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Sealant question
Last trip out I noticed a roof leak at the old antenna mounting plate. The manual system has a crank in the bedroom ceiling. I guessing about a 1 inch hole in the roof, under the mounting plate.
From the looks of things the old sealant was loose, and the mounting plate has a chuck missing. Appears this is a replacement with a different shape mounting plate.
Since we don’t use it, I plan to remove the remove the mounting plate and replace with sheet metal (aluminum). Not fan of silicone as I need to recoat the roof. It’s peeling after 25 years.
What sealant is best for this application?
I also plan to remove the TrackStar soon also. Its dead as a doornail. It was not as large as whatever was up there the first time either. I need to get this end of the roof cleaned up and recoated with something. Any suggestions?
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15 Replies
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I used this:
It accepts paint and is supposed to be the go to stuff for RV roofs.
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This is what I use and it’s great stuff.
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Joe, ditto what Tom said. Geocel is great and also comes in tubes.
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Thanks everyone, I’ll check these out.
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Tom beat me to it. You can brush it on or spread it with a putty knife, but if you want it to look neat apply masking tape around where you want it, and before the sealant sets up lift the masking tape. The sealant is clear and will have nice crisp edges.
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The Pro Flex RV is on the way. Maybe it will warm up this weekend and I’ll knock this job out.
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Dredging up this thread because I also want to remove my old crank up antenna, so I did a search and ended up here. So, what is the proper procedure for removing said antenna? As Joe references, should I make a cover plate out of aluminum and screw it down and seal it around the edge or set it in sealant AND seal around the edge? Or something else?
The newbie questions never end…sorry.
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There is no such thing as too much sealant, so I agree with sealant under the plate, screw the plate down tight, and then sealant around the perimeter and covering all screw heads. The sealant Tom posted isone I have used for years, and I tape the area around where i want the perimeter of the sealant. After the sealant is applied, but before it sets I pull off the masking tape and have a nice clearly defined area of sealant that doesn’t look like it was applied with a shovel.
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Robert,
I took the old antenna mast and plate off, removed the mast and just reinstalled the plate. It was easier than making a new plate. The old one has ribs on the underside so there is space for the sealant. As Jon said under the plate, along the edges.
1984 96" with 8V92TA
(remodeled Liberty Coach)
Greenwood, MO -
So if y’all are removing your old crank up antennas, what are you using to get OTA channels? I would like to remove mine, but would like to continue to receive OTA tv too..
Richard
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Thanks for the detail, Jon & Joe.
Richard, this is the latest version of what I use for OTA TV: Winegard HDTV Antenna
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We don’t typically watch TV that often while on the road. It’s rare that I go to the effort to rescan the TV for an overnight stay and sometimes I don’t even do it for several nights.
Having Dish was nice in that regard but when the TrackStar was obsolesced by the frequency modulation change we have not seen the need to replace it. Longer trips will likely change that but until then the technology changes too fast to make it worth the investment,
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If you are a big TV fan then replacing the crankup Batwing antenna with a new Batwing antenna is your best choice. Our new to us coach had the old Concorde antenna (terrible antenna) replaced with the Winegard dome TV antenna. The Rayzar Automatic # RZ-8535. Rayzar Automatic
It is a pretty good 2nd choice. This is NOT omni-directional (i.e. works poorly in all directions) but rather has a directional antenna inside that rotates to locate the antennas and automatically point there. You do a scan at each new location just like you do on your TV and only take the press of one button and then about 2-3 minutes for it to make it’s scan.
I placed the antenna on the center roof line and added the mount which raises the antenna about 12″. This was only necessary because we have roof airs and I did not want them to block the TV signal on its way to the antenna. If you have Cruisairs and little on the roof, this would not be necessary.
Level is important, however, to keep the antenna rotating on a level plane.
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Looking for advice on what is the best coating to apply to the roof for helping to insulate against Indio’s 120+ degree temperatures? Also, the clear coat on the roof is peeling in a few places.
Is it best to sand the roof down to the bare aluminum? And, do I need to add 1-2 coats of primer? Or, can the roof just be painted with something like Kote or Dicor (know to use the Dicor self-leveling around any joints, etc) but, believe they also make an insulating product.
Is the Geocel an insulating product, too? Or, mostly used to seal against leaks?
Is there a business in TN or CA that anyone would recommend for this type of work? Could do it myself but, would probably be done quicker and better by a business that does this type of work professionally.
Thank you for any advice.
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We spend a lot of time at Texas race tracks racing. It gets plenty hot. I applied a product 4 yrs ago called “Temp-Coat 101”. It is very effective at insulating our bus roof and durable. Not much prep is required. No Regrets.
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