Bubble on roof seal? 2024 Minnie Winnie 22R

[MTBer]

The evening before leaving on a 5 week trip I noticed a large bubble on the seal on the front seam on the RV. I found a Winnebago dealer along the route and set up an appointment for them to repair it since I thought it would be covered under warranty. When I got there, I was told that the roof seam sealant isn't covered so I just bought a tube of Dicor and cut out and repaired the bad spot myself.

The problem is that the bubble keeps reappearing.The original bubble was much larger than what you can see in the left side of the repair. It seems that air is trapped and as it warms up and expands it pushes thru the still soft repair.

I'm going to call Winnebago support but thought I would get opinions from others.
Thanks,
Ed

 

[Eagle5]

Hi MTBer,
Here is the sealant call-out sheet for the 2024 22R:
https://www.winnebago.com/Files/Files/Winnebago/Resources/Diagram/Sealant/000210036.pdf
The correct sealant for that seam is 185987-03-CHT.
All of that Dicor should be removed. Clean the area very well with rubbing Alcohol too, and put-on the correct product. Be sure that the 185987-03-CHT you buy has not yet expired.
Thanks, Eagle5
P.S. Black will absorb much more solar heat than white, which is why the sealants used up there are white.

 

[MTBer]

Hi MTBer,
Here is the sealant call-out sheet for the 2024 22R:
https://www.winnebago.com/Files/Files/Winnebago/Resources/Diagram/Sealant/000210036.pdf
The correct sealant for that seam is 185987-03-CHT.
All of that Dicor should be removed. Clean the area very well with rubbing Alcohol too, and put-on the correct product. Be sure that the 185987-03-CHT you buy has not yet expired.
Thanks, Eagle5
P.S. Black will absorb much more solar heat than white, which is why the sealants used up there are white.

Since I got this from an authorized Winnebago dealer, I assumed it would be the correct sealant. However this doesn't address the issue of the sealant bubbling up every time it is re-patched. The original bubble was from the sealant from the factory.

 

[Eagle5]

Since I got this from an authorized Winnebago dealer, I assumed it would be the correct sealant. However this doesn't address the issue of the sealant bubbling up every time it is re-patched. The original bubble was from the sealant from the factory.

Next time; just cut-out the bubble, clean with rubbing alcohol, and patch with the correct sealant.
There is an old Russian saying "Trust, but Verify." You are the final Quality Assurance inspector.

 

[creativepart]

Since I got this from an authorized Winnebago dealer, I assumed it would be the correct sealant.

Ah, you are learning a valuable lesson… in most cases dealers know far less about the products they sell than the rest of us owners.

There are some, a handful, of knowledgeable, honest dealers but they are few and far between. As Eagle5 says, trust, but verify.

PS. Just a FYI. The photos you attached were made thumbnail size before you uploaded them. If you had uploaded much larger sized photos the forum software would have displayed them about that size but if members wanted a closer look we could have clicked or tapped on them to see them in their large original size. So maybe in the future you could leave them large, not giant but easily 3 or 4 times larger than what you uploaded.

 

[dkoldman]

Since I got this from an authorized Winnebago dealer, I assumed it would be the correct sealant. However this doesn't address the issue of the sealant bubbling up every time it is re-patched. The original bubble was from the sealant from the factory.

That Dealer may sell other brands as well. If you want to have fun, call Winnebago directly and them if you can use Dicor

The WBGO part numbers can get tricky because they do want you to buy from Authorized Dealer.

I normally have one tube of this every year, but there are different callouts so you have to check which one for your coach.

I have never seen the bubble, it is likely some outgassing? I doubt that Manus Bond will bubble like that once cured.

https://www.amazon.com/Manus-Produc...10851e998e783682a4b0a8e87db84a6f&gad_source=1

 

[MTBer]

As Eagle5 stated, the Winnebago part number is 185987-03-CH. Has anyone actually used this? If so, where did you get it? I cant find it anywhere but did find something on the Winnebago website that says:

Urethane Sealant: Sealant “C” / 185987-03-CHT is a polyurethane-based sealant. Unfortunately, the part number listed is not valid for dealers or the coach owner (i.e., the part number for the sealant identified here is used by manufacturing and packaged in what is referred to as a sausage pack versus a caulk tube). Obviously, this can make things a bit more difficult and confusing.
(this was dated 2016)

​

By the way, I called Winnebago customer support and was told that I'm number 10 in the Que and could receive a return phone call when my turn came up. I'm still waiting for the call

 

[dkoldman]

Since I got this from an authorized Winnebago dealer, I assumed it would be the correct sealant. However this doesn't address the issue of the sealant bubbling up every time it is re-patched. The original bubble was from the sealant from the factory.

As Eagle5 stated, the Winnebago part number is 185987-03-CH. Has anyone actually used this? If so, where did you get it? I cant find it anywhere but did find something on the Winnebago website that says:

Urethane Sealant: Sealant “C” / 185987-03-CHT is a polyurethane-based sealant. Unfortunately, the part number listed is not valid for dealers or the coach owner (i.e., the part number for the sealant identified here is used by manufacturing and packaged in what is referred to as a sausage pack versus a caulk tube). Obviously, this can make things a bit more difficult and confusing.
(this was dated 2016)

​

By the way, I called Winnebago customer support and was told that I'm number 10 in the Que and could receive a return phone call when my turn came up. I'm still waiting for the call

You are stating what I was trying to address post #6. I gave you the link to what WBGO recommends, but as I also state they don't give you the trade / commercial name because they want you to buy through a dealer like you did the Dicor. I had similar trying to find a simple breaker, had a dealer quote close to $100 for one and I eventually through trial and error found the exact same OEM part with simply a different part number for $6

WBGO does call you back, I have been on hold 20 callers deep, I just put them on speakerphone and get back to work until they pickup.

Depending on who answers and if they are in a good mood they may tell you about the Manus Bond product but they might not get into the part numbers? It has a shelf life ( maybe 6 months?) so buy from a legit source or verify date. 1 year old is the oldest before I toss it.

 

[MTBer]

I appreciate all the responses so far but what I would really like to know is what is causing the bubble and more importantly, how to prevent it?


Thanks,
Ed

 

[creativepart]

I appreciate all the responses so far but what I would really like to know is what is causing the bubble and more importantly, how to prevent it?

Since none of us has ever seen this before it’s pretty difficult to answer this question.

If you really want to get to the bottom of this issue I think you’ll have to get out your scraper and remove all the Manus Bond 75AM sealant ansee what could be there to cause a recurring bubble there.

It would be great, if you do go through with this, if you report back here as I’m sure we’re as curious as you are.

https://www.amazon.com/Manus-Products-75-AM-Black-Bond/dp/B079Z2RH4M

 

[dmctlc]

First off I'm surprised this issue isn't warrantied on a 2024. I'm not sure if you called anyone beyond that dealer. A lot if dealers don't like to work on warrantied repairs because they make a fraction of what their normal hourly rate is. I'd call someone higher up than the dealer see what they say.
As for your bubble, as mentioned several times, it's an unusual issue, especially since it keeps reappearing. All I could say if there's a water leaking there then the heat could be cause the water to basically boil off and causing it to expand or bubble. Another thought, though I don't know your RV so i can say if you're having this issue, but if you have ducted AC and it has an air leak it could cause something like that. It would seek the weakest path out. JMO....

 

[MTBer]

First off I'm surprised this issue isn't warrantied on a 2024. I'm not sure if you called anyone beyond that dealer. A lot if dealers don't like to work on warrantied repairs because they make a fraction of what their normal hourly rate is. I'd call someone higher up than the dealer see what they say.
As for your bubble, as mentioned several times, it's an unusual issue, especially since it keeps reappearing. All I could say if there's a water leaking there then the heat could be cause the water to basically boil off and causing it to expand or bubble. Another thought, though I don't know your RV so i can say if you're having this issue, but if you have ducted AC and it has an air leak it could cause something like that. It would seek the weakest path out. JMO....

I was also surprised that they wouldn't cover it under warranty but didn't pursue it any further since it was discovered the evening before leaving on a cross country trip and I thought it would be nothing more than cutting out the bad area, cleaning it, and applying the sealant. I found a Winnebago dealer before I left and was happy that I could get a same day appointment at the time I would arrive there (200 miles from home) but didn't want to pay for 1/2 to one hour of shop time for a simple repair. Before I left I made sure I had everything I would need (except the sealant) to fix it myself. I called Winnebago customer support and they asked me to send an email with pictures and I also asked about warranty. I am waiting for someone to get back to me.

The AC duct is very close to the bubble area. I'm going to check that out in the morning, thanks for the suggestion.

Ed

 

[MTBer]

The AC duct is very close to the bubble area. I'm going to check that out in the morning, thanks for the suggestion.

The AC hasn't been on since I got home so I don't think that's the problem but I'm still looking in the morning.

 

[dkoldman]

Do you have pictures of the bubbles BEFORE applying the Dicor?

WBGO is great in my book, but when I bought my RV the Roof leaks were only covered for 90 days.

Something is NOT right, because I would thing that sealant in the callout sheet would be very, very hard to bubble up? That Manus Bond is very hard when cured essentially making it almost impossible to bubble. Crack, split yes but bubble ?

That is why before pictures would be helpful.

I wonder if an issue / leak was found before you bought and if the Dealer thought Dicor was okay applied a little for a repair and maybe incompatibility wit the chemicals caused reaction that allowed for elasticity from the Dicor? Sounds like when you repaired with dicor you saw the outgassing again?

To give you context, if I take a knife on my Manus Bond it is hard to penetrate. It would be akin to me saying my Peanut Brittle Bar is forming Bubbles?

Regardless, I would get fix properly ASAP before it does start to leak. My guess is WBGO will help if it is just a matter of redoing that area with Manus Bond, but if you have water damage or some other ill side affect from improper repair they may not touch?