit holds it there.

bb9801...err whatever you go by...Just wanted to thank you for the scoop on getting the Screw in Snaps and vinyl from same place. Order up all needed items....Picked up Foam for the 14x14 vents. Couldn't find anywhere to buy the 2 inch or 2 1/2 inch Blue board other than a sheet of it so still trying to resolve that issue as its 130 plus miles to Boise and carrying a 4x8 sheet is out of the question right now.

Again Thanks,

GARY

A good place for small quantities of fabric fasteners is your local sail loft or boat cover shop. Marine supply stores usually don't have much variety.

On-line my favorite places for snap supplies are Sailrite and McMaster Carr.

Sailrite has the biggest selection under "Hardware" on their site and reasonable prices for the installation tools. They have a PDF file that lists all the options in one nice place. Some are shown below.



If you have a solid surface around the vent or skylight to mount these to button snaps to they should work fine. Unfortunately the 3/16" ceiling covering, with foam behind it probably won't hold over the long term.

The following alternate type snaps hold really well when closed, but take very little force to open them vs button snaps.







One thing to consider above the bed area is, the twist lock type would hurt less than the other two if you don't have have much headroom and hit it with your head :)

Lots of great ideas and super tips for us to commence using. Taking a big trip to Boise tomorrow for foam and or Insulation board. Going to look for Screw on chrome snaps and wife wants to make a Naugahyde type cover for the foam or Insul board. Still not sure if our skylight is double pane as it sweats really really bad in comparison to our double pane windows. Going to get either foil reflectix or something for our full size Crawl through window too.

Stanley has been minus 25F to just above zero F the past week so have not worked in the camper but must get the goodies and get to it, soon.
Again some great tips and ideas.

Gary & Laurii

I used a piece of foam, 2'x3'x2", cut a little larger than the skylight frame. Since the skylight is spherical, the long sides should have a slight radius, so when you shove it in the hole, there are no gaps along the sides. I didn't have the fore-thought to do so (you can see the small side gaps in the pic), so after this pic was taken, I shaped a couple thin pieces to stick in the side gaps. Friction, and a small lip on the skylight, keep the foam in place. It works very well. I purchased the green upholstery foam from a fabric store. An electric carving knife, like you use on the Thanksgiving Turkey, cuts the foam on a straight line, any radius or bevel you'd like. A serrated bread knife works, too, but is much slower. I got a Black & Decker electric knife at my Ace Hardware store for 15 bucks.


I put a piece of 1" foam behind our cab-over step window's vinyl cover, too.


A left-over piece of the 2" was cut to fit in the stove exhaust vent.


I managed to squeeze some 1" behind the door's shade.

We have two fantastic fans and two large skylights in our camper. All are double pane. During our winter ski trips condensation will still form on the inside and you can feel the colder air.

We opted for a solution using Reflectix which we seal with 2" blue 14 day removable masking tape.

We tape the edges of the reflectix with wide packing tape and use double sided tape to attach the layers together as show below.



1st layer fits inside; 2nd layer covers the frame, 3rd layer extends reflectix to 2-3" beyond the edge of the flange or frame.

Below you can see the reflectix taped up to the vent. We do the same for the skylights.



The multiple layers and the tape prevent water vapor from getting to a cold surface and condensing. We only install these at night when it is colder and take them down during the day. Easy to store the reflectix under the bed. We also do the same to the double pane windows in the camper as well, but don't take them off each day. We made a storm window for our dinnette table window (effectively triple pane) and then also use the shrink film as well (four pane) so it is light and bright inside during the day.