Can Dicor be used as an adhesive??

[ryanw821]

I am planning on "gluing" down an 85w flexible solar panel I bought, and I am wondering if dicor would be sticky enough to handle that, or if I need to buy some kind of roofing adhesive and then just hit the edges with dicor. Also planning to dicor and eternabond any holes I need to make for cables, and also eternabond a previously dealer-repaired leak, just to be extra sure about it as long as I am on the roof anyways.

Pic of the panel (15"x86"):

[ryanw821]

Gjac wrote:
I assumed that the back of the panel was FG epoxy or polyester. Is it?

I honestly don't know what the back of the panel is, it's some kind of white plastic, PVC maybe? I will have to see if I can figure out what its made from.

[samhain7]

An admitted RV amateur...but well versed in construction.

So here is my concern. Adhesive used on the roof has two fail points.
Wind ripping it off the roof while driving. Or, you adhesive doing it's job and the panel being ripped off and taking part of your rubber roof with it.
It just doesn't sound like a good idea to me (unless it would be shielded from the wind while driving).

The battery/solar shop I go to in my area showed me one of those and said the advantage to having flexible is to NOT attach it to the trailer since it is flexible, it goes in and out of the trailer easily...

[Gjac]

I assumed that the back of the panel was FG epoxy or polyester. Is it?

[ryanw821]

RVcircus wrote:
I would us an adhesive, not Dicor. What adhesive is typically used to mount solar panels to RV roofs?

That's a really good question, most installs I have seen on RVs were using rigid panels screwed down, and the few flexible installs I have seen were the unisolar panels which are peel-and-stick. My panel is not peel-and-stick, and the mfg just talks about using roofing adhesive, but their assumption seems to be commercial/residential standing seam steel roofs, not EPDM RV roofing.

I might just take up "westend" on his suggestion of the 3M marine adhesive, and I was planning on taping down all its edges with eternabond like "Gjac" suggested, even though it won't have much surface area of the panel to grip to, it should certainly help to keep any wind from getting under the edge and lifting it.

Thanks for all the replies, and keep them coming if anyone else has any other suggestions!

[RVcircus]

I would us an adhesive, not Dicor. What adhesive is typically used to mount solar panels to RV roofs?

[Gjac]

This is a little more complicated than choosing the strongest adhesive to bond your panels. The best adhesive bonds will fail if the surface is not prepared properly. When you look at specs they usually show tensile and sheer numbers but the important number is peel strength. Any good epoxy film adhesive might be 23 psi in a flat wise tension but only 7 psi in peel. The only load that the panel will see are air loads maybe 1 psi at 70 mpg, so the important thing is to clean the rubber roof well and abrade the back side of the panel assuming it is FG and solvent wipe each surface. What ever you use Dicor or the tape I would cover the leading edge with the material so that wind cannot get under the panel and start a peeling action. Both these materials will bond to rubber and FG.

[westend]

I'd recommend 3M 5200 marine adhesive since I don't know the bond strength of the Double stick Eternabond. I'm a big believer of Eternabond products, just don't know about Double stick.

BTW, do not use any asphaltic roofing products or Dicor. Neither is made for that purpose on an EPDM membrane.

[ryanw821]

GrandpaKip wrote:
I wouldn't use any type of petroleum based adhesive if you have a rubber roof. They are not compatible at all. If you use eternabond, may as well plan on never removing the panel without cutting the roof, though that may not be a factor.
There are quite a few adhesive caulks available. I would do some research to see which one would be best.
Good luck.

Eternabond sounds like my best bet, I wasn't previously aware they had a double sided version.

Yeah, panel is going to be permanent, it was so cheap that it can stay with the RV even when we upgrade in a year or two, figure it will be a selling point having solar power 😉

I actually spent more money on the MPPT charge controller than the solar panel itself, probably swap in a cheap PWM controller when we sell the RV and keep MPPT for our next rig :B

[GrandpaKip]

I wouldn't use any type of petroleum based adhesive if you have a rubber roof. They are not compatible at all. If you use eternabond, may as well plan on never removing the panel without cutting the roof, though that may not be a factor.
There are quite a few adhesive caulks available. I would do some research to see which one would be best.
Good luck.

[ryanw821]

gbopp wrote:
That's a good question. And I don't have the answer.
I know some caulks (not Dicor) are good adhesives.
Maybe you should contact the Dicor company if no one on the forum has an answer.

Did you consider Eternabond Double Stick Tape?
It may be another option.

Yeah, I plan on eternabond, but I don't think I would be able to use it to hold the panel down, there is only about 1/2" at most border around the panel, so I wouldn't be able to get much holding force from just eternabond (but I may do that IN ADDITION to adhesive).

EDIT: My bad, didn't see at first you said double sided eternabond, didn't know of such a thing, might be just what I need.

[ryanw821]

ddrueckh wrote:
I thought that the flexible solar panels came with their own adhesive backing. Is this not the case? Is there no paper backing to peel off that exposes the sticky part? If not, I would look to see what the manufacturer of the panel says.

Some do, and some don't, this one didn't and saved me a lot of money, lol
The mfg just talks about roofing adhesive in their literature, nothing specific as to brand/type, I suppose generic tar like flat roof adhesive would be what they mean.

[ddrueckh]

I thought that the flexible solar panels came with their own adhesive backing. Is this not the case? Is there no paper backing to peel off that exposes the sticky part? If not, I would look to see what the manufacturer of the panel says.

[gbopp]

That's a good question. And I don't have the answer.
I know some caulks (not Dicor) are good adhesives.
Maybe you should contact the Dicor company if no one on the forum has an answer.

Did you consider Eternabond Double Stick Tape?
It may be another option.