Water leak from sun roof/window on Swift 630L- Advice please

[kevandali]

I have recently noticed a water drip coming from the corner of my rear roof window (forgot the correct name for them)

Its not a huge drip but I am hoping to sort it out when some dry weather allows.

I plan to clean the roof of the van around the window and re seal with silicon, I just wanted to know if this is the best course of action?

I have no way of knowing if the water is getting in elsewhere and then running along the inside of the roof and dripping through the window or just that the window wants re sealing.

Would I be better off just trying to silicon every roof joint I can find or is this a bit excessive?

Not sure of the best way to approach this problem.

Any help much appreciated.

Kev

[Guest JudgeMental]

a swift leaking...well I never!

 

If it is a Heki it might not help resealing complete window as they CAN suffer from leaks through fixing holes.

 

dealers are well aware of this and should have the correct washers and screws to sort it out. its probably a DIY job if you can get the bits.

 

if it is not a heki and not the fixings, you are better of removing window, cleaning with solvent and re fixing properly. should not take more then a few hours or so.... a bit of silicon around edge is a bodge and wont last IMO

[Keithl]

Kev,

 

As the judge has said, silicon sealant is not really suitable for sealing leaks on your MH.

 

What you need is a purpose designed sealant something like Sikaflex.

 

Have a look at the 'Sealants' section of the CAK Tanks website and then decide if you want a flexible sealant or more permanent adhesive. I would suggest you do not use an adhesive on a rooflight in case you ever need to remove it again.

 

Keith.

[Guest Tracker]

Do you mean what is more often known as a skylight - about one foot square, plastic and usually double skinned?

 

If so they are usually held in place by stainless steel screws and it is not hard to remove the screws on the outside to reseal - but it can be a bit of a bugger to prise the frame up to clean out the old sealant and reseal before re-screwing!

 

It is unusual for one to leak though and I would be inclined to find out why before pulling it all apart? Maybe if you take out the inside plastic frame first you might be able to see where the water is coming from as it could be coming in the roof somewhere else and tracking along inside before coming out of the first available orifice - which might just happen to be your roof light?

 

Which way does the van slope when parked as water does not normally run uphill and where to look will be uphill of where it appears.

 

There is a proper sealant for this, possibly from the Sikaflex range?, and I would opt for that rather than domestic type silicone sealer as it is the sort of job that you only want to do once!

 

There are better experts than I on this subject so it may pay to get a few more opinions before doing anything!

[Mel B]

Roof vents are usually 'stuck' using ribbon sealant, not the squirty stuff. The ones on our Rapido certainly were (no screws) and the sealant was a begger to get off, but obviously it meant it did the job of sealing very well indeed - I only removed the vents to fit new 'clear' ones to let light in as the original 'solid' plastic ones made it like the black hole of Calcutta in there!

 

As a temporary measure, though, I'd get up there and seal it to prevent any further ingress of water, just in case it's getting into the roof itself and not just dripping through.

[hallii]

I am of the opinion that sealants that set, no matter how flexible they might be when newly applied, will eventually lose adhesion due to the constant flexing of the bodywork whilst in use.

 

There are some exellent non-setting mastics made specifically for caravan/motorhome sealing. That's what I would use.

 

Just make sure you know where the leak is coming from, I have, in the past, re-sealed complete awning/side rails only to eventually find it was leaking from a small crack on the plastic roof (caravan, so to be expected I suppose).

 

H

[Dave Newell]

"I am of the opinion that sealants that set, no matter how flexible they might be when newly applied, will eventually lose adhesion due to the constant flexing of the bodywork whilst in use. "

 

As someone who works within the motorhome industry and has had to remove skylights/Hekis/satellite systems etc I can assure you that the proper adhesive/sealants (Sikaflex for example) do not lose adhesion over time if they are correctly applied, they stick like the proverbial on a blanket!

 

Silicone is not a good idea as it WILL lose adhesion very quickly. You need to remove the skylight, clean off all the old sealant and then apply a bead of new sealant. This could be Sikaflex or equivalent or a non setting bedding mastic (I've used a variety of products over the last eleven years or so and none (to the best of my knowledge) have subsequently broken down and leaked. Only last week I had to remove the main rooflight on a Hymer and reseal it as it was leaking.

 

D.

[flicka]

Hi Kev

You say you don't know where the rooflight/skylight is leaking.

A simple check, before attempting to remove the existing sealant & save a lot of work.

 

Is there any water stain down the inner liner that's viewable, if so is your rooflight fully down. ?

It is possible for driven rain to bounce up & then drop, or condensation. (although condensation would have to be heavy)

I would wipe with Kitchen Roll to see if there is any evidence of water running down the inner surface first.

 

If not, then follow the above posts.