Best sealant for slight roof leak?

[jaycoman89]

Have gotten a lot of rain lately and noticed a slight drip coming from the roof thats roughly right below the a/c unit... hoping to get down there Saturday to try and mitigate. Any advice on sealants/how best to attack this problem?

[gbopp]

jaycoman89 wrote:

gbopp wrote:
It's not a 'slight' leak, trust me. Get it fixed ASAP.

Eternabond and Dicor Self Leveling Lap Sealant is a good choice.

Do you agree that with the "tighten the long bolts" recommendation? Last I looked at the roof I didn't really see anywhere where water would be getting in.

Yes, try snugging down the bolts, It may solve your problem.
If not, start looking for a leak. Water leaks can be a disaster for a RV.
If you can't find the leak, consider a pressure test.

[GrandpaKip]

If the drip is coming from whatever is in the ceiling, then remove the ceiling trim and inspect.
Also take a look at the fixture on the roof. It may just need an additional coat of caulk. Do not use silicone on the outside of the trailer anywhere, regardless if the factory did originally.

[deltabravo]

GrandpaKip wrote:
First, check the a/c gasket by taking off the inside ceiling cover.

Ditto.

My bet is the bolts holding the A/C to the roof are loose.

This shows how to fix them.

[jaycoman89]

opnspaces wrote:
If it's dripping next to the AC you will probably see evidence of the drip when you remove the inside AC panel. As stated above just tighten the 4 screws slightly (1/4 to 1/2 turn) There is no way to get Dicor or anything else under the AC unit up on the roof.

Water leaks though can run a long way before they become obvious. Next thing to check is get a ladder and look at the roof itself. Do you see any obvious rips. tears, or cracked caulking? Is the AC looking level and where it should be or is it sinking down into the roof? If it's sinking you have a bigger problem than just tightening the bolts from the inside.

I'll have to look at hte roof this weekend, but the last I remember I don't remember seeing any evidence of it sinking but knocking on wood. Hope thats not the case. My question now is that plastic panel inside that i need to remove doesn't line up with where the AC is on the roof so could there still be a correlation?

[jaycoman89]

BarneyS wrote:
Sorry for the confusion. By ceiling panel, as explained above, I meant the cover over the AC on the ceiling of the RV and where the filter is located. It may require removing several screws which are now covered by a removable plastic or rubber plug cover. Just take a small screwdriver and work it under the edge of the cover and it will pop off.

The whole ceiling panel is made of plastic so it is light and should come right down after removing those screws. Then you need to use a flashlight and look up inside the opening of the AC if those four corner bolts are not immediately visible. Some AC's have them right under the cover and others have them up inside the AC, but all have them easily available to snug up.

That is how the AC is held on to the roof. The whole thing is a sandwich with the upper unit on the outside and the lower unit inside with the roof and gasket in between. Then the inside opening is covered up with the ceiling panel.:)
Barney

Barney, looking at pictures of my interior, the panel is not where the drip is occurring. There is a "fan" where the drip is occurring though. But the drip are does line up with where the a/c unit is on the roof, and it's the same drip i've noticed when i ran the a/c for too long in high heat. This leads me to believe it's still related to the long bolts needing to be tightened, but curious to hear your thoughts.

[opnspaces]

If it's dripping next to the AC you will probably see evidence of the drip when you remove the inside AC panel. As stated above just tighten the 4 screws slightly (1/4 to 1/2 turn) There is no way to get Dicor or anything else under the AC unit up on the roof.

Water leaks though can run a long way before they become obvious. Next thing to check is get a ladder and look at the roof itself. Do you see any obvious rips. tears, or cracked caulking? Is the AC looking level and where it should be or is it sinking down into the roof? If it's sinking you have a bigger problem than just tightening the bolts from the inside.

[jaycoman89]

gbopp wrote:
It's not a 'slight' leak, trust me. Get it fixed ASAP.

Eternabond and Dicor Self Leveling Lap Sealant is a good choice.

Do you agree that with the "tighten the long bolts" recommendation? Last I looked at the roof I didn't really see anywhere where water would be getting in.

[gbopp]

It's not a 'slight' leak, trust me. Get it fixed ASAP.

Eternabond and Dicor Self Leveling Lap Sealant is a good choice.

[jaycoman89]

BarneyS wrote:
Sorry for the confusion. By ceiling panel, as explained above, I meant the cover over the AC on the ceiling of the RV and where the filter is located. It may require removing several screws which are now covered by a removable plastic or rubber plug cover. Just take a small screwdriver and work it under the edge of the cover and it will pop off.

The whole ceiling panel is made of plastic so it is light and should come right down after removing those screws. Then you need to use a flashlight and look up inside the opening of the AC if those four corner bolts are not immediately visible. Some AC's have them right under the cover and others have them up inside the AC, but all have them easily available to snug up.

That is how the AC is held on to the roof. The whole thing is a sandwich with the upper unit on the outside and the lower unit inside with the roof and gasket in between. Then the inside opening is covered up with the ceiling panel.:)
Barney

got it, that clears it up for me. I was thinking you all meant removing the actual ceiling itself to get to the bolts.

[BarneyS]

Sorry for the confusion. By ceiling panel, as explained above, I meant the cover over the AC on the ceiling of the RV and where the filter is located. It may require removing several screws which are now covered by a removable plastic or rubber plug cover. Just take a small screwdriver and work it under the edge of the cover and it will pop off.

The whole ceiling panel is made of plastic so it is light and should come right down after removing those screws. Then you need to use a flashlight and look up inside the opening of the AC if those four corner bolts are not immediately visible. Some AC's have them right under the cover and others have them up inside the AC, but all have them easily available to snug up.

That is how the AC is held on to the roof. The whole thing is a sandwich with the upper unit on the outside and the lower unit inside with the roof and gasket in between. Then the inside opening is covered up with the ceiling panel.:)
Barney

[kellem]

You remove the AC panel from inside trailer to access the (4) long bolts, a quarter turn on each bolt should do it.

[jaycoman89]

MFL wrote:
Non use should not matter. Barney is likely correct, but word of caution...snug up the 4 bolts, rather than tighten. A little tighter is all that should be needed.

Jerry

Stupid question time... is removing the ceiling panel a matter of popping it out and back in or is there a lot more to it? I want to say the cabinets and everything were installed after the ceiling panel, so I'm ttrying to work out in my head what exactly "removing the panel" would entail.

[MFL]

Non use should not matter. Barney is likely correct, but word of caution...snug up the 4 bolts, rather than tighten. A little tighter is all that should be needed.

Jerry

[jaycoman89]

BarneyS wrote:
Probably just need to go inside, remove the AC ceiling cover, look up into the AC and find the 4 long bolts in the corners, and tighten them up a bit. It is quite common for the gasket that seals the AC opening to compress over time and start to leak. The cure, other than replacing the gasket which means removing the AC from the roof opening, is to tighten the bolts a bit.
Barney

Thanks, I'll see about getting down there this weekend and doing that. Anything I need to watch out for when removing the panel? Also, the a/c unit hasn't been running or anything for months. Not sure if that makes a difference in your diagnosis or not.