Lap sealant removal

[80R100RT]

I have to replace some uv damaged vents atop my 5th wheel with a rubber roof. Has anyone used one of the oscllating tools with the flexible blade to peel back the lap sealant on the vents?
Putty knives work but slowly and can cut the roof if not careful. Any better ideas?
Thanks TomC

[ksg5000]

I used an oscillating tool with special attachment to remove sealant on my end caps - even with the special blade I ended up punturing rubber room in at least one spot - be careful. As far as vents - most just replace the caps - take the old one down to the RV parts outlet so you come back with the right one.

[Mello_Mike]

markandkim wrote:
Just replace the vent covers, not the whole vent.

x2

[markandkim]

Just replace the vent covers, not the whole vent.

[RVER]

I want to redo the seal on a skylight on the rubber roof of my fifthwheel, how do I get the old sealing material up, then I thought I would use Eternabond 2 or more inches wide. IF there are any cracks in the skylight, what to repair with? I have a leak coming in the interior screw of the skylight so had it resealed but but still is leaking and he thought maybe there is a crack somewhere. He will replace the skylight but til we can find one, thought I would go up and reseal.

[old_guy]

using any other than a plastic putty knife is suicide on a roof. just an accident waiting to happen. use a heat gun if you are in
a hurry but do that sparingly. just enough to soften the old stuff and scrape towards the vent opening.

[ktmrfs]

actually pretty easy. First, under the vent SHOULD be the mastic sealing stuff,not glue. so, ALL you need to do is break the dicor seal on the edge of the flange. Been there, done that and it is pretty easy. Remove ALL (check twice, then again) the screws holding the vent to the roof. Carefully slide a plastic putty knife between the roof membrane and the thinest spot of dicor you can find along the flange. Slowly cut the dicor to one corner of the flange. Once that is done, go around the corner and slowly pull up on the flange as you seperate the flange from the roof. Pretty quickly it will lift up enough to cut the dicor w/o worring about cutting the membrane. Once the flange is off, use a hair dryer to warm the dicor and then using the plastic putty knife remove as much of the dicor as is reasonably possible. You Don't need to and won't get it all up by any means.

NEVER EVER use ANY petroleum based solvent to remove the dicor!!!! I can easily damage the membrane. dicor has Naptha in it, and that plus whatever else is in it actually will react with the membrane and soften and sometimes cause wrinkles in the membrane when you use it. It also fuses the dicor to the membrane.

[Davidlatham2012]

take all day with putty knife. I do reseals all the time with oscillating dremel. works great, just be careful. They are right it can tear rubber. go slow and in an upward motion.

[deleted-2]

Times two...on the plastic putty knife.
Don't risk damaging that rubber roof.

[Bumpyroad]

there is another thread with a fellow using one but it was on an ALUMINUM roof, not rubber. I wouldn't do it on a rubber roof myself. use a plastic putty knife.
bumpy

[GENECOP]

That would work well using some care and patience.....