2018 t@b 400 side portal window leak

SeaLaVie

I have a 2018 t@b 400. found a small amount of water running down the wall inside the bathroom under the portal window. It appears the black seal around the outside of the portal window has some very slight gaps where it seems to have pulled away from the outside wall of the camper. Can anyone recommend a sealant that will run into a narrow gap like that and cure that will not require me to remove and reinstall the window?

Don't mistake the bit of white area in the photos for the size of gap. There is some white showing where I peeled away a small bit of the black graphic material in order to get better access to the window seal. I can get my fingernail into the gap between the seal and the wall in some areas.

vhollow

I too have a 2018 400. I have not noticed this problem (yet), but good to know of the possibility. I would tape off the bottom of the seal area, then squirt in a two-part liquid epoxy resin. The kind that comes in two side-by-side syringes. If you want to get fancier, West Marine sells G-Flex epoxy resin, which is supposed to be slightly flexible. But I haven’t used it, so I don’t know if it is worth it. But, as a long-time saltwater sailor, I can say that epoxy resin makes an excellent, permanent bond, and would flow around your window with gravity, as long as it is warm enough. It cleans up with acetone, but careful with those decals; they could dissolve. Use a really tight, fine line tape under the window.

vhollow

You can thin room temp epoxy with a little acetone and use a syringe to squirt it in or dribble it (patiently) with a toothpick, as long as none leaks out the bottom.

Bayliss

@SeaLaVie, I know that nuCamp uses GEOCELL MHRV 2300 sealant, because it works well with fiberglass, BUT I do not know specifically whether they use it for the rubber window seals.  You can always contact them to see what they say.  You may also want to take a look at Geocel ProFlex RV sealant, which is a similar product.  I believe they are both  polyurethane based.

NOTE:  You do not want to use a silicone product on the exterior of the trailer, because it does not adhere well to aluminum or fiberglass.

jimcenname

I had that problem repaired under warranty earlier this year. Nucamp service solved it by removing about 1/4 inch of the black decal around the windows and recaulking with white chalk. Apparently the black decal, when heated by the sun, moves enough to break the caulking away from the window. Thus they removed the black decal from around the window.

SeaLaVie

Thanks everyone for the great tips so far! I emailed nucamp about it and am waiting on their response as well. I will report back with what they recommend and hope I can get it sealed up soon.

Denny16

I would not put any epoxy products around the window seal, this will cause more of a mess, than  it will fix.  The correct caulking material is the solution.  The best, longest solution I’d to get the nüCamp recommended caulk, remove the port light outside seal, clean under it, pull back the decal, and re-caulk the seal,back in.  Temp fix, cut back,some of the black decal as previously suggested, and add OEM caulk around the problem area.
cheers

vhollow

Yes, my suggestion for epoxy was to put something penetrating into a tiny gap if one didn’t want to strip out the old caulk, but Denny’s suggestion is better, and even cutting back the decal and using white caulk would be more prudent than epoxy. The decals around my portholes have produced a few air blisters in sunlight. So far my low tech solution has been to prick them with a pin and squeeze the air out. Cutting back the decals would solve that too.

Denny16

@vhollow, if the sides of the TaB had plywood in them, the penetrating epoxy woukd be good to displace any moisture and seal the ply.  But as the newer TaBs are Azdel, fiberglass/foam sandwich, nothing for the epoxy to soak into, it will just run down like the water did.  

Cheers

vhollow

Okay. Here I sit, old, semi-quarantined, bored...and corrected.

Denny16

That make two of us my friend. Verna nails me every now and then too. 
cheers

SeaLaVie

Thanks again for the info. I heard back from NüCamp and they recommended using Geocel 2300 MHRV sealant, https://www.geocelusa.com/product/2300-mhrv-sealant/ 

SactoSteve

The 2300 sealant is white.  I’m looking to reseal the door window and the doorside porthole window which currently have a black sealant which is deteriorating.  Geocel 28103 is their black sealant.  I am planning to use that anyone have experience with the Geocel 28103 product?  Thanks, steve

jimcenname

nuCamp changed the decal to window alignment and now leaves 1/4" space around the window from the decal Since the panel is white they now use white sealant. The black sealant on my 2019 400 broke away from the windows and nuCamp trimmed the black decal back and then resealed using white. 

SeaLaVie

SactoSteve said:

The 2300 sealant is white.  I’m looking to reseal the door window and the doorside porthole window which currently have a black sealant which is deteriorating.  Geocel 28103 is their black sealant.  I am planning to use that anyone have experience with the Geocel 28103 product?  Thanks, steve

The 2300 sealant does come in a black version. That's what I used. I believe their product number is GC63103. It worked very well. This stuff is STICKY. I trimmed back the decal material before resealing the windows. Decided to do all three since they were all showing the same signs of pulling the decal material off the fiberglass.

PamandJohnUpNorth2

@SeaLaVie Where were you able to buy the 2300 GC63103? I have searched the internet and I find lots of "clear" but no black.

Raydar

Caulking has cracked and bubble up around windows. How do I repair this, and with what type of Caulking. 

Sharon_is_SAM

@Raydar - this discussion should be helpful.  See above.