New van conversion rooflight keeps leaking

[ronecc1]

My Grandson has had a VW Crafter converted. Unfortunately when he got it back, the roof light leaked on the first trip away. He has taken it back and they 'have supposedly fixed it. Unfortunately it still leaks. As he lives in Ramsbottom near Bury and the converters are in Sheffield, it is a long way and an un needed expense to keep taking it back. I suggested using some Sikaflex and giving it a good coating. If that is okay with you experts, what number Sikaflex do you suggest, if any.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Landy Andy]

If you want to seal it properly it should be removed, along with all the previous sealer and redo.

 

[Reusables]

Needs taking out and the skylight needs a light sanding then cleaning with white spirit or similar.
The van roof will need a good wipe down also .
Sikaflex or puraflex 40 will do the job..

 

[ronecc1]

Thanks. I did suggest to him that he could seal it for now with some Gorilla tape and wait until the warmer weather. He does have an industrial unit for his business, but I do not know the size of it. He might be able to do the job in there if enough room. Thanks for your help.
According to UK Sealants Sikaflex 522 is the one to use. It used to be 512, but is superseded by 522

Sikaflex 522 Caravan Sealant and Adhesive

Sikaflex 522 Caravan 300ml - White High ageing and weathering resistant High fungicidal resistance Very low emission and odour Sikaflex 522 is a low emission 1-component Silane Terminated Polymer (STP) sealant/adhesive. It has a high weathering an

www.uksealants.co.uk

 

[Mike800966]

Gets a bit complicated but as I understand 221 is for bits you might want to remove later, 522 is one for more solid applications. Lots of people will swear by all sorts of sealers. Sylglass tape is really good for a long term bodge or Denso of course but its messy, cleans off with white spirit
Dont think either sika products should be applied below 5 degrees so I would tape it up, stop the ingress and wait for the milder days just around 25th dec
Should that repair not be a warranty issue? Or have you given up on the dealer.
Mike

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[ronecc1]

Thanks Mike. I suppose you could say it is a warranty job, but the converter is an after market converter, not a major converter. Also, as I mentioned, it is a long way from where he lives, to keep going back, plus they did not do a very good job of quite a few other sections of the conversion. People live and learn the hard way I suppose.

 

[TheBig1]

I converted a similar van that had a roof with square corrugations, which prevented a flat seal. One solution was to weld in an angle frame to fill the gaps. I didn't have a welder available at the time, so used multiple shims of GRP cut from a high top of another van. I built these up in layers of sikaflex-shim-sikaflex-shim till all the gaps were filled and I had an even surface. The skylight frame was then fitted using caravan sealant. It worked really well and was so good, I had trouble fitting a cable through one of the filled areas. It was rock solid and having drilled through for the cable, I then resealed it again with sikaflex. It never leaked through the years we owned and used it. That was sika 512.

 

[mitzimad]

if the roof is corrugated the dips need to be filled i used hard wood strips but most now use plastic window trim. use butyl mastic tape lay a strip on the roof following the corrugations lay the spacers in the dips then lay another two strip of mastic tape over the top and clamp the frame down using a screw each side and work your way round till all are tight.

 

[ronecc1]

Thanks Mitzimad. Now called 522. I am not sure what his roof is like, as I have been laid up with a broken foot for nearly 5 months and he has been so busy with his business, he has not been up to visit in it. I will have to get down to have a look and see if I can throw any light on the problem.

 

[Wissel]

I like Sika 522 for skylights and windows. Although it's not easy to remove something that's been stuck in with it, at a later date.

Leaks on new skylight installations are usually down to a poor install or the skylight not being cleaned before fitting. They often still have residue on them from the release agent used in manufacturing.

I would say remove it and clean everything thoroughly with Isopropanol. Sika needs a bed (around 2mm from memory), so adding small washers into the bed to maintain the correct gap works well. It won't work well if the glue is pulled too tight as it will all spill out.

I like to either use a dedicated fitment that fits the roof grooves, or the method stated above by mitzimad (plastic window trim, easily cut to the right angles with a mitre saw).

I also like two separate beads of Sika to bed down on, an inner one and an outer one. This sets well and gives two points of failure.

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[Terry]

Use Puraflex 40, half price of Sikaflex (made by same company) and 30 mm D section plastic to fill in the corigations. Bed down plastic then good bed on top to roof If done correctly it will never leak again

 

[ronecc1]

Good information Wissel, thanks.

 

[ronecc1]

Thanks Terry, I will have a look for it.

 

[Terry]

Forgot to say to remove the roof get a multi tool buzz saw,sharpen the saw blade on either grinder or belt sander then simply go around the roof and lift off

 

[CazPaul]

I use Hodgsons seam seal cv non setting sealant for roof lights I thought not to use stuff like sika for items that may need to be removed through damage etc

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[MisterB]

If you're not sure which sikaflex to use, email them and tell them the application you want it for and they will advise on the best option.

 

[ronecc1]

Thank you everyone