Leaking skylight

Pudsey Bear · Oct 26, 2022

If care is taken when removing it there shouldn't be a problem, they do become brittle with age but the trick is to do it gently and evenly not putting stress in one area.

Vanterrier · Oct 26, 2022

I had to do this on my 2004 Savannah Irmao some years ago. The problem I found was that IH had not used an infill section in the channels of the roof but had used clear bathroom silicon instead with a Sikaflex type sealant fillet around the edges. Once the Sikaflex cracked, like yours, the water that settles in the roof channels seeped in.
The only good thing (?) Was that their method made the removal of the rooflight very easy.
I was unable to find the right infill section at that time and used a huge amount of the expensive Sikaflex to build dams in the channels before finally sealing my rooflight down.
It never leaked again while I had it.
Good luck
K

Pudsey Bear · Oct 26, 2022

I used some strips of plastic the right depth on my self build roof to make it flat and used Sikaflex to bond those down then the Heki to those I did need to reseal it a couple of years later as I had missed a tiny little bit on the front corner so the wind was driving it when travelling.

Most large town have a plastics company and they usuall have an offcuts bin and are happy to cut or chamfer to size for a few beers.

Molly 3 · Oct 26, 2022

You are lucky it's dometic, heki , remis wind up mechanisms break regularly .

Pudsey Bear · Oct 26, 2022

Had two wind up ones in the past, the worm drive is plastic and people tend to wind them to fast and they skip easy fix, but I prefer the simple lever arm type as we have now, nothing to go wrong really.

Millie Master · Oct 27, 2022

For infill sections to fill in the ridges of the roof, try going along to your local UPVC double glazing installation company and ask them nicely if you can have a look through their scrap pile for offcut sections of trim, they will no doubt have loads and loads of varying thicknesses and widths.

My van is a Renault Master and I found some perfect pieces that I bonded into place prior to refitting the rof light................. and the bonus was that it was all FREE!

nabsim · Oct 27, 2022

Shhhh

Molly 3 said:
You are lucky it's dometic, heki , remis wind up mechanisms break regularly .

Baz, my original is still going strong. It has the wind up but you can also push up either side on bars

Molly 3 · Oct 27, 2022

nabsim said:
Shhhh

Baz, my original is still going strong. It has the wind up but you can also push up either side on bars

NEIL my van has had 2 replacement wind up mechanism and one replacement full skylight due to wind up locking failure , Remis 2 .

nabsim · Oct 27, 2022

Molly 3 said:
NEILL my van has had 2 replacement wind up mechanism and one replacement full skylight due to wind up locking failure , Remis .

Not certain but I think they may be similar operation when discussed in the past Baz. Mine has been in since the van was built so it’s 15 years now

Molly 3 · Oct 27, 2022

nabsim said:
Not certain but I think they may be similar operation when discussed in the past Baz. Mine has been in since the van was built so it’s 15 years now

Mine has no bars just the crank .another remis problem is the rubber seal degrades and sticks to the skylight tried lubricants but still sticks after being closed for for a few month's, new seals are available

Caz · Oct 28, 2022

MIne is a Remi slide and tilt, can't get one anywhere, and nothing else is the right size. Meanwhile the last lot of temporary repairs (gaffa tape) have started to leak again.

Molly 3 · Oct 28, 2022

Caz said:
MIne is a Remi slide and tilt, can't get one anywhere, and nothing else is the right size. Meanwhile the last lot of temporary repairs (gaffa tape) have started to leak again.

Oh dear , when I was looking I found some tilt and slide roof lights in scrap yards , I think you need to find the hole size and search for something that may fit , the last resort is to have the hole enlarged and to fit somthing like a heki .their s a company that re makes plastic windows perhaps they could repair a roof light , if so the roof light will have to be removed and sent on , several weeks turn round time ,,Eeco window repairs got to he worth a go . Bazz

Molly 3 · Oct 29, 2022

Had a look on ebay some S/H tilt and slide domes advertised ,worth a look

Caz · Oct 29, 2022

Thanks Baz, I'll try again, last time I looked there was one and it had a big hole in it. I've emailed various places and been told no, and "you'll be lucky, they don't make them anymore".

I'm told there isn't enough room on the roof to make hole bigger and fit a Heki.

I know Eeco may be a possibility but I can't take the darn thing off and nowhere under cover to park it while it's copied.

I currently have two local firms who are supposed to be thinking of solutions for me.

Pudsey Bear · Oct 29, 2022

Molly 3 said:
Mine has no bars just the crank .another remis problem is the rubber seal degrades and sticks to the skylight tried lubricants but still sticks after being closed for for a few month's, new seals are available

Mine too, anther use for a tiny smear of Vaseline.

TJBi · Oct 29, 2022

Caz said:
Thanks Baz, I'll try again, last time I looked there was one and it had a big hole in it. I've emailed various places and been told no, and "you'll be lucky, they don't make them anymore".

I'm told there isn't enough room on the roof to make hole bigger and fit a Heki.

I know Eeco may be a possibility but I can't take the darn thing off and nowhere under cover to park it while it's copied.

I currently have two local firms who are supposed to be thinking of solutions for me.

If it's the dome that's the problem, it should be possible to find some helpful person to remove it and then make things weathertight. When I removed a window to send to Eeco (which turned out to be a waste of time), I covered the hole with varnished plywood through-bolted onto timber struts placed across the window frame on the inside.

Molly 3 · Oct 29, 2022

Mine had a huge hole and was leaking badly coverd roof light with plastic sheet and gorilla tape not a drop of water came in , I did consider removing skylight and temporarily fitting a polycarbonate sheet ,waiting time for a new skylight over 14 weeks , pay on order no delivery date final ,bill £800 .Caz Have you considered bonding a clear perspex sheet over outside of the damaged area using sikaflex and covering edge's with gorilla tape ??? , I contacted autosleeper for advice , have contacted Adria .if you had gone insurance and parts not available your van could be a right off ..Bazz

Campervanannie · Oct 30, 2022

Molly 3 said:
Mine had a huge hole and was leaking badly coverd roof light with plastic sheet and gorilla tape not a drop of water came in , I did consider removing skylight and temporarily fitting a polycarbonate sheet ,waiting time for a new skylight over 14 weeks , pay on order no delivery date final ,bill £800 .Caz Have you considered bonding a clear perspex sheet over outside of the damaged area using sikaflex and covering edge's with gorilla tape ??? , I contacted autosleeper for advice , have contacted Adria .if you had gone insurance and parts not available your van could be a right off ..Bazz

It shouldn’t be a write off looking at the photos it’s exactly the same as mine a bog standard dometic heki midi my Motorhome repair guy ordered mine on the Monday it was delivered on the Wednesday and fitted on the Thursday the roof filler bits and Friday the actual skylight I’ll take photos in the morning.