Not too shabby for 5 days!
So your having al broke to fit over edges of roof? Cool. Any thoughts plans how your reattaching the moon roof. I mean as its frameless, if you try to just screw back down flush, might crack it due to diamonds?
AnEv942 wrote: Not too shabby for 5 days!
So your having al broke to fit over edges of roof? Cool. Any thoughts plans how your reattaching the moon roof. I mean as its frameless, if you try to just screw back down flush, might crack it due to diamonds?
Oh yes, you have just reminded me of a nasty job I'll have to do - i.e. to grind off the diamond pattern at any points where I am screwing stuff to it (i.e. moon roof and 2 hatches). Partly to prevent the cracking you are talking about, but mainly to ensure I get a nice seal.
I'm going to have to be REALLY careful screwing down the moon roof. I've been using the mains-powered impact driver (with care) so far, but it applies the same torque as a small car engine if you let it, so would easily crack the plastic.
Steve.
'07 Ford Ranger XLT Supercab diesel + '91 Shadow Cruiser - Sky Cruiser 1
'92 Suzuki Samurai 4x4 1.6
'09 Fiat Panda 1.2
'10 Citroen DS3 1.6 turbo
I believe you mentioned 2mm thick diamond plate? Material that think may have had the raised diamonds embossed into the material instead of cast or rolled. As such, the diamonds may be hollow, having been pressed from the back. Double check before you grid off any material...you may find that tapping (hammering) them flat is a better action so as to not produce unwanted thin spots or holes. A little practice with a hammer and anvil should get you there as the material is usually quite soft.
I couldn't tell from your drawing if this was to one piece or many. If many, with over lapped seams, a high quality sealant/adhesive is essential. There is no better product readily available than Sikaflex for such an application, especially if you intend to carry and walk on it. If you utilize a lessor product, such as silicone or acrylics, you'll be doing this job over every year.
You are doing a galliant job, but frankly, the design of that roof is an accident looking for a place to repeat. It can not have much structural stability with all those large holes in it. After all, it is simply a large diaphram bouncing and vibrating through life. Glue and fasten it together the best you can, then don't put anything extra up there.
Went to the hardware store this morning with Sally to choose paint for the interior of the camper - that will be Sally's job - she's good at the painting. Went for an off-white pale yellow - something warming. Got to be better than the scarlet that is in the over-cab area currently.
Then off to the metal fabricators:
As promised the diamond plate aluminum was ready:
The guy who bent it said the bending machine wasn't that accurate so it is a few mm wider than it should be between the bends - I will get it up onto the roof tomorrow morning and see how close fitting it is - at least being too loose it better than too tight as I can't make the roof narrower.
The boss went out somewhere so I'll have to send Sally back on Tuesday to pay for all this metal. They seemed pretty chilled about me taking it without payment. The extruded aluminum sections to make up the roof bars should be ready Tuesday, but I'm back at work on Monday, so Sally can take the truck, pick them up and pay at the same time.
Unloaded:
Looking very nice:
XLAX: I checked and the diamonds aren't hollow, so I can just grind them off where I need a flat surface to seal stuff to.
No time to play with this any more today - had to go with Sally to an art gallery where her uncle was exhibiting for the first time - that was a 3 hour round trip.
The only other thing I did do tonight was try to solve the problem of condensation dripping off the skylight onto the bed in the morning. Due to the lack of insulation the skylight gets very cold and therefore pulls moisture from our breaths onto its surface that then drips onto the duvet. So to solve that sally cut some sections of old carpet and I glued them to the skylight:
Nice metalwork. Where the corners are bent together there appears to be a seam? If it is a seam (un-welded), I'd put a generous bead of caulking (my fave is 3M 4200 of course) on the INSIDE of seam before you raise & fasten roof permanently.
On edit: another thought. The camper-side of the aluminum MAY be exposed to moisture (between your vapor-barrier and inside aluminum surface). I would spray-glue a thin sheet of sill-plate closed-cell foam (quarter inch thick) under the entire surface of the aluminum roofing as a thermal break. The closed-cell foam I am referring to is used as house foundation sill gasket (between raw concrete wall top and house sill plate, to prevent the sill plate from rotting out). This material is available in 48-inch wide rolls at 20, 40 and + feet long. The rolls are extremely light (about 10-lbs per roll + depending on length). That aluminum roof (even though it is silver and polished) will absorb a lot of sun energy, and really heat up (or, conversely, cool down, and turn into a super-condenser!). Even though highly-polished aluminum (called: a white metal) has an albedo of ~~99.x%, when it gets dirty, this can change dramatically for the worse (especially if road grit, rain film, desert sand particles or tree oils form a film up there: guaranteed).
Cheers,
Silver-
Side note: Silverduned is a painter, too, in addition to her professional full-time career (abstract expressionism/impressionism here-->); good luck to your relative at his 1st vernissage!
* This post was
edited 09/25/11 05:50am by silversand *
After a number of phone calls, I believe your "moon roof" was very likely made by Majestic Formed Plastics Inc., 574-266-4599, in Elkhart, Indiana. I talked to a hunting friend who owns a Chalet A-frame style pop-up trailer which has similar large skylights, and yes, he has experienced several leaks over the years. Also, he was trying to come up with a successful approach to cleaning without scratching them. Chalet had given him their supplier. First thing he said was it takes a special sealant that wont attack and weaken the plastic which he purchased from Majestic. He said it wasn't expensive. Also, they gave him advice as to how to re-install so as not to bind and create stress leading to cracking. If they are no longer in business, you might contact All-Rite, www.all-rite.com, a large rv parts supply and manufacturer for rv dealers. They stock several sizes and could undoubtably help with the sealants and installation advice. (They built a replacement entry door for me.)
Wow thats nice sheet!
By the time I write this at the speed your progressing may be after the fact. But I keep seeing that wood curb..
If theres is room between the moon roof and wood curb I would lay in an aluminium angle around the perimeter with a half dozen screws (between moon screw holes). You might find a stock size with short leg to go up curb, longer leg on the roof. Preferably prefab with welded corners, (otherwise tight 45 cuts folded around corners, seam in the rear. Would allow laying roof sheets embedded on angle sealing to the angle curb. Sheet edge could be caulked to angle. This would seal the roof opening, not relying on the plastic moon roof and its lip to stop water. Just a thought.
It might also make replacement or a temporary fix later if needed easier, as roof would still have a seal around hole.
Thanks for the extra thoughts Silver. The aluminum is a very different beast to deal with. It was funny picking it up - I put it in the back of the truck and we were being blinded by the sunlight reflecting off it, in fact even though the metal was stone cold, you could feel heat of the sun being directly reflected off it - if we break down in a desert someone we will be pretty easy to spot from the blinding reflection!
I am more concerned about the condensation that will form on the underside of the aluminum due to its heat conductivity. The thin thermal barrier I bought said it should be fitted on the dry side of the moisture barrier, so that is what I have done. However, I guess there would be no harm in gluing some more to the underside of the aluminum as you suggested - I can see that by doing so it will remove any unintended air gap between the aluminum and the next layer in which moisture can condense. I'll think about it though I am not sure I will be able to get access to do it since the size of the roof sheets means I am going to have to weld them in situ - or rather slightly raised off the roof, since it would be very difficult to weld them on the ground and then get the resulting large welded sheet onto the roof without damage, meaning I am unlikely to have the option of turning them upside down in order to apply the insulation - but I will keep it in mind in case I think of a way of doing it.
I checked out Silverdunes' link - lovely paintings - I like the colours and the textures of the oil paint.
Wow, thanks for the research XLAX. I notice Majestic's website is now just a parking page from some hosting company, which isn't a good sign. I think if it does crack I'll have to try to source something locally as the cost of shipping anything from the US to Europe is prohibitive. Maybe replacing the moon roof will be a later project - I tend to like to do things in manageable chunks, and the good thing is the moon roof is pretty much the last thing to be fitted, so can therefore be removed at a later date without removing any of the underlying roof.
Cutting the metal
Sally checking out the work from above:
I was worried the bends were too far apart, but actually they look just right - obviously this is just placed on the roof and isn't pressed down fully:
The front and left hand pieces roughly lined up - note I am not cutting the fridge vent holes in the top even though I did cut them in the underlying plywood (in case required in the future):
The back:
That nice join that Silver noted at the corner - unfortunately that has to be cut out to clear the rear wings:
Then it was time to cut the hatch holes in the front piece:
And check the hatches fit - actually the main reason for putting them in is to allow me to mark around them with a pen:
I can then grind off the diamond pattern within that marked area to ensure there is a decent flat surface to seal against - however grinding these off is slow and noisy - I'm not going to be popular with the neighbors!
So far I've done only one side of one hatch - so there is a lot more grinding to do, especially considering I need to do this for the whole area that the moon roof contacts with. I would rather grind it off and have a flat surface than pray that the putty tape / sealant is able to effectively seal around all these diamond patterns without accidentally leaving gaps that water could sneak through.
I would have got more done, but I got distracted by an eBay purchase for the Suzuki:
Well, after a manic week of roof work things will slow down now - I am working on a customer site all next week and it will be dark by the time I am home each night, so I probably won't get much done between now and next Saturday.
Steve.
* This post was
edited 09/25/11 01:23pm by sabconsulting *
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WOW incredible job, and quickly (but the cat helped you !).
