I am on my 6th RV over the past 30+ years- a 2014 Itasca Sunstar 31KE. Absolutely love it.
Had it about 6 months now and I figure from the stickers it rolled out of the plant about a year ago.
Maintenance on the rig is my hobby- so on my "to do" list has been to check the caulk and reseal where needed. During my inspection I didn't think I'd find much. On my previous rigs I'd often go several years before observing any significant deterioration or any major need for re-caulking.
I was quite surprised during my going over the rig joints on how fast and how badly the factory installed caulk had deteriorated on the new Itasca MH. About half of it had already lost its prescribed color and had turned very white and powdery. The roof joint caulking on the passenger side (fiberglass to sidewall) near the rear had already separated and revealed a loosening of the roof cap for 6 inches along with an easy path for water to enter.
So I pull the call sheet from Winnebago on caulk and go about seeking the to purchase some replacement caulk. It took a bit of bird- dogging as I wanted to get the right code and color for the rig. Winnebago gave me the correct spec and told me where I could order it.
The product is Manus Bond 75-AM and is coded to the unit's color scheme. Its matches color very well which is important to me.
I called the caulk manufacturer for some info on clean up as water was not any help and mentioned how fast it had deteriorated. The fellow I talked to said it should have lasted several years. At the most I got a year out of it. He thought the heat of the south and the sunlight might be factors contributing to a more rapid deterioration.
The caulk arrived in about 2 days and I went about cleaning out all the deteriorated joints and applying the new sealant material. The manufacturer advised that mineral spirits was the best way to clean up excess and drips and my fingers. Needless to say this was important info as applying caulk is NOT one of my strong points (I also flunked crayons in kindergarten about 60 years ago so therein lies part of the problem- got an "F" for not coloring inside the lines). My fingers (and a few spots on the rig)needed a LOT of mineral spirits.
Anyway I was wondering if anyone else was seeing what appears to me to be early degradation in the caulk on their late model Winnies or Itasca rigs-- or is mine an anomaly?
