How to Fix RV Delamination
Dave SolbergDescription
RV delamination is a problem that can affect all sizes of vehicles, but is most common in coaches. We received a question from a Club member who was experiencing delamination on the sidewall of his Coachmen Class C. He wondered what could be do to fix this issue and how he should go about preventing it from happening again. So in this lesson, RV expert Dave Solberg explains the ins and outs of RV delamination.
If you’ve ever had trouble with delamination on your rig, you probably know that it’s not an inexpensive issue. Patch repairs on delaminated areas can be fairly pricey, so Dave recommends upfront that you take proper precaution to avoid having to navigate this situation. First and foremost, delamination is caused by moisture that seeps between a vehicle’s wall layers, which leads to bubbling and corrosion. Dave talks about the difference between cosmetic RV delamination and the kind that warrants patch repair. However, once you understand the basics of correct sealing protocol, you shouldn’t have any trouble steering clear of delamination!
A question came in, looking for advice and information on delamination on a Coachman class C. It's a fairly generic question, Now delamination is when the sidewall material separates and it's usually caused by some type of moisture coming in, coming down the sidewall. Typically you're going to see a fiberglass outer skin, aluminum backing, on the underside of this block foam insulation some models that we call "stick and tin" would have a loose fill insulation and wood framing but the larger units like this wIll have aluminum framework, and then again, aluminum on the inside. Moisture can penetrate from the roof to sidewall joint. Come down inside. It can come from a window with a bad seal on the bottom, even on the floor line here. If we have a bad seal, we get water that'll come up and actually wick into here. Any place you have something on the sidewall, you really need to make sure that sealed properly and moisture is not getting in. So what happens is the moisture comes inside here, starts to, the weaken the adhesive, that's used inside and you would see this start to bubble or have a real loose skin. Now, this unit here is kept inside almost all the time. So the sealants are all great on it we see no delamination, but, you know in, in the mid eighties to early part of 90 we saw some product come into the market that was called Mindy board, and some others that started to get some real bubbling issues in it. If you have delamination about the only thing you can do, some of it's just cosmetic. Some of it, it doesn't affect the structure. It just, you got kind of a bubble area in, in the on the sidewall. Class C's, you, you'll find that that overhead bunk, will start to move a little bit and moisture gets in between the bunk and the sidewall or the front wing wall it's called. So the first thing you need to do is seal the area where this delaminations at, whether it's a roof vent up in the top, the, roof to sidewall joint, whatever make sure you're not getting any more, any more moisture out of it. If it is something that you need to get taken care of pretty much the only thing you can do with that is to have somebody do a big patch repair. Pretty expensive, pretty intensive. Now I have seen a few cases where the delamination isn't really, really bad. It hasn't deteriorated the inside, insulation, block foam insulation. They've drilled a little hole into the sidewall here injected some adhesive, then taken a big large board or panel or something and just applied it, pressure to that and let it sit for a couple of days. It has worked in a few cases. I have seen that, but, typically the damage is a little more extensive than that. So to prevent delamination, make sure you seal it. If you have it, you'll need to kind of research and inspect it to see how far it's gone.
I've read that older Alfa See Ya Class A's had that issue. I am considering buying one, anything I should know or just good maintenance and looking for leaks?
How does one see these videos? When I push the arrow all that comes up is play with a bunch of videos in the background scrolling. Never see the video!
The title was "How to fix RV Delamination" I still don't know how to fix my delamination. What kind of adhesive do you use? How is it squirted in? How is pressure applied? What is recommended to fill the hole you drilled? How far from the hole will the adhesive spread? Does the adhesive expand?
LAMINATE REPLACEMENT
This video told me nothing about "How to fix RV Delamination" many be how to prevent it. Poor title ! I joined to get better at fixing (DYI) my older RV. Waste of my time.
Dave:
If this was caused by window seal. would re caulking around the outside of the window fix the problem?