tdeal823 wrote: Larry,
I see your point and thought the same with my 1st TT that I just sold last year. It was a 2000 Rockwood. We never touched the roof and never had a problem. recaulked it every few years and that was it. My only thought is that the "dirty and unprotected" roof is the major cause of my black streaks. I could be wrong. I really don't know what actually causes the black streaks other than dirt.
However after spending lots of my hard earned money on a new 5er last year. I find myself reasearching new methods to keep my camper clean. Going from a 30' TT to a 35' 5th is quite a bit more surface area to keep clean. So if I can do a few spring weekends of wash, wax, and protect to ease my normal after trip cleaning, I'm very interested.
What are your methods on cleaning? If you are only cleaning the sides of your camper. Do you have black streak problems? Or maybe you are using a better more effective wax?
Thank you for info
Tony
I have close to zero black streak problems since I install the RainKap which essentially throws water off away from the roof and the sides of my trailer. It also keeps potential leaks due to caulking for anything below the roof to a minimum. I even came up with a way to take care of the streaks from the rolled up awning water roll off when closed and whatever end was lower than the other. The only side not protected by the RainKap is the front and when stored I have it in a nose up attitude so no roof run off gets on the front. It's a Win-Win situation IMO. You can see it and how well it works in the link in my signature in my first post in this tread.
I still get some very light black streaks around windows/etc., but they are usually cleaned up with just a dry or slightly wet towel a couple of times a year.
About twice a year I clean/wash my trailer usually with just plain water and maybe a little simple green, dry and then wax it with Meguires NXT-2 protectant.
Finally I Eternabonded almost my entire trailer except for most of the windows, metal front/rear moldings and paid particular attention to the screw heads everywhere. I also recaulked about 2 years ago with the 3M 4000UV marine sealant which is good for submerged use and it is holding up GREAT so far.
I had MAJOR damage on my last trailer from the roof (Aluminum back in 1981) and several wicking screws and hopefully learned my lesson the hard way.
belairbrian wrote: I use the liquid spic and span.
Thank you. I appreciate the answer to my question. I'll try it today. That's straight out of the spray bottle? So, today I'm going to try Simple Green, Murphy's Oil Soap and Liquid Spioc and Span. I'm sure I'll find one I like, but I don't want to try something that damages the EPDM.
* This post was
edited 04/09/12 06:59am by rgolding *
belairbrian wrote: I use the liquid spic and span.
Thank you. I appreciate the answer to my question. I'll try it today. That's straight out of the spray bottle? So, today I'm going to try Simple Green, Murphy's Oil Soap and Liquid Spioc and Span. I'm sure I'll find one I like, but I don't want to try something that damages the EPDM.
I get the bottles from the dollar store and add to 2-3 gallons of water and brush with a soft bristle car washing brush.
rgolding wrote: Thought I'd clean and inspect the roof of the trailer this afternoon. Had purchased some Dicor Roof Cleaner to do the job and I really thought it would do a better job than it is doing. So some guys have said try Murphy's Oil Soap or Spic and Span. I know what Murphy's Oil Soap is like, but there is a liquid or powdered Spic and Span, which one are you talking about?
The Dicor did not take all the leave stains and mildew out. Its cleaner, but not what I would call clean. The roof seams to be in good shape, but just doing my bi-annual inspection.
Other than a little better reflectivity from the sun, why are you worried about getting it looking like new. You can let it turn completely black and it won't effect the life span of the EPDM roof. I might clean mine a little every 3 or 4 years and that is mainly to get some of the tree debris from around the A/C off. IMO people obsess WAY TO MUCH about trying to keep these EPDM roofs clean. The material is used commercially and they NEVER TOUCH it until it needs to be replaced 20 or more years later.
Larry
There are several of us in our community RV lot that try to keep our roofs reasonably clean. I use Dicor cleaner, the others just use the soap they wash the RV with. What we can say is that those of us that clean the roof a few times/year, and especially in the fall before the rains hit, have WAY WAY WAY less of an issue with black streaks, virtually none. IMHO part of the black streak problem is the dirt coming off the roof, keep the roof reasonably clean and the problem almost goes away. I don't obsess with getting the roof white and spotless, just getting the dirt off and cleaning the "gutter rail" of all the built up dirt.
2011 Keystone Outback 295RE
2004 14' bikehauler with full living quarters
2004.5 Silverado 4x4 CC/SB Duramax/Allison
When I bought mine the dealer told me they use Murphy's Oil Soap to clean roofs, I tried it once and did not think it cleaned it enough. I have been using Protect All roof cleaner and treatment since and last week when I was doing it, I started questioning myself because it was still grayish and had spots on it. I was wondering if it would ever be white but it comes down to personal preference I guess.
2010 Toyota Tundra SR5 Double Cab 5.7L
2009 Jayco Eagle Super Lite 298 RLS
1 Wife
2 Spoiled Shih Tzus
Yesterday evening tried the Murphy's Oil Soap. It didn't do as good as the Dicor Roof Cleaner. I'm not really being a fanatic about getting it clean, but I'm wanting to put some Dicor Diseal Tape along some of the seams, around TV antenna and sky lights for extra protection against future leaks and wanted to get it as clean as possible in those areas, before laying down the tape. First time to use the tape, so trying to get areas clean.
rgolding wrote: Yesterday evening tried the Murphy's Oil Soap. It didn't do as good as the Dicor Roof Cleaner. I'm not really being a fanatic about getting it clean, but I'm wanting to put some Dicor Diseal Tape along some of the seams, around TV antenna and sky lights for extra protection against future leaks and wanted to get it as clean as possible in those areas, before laying down the tape. First time to use the tape, so trying to get areas clean.
I do a fair amount of different surface cleaning for my business. We deal with all kinds of surfaces including, wood, metal, plastics,etc..
The cleaning proceeds along a schedule of mildest chemicals like soaps and surfactants to the harsher stuff like various solvents. In your case, an EPDM roof, you don't want to use anything that reacts with the roof material and that would eliminate any petroleum based solvents. For preparation for sealants I would first clean with soap and water, rinse well, and let dry. If any dirt remains in the areas that sealants are to be applied, you can use some alcohol to eliminate any ground-in deposits. I would do this lightly as different mfg.'s use different products to add color to the EPDM. If you're going to cover these areas with sealant tape, discoloration isn't that much of an issue but you want to be cautious.
Good luck with the roof!
Mkos1980 wrote: My dicor book says to use Fantastik or 409. I used a gallon of Fantastik with "Fantastic" results. I will always use that for the roof.
Wow! Fantastic? That is strong stuff. It will remove paint if you concentrate it enough and leave it on long enough. What Dicor Book, I'm intriqued?
Just an update - I called the Dicor technical support and spoke to Kathy, because I wanted to know how clean was "clean", to put the Dicor tape down. She stated to get major dirt and grim off and then wipe area with rubbing Alcohol to remove any grease or moisture. My day ended yeasterday with completing the installation of 50 ft. of the Dicor tape around 2 skylights, vents for the black and grey tanks, the tv antenna and the ladder along the back edge of the trailer roof. My plan is to get another roll and complete the covering of all the Dicor lap sealant. This is all preventive maintenance, because Camping World did a courtesy inspection while they were installing window awnings for us this past January and pointed out cracks in the sealant around the TV antenna. Since then, I have also noticed a few other places where the lap sealant was beginning to crack. After all, the travel trailer is a 2010 and was actually built in November of 2009. So it has sat out in the sun for over 3 years and I want to keep it in good shape.
Offline
