peacock312 Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Hi, i have 3yr old Adria coral,been excellent van but now i have a problem about to happen. The plastic shower tray is starting to move up and down when stepped on,i weigh 110kgs,if not remedied soon i feel it will crack,what a hell of a job that would be. iI intend to drill a couple of holes into the tray and force some filler into it ,but if i do this properly it could be airtight and wont set. WHAT do i use ,silcone,foamfiller,?or is there a special product available? I did a similar job on my recessed instep last year which had a similar problem of spongeness plus it was squeaking like mad when you stepped on it,i removed it and filled with silicone but air could get in to set it,100% succesfull so far. any advice on this would be appreciated. : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Is it possible to reach the gap (assuming there is a gap) between the underside of your showwer-tray and the floor beneath it by removing the drain outlet(s)? That might avoid the need to drill 'injection' holes into the tray and allow sufficient air-movement to allow whatever adhesive/sealant you used to cure. Not sure that attacking the tray up-and-down movement by just drilling a couple of holes the way you are suggesting will be effective (mainly because of the difficulty in getting the filler material where it needs to go), but it's worth a try I guess. An alternative approach would be to remove the tray completely and provide a sturdier supporting structure beneath, or a more radical hole-drilling technique could be used involving expanding foam, with the tray being spray-coated with "Speedliner" afterwards. See http://www.neilthecaravanmedic.co.uk/News.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Why should you have to tolerate bad design, and more to the point, why should you have to remedy it.? Contact your dealer and tell him to get it fixed, as it's clearly not fit for purpose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninian Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Hi, Drilling holes in the tray would definitely be my last resort if at all. Would it not be possible to try and re-support the existing floor beneath the tray with something ie an angle iron etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJay Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 Are you sure , you don't have a damp/wet floor in other places? As your step area went and now the shower area, I would get it checked for a total damp test, before drilling ANY holes. We had to have a complete new floor in our van, not an Adria. Ours started with the step area, which we repaired. Thankfully it was repaired by the makers, as a warranty claim PJay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peacock312 Posted December 14, 2012 Author Share Posted December 14, 2012 thanks for replies,i am sure we do not have any damp problem,the floor instep problem was caused by sillicone type filler shrinking or drying out which was placed between plastic floor step and blue,very hard polystyrene which was causing the squeak as the two materials moved together as we stood on them,i totally failed to get any dealer to even look at the problem without charging me unknown amount as it had passed its 2 yr warranty period,i am even less confident of any warranty now 15 months later.it is impossible to get any access under this tray without massive work as it appears to be under side walls etc.but i will try my dealer on monday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Brown Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 If you have a wooden kickplate at the entry to the shower this can be taken off and gives access to some of the shower tray. The next place to look if your toilet is included in the setup is to remove the toilet. Probably held in by four screws. Remove the cassette and feel along the base. It is not uncommon for it to be only held in by two screws. Remove them and lift the toilet out. This gives a lot more access to the under floor area. I had a problem with the shower tray squeaking on the polystyrene below it and the solution was to pump in Detoflex. (Warm the tube and it will flow better) Man made the thing so man can repair it. I agree with others - don't drill the tray, find another way. Art Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 Arthur Brown - 2012-12-14 9:31 PM If you have a wooden kickplate at the entry to the shower this can be taken off and gives access to some of the shower tray. The next place to look if your toilet is included in the setup is to remove the toilet. Probably held in by four screws. Remove the cassette and feel along the base. It is not uncommon for it to be only held in by two screws. Remove them and lift the toilet out. This gives a lot more access to the under floor area. I had a problem with the shower tray squeaking on the polystyrene below it and the solution was to pump in Detoflex. (Warm the tube and it will flow better) Man made the thing so man can repair it. I agree with others - don't drill the tray, find another way. Art I think you probably mean "Detaflex" - the brand-name of a range of polyurethane sealants produced by DL Chemicals and similar to specialised sealants from SIKA and Henkel. Peacock312 owns a 2009 Adria Coral S-670SL. I can't find a useful review of this exact model, but I believe its bathroom design is common to other Adria motorhomes. There is an 'overhead' view of a current Coral S-670SU's bathroom on the Adria website http://www.adria-mobil.com/en/2013/motorhomes/low-profile/coral/s-670-su/#interior and I think this (photo 7) will resemble the bathroom of a S-670SL. If that's so (and peacock312 will be able to confirm this), then the problem of gaining access to the underside of the shower-tray will be plain and it's unlikely that removing the toilet would help. I'm guessing (from an earlier posting that mentioned spare-parts being posted for DIY fitting and no habitation-service being performed) that the dealership that sold this motorhome is a long distance from where peacock312 lives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 A follow-up to this... Is it practicable to reach the underside area of the shower-tray from outside the motorhome's living area? My Hobby's shower-tray sits on an insulated floor and the waste-water pipe runs through the insulation that's between the floor's upper and lower surfaces. There's a 'hatch' screwed to the lower surface that, if removed, would allow the shower-tray's drain-outlet to be accessed. It looks from the Adria website photo that the shower base extends over the vehicle's rear wheel arch. If that's the case with an S-670SL, it might be possible to reach the void beneath the shower-tray by going horizontally through the inside face of the wheel-arch. Removing a section of the floor beneath the shower-tray (perhaps there's already a 'hatch' of some sort like my Hobby's) might be another option. If you can make a good size hole (or good size holes) into the void, either from the side of the tray or from beneath it, then expanding foam could be used as a strengthener. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peacock312 Posted December 15, 2012 Author Share Posted December 15, 2012 its me again,thank you all for your extremely good suggestions, first reply to Arthur,yes i do have a kickplate as you enter bathroom,3 months ago the tray moved up and down approx 1inch ,flexing away from this plate by about 1/4inch,unable to remove kick plate i drilled 3 x1/2 holes in kick plate, and pumped in silicone with a mastic gun untill the gun nearly broke.left to dry ,perfect,but it didnt go in far enough. now the problem is opposite side, to Derek,the picture you refer to of Adria bathroom is nothing like mine.i would explain my model is a s670sl supreme edition 4ton 16inch alloys 3 ltr quite rare,i have only ever seen one other and that was different, less skylites,white cab etc.i believe my van was built for 2009 NEC show only.it was never in any sales lit i saw. yes the dealer is 100mls away. if i take out the toilet it gives me no further access,also i cannot gain any access from outside the van,ive checked i will possibly look to buy some detaflex,where do i buy it? i feel i must continue to pursue a solution before the tray CRACKS which i know it will sooner or later,then it will probably be very costly to repair &beyond my skills thanks again for your help.Dave T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 I hope there is not moisture already under the tray and you are merely sealing it all in with more and more silicone sealant. If this is the case, then it may eventually colapse totally. I would find out what was causing the sinkage in the first place and sort that out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 peacock312 - 2012-12-15 1:19 PM ... i will possibly look to buy some detaflex,where do i buy it?... As I said earlier, "Detaflex" is the brand-name of a range of polyurethane sealants produced by DL Chemicals http://www.dl-chem.com/functions/product.asp?pcat=1&pitem=28&lid=83&pnav=;21;&lang=en A GOOGLE-search suggests that Detaflex 4000 is the most widely marketed in the UK. However, it does need emphasising that Detaflex-branded sealant is not 'magic'. It's just common-or-garden polyurethane sealant and should not be expected to be any better (though no worse) than equivalent polyurethane sealants from SIKA or Henkel. It's stating the obvious, but your problem is not so much what to use (silicone, Detaflex, expanding foam., etc.), but finding a way to deliver the stuff to the area beneath the shower-tray where support is needed. If it's impossible to reach that area from outside your motorhome, then it seems you are back to your original idea of drilling holes in the shower tray and pumping something through those holes. Polyurethane sealants cure by being exposed to moist air, so should cure beneath yoyr shower-tray. Getting the sealant there is another matter... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 peter - 2012-12-15 5:48 PM I hope there is not moisture already under the tray and you are merely sealing it all in with more and more silicone sealant. If this is the case, then it may eventually colapse totally. I would find out what was causing the sinkage in the first place and sort that out. I agree with Peter. I'm assuming that the tray did not flex in this way when the van was new. If that is the case the most likely reason for the present flexing is that the support beneath the tray has failed. Three things seem to me possible. First, that the tray has some kind of rigid (ish!) foam applied to its underside, that has simply collapsed with use, leaving the tray to "float" until loaded. Using a filler beneath the tray might fix this, if it is the problem. However, not sure a silicone product is the right answer, and it has to be accepted that, if the foam has not completely collapsed, the process would have to be repeated until the collapse is complete. Second, that the floor beneath the tray has failed or de-laminated, leaving the structure to flex under load. I would expect the ply top surface to be continuous across the whole van floor area, so the tray should be sitting on ply, and not raw polywatsit, but concentrated loads on specific areas of floor can have this effect. One needs to be able to see what is there to be sure but, in either event, as above, I'm pretty sure silicone won't effect a fix. Third, that there has been leakage from (most probably) the shower outlet, and this has allowed water to attack the area beneath the tray. If that were due to an error in assembly, three years would be more than adequate time for elements of the floor to have rotted. This can be repaired, but would definitely require the tray to be removed. If this is the case, nothing injectable will fix it, and replacement of at least parts of the floor would probably be necessary. What I think you need, is a surveyors' endoscope, with a light. These are designed to allow inspection of sealed cavities and, providing you can get the 'scope into the void that now seems to exist beneath the tray, should give some idea of what is going on. You may be able to buy or hire, or possibly see if a local building surveyor has one he would lend or hire to you, or himself use on your van. The washrooms are usually of fairly simple construction, with sectional "plastic" lined walls from top to bottom. If these are released and removed, the tray should be removable. Fiddly, needing quite a lot of dismantling, probably aided by photos so you can put it back together, and time consuming. You'd also have to proceed with care as not all fixings will be obvious. However, it should be possible. The main snag is the tendency of builders to put a lot of equipment into place before the external walls are put onto the van, so a very careful assessment of which parts have first to be removed, and which will come next, is essential before wading in. However, if it should turn out to be the floor that has failed, there will be no option but to take that route. Lets hope not, and in the meantime, good luck with your investigations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 I agree with Brian. (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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