4x4van
California
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Not sure what to tell you all, but on my last 2 RV's, I used plain old Silicone for the roof seams exclusively for about 22 years. Never removed the old, simply went up yearly and touched up any areas that looked suspect (after cleaning with a wet rag). Never had a leak over that 22 years. Never had a problem with the new silicone sticking to the old silicone.
It wasn't until about 6-7 years ago that I started using Dicor, after I found out(?) from numerous forums that silicone shouldn't/couldn't/wouldn't/WON'T work, the RV will leak like crazy if it comes anywhere near silicone, especially the next time time you try to add silicone, not to mention that you will NEVER get all of it off in order to seal it RIGHT (with Dicor)!
Sorry, but that just hasn't been my experience. And it seems that I usually had fewer areas to touch up each year when I was using silicone that I have using Dicor. So I have to wonder why we are all convinced that Dicor is the holy grail of RV sealants? ![[emoticon]](https://forums.motorhome.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/scratchead.gif "scratchead")
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JIMNLIN
Oklahoma
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Simply put ...far more people have had issues with certain types of silicone's than have had good luck with them.
We also have service experts tell us what they found works and what didn't.
Not all silicone is the same.
See my reply above for a explanation why some silicone products stick and other didn't.
Acetoxy vs natural cure silicone....there is a difference in adhesion quality according to the pros that use sealants in their line of business.
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4x4van
California
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JIMNLIN wrote:Simply put ...far more people have had issues with certain types of silicone's than have had good luck with them.
We also have service experts tell us what they found works and what didn't.
Not all silicone is the same.
See my reply above for a explanation why some silicone products stick and other didn't.
Acetoxy vs natural cure silicone....there is a difference in adhesion quality according to the pros that use sealants in their line of business. And yet I've never seen the words "Acetoxy" or "natural cure" on a tube of silicone. I've always bought simple "100% Silicone" (not "siliconized caulk"), and it has indeed smelled like vinegar. Yet your description suggests that is not what should be used outdoors, and you really don't clarify which one will (or won't) stick to itself. ![[emoticon]](https://forums.motorhome.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/doh.gif "doh")
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Grit dog
Black Diamond, WA
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Bobbo wrote:4x4van wrote:rerod wrote:Ive learned on RV forums new silicone caulk will not adhere and seal to old ...
Yet a Youtube search says the opposite.
And, you can believe everything you read on the internet. Including on this forum.
So you seal your RV exterior with silicone caulking, or replying to hear yerself speak.
Bottom line, don't use silicone, use a urethane product or something intended for the use.
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JIMNLIN
Oklahoma
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What I posted was to point out all silicones are not the same type...not a recommendation what we need to use in fact having been in mobilehome/rv repair business I wouldn't recommend pure silicone over a product made especially as a lap sealant for rvs/etc.
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4x4van
California
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Grit dog wrote:
So you seal your RV exterior with silicone caulking, or replying to hear yerself speak.
Bottom line, don't use silicone, use a urethane product or something intended for the use. Speaking of replying to hear yerself speak....![[emoticon]](https://forums.motorhome.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/rolleyes.gif "rolleyes")
I never said that silicone should be used on anyone's RV. I said I used silicone for 22 years, without failures. I also said that I've switched to Dicor for the last 6-7 years, more because everyone says that's what I'm supposed to use than for any other reason.
My initial post in this thread was simply to counter the oft-heard argument that silicone won't stick to itself. In my experience, that's a false statement, proven (albeit to myself) over the course of 22 years. I never even considered that it wouldn't work until I started reading the claims on RV forums, and that was after using it for at least 10-15 years without failure. In fact, a quick google search verifies what I already know to be fact; silicone WILL stick to silicone, quite well in fact, as long as the old silicone is clean (which is required for ANY sealant, including Dicor). Will other sealants stick to silicone? Nope, nor did I ever claim such.
Use what you want, I never said otherwise.
* This post was
edited 11/10/22 12:59pm by 4x4van *
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Turtle n Peeps
California
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I sure hope silicone sticks to itself because I just covered my entire TT roof in it. And then recoated it in some places.
I'm here to tell you the stuff I used sticks like you won't believe.
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Vintage465
Prunedale CA.
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I have to say there are very few places on my coach that I'd use silicone because of how hard it is to maintain. Also, at some point almost all caulking needs to be addressed at sometime or another because the putty tape behind starts to oose in the heat and push out on the caulking. My ORV came with a product called GEO-Cell as the caulking on all sidewall penetrations. Though it doesn't have the life span silicone has, it is easy to remove carefully with a heat gun and a rounded/dulled putty knife. Then I remove any remaining goo with mineral spirits. The final cleaning is with alcohol. Then I use the GEO-cell caulk. It flows nicer than silicone with bit of a self-leveling feature but doesn'tsag. As would be expected I use Dicor on the roof.
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Huntindog
Phoenix AZ
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Years ago when I was young and poor, my car had a radiator leak. A new or repaired one wasn't in the cards then, so I cleaned the area off, and ran a nice thick bead of blue RTV on it.
That fix was still working years later when I sold it.
I think of silicone as a forever sealant.
the fact that it is so hard to remove, is what makes it so. Obviously it has it's place.Using it in a situation where one expects to have to remove it is problematic. All of my new RVs have had silicone installed in SOME areas from the factory.
This has not proven to be a problem for me, in over 30 years or RV ownership
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RVER
West of Boston, MA
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MY professional uses Proflex and "paints" it on. Works very well!!!!
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