Caulking removers - caution

I've used acetate in the past to help remove old chalking. It works but it too, is slow. after that, i use Sikaflex for all my chalking. It is also an adhesive and can be painted over. Found in Marine stores.

DreamComeTrue wrote:
myredracer: What did you finally do to remove the ProFlex or did you just put new Proflex over the old as you mentioned? How is it holding up? I live half a mile from the Pacific and we get wid storms here. They do a job on caulking, but I have had good luck with Proflex. In the past I have tooled it off (often it comes off in a long strip) and then wiped it down with acetone before I reapply.

We're a few miles from the ocean but on an acreage with no trees. We get rain almost non-stop for about 6 months starting in Oct. plus we get winds from the southeast almost daily. We use a cover over the winter which helps to keep wind-driven rain away.

I expected the naphtha solvent (white gas) to soften the old Proflex like butter but it didn't. I used a plastic scraper with a hard blade in it (can get a soft, medium or hard removeable blade for it). The old Proflex is rather hard/stiff stuff and I broke a couple of blades at first. I put tape over the fiberglass exterior to keep the gas away from the decals and fiberglass. Then alternated between applications of the solvent and scraping. It helps to do it in the sun on a warm day. Some have used a heat gun, but I'd be worried about damaging something. According to our local RV repair shop who uses white gas, you need to leave it on long enough to soften the caulk but I found that didn't help that much. Lots of elbow grease needed...

Geocel Proflex isn't like silicone because you can put more Proflex over existing Proflex. The old caulk on our TT was opaque looking while the new is fairly clear even after putting it on last year. Isn't that noticeable though unless you go looking for it. The old caulk had shrunk in a few spots so that's where I put new over it. It looks like some use acetone to clean the area before re-caulking to clean the surfaces and remove any remaining residue.

The vinyl decals they use are very thin and could be damaged if not careful. Some decals go underneath corner trim, vents, etc. so there is caulk over the decals. Best to leave the old on if you can and re-caulk over it I think.

The worst area that needed re-caulking was around the fenders because they flex a lot and the caulking had completely separated. Slow process to remove the old and put on the new caulk due to length of the seam. Re-caulking over the old wouldn't have worked that well for that area.

The re-caulking I did almost a year ago looks good. I want to do a pressure test one of these days to make sure I haven't overlooked any potential leakage spots.

For those that mentioned "silicone", that's not what they use on RVs at the factories and shouldn't be used.

I found that "Awesome Cleaner" removes silicon caulking if you apply it directly and rub, whereas a cursor wipe doesn't hurt it while cleaning the fiberglass.

myredracer: What did you finally do to remove the ProFlex or did you just put new Proflex over the old as you mentioned? How is it holding up? I live half a mile from the Pacific and we get wid storms here. They do a job on caulking, but I have had good luck with Proflex. In the past I have tooled it off (often it comes off in a long strip) and then wiped it down with acetone before I reapply.

What a coincidence. We have a 2006 Nash 26X as well and I did the same thing with lift off. Tried to match the paint with rattle cans. Called Nash for some paint but they don't make aluminum trailers anymore and had no info on matching paint color Ended up getting some custom made automotive paint to blend my mistake.

If it's Proflex caulk, white (camping) gas is supposed to work well. So I tried it last year and it just didn't work well at all. I noticed it also softens the vinyl graphics (where under the caulk) which is def. NOT good.

The 3M caulk remover works better than white gas? The 3M "cleaner" says it's says for silicone tho? Put it on first to soften the caulk then scrape? Does it damage any plastic or metal trim? From now on I'm only going to remove the old caulk if absolutely necessary and just re-caulk over the old. I have to re-caulk all around one fender because the caulk has separated due to flexing of the fender and should remove all of the old caulk. I'd hate to damage the finish or decals.

I was just watching a YouTube video on this very subject. After scrapping, the guy used a Magic Eraser for the residue. It looked great and didn't touch the paint.

This is the stuff I've used for 25 years- takes a bit of time to dissolve the caulk, but it will remove silicone caulk residue, and doesn't harm paint-

rockhillmanor wrote:
Thanks for posting the heads up on that remover. :C

An easier way to do that is to mask off fixture and spray with Krylon paint.

I did the light next to the door, fridge vent,stove vent, and the back of my side mirrors. They all look like brand new now! All for about $3.00 for the can of spray paint.

Dried instantly and stays forever.

I have done this, as well.
Pat

Trackrig wrote:



(Photo link corrected)

I CAN'T SEEM TO GET THE PICTURE URL TO POST CORRECTLY.

Bill

Try just copying and pasting the link that's created here with no changes.