Hi all, Anybody got any good suggestions as what to do, use, paint, or fill the very minute pin holes scattered on both sides of my bailey scorpio 1992 roof, yep its let all that 2months supply of rainfall in over the last few days. Help!
If it's let all that rain in I would think you would have to dry it out before you do any repair. You need someone from the 'fix it' group, I would say you should get a reply very soon.
We had the same problem and I used Acrypol to cover the holes about 18 months ago. Not the best asthetics because it's quite lumpy but it's still keeping us dry!
Hi Neddygirl , can you tell how much water has got in , has it been dripping off the ceiling , are the ceiling boards damp to touch or do they have soft patches . What you need to do straight away is stop any more water getting through the pin holes , i would cover with gaffer tape , but this gives a problem of removing the glue when the tape is removed , you could try aluminium tape , but it's silver so it will show . Apart from that it's a case of filling the pin pricks with caravan tube mastic ( use a good quality mastic not cheap stuff ) or try some of the idea's from others above . Another other thing that's a long shot is go to a sign maker ( the type that makes stick-on graphics for cars etc ) and see if they can supply sheeting that could be stuck on the roof to cover the holes , they may even have a colour of plastic sheeting that closely matches your caravan colour . I've had graphics made up in the past and they stay stuck , as well they have a plastic covering to the graphic ( if you know what i mean ) .
Hope the idea's help . Let us know how you decide to repair your holes .
Do check the fixed it club materials. And do check the seals and other possible spots that may have caused water ingress.
Pin holes often are the result of corrosion coming from the inside of the panel due to damp. So do check on that and if you find it, repair the cause first together with the pinholes. A temporary repair can be done with plastic foil or pieces of plastic. The stuff Wizard mentions would do very well as that is destined for outdoor use. You may contemplate these little colourless plastic stickers used to temporarily cover damage in car windows (any garage will have them and probably give you some for free, it covers the damage caused by pebbles on the window and prevents dirt coming in to enable clean and effective repair) for the moment.
Even duct tape will do for the moment untill you discover the cause. It's the roof, so not that visible anyway.
I probably should of mentioned that our van was bought as a damp wreck and completely stripped and refited (every single panel of a 19ft van, roof as well). The damp was origionaly mainly caused by poor seals at joints where the awning rail goes but then pin holes (mainly in the roof, a few in the side) formed I think from a reaction between the now damp steel fastners in the frame and the aluminium shell. I don't know if you ever get the pin holes without some other underlying problem...
You can buy paint from Cara-Match to cover up whatever sealant you use, which is what I planned to do but have not got round to yet! If you see a Challenger with grey patches it's probably us ;-)
I used Acrypol because a friend who does comercial buildings maintenance swears by it for patching up roofs and it can be applied in the rain which is often when you find the holes!
As far as I know pin holes are caused by damp. Interaction between steel and aluminum will enhance the process under damp circumstances and the softest metal will give in. It's a consequence of electrolysis. That's why in many technical circumstances aluminum and other metals are not combined.
But pinholes can also occur without this factor, just by corrosion due to damp. Damp is the common factor, electrolysis between two different metals an an enhancing factor.
Electrical currents alone also cause corrosion to metals, but I don't know whether the static electricity occuring when travelling is sufficient for this process. I would not be surprised if so. Compare the shock one often receives when exiting a car: static electricity. The van must somehow built up a similar load. On the other hand this only occurs during a very limited period, the trip itself. I don't know what happens on site in dry windy circumstances. I never saw an analysis on this subject. My knowledge of these processes comes from involvement in pipelines and cable projects (damage and compensation matters in the rerouting due to restructuring of infrastructure in a very large industrial port area)and from shipping matters.
Thanks everyone for your advice have exposed the damp, dried it all out and used mastic and ordered some transfers. So far its staying dry apart from one drip (still cant find the source of it yet) cheers all
I still have plenty of Acrypol left if you need a bit. I painted our grey patches with a decent match I found in Halfords this week and the caravan looks like someone cares about it again now!