RMP may not be a good idea after all(kinda long)

[D_E_Bishop]

Several years ago when the Red Max Pro postings were at a peak in these forums, I opted to do our then 21 or 22 year old RV. Here in California we occasionally have sunshine and it can give your rig a sunburn. Ours was especially bad in spots. The first owner parked it against the west side of his home with a block wall next to it. The shine was completely gone above the shadowline of the wall. For some unknown reason the front end faired far worse than any other part of the rig and it was facing north and mostly shaded.

I washed it with soap and water then scrubbed it with Bar Keepers Friend and then washed again with plain water. Each phase was hand washed and rinsed with our most precious commodity, “fresh water”. Then in the evening and early morning I applied several coats of RMP is light thin coats in order to prevent the undesired effect of runs and bubbles.

OMG, it looked fabulous. During a ten week trip we were proud of our really shiny and new looking rig. Got lots of comments and basked in the glory of having a well maintained rig.

Last year we were at a local beach(any low cost oceanfront and cheap campsite is considered local here) and the DW mentioned what I already knew, some of the RMP was flaking off. I had kept it clean but the only storage we can afford near here is like $350 or $400 a month so it was outside in the sun. I have rotated backing in to our spot and pulling straight in. Still there it was the effect of sunburn on our once shiny RMP coated motorhome.

I have tried a lot of things to remove the remaining RMP and all of then require lots and lots of what old retired guys used up years ago “Elbow Grease”. I finally opted for a jitterbug pneumatic sander with 1500 grit wet and dry sandpaper. I haven’t used it on all the surfaces but I have used it quite a bit. Because it would be impossible (for me anyway) to remove all the RMP and covering it with wax only compounds the problems and makes the rig look like you used several methods of shining up your rig, I have reapplied RMP where needed after removing the first three or four coats I had applied.

I will say that there is one really nice thing about using RMP, no more hard to remove black streaks. Just use good car soap and wash away the black streaks. Now dry it and you find another problem. White streaks.

So for those of you in the Southwest and the Pacific Southwest or as we hate to call it, the desert, don’t use it if you are going to store outside. We are sorta on the edge of selling, were mug-rumps, you know, someone who is on the fence, mug on one side rum on the other. We love our rig and it has a lot of features that were unheard of in entry level rigs 25 years ago and yet we(really you can read that as I) are tired of maintaining ort repairing something almost everyday we are driving it. So if I get my way and we sell it soon, I now have one other thing to tell prospective buyers that might end the sale or reduce the price even further.

Oh, the joys of RVing.

[larry_barnhart]

I had another alpenlite friend that did the clear coat several years ago. It lasted for years but I asked if it he was happy with it and he didn't think so.

It looked great every time I saw it.

chevman

[joegray]

I was just wondering if any of you guys have ever had the front or back sprayed with a automotive clear coat. Seems to last well on cars.

[Pirate1]

Sounds like it is not even worth using.

[hotjag1]

Larry, thanks for all the explanations about Zep and Poli-Glow, and what is involved in using these products.

[larry_barnhart]

D.E.Bishop wrote:

larry barnhart wrote:
I wonder if you really did a good enough job for the prep work if the rv had been waxed. Now after saying this I also had flaking but 3 years later. I removed the RMP and applied poli glo. Same look as the RMP but a lot more money. Waxing 2 to 3 times each year was never easy as you understand getting older. Same here. I finally learned the best method for me to remove the RMP after removing it from the side that really flaked off during the winter.

chevman

Larry you say you removed the RMP, what did you use? I have tried using the ZEP RMP Stripper in the Blue jug and it takes forever and never seems to really remove everything.

I hope I never said it was easy. I used the same stripper as you but reading the instructions it was clear it was for a flat surface. the problem I had was it dried so fast the rmp would harden again. I doubled the amount of product and used a dobie like pad to do about a 4x4 ft area. The side I started on was over 50% off before I started so I was thinking it would be easy. So I decided to switch sides because it was in the shade all morning. The real trick is to have a cool surface and the weather worked great for this. I used the stripper full strength and the same dobie size pad. The rmp was really getting soft and I blasted it with water and then moved on doing the same. What didn't come off after doing this several times would show so I would then spot them and instantly that was now a yellow spot and easy to see and remove. I even at times used a plastic putty knife to shape of off the pile up in the beginning.

After it was clear what was needed I went back to finish the other side. I waited for the afternoon for shade to let the surface cool. Cool is the key so more time to let the stripper do it's thing.

chevman

[D_E_Bishop]

larry barnhart wrote:
I wonder if you really did a good enough job for the prep work if the rv had been waxed. Now after saying this I also had flaking but 3 years later. I removed the RMP and applied poli glo. Same look as the RMP but a lot more money. Waxing 2 to 3 times each year was never easy as you understand getting older. Same here. I finally learned the best method for me to remove the RMP after removing it from the side that really flaked off during the winter.

chevman

Larry you say you removed the RMP, what did you use? I have tried using the ZEP RMP Stripper in the Blue jug and it takes forever and never seems to really remove everything.

[Dutch_12078]

One of the local boat shops near our upstate NY cottage does a lot of older hull refinishing. The owner tells me they do a fair amount of PoliGlow removal and reapplication for exactly the same reason, flaking. He has done a few RMP/ZEP applications, but none of them have been in service long enough to make a good comparison with PoliGlow. He did say the look, feel, and smell of RMP/ZEP is identical to PoliGlow, as is the prep, application, and immediate results. He did say that PoliGlow works best when another coat is added every year or so, and expects RMP/ZEP to be the same.

[larry_barnhart]

I was going to remove the wax build up from all of the years of waxing. I scrubbed the complete 35 ft alpenlite many, many times with a dobie and later with a 3M scrubble pad. I used a brush with dawn soap and tsp several times and bar keepers friend. I brushed each screw that was showing and any place where wax could build up around the door trim etc. Now I know I did a great job and take no credit for the rmp to flake. Never has been inside. winter for over 6 months in Az in full sun. After I bought the wax removal product I read up on rmp on many rv sites before deciding to use the rmp.

chevman

[D_E_Bishop]

Thanks for all the comments both positive and not so positive. I prepped the rig very well, It took me about an hour or hour and a half to wash with Meguires Car Wash Soap, first with a long handle brush and then with a terry rag using ladders to get everywhere. The final wash was with a clean white terry rag and took about an hour. The scrubbing with BKF took about three eight hour days. I don't think it was dirty or had wax on it after the final rinse.

The constant sun hitting the Filon and fiberglass day after day in virtually the same spot is nothing like the exposure when driving around, it can do strange things to a finish. You can see the results of the sunburn in the areas that were exposed, there are distinct lines where it was partly shaded and partly exposed.

I spent several days applying the RMP in light coats and often rinsing the area to be coated in order to remove the honey bee poop. If you don't know about the bee poop or don't believe it is a problem, consult the Los Angeles County Arboretum or Google bee poop or honey bee poop.

There were a couple of spots where the painted stripes on the RV and where the Filon was bent in a radius that had to be painted. On the bent pieces of Filon the glass hairs were showing and took awhile to prep and paint. The stripes still look good but the end cap with the bent Filon needs to be repainted again and the RMP is really flaking.

There have been several posts where members have said they were having problems with sunburn almost all were in either AZ or TX. If the sun will destroy the finish on Filon, RMP is going to need lots of TLC and attention.

I just thought that if someone is contemplating RMP and are in high sun exposure area, that they might want to look for a less work intensive polish or coating designed for that purpose.

[larry_barnhart]

hotjag1 wrote:

larry barnhart wrote:
I wonder if you really did a good enough job for the prep work if the rv had been waxed. Now after saying this I also had flaking but 3 years later. I removed the RMP and applied poli glo. Same look as the RMP but a lot more money. Waxing 2 to 3 times each year was never easy as you understand getting older. Same here. I finally learned the best method for me to remove the RMP after removing it from the side that really flaked off during the winter.

chevman

Since RMP has the same look as Poli-Glo, and Poli-Glo costs considerably more, why did you remove RMP and put on Poly-Glo. Just curious...Don

The front and rear cap are still RMP because they still look good. I know I did more to prep our alpenlite than most would do and because of this thinking I figured maybe I should try another product. Poli glo was made for boats so the money was not the issue just wanting a good job. I read the post about too quick of an application but going the distance to the rear to front is a longer time than the instructions tell to apply the 2nd application. What I used was the stripper for Zep or RMP and it was not easy for the side walls. The painted metal on the lower area was much easier to remove. I still feel better than doing wax as the earlier years of our 2001 alpenlite. The finish was getting yellow and one more reason for a different product.

chevman 🙂

[TechWriter]

D.E.Bishop wrote:
Last year we were at a local beach(any low cost oceanfront and cheap campsite is considered local here) and the DW mentioned what I already knew, some of the RMP was flaking off.

First, kudos to you for sharing your experience. Folks don't typically share the bad stuff.

D.E.Bishop wrote:

So for those of you in the Southwest and the Pacific Southwest or as we hate to call it, the desert, don’t use it (RMP) if you are going to store outside.

Wouldn't just driving your RV around outside do the same thing?

[robsouth]

I posted a while back that I called the manufacturer (actually ZEP) and they said just what has happened to David's camper..flaking off. The product was not made for outdoor use and should not be expected to perform well in that environment. Some say, yeah that is just a CYA statment, but I believe they just might be correct.

[fpresto]

I thought I had some flaking after 3 years but when I went to remove it, it turned out to be wax from a wash and wax product I had used. I cleaned off the wax and the RMP was fine underneath. I guess the wax didn't bond properly because of the RMP.

[hotjag1]

larry barnhart wrote:
I wonder if you really did a good enough job for the prep work if the rv had been waxed. Now after saying this I also had flaking but 3 years later. I removed the RMP and applied poli glo. Same look as the RMP but a lot more money. Waxing 2 to 3 times each year was never easy as you understand getting older. Same here. I finally learned the best method for me to remove the RMP after removing it from the side that really flaked off during the winter.

chevman

Since RMP has the same look as Poli-Glo, and Poli-Glo costs considerably more, why did you remove RMP and put on Poly-Glo. Just curious...Don