leaking roof

[chris peiro]

hi all, pulled the topaz out of storage 2012 model murranji and noticed the roof has several small leaks. mostly just several drops pooling. has anyone ever had to re-seal the roof.

   cheers chris

[Harry Lissimore]

Hi Chris,
When our Jan 2015 Topaz 2 Savannah was brand new, we had lots of leaks coming through the moulding and rivets around the perimeter of the roof inside.  Fixed twice under warranty by sealing the inside moulding and every rivet and bolt on top of the roof.

5 years later (now) I am noticing a small leak - a few drips of water dripping onto the table (that is stored on the bed when travelling) when travelling in rain but it's not enough to worry about yet.  There are no drips into the cabin when we're set up. 

A lot of the initial sealing on top of the roof has gone powdery and some rivets have become exposed as the sealant deteriorates so I assume that the water may be getting into the roof cavity.  Cleaning the roof doesn't help either because that helps to wear away or dislodge the failing sealant.  Our Topaz is stored under cover, but in 4 and a half years we have been living in it for nearly 2 years so it has been exposed to the sun for a considerable time.

I have spoken to Tracktrailer and they say that they have only heard of one other Topaz with the sealant deteriorating, although I also know of a different Topaz with similar problem as well.  It would be good to hear from as many Topaz owners as possible on this forum to find out the true scope of the problem and what was done to fix the sealant deterioration.

Condensation can also mimmick a leaking roof.  One Topaz owner had quite a few drips coming from the joins in the roof but that ended up being condensation, not a leak.

Cheers

Harry

[Rob M]

On our Topaz the large seal that runs around the outside of roof is going powdery and deteriorating. It can be replaced and Track have acknowledged that the seal deteriorates over time. No leaks yet but watching it closely.
Has anyone replaced the seal and how big a job is it?

[chris peiro]

hey guys ,thanks for the input. its definitely a leak  ,actually several, as I was washing the van down and noticed them. then last night it rained and they leaked again. I believe you are right about the sealant braking down over time . I was chatting to a panel beater and he said I could look at cleaning the roof properly maybe even give it a hit with some 800 grit and then paint the whole roof with a white paint called , stone guard, its basically a flexible hard wearing coating.

ill keep an eye on it for now and do some more research..

  cheers chris 

[Paul2]

Some more leaking here on our 2010 Topaz 1 Muranji, right at the top of the roof somewhere.  That seal is definitely going powdery and breaking up, tried to patch it up here and there but it is getting worse.  Has anybody had any luck replacing that seal?

In addition, I've got 4 (old) panels of flexible solar, and those seals are getting suspicious as well.  Is there anything underneath that could leak as well? I'm considering replacing those old panels with a couple of new, more efficient, glass ones, but that may be a bit of an horrendous job taking them off. Could leave the old panels where they are, with the new ones over the top, but only if there are no leaks underneath. Any suggestions welcome.

Cheers,  Paul   

[HappyTraveller]

I had a lot of trouble with our Topaz 2 leaking from new. Had it back to TT a couple of times. They ended up sealing the ceiling to stop it dripping, but of course that didn't solve the real issue. It only slowed the water coming through.

Eventually I identifed that the seal around the perimiter of the roof was too thin in places and had some tiny splits along the joints. It was worse when the awning was extended as it opened the split ever so slightly.

To fix the problem, I spent time scraping the sealant away where I could, and thoroughly cleaning the remaining sealant with metho which partially disolves the surface of the sealant and primes it well for another layer to be applied on it. To apply new sealant, you need to ensure it's applied thick enough. On one side of the seal there's a raised edge which helps give some thickness. On the other side, I used aluminium strips about 2.5mm thick, to give me a straight edge, as well as a gauge to give enough thickness for the sealant, which i spread with a scraper blade. Sikaflex marine sealant was what I used and I haven't had any problems since.

I hope it helps
Cheers
Andrew

[Paul2]

Thanks Andrew, much appreciated.  I'll have a go at that, before I address possible leaks underneath the solar panels.
Cheers,  Paul

[chris peiro]

hey paul2 ,

               i had same problem with the old sealant going dusty and brittle. i decided to do the whole roof from scratch. so i scraped out all the old sealant and then used a wire wheel on a drill and removed the left overs ,this also etched the aluminium for a better bond. i got the same sealant that track trailer use and proceeded to reseal the roof, i did one side at ta time and before the sealant could set ,i placed a 50mm wide strip of aluminium over the top and pressed it down with bricks . i had cut the aluminium to size beforehand. after i had done all 4 joins i waited 24 hours then i ran a bead of sealant along the edges of the aluminium . now not only is the roof sealed ,but the aluminium acts as a cover for the sealant so it doesn't get sun damaged. like happy traveler said wash with metho to clean the area..
if i were you i would do the solar panels at the same time while your up there ...

good luck chris

[Paul2]

Wow Chris, that sounds pretty impressive! I'm finding that just trying to remove the old sealant is a really hard job.  But I've found a couple of obvious problems I'm trying to fix up first, just doing a partial cleanup, and resealing with Sikaflex marine.  What I don't understand though is the construction (see photo). There is this 2.5cm wide strip with a raised edge on the outside, and full of sealant.  But the actual join, where the inner and outer part of the roof come together, is on the inside of that, with only a thin, often cracking, bit of sealant.  Don't understand how it works.  I'll continue on cleaning away first.

cheers,  Paul     

[chris peiro]

hey paul2, that's the same problem i had , more sealant next to the gap and very little sealant over the gap. the other thing i did was i got a paint scraper and with an angle grinder shaped it so it would fit in the grove that holds most of the sealant, then i made the scraper razor sharp and kept sharpening it as i went along , i scraped out 90% of all the sealant ,then used the wire wheel to get the rest. i did the whole roof because if you dont do it all now,you will be chasing your tail in the future. that's also the reason for the 50 mm cover strip . most sealants are not u/v stable and will break down again over time , but the cover strip protects from the u/v . once i had finished the main roof ,i then cleaned the two cross braces with metho and ran a bead of sealant along both edges, just to be sure they were not leaking.

i also don't understand how track trailer expected the sealant to hold ,considering that 90% of the sealant was next to the gap that needed sealing ,

just remembered ,that once i had the whole roof cleaned up and the gap cleared of old sealant , i went around and filled the gap with sealant as well , then applied the sealant over the top , sounds like a lot of work but i didn't  want to be doing it again soon....cheers chris

[Rob M]

I have been following the posts on this with great interest as the issue continues for us on our 2016 Topaz.
When the sealant became powdery and rubbed off on my finger I sent an email to Greame Berry  at Track. He sent a reply saying that Track would reseal the roof " as an act of good faith" even though the Topaz was out of warranty. Early this year it started to leak.
Later I was told that this could only be done in Melbourne. Imposssible from Queensland. However, I eventually got agreement that they would make a $700 contribution to the work being done by AllBrand in Brisbane.
I have done as much research as I can and tried to get to the root cause of this issue.
. The surface needs to be cleaned with Acetone before attempting to apply silicon.
. I have been advised by AllBrand that Track have used Bostik adhesive to seal the roof. Further they advised that it must be sealed with  Bostik sealant. That is what they have used this time.
. The sealant used by Track breaks down under UV light and goes powdery.
. The research I did indicated that the most UV resistant sealant available is Sika 295 marine sealant. It is interesting that Greame Berry told me to use Sika 291 when sealant the stiffener panel around the front window rather than the Bostik product.This was shortly before he retired.
. I am aware of one owner of a series 3 Topaz whose sealant has not started to break down. He has now added a layer of Sika 295 over the top of the original sealant.

I was really happy with the work done by AllBrand. However, 2 weeks ago the roof leaked again through the seam near the hat racks. 4mm of rain. The van was perfectly level which did not help the water train off but it should not have leaked.
I have seen the issue on Topaz still in warranty.

Even if your Topaz is out of warranty it is worth contacting Track to have it repaired " as an act of good faith"
.

[chris peiro]

hey rob,
i live in buderim as well , if you ever want to catch up for a coffee just sing out . i have just returned from a 4 week trip into the N.T , our topaz suffered greatly from dust ingress , so i have for the last 3 weeks been dealing with that ,but thats a different story . like i said , after i had applied the sealant that i got from track trailer .i then fitted a 50mm wide 3mm thick aluminium strip over the sealant . this will protect it from the U.V . plus while sealing up the van for dust , i got a body spray gun and re-coated under the wheel arches and did the front stone shield in 'textured stone guard' .so my next step for the roof is to clean it and spray the sealand with white stone guard ,plus i sealed the two joins that go across the roof ,just to be sure..

after seeing the work the professionals did in the building of our topaz , i guessed that i could do better ,why ,because i want the job done for me , they do the job for someone else and dont really care.

good luck cheers chris

[Rob M]

The saga of our leaking roof on the Topaz has another chapter. Hopefully this is the final one. The leak identified in the previous post was because the pop rivets holding the solar panel brackets in place were not sealed. The solar panel was removed and then reinstalled with sealant under the brackets and the rivets.
The roof only leaked when the van was perfectly level. At other times the water drained to one end the other and did not leak through the roof.
There was a build up of water in the roof which has taken 10 days to completely drain. Repaired by AllBrand at no charge.

[IsuzuTopaz]

Good morning all. I have just finished a leaking roof project. The seals around the perimeter of the roof all appeared intact so the culprit had to be the 50mm strap pop riveted over the joints also we had upgraded the solar and the fitting of panels was absolutely butchered by the auto electrican who used 44 roofing tec screws to fit solar legs onto roof.
After removing solar panels and meticulous clean up, screw holes were filled with sealant and 50mm strap had a run of sealant each side. Next step was acquire a sealing tape that I discovered on the internet called Eternabond. This tape comes in various widths but I used the 50mm tape which required two runs on each strap. 100mm is available. I also put patches of the tape over the screw holes. To aid applying the tape I recommend watching YouTube video on using it which helped a lot as this stuff is not forgiving, if it touches down on something you don't get a 2nd chance. We drew a pencil line to use as a guide to stay straight. After running tape out and pressing down lightly it has to be rolled to activate glue or something. Thank you YouTube.
I still have to put solar back in place but that will be simple enough but have checked the roof by flooding with hose and pleased to say not one drop. Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou
This tape is not cheap but is available online from a distributor at Dandenong Sth  called. https://foamsealant.com.au/eternabond/

[Rob M]

How good do you reckon that this tape would be as added protection to Sika 295 or the Track standard Bostik sealant?
Do you know of its UV rating.
I would consider it as an additional layer of sealant to add protection , especially for UV . What do you think?