leaking sky bubble above tub

[amc/tem]

Has anyone had any problems with the sky bubble above the tub? Ours devoloped cracks where the screws are on the roof and leaked in the tub thank GOD!

[Rustic Eagle]

Welcome to JOF

Haven't heard of any frequent skylight issues thus far....., but my BIL had the same leak issue on his new Rockwood two years ago. Seems they torqued the screws down to much and cracked the plastic.

Required new skylight and a fresh application of caulking.

Bob

[norty1]

I have had to recaulk the area in the past. Look for loose/cracked caulk and as mentioned skylight cracks.
On mine I could remove the underside and see exactly where the problem was.

[DSN46]

I have been down this road.
Our previous trailer (a Rockwood) leaked through the skylight above the tub after the first rain we had it. Went up on the roof and discovered the ham-fisted guy at the factory had torqued two of the screws down so tight they had cracked the plastic. Had to call Forest River and get a replacement skylight sent to me. We lived 7 hours away from the nearest dealer so I did the work myself.

I was very surprised at just how THIN and fragile the skylight material is on those things! It is unfortunate that this has happened to yours. Don't know if yours is cracked or not, but if it is, the only way to fix it properly is to replace it.

One last thing. I had to wait almost 30 days to get my replacement skylight. It was during rainy season here in Florida so I took a couple of pieces of 2 inch Eternabond tape and covered the cracks. This kept all rain out while I waited for the replacement. I probably could have left it with the Eternabond on it and used it for years without problems to be honest. So if you don't have the time to wait for replacement, or need a temporary fix while waiting, get some of that tape.

Good luck! Whatever you do, do something quickly. It is NOT just dripping into the tub.... water is getting into the layers of the roofing material also which will lead to horrible problems pretty quick.


James

[Dirkdaddy]

I realize this is an old thread, but my 07 BH has a skylight that went from one crack to 3 and started leaking bad. I found a replacement made from Lexan on Ebay made in USA by a guy in his shop, for about same cost as conventional one. Lexan is used in fighter jet windscreens so its very tough! He has a picture of a guy standing on it. You will special caulk for install EB-140, you can find that at a dealer or amazon.com, and heat the caulk up they say as its very thick and makes it go a lot easier. Most heat in the sun. My inside bubble is ugly and a bit worn, wondering what options I have that would fit up well.

[Dirkdaddy]

I just replaced it last night with the Lexan one. A couple of take-aways from my experience:

* the roof sealer used around these and the screws is so tough it can take a LONG time to get the old one off.

* Every one of the screws had eventually cracked the plastic skylight where they went through the holes - either over-torqued or time did the job, but no wonder it leaked with all of them busted up and some cracks going into the dome area

* I found a good technique was to lay my utility knife flat and cut along the top edge of the skylight as then the sealer will peel off somewhat easier.

* Don't cut into your EPM! I did in one spot but used sealer on it. If you hold knife flat and saw on the edge you're pulling up that works well. If you rip your EPM by using a puddy knife like I did use the sealer to put it back into condition, then the roof self-leveling stuff.

* Getting the old one off can take some time. Allow for it. I started about 6:30pm and was finishing up the project with a headlamp at 10pm!

* The EB-140 appears to be just for the skylight to EPM joint. I mistakenly thought I should use it for all the screw heads and seal to EPM...only too late did i realize that I should have used the self-leveling roof seal on that part. The skylight is a great item but doesn't come with instructions on this part of it.

* between skylight and outside wall of TT, the 5" or so of roof in that section on mine the plywood was totally rotted out - I pulled out handfuls of rotted wood and cleaned that out, then used a couple layers of 1/4" hardwood plywood I had from a furniture project and pulled back the EPM and screwed down to the wood roof frame

*I'm leaving the inside trim skylight cover off for a while to let the whole thing dry out, which hopefully it will.