Should I use caulk with a T-style door holder?

[hedgehopper]

I want to replace a broken plastic T-style door holder with a metal one. Do I need to use caulk when I screw it on?

[Cummins12V98]

Just showed what a RV manufacturer uses. I prefer a quality latex adhesive caulk for what the OP wants to seal. Some people swear by Lexel.

[BurbMan]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
This is what DRV uses on their 5er's.

Laytex adhesive caulking is also good.

Good luck with that stuff....I have used it in the past on my TT and found the following:

1. It's expensive and won't keep more than a few days after the tube is opened.

2. Mineral spirits is the only thing that clean it up.

3. It hardens like a rock rather than staying flexible. Seams I sealed on my TT cracked after a few years, and the stuff was so hard you couldn't chisel it out.

[Grit_dog]

Ok, OP, if you use silicone properly, it will seal up the latch just fine.
These guys aren’t wrong, about how it is tough to deal with, but it’s a door latch, you’re not caulking the camper and sealing the roof with it….
Just don’t tell them you used it. Lol.
Fwiw, I wouldn’t go buy a $20 or more tube of urethane or whatever for something this minor, if you have anything else laying around.

[Cummins12V98]

Bobbo wrote:

Fulltimers wrote:
Just squirt a little silicone in the screw hole before inserting the screw. No need to Calk all around the latch.

Not silicone! EVER! However, squirt Dicor in the hole before inserting the screw, THEN cover the screw with more Dicor making sure you seal around the screw all the way to the surface you are screwing into.

Concur!!!

[Bobbo]

Fulltimers wrote:
Just squirt a little silicone in the screw hole before inserting the screw. No need to Calk all around the latch.

Not silicone! EVER! However, squirt Dicor in the hole before inserting the screw, THEN cover the screw with more Dicor making sure you seal around the screw all the way to the surface you are screwing into.

[Cummins12V98]

This is what DRV uses on their 5er's.

Laytex adhesive caulking is also good.

[Fulltimers]

Just squirt a little silicone in the screw hole before inserting the screw. No need to Calk all around the latch.

[Grit_dog]

Good recommendations thus far. Although for a door latch like you’re replacing, I probably would just use whatever I had around the house for caulking or gasket maker.
Butyl is pretty much dummy proof and also seals the best.
I wouldn’t get hung up on having to have it though. I don’t believe I’ve seen it used under door latches on the campers I’ve had.

[Lwiddis]

I use Butyl tape whenever I can.

[Matt_Colie]

Hedge,

What nobody has explained is that if you leave a small void, water can get in there. If water can get in there, it can freeze in there. If it can freeze once, it can freeze larger the next time.

I boat work, this is called "bedding" something and it is essential to a proper fitting of anything.

Butyl stuff is great because it never hardens and you want it to stay flexible forever.

Matt

[BurbMan]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
IMHO that SH!T is just that! It doesn't stop creeping out.

There's a reason that every RV manufacturer uses it on every rig made, all the way from pop-ups to 6-figure busses. Your "high-quality sealant" is always used in addition to, not in place of, the butyl putty tape.

[hedgehopper]

Cummins12V98 wrote , "Use some quality sealant NOT silicone."

Such as?

[Cummins12V98]

BurbMan wrote:
Anything attached to the outside of an RV gets a piece of this butyl putty tape under it. Use a piece of this tape under the flange of the door holder and then screw it into the camper. trim the excess tape that squeezes out as you tighten the screws. Caulk around the edges.

IMHO that SH!T is just that! It doesn't stop creeping out. Use some quality sealant NOT silicone.

[BurbMan]

Anything attached to the outside of an RV gets a piece of this butyl putty tape under it. Use a piece of this tape under the flange of the door holder and then screw it into the camper. trim the excess tape that squeezes out as you tighten the screws. Caulk around the edges.