Emergency Roof Repair

[4Campers]

Well, the last trip out had a wind storm come up and being we were camped on asphalt with no way to anchor the awning, you can guess the outcome. The awning flew up and punched a nice quarter sized hole in the roof, about four inches from the edge. On the trip home of course it started to rain. Not wanting water to pour into the pup through the hole I needed to find a quick fix to plug it up. Thinking of anything and everything I had available there was only one solution. Inside the Blazer I found a pack of spearmint gum. One piece chewed up and squished into the hole worked and held all the way home. As you see, the edge is already sealed with Eterna-Bond. Too bad the awning wasn't two inches longer, huh?
Now I need a permanent solution, what would you use?

[flyfisherman]

Had something close to that happen to me when the pup was new ... was trying to take the awning down AFTER the wind had come up ... and a gust of wind jerked that awning right out of my hands and the awning rafter punched a hole in my aluminum roof. Repaired it with a two part flexible epoxy and the repaired has held up perfectly. With your type roof I don't know, but what about something down this line ~




http://www.eternabond.com/faq.htm

[Old Goat]

Eternabond beats anything I have ever seen for permanent roof repair and leaks. It is expensive and when applied right will last forever which makes it well worth the cost. Silicone caulk is about the only thing it won't stick to....

[wavery]

3M 5200 Marine Sealer..... It is the same color as the top, it adheres well to aluminum and once it cures, it is an absolutely perfect repair and you won't even be able to tell that it's there.

Clean the spot well with acetone or isopropyl alcohol. apply a small amount of 5200 to fill the hole and spread to the surrounding area. Put a little bit of mineral spirits on your finger and smooth it out to the surrounding surface. After it cures (about 30 days) it WILL NEVER come off, even with hard scrubbing and the Sun will not effect it even over time.

[Old Goat]

3M 5200 is fine but it's shelf life is nil once the tube has been opened, so you need other projects to use any left over on. It is also very expensive...

[wavery]

3M 5200 is fine but it's shelf life is nil once the tube has been opened, so you need other projects to use any left over on. It is also very expensive...

Relatively speaking, I suppose you're right. It's about $4 an oz.

You can get a 4oz tube for about $12. If you open it, quickly squirt a small amount on/in your project then quickly close the tube, you will find that the rest of the tube will be usable for over a year. I have a tube now that I opened 2 years ago and it is still usable.

Exposure to oxygen starts the curing process. If you seal up the opened tube quickly it will limit the amount of exposure.

Don't get the wrong impression though. This stuff is very slow curing. It takes 24-hours to get a skin on it, 1 week to be usable and 30 days to completely cure. Once you apply it, you have about an hour to work with it and get it exactly how you want it.

[austinado16]

I need to put some of that stuff in my quiver of sealants and epoxies!

[wavery]

I need to put some of that stuff in my quiver of sealants and epoxies!

When I was sailing (in about '96), I once made an engine mount out of that stuff (I couldn't find the proper mount after months of searching). I built a solid aluminum mount and used that for quite awhile  I built a mold, installed an "L" shaped bolt in the mold and a steel plate on the bottom. I lined the sides of the mold with Saran Wrap. I filled it with 5200 and let it set for about 3 months. I finally installed the mount before we made a long passage across the Indian Ocean from Darwin, Australia to Durban So Africa. I had to use the engine a few times on that voyage and the mount never broke.

To my knowledge, that engine mount is still in that boat (after 13 years).

[4Campers]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. That 5200 stuff sounds like it would still be there when the camper is dust. Since we are heading out this weekend, I have decided to use some Bondo auto fiberglass filler, then cover the spot with another small square of Eterna-Bond. I still have the remainder of the roll from doing the roof four years ago. Hopefully it has kept well stored away in a drawer. I'll shoot some pics of the outcome.

[treephiz]

I love the Macgyver repair!  Necessity is the mother of invention!  I have one of those holes in my top also.  It came with it and duct tape over it.  I didn't like the questionable repair so I used the JB weld that comes like a putty.  you break off the amount you need and kneed it until the color is unified.  It dried white and was hard in a couple hours.  I didn't think of what Waverly said about smoothing it over with some thing like mineral spirits, and I think that would have made the repair much nicer.  Good luck with the repair.

[saltysenior]

never leave home without a tube of ...  GOOP....

[wavery]

never leave home without a tube of ...  GOOP....

Goop is OK for emergency repairs but certainly not permanent like 3M 5200 and the color is awful.  Goop gets brittle over time and breaks down in the Sun. 5200 never gets brittle and goes for many-many years without being effected by the Sun. I had places on the deck of my yacht that had 5200 on it and it lasted 10 years that I know of, exposed to Sun and salt water every day and I'm sure it's still on there.

[saltysenior]

you are 100% right....but a warning...5200 is very permanent. it was developed as an adhesive, and is a very good one..people who have used it for a bedding run into problems when changing things.......the goop is something i carry and always find some reason to use it.

[4Campers]

Well, here's what I came up with for the repair.

First the hole with the temporary (gum) patch removed-


Then the hole was filled with the resin mix from Bondo fiberglass repair kit. The stuff hardened in about twenty minutes nice and smooth. It took two applications to make it level.


Finished up with a piece of Eterna-Bond to cover the whole area.


Hope this holds!

[hoppy]

I realize this maybe a tad late, but one recommendation I can offer is to tie the awning off to one of the bench seats of the campsite picnic table.
 When we set-up our campsite, we drag the picnic table over and position it directly center and just past the front awning rail and the verticle down poles, and then tie off two adjustable guy lines to the table seat. Works great, and we have used this trick for the past fifteen years. No wind will ever move one of those 200 + lb. picnic tables, and no tent stakes to pull out of the ground when raining.
Of course this only works if the campground has movable picnic tables, and not the stationary type.   :!