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Old 07-15-2021, 02:04 PM   #1
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Gelcoat is down to Primer

Today a mobile RV detail service came to wash and wax my 2018 Pinnacle. I purchased it used in September.

The tech said that "the bad news is that we can't wash and wax your RV". The reason is the gelcoat has essentially worn down to the primer, and wax will not adhere. He also said that this is a known issue with Jayco and some other manufacturers and Jayco has on occassion "re-gelcoated" RVs.

Has anyone ever heard of this? Is there any hope of help from the manufacturer, or am I stuck with a dull hazy RV?
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Old 07-15-2021, 02:29 PM   #2
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I had a 2013 Jayco FW that the front nose (only) had dulled and could not be corrected with rubbing compound/polish/wax. Had something to do with the gelcoat. This was common on many RVs back then. Jayco would not fix mine since it was out of warranty (of course!). They did however fix ones that were still in warranty.
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Old 07-15-2021, 02:39 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by Moseh View Post
Today a mobile RV detail service came to wash and wax my 2018 Pinnacle. I purchased it used in September..........<snip>

Is there any hope of help from the manufacturer, or am I stuck with a dull hazy RV?
As a 2nd owner you have no coverage from JAYCO unfortunately.
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Old 07-15-2021, 03:19 PM   #4
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I find it hard to believe the Gel Coat has worn away since 2018. Try some rubbing compound in a small area and see for yourself if the shine will come back. If it hasn't been waxed properly and has been exposed to LOTS of sun it may be oxidized. I sold the Jayco in my sig 2 years ago and bought a 2012 Raptor toy hauler. It was hazy when I bought it but machine compounding brought it back just fine.
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Old 07-15-2021, 04:37 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by Moseh View Post
Today a mobile RV detail service came to wash and wax my 2018 Pinnacle. I purchased it used in September.

The tech said that "the bad news is that we can't wash and wax your RV". The reason is the gelcoat has essentially worn down to the primer, and wax will not adhere. He also said that this is a known issue with Jayco and some other manufacturers and Jayco has on occassion "re-gelcoated" RVs.

Has anyone ever heard of this? Is there any hope of help from the manufacturer, or am I stuck with a dull hazy RV?
Yes, this is a well known issue, many of us have had from 1-5 years old. Search front cap instead of gel coat and you will find lots, including my 2018 that failed in a year.
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Old 07-15-2021, 04:38 PM   #6
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I find it hard to believe the Gel Coat has worn away since 2018. Try some rubbing compound in a small area and see for yourself if the shine will come back. If it hasn't been waxed properly and has been exposed to LOTS of sun it may be oxidized. I sold the Jayco in my sig 2 years ago and bought a 2012 Raptor toy hauler. It was hazy when I bought it but machine compounding brought it back just fine.
Don't waste your time, either live with it, or get it repainted.
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Old 07-15-2021, 06:00 PM   #7
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I find it hard to believe the Gel Coat has worn away since 2018. Try some rubbing compound in a small area and see for yourself if the shine will come back. If it hasn't been waxed properly and has been exposed to LOTS of sun it may be oxidized. I sold the Jayco in my sig 2 years ago and bought a 2012 Raptor toy hauler. It was hazy when I bought it but machine compounding brought it back just fine.



We had this discussion, at great lengths in a number of other threads.



So here is the review. Over the years the RV industry has had a number of gel-coat failings that has led to premature oxidation, mostly on front and rear caps. In some cases (Heartland) they have covered it under warranty for a period and then dumped it back on the purchaser. RV Gel-coats, in-spite of what some might argue are thinner than boat and other vehicles. RV people are cheap and don't put much into the finishes that go on your RV. Even using polishing machines by detailers destroys the finish over time (a short time).



So, if your gel-coat is oxidizing no amount of wax, sanding, other fly-by-night refinishing products are going to fix it for more than a few months. You either paint, or re-coat. Happened on my 2011 Heartland Cyclone and on the front cap of my current rig. If you want a good finish pay for paint. The manufacturer is NOT going to help you out. Nor is some Checker Auto paint refinish.
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Old 07-16-2021, 05:11 PM   #8
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I have a 2017 Jayco Eagle. Shortly after buying the unit I read on this site of this known issue. I then began using UV protectant thinking it would avoid the problem. It worked great until just the last 6 months and now has been showing the haze on the upper 1/3rd that everyone has been complaining about, just in time for my warranty to have expired….

I’m planning on getting up there tonight, after the sun is off of it, and see what I can do. I have a boat that has a similar condition and I have used 303 uv protectant (not the wax) and it has made it look almost new. I spray it on but do not wipe it off, just let be. For 3 years the boat has been looking great. If I wipe it off, the haze returns, when I just spray and leave it it looks great.

If I have similar results I will post the results.
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Old 07-25-2021, 12:38 PM   #9
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As a 2nd owner you have no coverage from JAYCO unfortunately.
Which is a joke and another reason to deny a warranty claim. Why is a new car warranty transferable, but these are not? The fading caps will fade no matter who owns it.

I had to fork out $2600 to have the front cap painted on our previous FR Wildcat. I have buffed and polished the cap on our current Jayco, and it looks like crap again. But I'm not going to fork out more $$$ to get this one painted so will buff it again before I put it up for sale.
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Old 07-27-2021, 01:47 PM   #10
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The only solution that I can remotely see as viable, is to take your brand new, not used rv, directly from the dealership to a suitable paint job shop and pay to have a minimum of three coats of high solids clear 2k urethane applied. This will give the most UV protection, will provide a film thickness that can be compounded once or twice over its lifetime and will accept a nano particle wax such as the ceramics imparting an additional protection shield.

Short of that, working with machines that cut or wax the original finish is a self defeating activity. Removing material beyond the initial cut and buff of a new finish from any factory gives less protection, not more.
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Old 07-27-2021, 03:54 PM   #11
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The only solution that I can remotely see as viable, is to take your brand new, not used rv, directly from the dealership to a suitable paint job shop and pay to have a minimum of three coats of high solids clear 2k urethane applied. This will give the most UV protection, will provide a film thickness that can be compounded once or twice over its lifetime and will accept a nano particle wax such as the ceramics imparting an additional protection shield.

Short of that, working with machines that cut or wax the original finish is a self defeating activity. Removing material beyond the initial cut and buff of a new finish from any factory gives less protection, not more.
The problem with that is finding a shop that will clear over the decals. I worked in the collision trade my entire life as a bodyman/painter in quality shops. Most shops won't guarantee the clear to adhere to the decals. Although I have seen shops that have cleared over truck 4x4 decals on bedsides with no problems.

But these RV decals are so large I'm not sure how it would hold up. Masking off the decals would be time consuming and leave an edge which can be prone to peeling clear later on. It would be worth a shot if you can find a good shop to clear the entire thing. It can't be as bad as the severe fading they get in 2-3 years.
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Old 07-27-2021, 04:57 PM   #12
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The problem with that is finding a shop that will clear over the decals. I worked in the collision trade my entire life as a bodyman/painter in quality shops. Most shops won't guarantee the clear to adhere to the decals. Although I have seen shops that have cleared over truck 4x4 decals on bedsides with no problems.

But these RV decals are so large I'm not sure how it would hold up. Masking off the decals would be time consuming and leave an edge which can be prone to peeling clear later on. It would be worth a shot if you can find a good shop to clear the entire thing. It can't be as bad as the severe fading they get in 2-3 years.
Sent a follow up from the phone, don't see it. You need to apply a base of water clear 2k epoxy. The urethane sticks to that forever, and the epoxy sticks to a properly prepared substrate without issue. No sanding needed for a mechanical, just prepsolve after taping off and a couple wet coats. Three coats of 2k urethane and you're good to go. This process was actually developed to give the Air Force a bullet proof sealer for concrete floors in hangars. When I started using waterbase auto finishes, I found the epoxy intermediate coat gave a much better leveling of everything that followed. And yes, finding a shop willing to do this is the trick.
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Old 07-27-2021, 05:49 PM   #13
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The only solution that I can remotely see as viable, is to take your brand new, not used rv, directly from the dealership to a suitable paint job shop and pay to have a minimum of three coats of high solids clear 2k urethane applied. This will give the most UV protection, will provide a film thickness that can be compounded once or twice over its lifetime and will accept a nano particle wax such as the ceramics imparting an additional protection shield.

Short of that, working with machines that cut or wax the original finish is a self defeating activity. Removing material beyond the initial cut and buff of a new finish from any factory gives less protection, not more.

I am not sure with the more recent "fade" problems but the past issues that many RV manufacturers had and paid for redo's had nothing to do with the clear. It had to do with the gel not having enough or the proper UV formula in it. Thus the gel, under the clear fades. No amount of clear, or wax, or whatever will correct this issue. Most had to have the gel redone or the entire problem area repainted. Most were the front and rear caps.
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Old 07-27-2021, 06:01 PM   #14
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I am not sure with the more recent "fade" problems but the past issues that many RV manufacturers had and paid for redo's had nothing to do with the clear. It had to do with the gel not having enough or the proper UV formula in it. Thus the gel, under the clear fades. No amount of clear, or wax, or whatever will correct this issue. Most had to have the gel redone or the entire problem area repainted. Most were the front and rear caps.
It won't fade under a good clear coat. Automotive basecoat goes on dull, but the clear is what makes it shine. The same would happen over faded gelcoat.
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Old 07-27-2021, 06:14 PM   #15
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It won't fade under a good clear coat. Automotive basecoat goes on dull, but the clear is what makes it shine. The same would happen over faded gelcoat.

Perhaps you should talk with the same people at Heartland that I talked with a few years back. Their take was much different. The gel had little to no UV protection mixed in and caused their problems with oxidation. The clear was fine but what was under was not. The clear will not stop UV from getting to what is below.
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Old 07-27-2021, 07:26 PM   #16
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Perhaps you should talk with the same people at Heartland that I talked with a few years back. Their take was much different. The gel had little to no UV protection mixed in and caused their problems with oxidation. The clear was fine but what was under was not. The clear will not stop UV from getting to what is below.
Whatever, automotive basecoat does not have UV protection either. Catalyzed clear does. I'm not going to get into a pissing match.
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Old 07-27-2021, 08:23 PM   #17
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Whatever, automotive basecoat does not have UV protection either. Catalyzed clear does. I'm not going to get into a pissing match.
A pissing match with the messenger. LOL roll your eyes all you want. It is simply a message I passed on. How thin skinned some get over nothing.
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Old 07-31-2021, 11:57 AM   #18
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Try Poli Glow. See if it helps. Mine started oxidizing and it helped.
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Old 07-31-2021, 11:57 AM   #19
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Today a mobile RV detail service came to wash and wax my 2018 Pinnacle. I purchased it used in September.

The tech said that "the bad news is that we can't wash and wax your RV". The reason is the gelcoat has essentially worn down to the primer, and wax will not adhere. He also said that this is a known issue with Jayco and some other manufacturers and Jayco has on occassion "re-gelcoated" RVs.

Has anyone ever heard of this? Is there any hope of help from the manufacturer, or am I stuck with a dull hazy RV?
The gelcoat in my front cap of my 2019 Entegra Odyssey was dull after only 6 months. I managed to restore it to almost factory look by using a product called I believe Poly Glow. It has held up for over a year now. Check on Amazon.
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Old 07-31-2021, 11:58 AM   #20
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The gelcoat in my front cap of my 2019 Entegra Odyssey was dull after only 6 months. I managed to restore it to almost factory look by using a product called I believe Poly Glow. It has held up for over a year now. Check on Amazon.


That what I just posted but I believe it’s spelled Poli Glow if it’s the same product they used on mine.
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