I posted this on the Fiberglass RV forum as well, my apologies in advance. I haven't yet figured out who responds to what, where.
I'm prepping our 2017 Scamp 16 with front bath for a trip from St Paul to Seattle, leaving next week. Daughter had our first grandchild on April 30, grandma really wants to see the baby. We're taking all sorts of precautions en route, so as long as highways are open, we should be fine.
We bought the camper last fall, this will be our first outing. Previous owners never used the bath, or any of the plumbing systems for that matter. I've disinfected the freshwater tank and I've got all my hoses, etc. Today I was poking around in the shower and I noticed a break in the caulking between the shower wall and the shower pan. It appears the factory caulk was applied too thinly. Since we do plan to shower, I want to get this repaired before we leave. I'll scrape away the failed caulk, but does anyone know what kind to use on interior fiberglass?
I've sent a note to the Scamp factory as well, they've been good about responding but I'll call tomorrow if I don't hear back.
Never recommend using silicone caulks on fiberglass. Proflex https://amzn.to/2YY5VvM would probably be a good choice and is widely used in the RV industry.
Wishing you safe travels
Our Trailers:
2015 19 Escape
Buying or Selling Molded FG Trailers:
Fiberglass-RV-4Sale
For some reason, I was under the impression that silicone was the preferred sealant (at least where the windows meet the shell on the exterior). I guess I'll get some geocell and prepare to do a bunch of work over!
Never use silicone caulk on exterior of FG trailer. It doesn't adhere well and will end up leaking. The first time you have to remove a previous owners silicone caulk mess it will start to make sense to never use it.
Our Trailers:
2015 19 Escape
Buying or Selling Molded FG Trailers:
Fiberglass-RV-4Sale
Not sure how much RV experience you have but when I sanitize a freshwater system, I always fill the tank about half full with the sanitizing solution and drive it around a bit so that it has a chance to slosh around a lot (an unpaved parking lot is good for some small bumps to help the agitation). And whenever I acquire a "new to me" RV - I'm on my 4th in 20 years - I always camp in my driveway at least one night just to make sure there is enough cushion on the bed, the heater and thermostat work, and any little glitches that would be inconvenient on the road. I'm south of Seattle about 30 miles so you'll be in my neighborhood! Good luck and I hope all goes well for you...
Please excuse me...I need to go camping now
We had a teardrop for 5 years and used it a fair amount, so most of this familiar stuff. What's new to us is the "charm" of owning a Scamp. Today the door to the microwave cabinet fell off in my hand as I opened it. Looks like the previous owner tried gluing the screw holes but that didn't work. My list of what to fix gets longer every day. We were scheduled for a shakedown weekend over Memorial weekend but the park we were going to visit remains closed. The opportunity to do a road trip came up so off we go. We did a 2500 mile trip last fall in our teardrop, so we're comfortable with this distance and I've driven this route several times. Still waiting for the mattress topper to ship, it's going to be touch and go. We ordered it from Foam Factory outside of Detroit. I should have thought a bit more about that. They promise they will ship tomorrow. It will be close.
<p>Rich and Maggie P St Paul, MN 2017 Scamp 16 2014 Little Guy Silver Shadow</p>
We picked up a new 2019 from the scamp factory last summer and it is entirely sealed and caulked with white Silicone caulk. Even the out side windows and appliances and shower. Unless I am missing something important and unless the caulk suggested looks and acts exactly like Silicone we have a factory problem to work thru. I too think there are better sealers than silicone but it is what it was built with. Even the water heater and fridge is sealed in with White silicone. Please tell me the caulk on my new scamp is not really silicone and only looks to be so.
2019 Scamp 13 standard
I did get a reply today from Scamp, they recommended using a 100% silicone caulk and sent me a link to the product they stock. I'd be okay with going that route except in this case, I think I'd prefer something with a bit stronger bond. I ordered up a small tube of 3M 4200 to fill this gap and hopefully keep it from flexing open again.
<p>Rich and Maggie P St Paul, MN 2017 Scamp 16 2014 Little Guy Silver Shadow</p>
100% silicone product is different than standard silicone caulk, but still silicone product. If you could respond with their link to what they're using it would be helpful for folks. I still would use an RV industry standard sealant like Proflex and not use any silicone caulk 100% or otherwise. IE in the molded glass manufacturers, Escape uses Proflex, Oliver at last report uses ASI 335, Bigfoot Plastic-T-Cote, and not sure what Casita uses.
Of course, this is fluid information and factories may change products as they wish, however, most of the seasoned manufacturers and owners of molded fiberglass trailers will not use silicone caulks on the fiberglass portions of the trailers, so it's not good to hear that Scamp is using it in their production.
I've used the 3M 4200 and 5200 products on my Scamps and found them to be very good for certain applications. Marine Grade products are manufactured for the boating industry and fiberglass is a common material in the marine world so they are formulated to that purpose.
Our Trailers:
2015 19 Escape
Buying or Selling Molded FG Trailers:
Fiberglass-RV-4Sale
From Scamp: "Use a 100% silicone product. You can purchase the exact type here." And they sent me a link to the Scamp store.
A quick look at the caulk they sell shows this to be Sila Seal 100% RTV Silicone. I ended up going with 3M 4200 on my shower. On closer inspection, the caulk they used was not adhering to the plastic trip piece that goes around the top of the shower basin. That was the point of failure, it just sheared off. I'll report back on the 3M 4200 after this trip.
<p>Rich and Maggie P St Paul, MN 2017 Scamp 16 2014 Little Guy Silver Shadow</p>