Roof Seams | Manus Bond 75-AM ?

[Mike in Florida]

Winnebago specifies the Manus Bond 75-AM for the roof seams on my coach. I found several tubes on the shelf at my local dealer. Coincidentally, one of the senior service guys was in the store and mentioned that it is a great product, but can be difficult to smooth during application.

Has anyone actually used the Manus Bond product ? What was your application experience ?

[Mike in Florida]

Winnebago specifies the Manus Bond 75-AM for the roof seams on my coach. I found several tubes on the shelf at my local dealer. Coincidentally, one of the senior service guys was in the store and mentioned that it is a great product, but can be difficult to smooth during application.

Has anyone actually used the Manus Bond product ? What was your application experience ?

[Duner]

You might try using paint thinner. I used a different brand of clear polyurethane (not Manus Bond) on my roof seams, and it worked great for smoothing it out, came out clear as glass. I used OSI QUAD Polyurethane Sealant sold at Home Depot.

My technique was to have a small container of paint thinner that I used to dip my finger and then smoothed out the bead of sealer. Apply about 3-4 feet of sealer, and then smooth out with paint thinner. Then go down, move the ladder, and do the next 3-4 feet (Good exercise! Ha, ha .... more like aching legs after 2 days). Also you can use a rag soaked with paint thinner to wipe away excess sealer that gets over the edge of the gutter or on the roof.

The trick is to not leave voids, and get good deep penetration when applying the sealer from the cartridge. Use constant pressure from the caulking gun, and get it down in the grove at least 1/4 inch. This gives it plenty of surface area to bond. Any voids will allow the paint thinner to run down in the gap and will not give a bond.

What I noticed originally on my coach, is that the Winnie factory guys didn't have the sealer very deep, just a superficial fillet on top. I had dozens of places where the factory job didn't stay glued down. There were signs of forward/backard lateral movement between the fiberglass and the aluminum gutter which pulled the factory seams apart. Since I scrapped out the old & re-caulked with a deeper amount, I haven't found any spots of broken seal after more than two years. BTY, my '99 Chieftain had a great seal from the factory and I never had to re-seal during my 5 years of ownership.

Since you're not using the OSI product, I recommend that you experiment with the paint thinner on a practice bead of the Manus Bond. Make sure it will smooth it out ok and check a few days later to make sure it is curing ok.... Then go for it!

Happy Trails,
Duner

[tazsport]

When you are talking roof seam, is this where the roof meets the aluminum gutter that runs the length of the coach ?

I have a 2006 32' Itasca Sunrise and one side of the coach has a nice fully bonded seam, with no gaps visible between the roof and the gutter. The other side has numerous gaps between the roof and the gutter.

I took the coach to the dealer about a month or so ago and they kind of down played the issue. I left the coach for repair. They applied a "superficial bead", that has already separated in a few places.

Looks like I'll have to do this repair myself, if I want it done right.

Any other helpful tips on this repair would be greatly appreciated.

Tazsport

Mike & Ember De Lannoy
2006 32' Itasca Sunrise Ford V-10 Chassis
16' Carson Enclosed Trailer
2007 KTM 450 EXC
2006 Yamaha Rhino

[Kazoo Tom]

I haven't done this myself yet, but have read lots of posts where the owners sealed the area you mention with eterna-bond tape. It is said to be great stuff and will last virtually forever. Tape it once and never worry about it again.

[FrontRangeRVer]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Kazoo Tom:
I haven't done this myself yet, but have read lots of posts where the owners sealed the area you mention with eterna-bond tape. It is said to be great stuff and will last virtually forever. Tape it once and never worry about it again. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I would never buy a used coach with Eternabond on it....My dealer also says they can't move them if they have that stuff on them also.

I agree...it will last forever.....

[SCVJeff]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by FrontRangeRVer:
I would never buy a used coach with Eternabond on it....My dealer also says they can't move them if they have that stuff on them also.

I agree...it will last forever..... </div></BLOCKQUOTE> So the assumption is that because the seams are taped that they've had problems? I haven't had occasion to use it yet, but the first roof crack I see will have a strip across the joint. After 17 years of sealing, resealing, chipping, grinding, and re-sealing from scratch vs. one nice bulletproof continuous, flexible seal, that makes the joint stronger.. Seems like a no-brainer. Sounds like people need to be better educated when looking at Eterna-bonded coaches. To me, this is about the best PM ever created as long as it's not a band-aid for a larger wound.

[KCE]

I traded my 2000 Brave last December and the dealer never mentioned the roof seams sealed with eternabond and neither did the couple he sold it to two weeks later and my guess is after I seal this one with eternabond and trade it no one will say anything as well. Has anyone else had trouble selling or trading their rv because of eternabond???

[Izzyblueye]

I sure don't understand the rationale "I would not buy a coach with Eternabond on it". I can understand a dealer giving out the story of not being able to sell coaches with Eternabond on them. Most dealers are clueless. Secondly they loose a lot of business from the permanent fix Eternabond affords. I am extremely glad I did it to mine, probably one of the most worth while fixes I have ever done to my coach. Just the peace of mind is well worth the effort and price. I really don't think the average buyer would ever notice a good eternabond application, even if they looked very close. Do it and forget it.

[N8XV]

I would have to agree Eternabond is the way to go if you don't care to caulk and re-caulk. Of course the RV dealer talks it down as it takes away a high priced service they do (over & over). I've seen good and poor looking jobs of installed Eternabond. To do a good job it takes time. Most people looking at used RV's wouldn't even see a good job of Eternabond and most wouldn't see a poor job. Most people looking at RV's on the outside only see what's 2' above and below eye level. As for myself I'd rather buy a RV with Eternabond on it as it tells me the owner took the time to do maintenance. In my years of RV'ing I've seen a lot of sloppy caulk jobs and would assume most of them leak or have leaked. After all that's why most of us that have applied Eternabond have used it is because we became tired of caulking only to find in a short time it was cracked and leaking again. There are 1000's of RV's out there that have bad roof seams, the owners don't have a clue. This is just a guess, but from talking to other RV'ers over the years I would say less than 25% are actually tuned into the maintenance a RV requires. Of that 25% I would guess, 5% take it to the dealer and ask them to do all the maintenance and we all know how good a job many dealers do. Just read these forums about dealers and how stuff is done. The RV'ers that do the best maintenance are on these forums. And what percentage of the total RV owners do you think are on these forums????

[LK23]

Sealing the sidewall to roof seam is the single biggest maintenance headache on my coach. I have taken my coach to two Winnebago dealers with specific instructions to seal the seams correctly with Winnebago approved sealant and both dealers botched the job. It seems they give this job to the most inexperienced person on their staff and give them no instructions. I would gladly pay double the going rate to have it performed properly since I physically cannot stand on a ladder.

I have given Eternabond serious consideration. After reading the various posts about its appearance I have decided not to use it. If I had a white roof I would give it serious consideration. Since I have full body paint I have decided against it.

I now have the Winnebago approved Kop-R-Lastic (polyurethane sealant) ordered and plan to hire someone to painstakingly remove the silicone caulking a dealer mistakenly appied, clean out the OEM sealant and re-apply the Kop-R-Lastic. I plan to personally supervise the application. I believe the key to correct application is a clean surface and a proper bead of sealant into the channel between the gutter and curved fiberglass roofing material, leaving a good bead of sealant smoothed on the surface between the gutter and roof.

I live in Denver and now that colder weather is upon us I need to find a garage to do this inside. What a PAIN!!!!!

[hamguy]

It seems to me that Winne should apply Eternabond tape at the factory. The seam is an obvious weak spot and should be addressed at that level. It looks no worse than the black 'goop' surrounding all window seams.

[tazsport]

Sounds like Eternabond has a lot of support amongst the forum.

This is our first coach, which we purchased earlier this year. I'm somewhat surprised that we are having issues like this with a brand new coach. We couldn't be happier with the rest of the coach, with all it's features and functionality.

The seam on one side of the coach is perfectly sealed, the way I would expect it to look. However, the other side is a different story. We gave the dealer a chance to make good on repairing the seam, but as LK23 stated they must have given the job to the lot boy.

Being a "Do it your-selfer", I'll be considering Eternabond as a possible solution.

We really appreciate the feedback from all who responded. Thank you.


Sincerely,

Mike & Ember
2006 32' Itasca Sunrise - Ford V-10 Chassis
16' Carson Enclosed Trailer
2007 KTM 450 EXC-G
2006 Yamaha Rhino

[smlranger]

Mike,

If your rig does not have full body paint, the white Eternabond tape does not look bad at all, IMO. I put it on my rig since I wanted to avoid periodic re-sealing of the seam. The tape, if applied correctly, is a permanent fix.

Do a search on Eternabond and I suspect you will find threads with photos so you can see the results.

[CHIPPYSGT]

I'm going to do mine next spring with Eternabond and automotive paint. I bought it all this fall but ran out of time. I figure I only have one or two more years of extended ladder time and I'm going to make the most of it.

I don't feel like paying a dealer megabucks to have one of his most inexperienced employees smear sealant/caulk all over the side of my m/h.

I think Eternabond should be installed on the assembly line and eliminate an on-going maintenance problem.

All just MHO.

[Petro]

I have to agree with many of the posts above. I put Eternabond on my previous 97 Adventure and was so happy with it that I applied it to my present Chieftain. I had no complaints when I traded in my Adventure and would not expect any with this one. I am getting to the age that it is getting harder and harder to work on the roof. I wanted to fix it and have it done with.

Don

[FrontRangeRVer]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">So the assumption is that because the seams are taped that they've had problems? ............as long as it's not a band-aid for a larger wound. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yep...you never know what you are buying with that stuff on the roof. At least with proper caulking, you should be able to see what you have (along the edge), and I have seen some bad eternabond taping jobs that have covered up who knows what.

HERE is a good post with a pic of exactly what the small bead of caulk covers up along the side and gutter rails of Winnebago coaches.

[KCE]

So ForangerRVer: show us some pictures of these "bad taping jobs" and give us the name and phone # of the dealer that said this: "My dealer also says they can't move them if they have that stuff on them". "Proper caulking" is one that doesn't leak or let the winnie roof blow off under very windy gusts as well as do away with fooling with the roof to side ("proper caulking") every 6 months. Those that have the full body paint have a good excuse not to use Eternabond.
Those of us that have white roofs have found it to be a good product and it looks fine. As for "not being able to move them" I just traded mine and the Eternabond was never mentioned by my dealer nor his customer that purchased it 2 weeks later. What do you think is "hiding under that 2" strip of Eternabond anyway. Well I can tell ya, about a half inch of gutter and about one and a half inches of roof.

[Mike in Florida]

Yea guys. I too am a big Eternabond fan and have used it on two different coaches, most recently when I replaced my Winnebago skylight. Works great !

I do intend to use Eternabond to seal the front and rear caps, but don't really want to use it on the side seams. Again I guess it's just personal preference, because I know it is a permanent solution.

Winnie specs the Manus, which I wasn't going to use until I accidently found it on the shelf at the dealer.

I was going to use PL Polyurethane Window, Door Siding sealant that I found at Lowe's It looks like good stuff. I've done the Silicone thing, and personnaly found it way too difficult to remove to make repairs.

Thanks to everyone for their input !

[smlranger]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Petro:
I have to agree with many of the posts above. I put Eternabond on my previous 97 Adventure and was so happy with it that I applied it to my present Chieftain. I had no complaints when I traded in my Adventure and would not expect any with this one. I am getting to the age that it is getting harder and harder to work on the roof. I wanted to fix it and have it done with.

Don </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Don has hit on another good reason I went with Ebond. Unless you have a scaffold (and a moving one at that), it is a lot of up and down on a ladder, moving the ladder, to properly inspect, clean, and re-caulk that roof seam.