Replacement roof vents and aerial

[Mel B]

Hi gang I've purchased 2 clear roof vents (40mm) to replace the 2 solid plastic ones in my motorhome. I have the ribbon sealant/mastic but wondered if anyone had any advice on the best way to clean off the excess sealent/mastic when I remove the old vents and any other advice. Also, I've also just got my hands on a 6 month old Status 530 aerial which I also intend to fit this weekend (weather permitting) inside the wardrobe and up through the roof, the only problem is, with it being second hand, the black sealing pad is no more so I wondered if using the ribbon sealant/mastic would be okay? If not, what would you suggest? I've no worries doing the jobs but want to get them right - any advice gratefully received. Thanks in advance. Mel B

[colin]

Well I'm opposite to you, I spray my roof vents to stop sun shining in to early on summer mornings

[JohnP]

Hi Mel You could try phoning the aerial manufacturer and they will probably send you the black seal. Worth a try. I think the original was a foam material. Regarding the roof lights, what is the roof material on your van? Some materials may react to solvents and you may have to resort to gentle scraping. Last time I did something like this I used a sharp 1" wide flat chisel making sure that the corners did not dig in. Take care. If using the ribbon mastic apply on a warm day because the material beds down better when it is warm! Use new screws preferably stainless. Whose going to be a buzy "B" then?

[JohnP]

Hi mel One last thought. When you insert the screws tighten them in sequence a little bit at a time until the frame is pulled down firmly. A bit like tightening a cylinder head on a car really. DO NOT tighten one screw right down and then tighten the others.

[scoutse]

Hi try using marine grade mastic ?

[Derek Uzzell]

Removing mastic: Scrape off as much as you can, then use petrol (sparingly) and a rag to remove what's left. Should be no problems using petrol on your Rapido's GRP roof. Fitting Status 530 aerial: You should definitely hold fire on this until you've obtained a new sealing 'gland'. My dealer pal also recommends using good quality silicone sealant in addition to the sealing-gland, despite the Status fitting-instructions saying that this is unnecessary. (Depends on the type of roof material I guess.)

[Mel B]

Done the vents today, left the mastic stuff to get nice and warm on top of the van whilst I removed the old vents and gunk ... big mistake ... the mastic got a bit too warm and didn't want to come away from it's backing!!! If I did it again I'd keep it out of the sun and then let it warm up nicely once I'd got it on the roof before I put the vent on, but you live and learn. As for the aerial, I'm really disappointed, the space to put it in is short (in width) by just under half an inch so I can't fit the ruddy thing! On our van we've got the old type convection gas heater with a flue, the flue runs up through rear right corner of the wardrobe near the outside wall, and out through the roof. When they installed the flue instead of taking it straight up the corner of the wardrobe they kinked it inwards a bit so it is about an inch or so further in than it really needed to be. The aerial was also going to go in the wardrobe on the same side at the front, but due to the flue kink it'll be too close to the flue flanges to put it up and down. Yes I could cut the flanges off one side of the vent but I don't want rain etc to get in and cause problems. My husband did suggest that we just leave it tilted at an angle but I didn't think it'd be safe to trave with it like this or to block the flue by it resting on it. Due to the daft place they've put the (useless) roof bars I can't put it at the opposite rear corner of the wardrobe either as it's got one of the bars immediately above it. We did contemplate putting it in the toilet compartment immediately next to the wardrobe (there is a spot where it would go without too much trouble, but I thought it'd look really stupid and I didn't really want to have wires dangling in there. It looks like, if we want a fixed aerial, we'll have to get a flying saucer or stick to the metal freestanding one we've got which we can stick to the side of the van with suckers ... unless anyone out there knows of a directional pole mounted one that's been on a diet so isn't as wide as the status one!!! Anyone want to buy an aerial then???? AAARGHHHH.

[JohnP]

Mel There is another version of the aerial which you have. The difference is in the pole length and it is designed for fitting in an overhead locker. With a bit of care you may be able to shorten the pole and the inside rod which tilts the aerial from vertical to horizontal. If this can be done and I see no reason why not it should give you more flexibilty of the fitting position. The only thing is that you do not get the aerial height but a few inches shouldn't make any difference to picture quality. Take care not to cut through the feed cable. Remember the old saying "measure twice and cut once" Hope this helps.

[Dave Newell]

Hi Mel, why not remove the roof bar, (I'm assuming it is a side to side bar not the front to rear one, if I'm assuming wrongly then just ignore me). The side to side bars are often simply bolted to the front-rear ones, sometimes into a slot running the length of the front-rear bars and by loosening the fixing bolts the side-side one can be moved a bit. D.

[Derek Uzzell]

Mel B: I forgot to say that, for a really tidy and watertight job, it's a good idea to run a smoothed-down bead of an elastic jointing-compound that forms a surface skin (like SIKAFLEX 512 Caravan) arond the edge of the vent framework where it meets the upper surface of the roof.

[Mel B]

Hi all David - Thought about removing the roof bar but it's firmly attached to the actual roof independent of the side bars so it'd leave 4 nice holes in the roof which I don't think is a good idea from the water ingress point of view and wouldn't look very pretty either. John P - As for shortening the aerial I did think of this as well but as we're a low profile our upper lockers aren't that tall and we need 25cm minimum drop (according to the instructions) to mount the stabalising bracket so that pretty much rules that out as well. For the record I must've measured at least a dozen times and still didn't cut! I'd been up and down the ladder more yesterday than in all the time since we bought the van! The only option I can think of now is to put it actually in the TV cabinet but that could make it rather tricky when adjusting it and making sure it didn't snag the turntable as well. Don't suppose anyone knows if you can get side venting flue tops???? If there was such a thing then I could put it in the original place that I wanted to. I'm still trying my damnedest to come up with a solution before the weekend. Just a thought - and yes it is getting past my bed time so if this sound totally daft please excuse me - if I cut away the side fins on the problem side of the flue and replace them with a movable material, like rubber (assuming I could attach it) so that it would flex and move out of the way as the aerial went up and down but still stop rain etc getting in, do you think that would be safe? Or have I just lost the plot completely!!! Dereks - thanks for the advice, I'll get squirting the compound.

[David Dwight]

Hi Mel, It sounds like a lot of hassle just to watch TV Personaly we go away in our M/home for relaxation and get away from everyday things. TV is the last thing we would worry about. But it do's give us a lot of fun watching other people struggling with Airials etc to get the perfect picture. David

[Mel B]

David Totally agree, that's why we've not really bothered for the last 3 years but it's be nice to be able to catch the news, weather forecast etc occasionally when we're away and seeing as the nearly new aerial was a good price and meant we could get shot of the other one which we have to store inside we thought we'd give it a go. We were also hoping it might pick up some of the foreign stations so when we're in France we can look at some of the French TV and improve our understanding of the country, language etc ... we can't sit in the bars every night! Our favourite sport is watching the caravanners put up their awnings for the first time, totally hilarious but we usually take pity on them after and hour and go and help. I'm still trying to think up a solution the problem.

[David Dwight]

Hi Mel, You say that the flue has a kink in it, is it a flexable pipe? if so could you not get a new length of flue, and put in straight, would this solve the problem. Been there done it with the Caravan Awnings, rescued several when the folks have gone off for the day and the wind has got up. When we used to camp we were quite envious of the caravaners, not the hassle of putting up a tent. Then were were quite envious of the Motorhomers setting up in a few minutes. We just sit back and watch it all happen now. It must be down to age!!!!!! David

[Simon]

The Status 530 ariel with the shorter mast is not supplied with the stabilizer bracket so you don`t need to allow for this if you cut it down.

[JohnP]

Mel How high is the flue outlet on your van, from roof level to the top? I think Trauma produce different heights of flue for different situations. Will look in my catalogue tomorrow. The sizes may also be on their web site.

[Mel B]

David D - We can't move where the flue kinks as this is just before it goes through the roof of the van and I don't fancy a massive great hole where I've moved it from, good idea though. JohnP - We've already reduced the height of the flue - when it had a safety mod done by the dealership (more to do with the way the flue was running up from the floor that anything else) they put a massive flue on the top of it - over a foot in height! On our low profile van it looked absolutely rediculous and was tempting fate to get knocked off, we removed part of it so it is now only about 7 inches high but still does the trick. I wouldn't want to reduce it's height any more really as that might be pushing our luck too far. Keep the suggestions coming though ... all ideas welcome!!!

[JohnP]

Hi Mel I looked at a van today with a similar problem to yours in that the Status would foul the heater vent. They had overcome the problem by sliding a plastic spacer onto the mast so that the lowered aerial stopped a few mm above the flue. The owner assured me that this had not caused any problems with the heater or leakage through the Status roof seal. Their spacer was 45mm high.

[Mel B]

John P Thanks for the idea, I'll have a look - do you know how high the aerial sat in it's lowered position? Ie, for travelling etc.

[JohnP]

Hi Mel Slide the mast fully through the mounting (which goes onto the roof) until the underside of the aerial touches the top of the mount. Then measure the distance from the bottom of mounting (roof line) to the aerial and add on 45mm (spacer) this will give you the height at the lowest position. The easiest way to get an accurate measurement is to use a piece of MDF or ply (to act as a dummy roof) with a hole in it to take the mast. You could even improvise a dummy flue of the right size, height and distance from the mast. From this you should be able to work out if the aerial will clear the flue when lowered. You may be able to get away with a spacer of less that 45mm but this depends on the height of the flue and the clearance you need. Did you manage to get the roof sealing ring? Regards JohnP

[Mel B]

Well, I finally took the plunge ... the afternoon before we were due to go on holiday!!! I finally decided to fit the aerial in the toilet compartment next to the sink, it was the only place that: 1) it would clear the fire flue 2) there was enough length for the pole 3) I could manipulate it to get it in the right postion whilst also being able to see the TV If I had put it in the wardrobe where they normally go, I would've had my back to the TV whilst trying to adjust the aerial, defeats the object really!!! It proved to be a real prat of a job, I used a drill 'hole cutter' bit that was 2mm smaller than the recommended one so ended up having to do a bit of filing, but better that than use the next size up that was 5mm too big!. The main problem was that it was the only place in the ruddy roof with a cable running through it! Fortunately I was taking it very easy so spotted it and made a channel for the cable to run through at the side instead. I used silicon sealant on the edges of the hole and to seal in the cable as well, and the same sealant ribbon that I had used on the roof vents (which had proved to be a great success in use in France) to sit the outer ring on and moulded it to shape to fit and make a nice tight thick seal so no problem there. I did have to fit a batten to attach the bracket on that goes on the wall about a foot below the aerial on the inside - it holds it rigid in use and on the move. Fortunately I had some that was the same colour as the doors so it is a good match and doesn't look out of place. The aerial is easy to use and not obstructive or obtrusive so overall I'm glad I did it but if I was to do it again I'd definitely NOT pick the day before our holiday .. going to bed at 11.30 pm is not a good idea when you've got a 6+ hour drive the following day after a full day's work!!! We've used the aerial a couple of times whilst we've been away and it works a treat ... that is once my husband had sorted the connector out that was a bit temperamental until he used the wonderful gaffer tape to keep it nice and tight (as he'd put this connector on in the first place I refuse to be blamed ... although he did try!). Don't suppose you know anyone who wants an aerial that you attach to the side of the 'van on suckers do you???