Sealant oozing on Dethleffs for sale (3 Viewers)

[Saucer]

Hello all. Id be very interested in your views on this. We've just been to look at a Dethleffs coach built at a large dealership in the south. The van itself was a 2020. very nice and well looked after inside. What I didn't like was black (silicon like) sealant ousing from a lot of the exterior points

 

[BouncyBoatFolk]

Yes, we have a Sunlight van off the same production line, and it has a bit of goo coming out of some joints, BUT absolutely no damp.
If a bit of goo is the price of a water ingress free van I can live with that, as can many many other owners. In the winter I'll spend 10 mins and clean it off.


Straw pole, reading this thread are there any owners of Sunlight, Carado, Dethleffs, with water ingress problems that have been built using the non setting gel??
Mike.

 

[Minxy]

you don't have a dog in the fight

He doesn't need a dog ... He's already at the right height to do the maximum damage to an opponent's nether regions!

 

[Ditcha]

Maybe that is why so many modern vans leak.

Your old van never leaked much either did it

 

[Ditcha]

Black mastic on our 2011 Dethleffs

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[Northernraider]

Your old van never leaked much either did it

The difference is my old van is 26 years old and cost 10k and it was bought blond without viewing it.

It doesn't leak now and you'd struggle to know that it did
On old second hand vans you expect there to be issues.


It doesn't excuse 4 year old van with sealant all around the Seams.


It's madness that there's folk on here that think that's exceptable

Which is why more and more people are buying new or nearly new vans at 60k - 120k with issues.

My 10k 26 year old van doesn't have any sealant oozing out seams making it look a shambles.

 

[Northernraider]

Black mastic on our 2011 Dethleffs

View attachment 915238
View attachment 915239

Big BIG difference from that to the pics the op posted .

 

[Ditcha]

The difference is my old van is 26 years old and cost 10k and it was bought blond without viewing it.

It doesn't leak now and you'd struggle to know that it did
On old second hand vans you expect there to be issues.


It doesn't excuse 4 year old van with sealant all around the Seams.


It's madness that there's folk on here that think that's exceptable

Which is why more and more people are buying new or nearly new vans at 60k - 120k with issues.

My 10k 26 year old van doesn't have any sealant oozing out seams making it look a shambles.

Just saying people in glass houses nice mastic seams

 

[BouncyBoatFolk]

It's a lot easier to clean a bit of mastic off than rebuild a van
I went for option B and am happy with that choice. Good luck with steering the O.P. to option A.
Mike

 

[Northernraider]

Just saying people in glass houses nice mastic seams

View attachment 915245

That mastic seam wasn't factory again its people like yourself accepting and making excuses for poor workmanship that create the problem. The manufacturer and the dealer are laughing and rubbing their hands at you and calling you mugs.

End of the day every old van I've bought I've repaired and sold for a lot more than I paid for it.

So your people in glass houses quote is totally irrelevant. You're comparing a 26 year old vehicle with numerous owners and bodges to a 4 year old vehicle that is substandard from new .

All I can say is if you've enough money to accept shite quality then it's your funeral


Personally I'd not touch any van that had sealant like that unless it was heavily heavily reduced to compensate.

The last time I saw sealant like that was on Adria caravans back in the 90's they were usually riddled with damp .

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[Ditcha]

That mastic seam wasn't factory again its people like yourself accepting and making excuses for poor workmanship that create the problem. The manufacturer and the dealer are laughing and rubbing their hands at you and calling you mugs.

End of the day every old van I've bought I've repaired and sold for a lot more than I paid for it.

So your people in glass houses quote is totally irrelevant. You're comparing a 26 year old vehicle with numerous owners and bodges to a 4 year old vehicle that is substandard from new .

All I can say is if you've enough money to accept shite quality then it's your funeral


Personally I'd not touch any van that had sealant like that unless it was heavily heavily reduced to compensate.

The last time I saw sealant like that was on Adria caravans back in the 90's they were usually riddled with damp .

I am no mug, may be buying vans unseen is being a true mug.

 

[Northernraider]

It's a lot easier to clean a bit of mastic off than rebuild a van
I went for option B and am happy with that choice. Good luck with steering the O.P. to option A.
Mike

I'm sure when it leaks in a few years it will need rebuilt but will cost more than the £200 it cost to rebuild an old one.


Again like Ditcha you're comparing what the trade considers an end of life vehicle with something a few years old.


Not sure whether it's niavity or maybe some sort of defence as you're maybe not quite as comfortable in your purchase as you make out .. who knows


But you didn't build it , you didn't buy it , you don't own it so why you are so desperate to defend a substandard poor quality finish on a nearly new vehicle is beyond me .

I'll never be that mug .

The 2 cars I bought that were nearly new , 3 years old and 2 years old were mint when I bought them . Or I wouldn't have


Old second hand vehicles I expect to have issues , I'm capable of fixing those issues .

 

[Northernraider]

I am no mug, may be buying vans unseen is being a true mug.

No because regardless of what's wrong with it I've sold over 700 vehicles for more than I paid for them

That comes from experience.

 

[Ditcha]

No because regardless of what's wrong with it I've sold over 700 vehicles for more than I paid for them

That comes from experience.

That's some going you've been on here since 2017 and only had a handful good on you need to take a leaf out of your book

 

[Northernraider]

That's some going you've been on here since 2017 and only had a handful good on you need to take a leaf out of your book

I've been fulltime in a camper and put the UK 6-11 months each of those years .

P.s I was actually on here several years before I returned in 2017 . Different username.

You can come up with as many straw man arguments as you like bud ....you have no actual point.


As I said before unless you personally are offering the op a guarantee on that van if he buys it then any advice you've given so far has been poor at best.

There are others on here who's oponion on motorhomes I'd take far more notice of than yourself.

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[Ditcha]

There are others on here who's oponion on motorhomes I'd take far more notice of than yourself.

Like wise

 

[Lenny HB]

Black mastic on our 2011 Dethleffs

View attachment 915238
View attachment 915239

That is quite a lot oozing out I wouldn't be happy with that but it's nothing like as bad as the OP's photos.

 

[BouncyBoatFolk]

Unsightly, but effective. Nicer if it could have been colour matched, but it isn't.You're welcome to pop round with your non invasive moisture meter at any time to check my van for moisture ingress, but there isn't any, as can be attested by it's yearly checks, and mine.
What the O.P. posted is definitely the non setting gel and not a dealer lash up.
You're welcome to buy your choice of spotless leaking van, I'm happy with my slightly blemished dry van.
It's a free market and if the O.P. hasn't got bored and wandered off I'm sure they are now more educated.
Mike.

 

[Northernraider]

Unsightly, but effective. Nicer if it could have been colour matched, but it isn't.You're welcome to pop round with your non invasive moisture meter at any time to check my van for moisture ingress, but there isn't any, as can be attested by it's yearly checks, and mine.
What the O.P. posted is definitely the non setting gel and not a dealer lash up.
You're welcome to buy your choice of spotless leaking van, I'm happy with my slightly blemished dry van.
It's a free market and if the O.P. hasn't got bored and wandered off I'm sure they are now more educated.
Mike.

still completely missing the point .

IF all the other brands , and all the other dethleffs models can manage to seal them up with no leaks but not have a load of unsightly goo all overr it why can't this one? ..

Sunlight I'd expect....its a budget brand , well actually it should still be presentable but its like buying a t shirt from primark and expecting m&s

But if the manufacturer can't make it right and the dealer can't present it right what hope is there.


There's a saying we deserve the standard we accept .

If I was buying new or nearly new I'd not accept that.

I have standards

 

[L' Hobo]

Unsightly, but effective. Nicer if it could have been colour matched, but it isn't.You're welcome to pop round with your non invasive moisture meter at any time to check my van for moisture ingress, but there isn't any, as can be attested by it's yearly checks, and mine.
What the O.P. posted is definitely the non setting gel and not a dealer lash up.
You're welcome to buy your choice of spotless leaking van, I'm happy with my slightly blemished dry van.
It's a free market and if the O.P. hasn't got bored and wandered off I'm sure they are now more educated.
Mike.

Not wishing to get too involved with this argument as I think it's probably been going on long enough BUT just a word of caution concerning damp meters.

I once had a Coach that had a damp smell near the rear seat according to it's driver.

I and the Chief Engineer agreed so we did an extension test, a couple of times, with an expensive damp meter.
Nothing registered but the smell persisted?

On it's next MOT, we striped out the complete rear interior and found that a window had a hidden leak and it was going between the exterior metal body and the interior and had, obviously, been for some time as part of the card was sodden.

Why didn't it show, the plastic moisture membrane behind the seat cards were stopping ingress!

I know a Coach & Motorhome are constructed differently BUT, just because it doesn't register, doesn't mean it isn't there?

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[BouncyBoatFolk]

still completely missing the point .

IF all the other brands , and all the other dethleffs models can manage to seal them up with no leaks but not have a load of unsightly goo all overr it why can't this one? ..

Sunlight I'd expect....its a budget brand , well actually it should still be presentable but its like buying a t shirt from primark and expecting m&s

But if the manufacturer can't make it right and the dealer can't present it right what hope is there.


There's a saying we deserve the standard we accept .

If I was buying new or nearly new I'd not accept that.

I have standards

If that's your van in post#67 I'm happy for you, but more happy for me.

 

[Northernraider]

If that's your van in post#67 I'm happy for you, but more happy for me.

Matter of choice . Better built than a sunlight. 26 years old already time will tell if yours reaches anything like that.

 

[Lenny HB]

Give it a rest Tam, I'm bored, he ain't going to back down.

 

[Northernraider]

Give it a rest Tam, I'm bored, he ain't going to back down.

I'm bored too that's the only reason I was entertaining him.

I remember people who bought lada's having the same attitude. And where are they now


The op thought it was naff when he saw it , his instinct was it wasn't right that's why he posted here.

Hopefully he'll trust that instinct and buy something better.

 

[Just smiffy]

I still think that it’s applied sealent and not oozing out….

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[rockhopper353]

I can put to bed any arguments here, this is absolutely the cause of the manufacturing process in the way it is sealed by Dethleffs.
I have had the same issue with my trend and it is a known issue on Dethleffs groups. Dethleffs even responded saying this was the way they sealed the motorhomes, (possibly not every model) and that it was safe to remove excess, which I have done with a credit card. This needs to be done in cool weather though when the sealant is firm enough to remove and not like some would claim warmed up which would be a sticky nightmare.

I wasn't happy with the answers given by Dethleffs as it does look really bad, the motorhome itself however has been totally problem free and zero damp issues thus far.

Photos are prior to me removing the excess, this wasn't present when I bought it and has clearly pushed out the joints whilst being driven in warm weather over a period of time.

 

[Saucer]

Thank you all. I certainly didn’t mean to stir up a hornets nest of friendly debate
As it happens we’re still deciding on what we want and we looked at this van because we really like the layout, but we don’t intend to buy this particular one as we’re not ready to buy yet. That probably makes us tyre kickers, at least at the moment
We do really like everything about Dethleffs generally and this one looked great apart from this. It was very noticeable as you can see from the pictures hence the thread.
Thank you for all the comments.

 

[Northernraider]

I can put to bed any arguments here, this is absolutely the cause of the manufacturing process in the way it is sealed by Dethleffs.
I have had the same issue with my trend and it is a known issue on Dethleffs groups. Dethleffs even responded saying this was the way they sealed the motorhomes, (possibly not every model) and that it was safe to remove excess, which I have done with a credit card. This needs to be done in cool weather though when the sealant is firm enough to remove and not like some would claim warmed up which would be a sticky nightmare.

I wasn't happy with the answers given by Dethleffs as it does look really bad, the motorhome itself however has been totally problem free and zero damp issues thus far.

Photos are prior to me removing the excess, this wasn't present when I bought it and has clearly pushed out the joints whilst being driven in warm weather over a period of time.



View attachment 915609

View attachment 915610

View attachment 915611

I thought they'd stopped using that type of joint years ago but obviously the trend isn't wood free construction.

One thing you should definitely keep an eye on are these rubber herzim trims

You can see they're already starting to perish and they then shrink. Beneath them is a load of screws that hold the panels together . The screws are usually rusting , i always wondered why they use mild steel screws but i believe its because stainless steel reacts with aluminium and the trim is aluminium. Anyway When that rubber seam shrinks water gets in and seeps down the screw holes in winter that water freezes. It really is an outdated way to make a joint. Most nowadays use extrusion caps .

Most highend manufacturers moved away from those joints . They were the source of damp in my parents swift, eldiss and lunar , and are usually what killed caravans. ...even the new swifts use the cap method nowadays.


Despite what any dealer says , my concern would still be if the sealant is coming out from the joint it's not leaving much in the joint....and with that type of joint it really needs sealant in there.


You can buy the herzim strip on ebay and its very easy to change it. The trick is to catch it before it becomes brittle and from your pics that time is now.

CARAVAN/MOTORHOME AWNING RAIL INFILL/INSERT/MOULDING/TRIM/HERZIM STRIP 12mm | eBay

12mm nominally when fitted.

www.ebay.co.uk

I have it around my habitation door and gas locker etc ....i replaced every part of it last year.

 

[rockhopper353]

I thought they'd stopped using that type of joint years ago but obviously the trend isn't wood free construction.

One thing you should definitely keep an eye on are these rubber herzim trims View attachment 915696

You can see they're already starting to perish and they then shrink. Beneath them is a load of screws that hold the panels together . The screws are usually rusting , i always wondered why they use mild steel screws but i believe its because stainless steel reacts with aluminium and the trim is aluminium. Anyway When that rubber seam shrinks water gets in and seeps down the screw holes in winter that water freezes. It really is an outdated way to make a joint. Most nowadays use extrusion caps .

Most highend manufacturers moved away from those joints . They were the source of damp in my parents swift, eldiss and lunar , and are usually what killed caravans. ...even the new swifts use the cap method nowadays.


Despite what any dealer says , my concern would still be if the sealant is coming out from the joint it's not leaving much in the joint....and with that type of joint it really needs sealant in there.


You can buy the herzim strip on ebay and its very easy to change it. The trick is to catch it before it becomes brittle and from your pics that time is now.

CARAVAN/MOTORHOME AWNING RAIL INFILL/INSERT/MOULDING/TRIM/HERZIM STRIP 12mm | eBay

12mm nominally when fitted.

www.ebay.co.uk

I have it around my habitation door and gas locker etc ....i replaced every part of it last year.

I presume you mean the outer strip and not the inner one with the sealant?
What is the process for replacing the strips, any tutorials about. Does the old strip literally just pull off and then what is the method of securing the new one?

 

[Northernraider]

I presume you mean the outer strip and not the inner one with the sealant?
What is the process for replacing the strips, any tutorials about. Does the old strip literally just pull off and then what is the method of securing the new one?

It's a rubber insert that presses in to a chanel ...its the grey bit in the middle .

You can get a small tool to feed it in to the chanel. But yes it just pulls out then you replace it with new strip. Loads of it on ebay at various prices. Few different sizes too but yours looks like the common 12mm .. on yours I think it goes right from the front along both roof edges and down the back. The roof area is probably more dried out than the back as the sun shrinks it.

I've not looked on YouTube but there's possibly videos on there showing how to do it.

First had to replace that on my parents vans in the early 90's so I've done it a fair few times now .

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[rockhopper353]

It's a rubber insert that presses in to a chanel ...its the grey bit in the middle .

You can get a small tool to feed it in to the chanel. But yes it just pulls out then you replace it with new strip. Loads of it on ebay at various prices. Few different sizes too but yours looks like the common 12mm .. on yours I think it goes right from the front along both roof edges and down the back. The roof area is probably more dried out than the back as the sun shrinks it.

I've not looked on YouTube but there's possibly videos on there showing how to do it.

First had to replace that on my parents vans in the early 90's so I've done it a fair few times now .

Thanks, do you use some form of sealant/adhesive to secure it in place?