Help Sealing Screws on Chapel Hill NC Bobcat Roof

[kimberly.brewer]

Hi Everyone, We have a five-year old Bobcat. Recently the fabric in the ceiling has been getting damp during rains. We bought a tube of DOW 999A silicone caulk to reseal the screws on the roof of the Bobcat.
We didn't take the screws all the way out--just loosened the nuts/screws, put caulk under the rings, and then retighten. Did we do this correctly?
Also, we live in a humid area. How long will it take the caulk to cure? And how long should we wait to drive our Bobcat again? And how would you recommend we test if it worked?
We put the caulk on yesterday afternoon and we may have rain tomorrow afternoon. So we put a tarp on this evening to allow more time to cure without getting wet.
This is all new to us. Thanks for any advice you can give.
Kimberly

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Welcome to the cult.
Congrats on the Bobcat you have,great camper.

You might contact Marty at ATC for some info.
They would be glad to help I am sure.

Frank

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Kimberly, do call ATC. I suspect they will not recommend using silicon, but rather a product like Geocel Pro Flex, or a similar sealant.

 

[SkyP]

Yep IMO silicone is bad...I have come to hate the stuff. It leaves a residue and if a redo is ever needed nothing sticks well to silicone- not even silicone.

 

[Vic Harder]

Well, the OP already used the silicone. So, I would not worry about the rain. That caulk is supposed to cure in the presence of moisture! When I redid my screws I tested with a hose. One person inside, the other soaking the roof.

Where was the ceiling wet? Sometimes the water gets in one hole and then traverses a goodly distance through the alum tubing before it finds and exit.

 

[kimberly.brewer]

Thanks to all of you who replied! And thanks for the welcome!
We love our Bobcat (her name is Rosela) and have camped/traveled all over the US with her in the last 5 years.
I had asked Marty earlier about the type of caulk to use and he said they use the DOW 999A silicone. So that's why I used it to reseal.
The dampness is in the ceiling fabric at edge of ceiling above the passenger side of the bed, and at the rear of the ceiling where the wooden brace/lift is.
Will take your advice and call Marty about the questions.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

If that is what Marty recommended, I don’t think you need to call him. He won’t steer you in the wrong direction.

 

[ctrippy]

If you are resealing the roof screws you should also do the roof perimeter seal

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

What about using the "Flex Seal" spray,it comes in a clear?
I have used on the edge seals of my "sun" room and it seems
to work.

The spray might get into the tight places better then the caulk.

Frank

 

[kimberly.brewer]

Thank you all!
We had rain the last few days and the caulking worked - whew!
Hope to go camping next weekend.

 

[kmcintyre]

When I resealed my screws, I put a "blob" of caulking over the entire screw head. If you try to get it just in the threads it might fail again. Just look and see what the fan install caulking looks like. That will give you an idea of my screw heads.

 

[ntsqd]

Same here, on our last camper I had to re-seal the screws holding the vent down. I put a blob of 3M 5200 over each screw head that was large enough to completely enclose it. Now they won't vibrate loose either! (Not that I've had that problem.... )