Forum Discussion

maria_bettina's avatar
maria_bettina
Explorer
Nov 08, 2022

For POP UP CAMPER owners - sealing seams on vinyl

FWC, ATC, Phoenix, etc Owners -

I (unfortunately) got all lovey dovey and told my niece I would spend Tday in Oregon with them. I was crossing my fingers that rain would be minimal. Clearly my dances to the Sun God did no good.

It will rain. How much? I don't know. But last time we were in the rain with the truck camper popped up, the vertical seams below the vinyl windows leaked a little. You know those seams where the stitching is in the lower corners of the windows?

Here's my question - Does anyone seal those? Why don't they do that at the factory? Or is there a reason to not seal them?

If you seal them, what's the best sealer to use? I was thinking a simple beeswax sealer... :h
Truck Campers
  • Fishbreath's avatar
    Fishbreath
    Explorer II
    Nov 08, 2022
    I like your idea of a beeswax. If that does not work, you might try Shoe Goo, a flexible rubber product.
  • Bedlam's avatar
    Bedlam
    Moderator
    Nov 08, 2022
    Years ago when we had a pop up trailer, I used the same sealers people use for hiking boots and jackets. Bee's wax works well but takes some time to apply - There are easy to apply sprays that work but need to be applied more often.
  • silversand's avatar
    silversand
    Explorer
    Nov 10, 2022
    ...I used Seam Grip (crystal clear) on the **Weblon** soft walls (I don't know what your softwalls are made of, so do your due diligence before applying) on our pop-up truck camper window stitching (the window bottom stitches). That was almost 17 years ago. The Seam Grip is still in perfect shape after all this time (we still own the 2005 camper). I never had to re-seal in all these years.

    But be aware: you REALLY need to investigate where the stitching leaks are. I found our water beads (not terrible leaks) during a post-tropical storm in the Outer Banks, when the rain was coming down sideways in 54 mile per hour driving storm.

    Just be sure that the water infiltration isn't coming in along the vertical stitches somewhere!

    Caution: Seam Grip volatiles smell like he**. And, it is flammable until it dries. I applied it on our inside stitching (seems to work perfectly in our situation). You may want to consider applying to the exterior stitching. If you use this, you had better practice on stitching not associated with your camper (some scrap stitching on some vinyl). You cannot remove this stuff if you mess up the application technique. Also, the cured material will darken slightly after 4 to 5 years (unless they changed the formulation since 17 years ago).

    Good luck. This worked for us. Your mileage may vary.

    Seam Grip: here-->
  • maria_bettina's avatar
    maria_bettina
    Explorer
    Nov 11, 2022
    silversand wrote:
    ...
    Caution: Seam Grip volatiles smell like he**. And, it is flammable until it dries. I applied it on our inside stitching (seems to work perfectly in our situation). You may want to consider applying to the exterior stitching. If you use this, you had better practice on stitching not associated with your camper (some scrap stitching on some vinyl). You cannot remove this stuff if you mess up the application technique. Also, the cured material will darken slightly after 4 to 5 years (unless they changed the formulation since 17 years ago).

    Good luck. This worked for us. Your mileage may vary.

    Seam Grip: here-->


    Great idea about practicing on something other than the pop-up vinyl first :C

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