peterjohn34 Posted September 19, 2016 Share Posted September 19, 2016 I bought a tube of this sealant a couple of years ago it is still unused have noticed a best before date April 2015 . Should it be fine for sealing any seams still or should i purchase a new tube. Thinking of checking over the roof joints and sky lights etc. Before winter sets in. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted September 19, 2016 Share Posted September 19, 2016 You maybe lucky......but there is a chance the tube is set solid ;-) ........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artheytrate Posted September 19, 2016 Share Posted September 19, 2016 I picked this up off another forum when someone was asking the difference between 521 and 221 sikafex. (Never mind the fancy names and numbers,I used to work at a builders merchants and the area manager of Sika told me Sikaflex EBT was the top grade sealant and just renamed for the building industy and it is half the price . I took his advice and have stuck my solar panel and satellite dome on the roof of my motorhome , that was 3 years ago and they are still stuck solid on the roof.) I have looked at this on eBay and they do different colours and I have bought the grey and sealed around our grey window frames on our Autosleeper. John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted September 19, 2016 Share Posted September 19, 2016 This earlier forum thread may be of interest http://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Silkaflex/39099/ It’s unlikely that an unopened catrridge of Sikaflex 512-Caravan with a use-by date of April 2015 will have “set solid” by now, but the stuff will eventually degrade so there’s an obvious potential risk that this will have happened with Peter’s cartridge. For sealing seams I’d probably buy a new cartridge if I were in Peter’s shoes, as it’s not a task I’d want to do again. Otherwise - before beginning the sealing work - I’d at least open the tube and test whether the stuff comes out all right and sets properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted September 19, 2016 Share Posted September 19, 2016 I personally would not use Sika 512 for sealing around windows, etc. It is an ADHESIVE as well as a sealant and if ever you needed to remove the window you may well have trouble. I think it is intended to permanently fix items such as solar panels rather than seal joints. I believe you need a SEALANT for what you are proposing, I personally use Hodgsons Seamseal CV which never fully hardens. You should be able to find an equivalent Sika if that is the brand you want. http://www.hodgsonsealants.com/product/10164/seamseal-cv-380ml-x-24 Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterjohn34 Posted September 19, 2016 Author Share Posted September 19, 2016 Many thanks for your help i will go for the non hardening sealent will check the roof first before hand. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Way2Go Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 Without wishing to hijack the thread, can I ask for your advice regarding this product. I'm about to take delivery and install an 85 cm automatic satellite dish system to my motorhome roof and have ordered a tube of Sikafkex 512 and Sikafkex cleaner. I watched the manufacturer's online video and it shows them just sticking the dish to the roof with no mechanical fixings. This sounded a bit risky to me so I emailed them and they confirmed that the included adhesive/sealant was adequate to stick the dish to the roof and I didn't need additional fixings. Can I ask :- One: Do you think just using an adhesive/sealer will be strong enough? Two: Should I use the included adhesive (brand unknown) or use 512? Many thanks and I hope you don't mind me adding my own question to the thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 Way2Go These GOOGLE-search results may be of interest http://tinyurl.com/j42elfx It’s not easy to answer your questions categorically. If the base of your sat-TV dish has plenty of area, and you scrupulously clean the suface of the base and the area of the roof that the base will be bonded to, and you carry out the bonding process correctly, then just using a suitable adhesive/sealer should be adequate. Me, I like mechanical fixings, but if screws were to be used as well as an adhesive they would need to enter the roof’s ‘skeleton’ not merely screw through a thin aluminium or plastic skin. If I were to use a SIKA adhesive to fix a sat-TV dish to a motorhome roof, I’d choose Sikaflex-252 rather than 512-Caravan http://www.uksealants.co.uk/sikaflex-252-structural-adhesive--p244.html http://www.uksealants.co.uk/downloads/Sikaflex-252-TDS.pdf but you could always ask SIKA themselves what they would recommend (phone number at foot of this link) http://gbr.sika.com/en/solutions_products/industry-markets/general-industry/contact.html Without knowing what adhesive the supplier of your dish will be providing, your Question Two is essentially unaswerable. You’ll either have to take on trust that the adhesive provided with the dish will be suitable (which you’ve evidently been told by the dish-supplier is the case) or opt for an alternative adhesive that ought to be OK. Once you’ve received the dish and established the make/type of adhesive that comes with it an informed comparison might be possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 peterjohn34 - 2016-09-19 9:26 PM Many thanks for your help i will go for the non hardening sealent will check the roof first before hand. Peter While using a high-strength adhesive/sealant like Sikaflex 512 Caravan would be inadvisable for bedding-in motorhome rooflights/windows or joint sealing-strips because (as Keith warns) subsequent removal of the rooflight/window/sealing-strip may prove extremely difficult, it should be perfectly OK for ‘edge sealing’ - say where the outer edge of a rooflight or window nearly touches the motohome’s body panelling, or two body panels meet. It depends on what you envisage doing, but it sounds like you just plan to ‘edge seal’ with a protective fillet of sealant either for cosmetic reasons or because you think it might better guard against water ingress. I’d be happy to use Sikaflex 512 Caravan (or Sikaflex 252) for that type of task, but I’d make sure that any open joints I was sealing were narrow and that I would be able to cut through the adhesive fillet easily should this prove necessary in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 I've just replaced the overcab windows on Horace using Sikflex 291i which is I believe is the boat version :-S ......... Its probably more expensive but none of the caravan places I tried had the 510 in Black, so ended up at a chandlers *-) ....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikejkay Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 Some time back I had two tubes, one opened, left over from fitting an awning. I wrapped the nozzle of the opened tube with clingfilm and put on another nozzle which I had filled with mastic over the top of the original nozzle. Both tubes were well out of date and both were perfectly OK when I used them to attach solar panel brackets to the roof of my motorhome. That was three years ago. I have just used what was left of the last tube to seal around a double glazed window in my house. Had to cut open the tube and knife the contents into the gap but it has worked well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veletron Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 Hi I used both Sika and self tapping SS screws when fitting my original snipe, and subsequent dome after the snipe died. This was to the roof of a PVC, so the contact area's for the 'feet' are not as great as on a vehicle without a ribbed roof - and if it is a PVC then you don't really want to be filling the troughs with sika - this will just make water 'pool' and cause other issues longer term. Beware that glue is only ever as good as the paint adhesion, and also that some coach-builts have a roof 'skin' for hail-proofing/etc that sits above the actual fully solid roof. I would not want something as heavy as the Oyster secured only to the 'skin'. Belt+braces says screw it and glue it! Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Way2Go Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 Derek Uzzell - 2016-09-20 7:33 AM . . . . If the base of your sat-TV dish has plenty of area, and you scrupulously clean the suface of the base and the area of the roof that the base will be bonded to, and you carry out the bonding process correctly, then just using a suitable adhesive/sealer should be adequate. Thank you for the detailed advice Derek. Much appreciated. The dish and motor are bolted to a base plate which is secured to the motorhome roof via the adhesive. The base plate is 39 cm square (approx 15 1/4") so that 'should' hopefully be beefy enough to make good contact with the roof? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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