Brake light seals (1 Viewer)

[Nobody]

Bought a Hymer B644 in September 2015 after a few week at home left on the drive I discovered a bit of water on the rear window after we had a heavy downpour so decided to investigate more to see where the water was coming from we discovered it was coming though the sealant on the brake light at the top of the van I couldn't believe how much sealant was holding the light in just be aware a lot of these motorhome manufactures scimp on sealants around lights & bike racks motorhomes are like boats when you start drilling holes in them it's all been sorted now & put back to normal here the results of the water damage

 

[Khizzie]

And I thought it was only British built motorhomes that leaked from poor workmanship..oh dear time for a rethink.

 

[Nobody]

Bought a Hymer B644 in September 2015 after a few week at home left on the drive I discovered a bit of water on the rear window after we had a heavy downpour so decided to investigate more to see where the water was coming from we discovered it was coming though the sealant on the brake light at the top of the van I couldn't believe how much sealant was holding the light in just be aware a lot of these motorhome manufactures scimp on sealants around lights & bike racks motorhomes are like boats when you start drilling holes in them it's all been sorted now & put back to normal here the results of the water damage

Here a few more pics putting it all back together & last pic is how it looks now & 100% dry now

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[Nobody]

And I thought it was only British built motorhomes that leaked from poor workmanship..oh dear time for a rethink.

It must have been leaking for some time with the state of it but we couldn't see any evidence of leaking when we bought it or damp.

 

[scootir706]

Ouch!!!! Totally understand where your coming from.I started some damp repairs myself a few weeks ago and posted some pics,Ive found more damage as ive went along,What started as the two rear bottom corners has turned into a full strip out of one side to repair roof side timbers where the side joins the roof.will post some pics as been taking plenty as ive went along,From what i can see the problem is a poorly fitted roof sheet which runs off by about 10mm from front to rear so the wood at rear is not covered by much of the sheet and poorly sealed.Id say the worst is over now as ive got all the rotten wood out and just started fitting in new wood.Can i ask what sealer you have been using?Ive been experimenting with a few different ones.Will post pics soon.

 

[Nobody]

Ouch!!!! Totally understand where your coming from.I started some damp repairs myself a few weeks ago and posted some pics,Ive found more damage as ive went along,What started as the two rear bottom corners has turned into a full strip out of one side to repair roof side timbers where the side joins the roof.will post some pics as been taking plenty as ive went along,From what i can see the problem is a poorly fitted roof sheet which runs off by about 10mm from front to rear so the wood at rear is not covered by much of the sheet and poorly sealed.Id say the worst is over now as ive got all the rotten wood out and just started fitting in new wood.Can i ask what sealer you have been using?Ive been experimenting with a few different ones.Will post pics soon.

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[Nobody]

I use silks flex adhesive it's marine sealant there's also a sealant called stickall witch is very good stuff as well you can buy either off eBay

 

[scootir706]

Ive been using tigerseal which i have used before in truck repairs and is very good,,,,,just got to warm the tubes up a bit to get a good flow,also tried some cv seal from a caravan dealer and bought some evostick ultraflex i think its called frm bnq to try.Biggest problem has been the great Scottish weather as i havnt got the van indoors but i do what i can weather permitting then seal everything up with duct tape which is cheap from b&m homestores.Where did you get your plywood from.........every board at bnq seems warped to excess!!!

 

[Nobody]

Ive been using tigerseal which i have used before in truck repairs and is very good,,,,,just got to warm the tubes up a bit to get a good flow,also tried some cv seal from a caravan dealer and bought some evostick ultraflex i think its called frm bnq to try.Biggest problem has been the great Scottish weather as i havnt got the van indoors but i do what i can weather permitting then seal everything up with duct tape which is cheap from b&m homestores.Where did you get your plywood from.........every board at bnq seems warped to excess!!!

I bought my board from B&Q warehouse seemed OK

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[DanielFord]

Well I'm glad to see it isn't only me who's been fixing leeks in this heavy rain. Got to the van on Sunday afternoon (Swift Sundance 630L), to discover a huge puddle of water on the dinette table!
I thought I'd fixed all the leaks, so back to the drawing board again. So this time I used drastic leak detection methods! I installed a brother in law inside the van whilst I pointed the hose on full pressure to various points on the roof. The leak was under one of the drain cowls, which had to be cut off, and then I discovered the extent of the poor design! Anyway, the good news is that the timber, although damp, is fine, just took me ages to rebuild the internal roof. 2 tubes of Silka Flex one stab in the finger from a Stanley knife and 5 hours later, I believe the leek is now fixed.
I am sitting in the van right now, and the rain is torrential outside, and so far, it is all dry

 

[Nobody]

Well I'm glad to see it isn't only me who's been fixing leeks in this heavy rain. Got to the van on Sunday afternoon (Swift Sundance 630L), to discover a huge puddle of water on the dinette table!
I thought I'd fixed all the leaks, so back to the drawing board again. So this time I used drastic leak detection methods! I installed a brother in law inside the van whilst I pointed the hose on full pressure to various points on the roof. The leak was under one of the drain cowls, which had to be cut off, and then I discovered the extent of the poor design! Anyway, the good news is that the timber, although damp, is fine, just took me ages to rebuild the internal roof. 2 tubes of Silka Flex one stab in the finger from a Stanley knife and 5 hours later, I believe the leek is now fixed.
I am sitting in the van right now, and the rain is torrential outside, and so far, it is all dry

it's a good feeling when you think you've solved the problem.

 

[DanielFord]

it's a good feeling when you think you've solved the problem.

Indeed, been here before though, holding my breath now to see if it really is fixed!!
I will have to get the photos up, the design of the Sundance is bound to fail, the drain cowl covers a joint from the overcab, the roof and the sidewall. All the gunk that goes in there causes the sealant to rot, eventually it WILL leak! And you can't clean it properly!

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[Badknee]

Just re-sealed my big roof light but the weather has been a nightmare. Big thanks to @edgy for helping me out.

 

[DanielFord]

OK, here goes, this is after I dug out all of the rotten sealant you can see all the holes here:

 

[Lenny HB]

And I thought it was only British built motorhomes that leaked from poor workmanship..oh dear time for a rethink.

Difference is that is an old Hymer, British vans come out of the factory leaking and will have disintegrated by the time they reach the age of that Hymer.

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[Khizzie]

Difference is that is an old Hymer, British vans come out of the factory leaking and will have disintegrated by the time they reach the age of that Hymer.

Not quite what I am hearing about the newer European vehicles..i agree the old hymers etc were built by craftsmen ,but like everything else now all is down to profit and corners ate being cut by ALL manufacturers..which is a crying shame when you spend so much money on your dream vehicle ..

 

[Lenny HB]

Not quite what I am hearing about the newer European vehicles..i agree the old hymers etc were built by craftsmen ,but like everything else now all is down to profit and corners ate being cut by ALL manufacturers..which is a crying shame when you spend so much money on your dream vehicle ..

I've have had 2 new Hymer's last one 2008, current one 2014, no problems with build quality. Like all vans they are using lighter construction to keep the weight down due to modern chassis being heavier.

Not much point in building a heavier more solid van if it hasn't got a useable payload, oh sorry I forgot British manufacturers manage it.

 

[Khizzie]

So much for promoting your own country's products which in my opinion are just as good as anything of the similar type bought in Europe....I buy British because I am proud to be British and proud of our manufacturing.....if I have broke any rules @Jim. Please delete,but I really am getting a tad pi@aed off with British made motorhomes are rubbish attitudes...

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[scootir706]

Hi all thought id share some pics of my water leak woes.Getting on top of it now but im sure you will agree they make some scary viewing.As you will see in the pics the roofskin has been appallingly fitted and couldnt do anything else but leak.Must have been leaking from new w

hen you see the state of the timber.

 

[scootir706]

Oops maybe should have made the pics a bit smaller............next time You can see how much the roofskin runs off from front to rear,,,,,starts at a few mm at front which i guess is normal to hardly covering the timber at the rear..........oh and its a ci make lol

 

[Khizzie]

Oops maybe should have made the pics a bit smaller............next time You can see how much the roofskin runs off from front to rear,,,,,starts at a few mm at front which i guess is normal to hardly covering the timber at the rear..........oh and its a ci make lol

Good lord that is one hell of a job to put right ,I couldn't even begin to tackle anything like that ..was the damp never picked up during hab damp tests.??

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[scootir706]

Ive only had the van 6 months........couldnt see or smell any signs of dampness until a really wild weekend on Skye when we were blown all over the place and then it showed up in a cupboard.It looks a lot worse than it actually is.Now ive got all the damaged timber cut out and replaced rear corner right up to the roof its coming along.Next is the roof timber which is in three sections so will join together in staggered joints which will probably be stronger than original.Its been a lot of work but quite interesting seeing how its put together or badly put together in this case.On the plus side ive been allowed to buy lots of new tools to do the job lol

 

[Nobody]

How old is the van & what make is it ?

 

[Nobody]

L

Ive only had the van 6 months........couldnt see or smell any signs of dampness until a really wild weekend on Skye when we were blown all over the place and then it showed up in a cupboard.It looks a lot worse than it actually is.Now ive got all the damaged timber cut out and replaced rear corner right up to the roof its coming along.Next is the roof timber which is in three sections so will join together in staggered joints which will probably be stronger than original.Its been a lot of work but quite interesting seeing how its put together or badly put together in this case.On the plus side ive been allowed to buy lots of new tools to do the job lol

At least you'll know it's right when you've finished it

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[DanielFord]

Ive only had the van 6 months........couldnt see or smell any signs of dampness until a really wild weekend on Skye when we were blown all over the place and then it showed up in a cupboard.It looks a lot worse than it actually is.Now ive got all the damaged timber cut out and replaced rear corner right up to the roof its coming along.Next is the roof timber which is in three sections so will join together in staggered joints which will probably be stronger than original.Its been a lot of work but quite interesting seeing how its put together or badly put together in this case.On the plus side ive been allowed to buy lots of new tools to do the job lol

Sorry, all I heard there was 'new tools'!

 

[scootir706]

lol.....got a new table saw.....bosch multi tool which proved a godsend for cutting out timber in really awkward places,,,,,oh and a bosch cordless drill........might need a few bits n pieces yet

 

[scootir706]

sorry haddy just noticed your question there.......its a 2006 ci644......yea hopefully no leaks after its sealed a bit better

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