Removing Maxxair Skymaxx rooflight

[John Russell]

Our 23 year old Maxxair Skymaxx rooflight has started to leak. There's a hairline crack between the roof and the exterior section of the skylight.

According to the manual the skylight is in three parts - the exterior and interior sections clamp together across the roof; and there's an internal housing or cover which contains the blind and flyscreen.

The housing is a clip fit according to the manual.

I need to unclip the internal housing to access the screws which clamp the internal and external parts together but I can't see how to do that.

Can anyone suggest how to do it?

Tia

 

[jongood]

Our 23 year old Maxxair Skymaxx rooflight has started to leak. There's a hairline crack between the roof and the exterior section of the skylight.

According to the manual the skylight is in three parts - the exterior and interior sections clamp together across the roof; and there's an internal housing or cover which contains the blind and flyscreen.

The housing is a clip fit according to the manual.

I need to unclip the internal housing to access the screws which clamp the internal and external parts together but I can't see how to do that.

Can anyone suggest how to do it?

Tia

photo might help John

 

[dawsey]

Are you going to replace it? If so, then brute force is the answer. Just be careful not to damage the van.

 

[John Russell]

There's nothing wrong with the skylight, just the seal around it has failed so I'd like to remove it undamaged and reinstall it.

Here are some pictures I prepared earlier.

Beautiful day

Maybe some clips?

Detail of clips?

I've been round with feeler gauges and couldn't detect the clips.

Has anybody installed one of these?

Alternatively, although tricky, it might be possible to remove the 10 or so screws that appear to be clamping the internal and external parts. But access is very tight.

 

[TheBig1]

That is a mini heki, not a maxxfan

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[TheBig1]

 

[John Russell]

TheBig1 Thanks for the correction, that helped!

I was able to pull the inner cover off by starting at the corner and working slowly along two adjacent sides pulling straight down and keeping close to the opening. A flexible filling/palette knife helped start it off.

It's held tightly and I hadn't used enough force before for fear of breaking the cover.

The metal clips on the upper side of the cover are two-sided and slot into plastic channels, one along each side of the ceiling piece.

A clip

Underside of the ceiling piece

Upper side of the inner cover

Easy once you know how!

Hopefully this will help the next person with the same question.

J

 

[John Russell]

Cleaned everything up, degreased and refitted this afternoon with SikaLastomer 712 ahead of this evening's rain.

Still dry, so looks like it's good.

Unfortunately a new damp patch has appeared under the tape junction...

The roof is a 42mm sandwich of fibreglass and insulation foam so possibly the additional load of new solar panel is over-stressing it.

 

[jongood]

Cleaned everything up, degreased and refitted this afternoon with SikaLastomer 712 ahead of this evening's rain.

View attachment 770223

Still dry, so looks like it's good.

Unfortunately a new damp patch has appeared under the tape junction...

The roof is a 42mm sandwich of fibreglass and insulation foam so possibly the additional load of new solar panel is over-stressing it.

Thats strange. Normal Clou Roof is aluminium-dense foam-aluminium. But then again Ive never seen another Clou like yours.

Which tape do you mean? Tapes are normally cover only with the joint being under the tape. Might need to get the tape off and see whats going on?

 

[John Russell]

The tape junction is visible in my picture and runs across the roof in front of the skylight.

The section in front of the tape is a lot stiffer, aluminium sandwich I guess. The last couple of meters behind the tape is fibreglass sandwich and a lot softer.

It looks like the rear section has been replaced a long time ago. Now it's clean, the paint is a slightly different colour, the roof tape all round is a similar age, and the skylight sealant was hardening.

What bothers me is that this is the third leak in the same area - tape at the back of the roof, skylight, now tape at the junction which may be hard to prevent recurring.

There are signs of old leaks along the sides of the bedroom, and it looks like the Polish vendors replaced a bedroom window where there's some bubbling.

So could be a recurring problem.

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[TheBig1]

There are better ways to reinforce joints than taping. But require custom cut aluminium strips that then get painted to blend in

 

[CazPaul]

There are better ways to reinforce joints than taping. But require custom cut aluminium strips that then get painted to blend in

Yes I looked at a Flair years ago that had an aftermarket aluminium strip covering the front joint. He said they were made specifically for Flairs by the factory in Polch.

 

[TheBig1]

Yes I looked at a Flair years ago that had an aftermarket aluminium strip covering the front joint. He said they were made specifically for Flairs by the factory in Polch.

They can be made by any metal basher/fabricator as with most things metal. Getting it made locally would be way cheaper than OEM. But if the factory have it as an option, it should be far better than tape

 

[John Russell]

What's the approach?

Lift out the weak piece of roof - 1.5m X full width - and reinsert with an aluminium H-section along the cut? Or an h-section.

The fibreglass is 42mm and the aluminium panel is around 50mm, nearly flush from the outside.

Presumably I could replace the fibreglass with an aluminium sandwich although that looks like a much bigger job.

 

[TheBig1]

What's the approach?

Lift out the weak piece of roof - 1.5m X full width - and reinsert with an aluminium H-section along the cut? Or an h-section.

The fibreglass is 42mm and the aluminium panel is around 50mm, nearly flush from the outside.

Presumably I could replace the fibreglass with an aluminium sandwich although that looks like a much bigger job.

Personally if it were me, I would bond a sheet of aluminium on top to strengthen the weak area. Then cut a wide cover strip of aluminium to bond over the joint. It will leave it much stronger and waterproof. A much more permanent solution than taping, which needs renewing every couple of years

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[John Russell]

What's the technique to get a good bond between the aluminium sheet and the fibreglass sandwich?

 

[TheBig1]

Clean the area thoroughly then lightly sand both parts. Wipe down again and use a contiuous bed of sikaflex on the fibreglass. Gently push the aluminium onto the adhesive but not so hard it all pushes out. Aim for a 4mm finished seal. I cheat and use plastic tile spacers to ensure an even seal. Wipe the excess and allow 24 hours for full cure.

Once sealed on it will be really difficult to remove as it will be one solid piece

 

[jongood]

Clean the area thoroughly then lightly sand both parts. Wipe down again and use a contiuous bed of sikaflex on the fibreglass. Gently push the aluminium onto the adhesive but not so hard it all pushes out. Aim for a 4mm finished seal. I cheat and use plastic tile spacers to ensure an even seal. Wipe the excess and allow 24 hours for full cure.

Once sealed on it will be really difficult to remove as it will be one solid piece

Its not a bad idea, not least because it saves disturbing the inside, but it needs to be bigger than the fibreglass bodge so is it possible to overlap all round John Russell ?

 

[CazPaul]

Depending on how thick the aluminium is and the seal thickness, you will then get water not being able to run off at the front/rear, depending on which area you are doing.

It would have to run off down the sides so as long as you haven’t got any raised edges down either side of the van. Remember it wasn’t built like that so have a think beforehand where water will drain off.

 

[John Russell]

The construction of my roof is a single piece of aluminium sandwich - until the cut.

A nosing goes around the edge, and this is taped to the roof, so the roof is slightly lower than the nosing.

This is a 2001 Niesmann - did they use other methods?

Btw 4mm X 1.5m X 2m is 12L of Sikaflex. Is there a better way of spreading it in volume than those sealant guns?

J

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[TheBig1]

The edges, if you want to use an aluminium strip would need to have a strip, maybe 80mm put through a roller press to set an offset step of a few mm. Any bodyshop has the tools to make these strips. You can buy a hand tool to set this offset, but much neater done in a long length,

The sikaflex or puraflex would do, use a sealant gun with no nozzle and a plastic liling adhesive spreader to create an even bed thickness. You need to work quickly over such a large area. You could also use 2 part panel adhesive, the same as the converters use and then seal any edges with sikaflex for a large panel

Last time I bonded a sheet over a roof (to strengthen it under a rack) 2 of us worked together to get the adhesive on and then bed the pre-cut panel into place. It took all the bounce out of the roof and was totally watertight