Antenna wires and bad silicone jobs...and I'm not talking about Hollywood movie stars...

[Tina]

Well, as many silicone implant recipients might tell you....sometimes they get a bad job and suffer leakage....... ;-)

My job today was to tackle the antenna on the roof.  What I discovered was the antenna was really not the cause of the major leaking, it was the wire to it that had a hole separate from the unit almost to the edge of the top.  There was a metal plate on top of some foam rubber stripping, screwed in....and the wire from the antenna was shoved under the plate into the hole.  Well, that don't work...so let's seal it up with silicone.  Mounds and mounds of it.  The silicone did not seat well around that wire and when I started prying it off there I found puddles of water under it.  So.....I blamed the antenna and it was the wire.

Here's what it looked like after I pulled the thick wire out:

The antenna housing .....it looks to me like they siliconed around it, then put that roof coating stuff on top of that...and without cleaning the dirt and debris away before they did.  It was obviously not meant to move in any way, they didn't appear to want it used, because the silicone and roofing sealer were shoved into it at every crevice making it totally immobile.  I couldn't turn it to get to screws until I removed every inch of that stuff.  The screws are rusted....but after getting all that stuff off there, I don't see evidence of any major leaking at all.  Under the plate seems to be sealed tightly,nothing was wet anywhere.  I cut the actual antenna off with a hack saw.  Now I'm wondering if I should just leave that plate there and give it a good seal up with dicor when it arrives?  Suggestions welcome.  Here's what it looked like before I cleaned it up, I'll have a pic later of how it looks with all of the debris gone.

It went easier than I thought it would......but I was surprised to see where the actual damage was coming from and how that mess was constructed.

Back out to clean things up and assess a bit more.  Then get the fire pit going again, and burn some more of the demolition materials.

We had thunderstorms last night, we needed the rain!

Take care all and I'll post a pic or two later of the progress with some pics of something else that confuses me to no end.  LOL

[Russell E Johnson]

I can only seem to locate the 150. Not that I can find any difference between the 150 and 250 foams.

[Tina]

Woo Hoo! I won't have to build a new cabinet over the stove/sink when I run the 2x2's (which are really 1 1/2 x 1 1/2). I just measured the cabinet frame and the top part of it is 2 1/2". I can cut it down to 1" and still use it. That makes things alllll better tonight. LOL

[Tina]

Thank you Russ. :)

Is that Foamular 150 or Foamular 250?  I found home depot carries the pink in the 150.  Mine is  probably 1 1/2" thick too. I didn't measure it, everything is covered and closed up till the morning.

[Russell E Johnson]

My insulation has no name on it either. It is 1 1/2 inches thick. So I am going to use Owens Corning FOAMULAR Extruded Polystyrene Rigid Foam Insulation. It comes in 1/2, 1, and 2 in thicknesses. 

[Tina]

Anybody know what this blue structural insulation is called or the manufacturer name? It appears to be 2" thick, I can't see a name on it anywhere to look it up and order any.
Thanks. :)

[Tina]

HI David, I did pull it and will fab a cover over the hole. :) Thanks for the tips on the vinyl insert and such. I take all the tips I can get . LOL
There is a bracket screwed to the top at the edge that used to house a cb antenna...more leak possibilities. {{sigh}}

Inside, I pulled the support T's from the ceiling and it sagged right back down. So....running through this with my Pops and my brother, it looks like I have no choice but to run new 2x2's on the perimeter and then 3 2x4's across to lift that back up where it should be and it will result in loosing 1 1/2" of ceiling height at least. This means I will have to build a new cabinet over the sink/stove because the stove fan will not be in the right position to meet up with the outside vent. Arrrrg..... unless someone has a better idea?

I am officially calling this RV worse than I expected. I did get quite discouraged today with that roof issue, but after taking a break for a couple hours I came back to "fix it/build it" mode. I have a lot of time to work on it. There is no time limit, and at the rate I am finding things to fix...it could take a very long time. LOL

[david craft]

Those antennas are such that the base needs to rotate and drain out the bottom. Water goes in the top at the elevator gear cover and she needs to drain between base and the rotating assembly. Pull the whole thing and just fab a cover imho.

[Ken and Cindy Haney]

Darn it. I was rooting for you to just be able to cover it. I guess it never comes easy huh? It's probably a better fix anyway. Keep after it, your doing a great job from what I see.

[Tina]

Well...after a clean up and close inspection it was not good. It was leaking and the screws were all rusted. I was able to pretty much pull it right up and the inside of the hole was wet. So, it came off and I will stick with the plan of putting some aluminum flashing over the hole on top and then fill the hole inside with something workable. Great stuff? I did buy some the other day.

[Ken and Cindy Haney]

Depending on how it looks after cleanup, I would also be tempted to leave the plate and seal it in.