Too much caulk

[Alden Miller]

The PO went way overboard caulking this vent. Any suggestions on how to remove this caulk mountain?

-Alden

[thecatsandi]

Plastic scraper. slowly.

[AWCHIEF]

I have a couple of those courtesy of POs. I hope I never have to remove them.

[Alden Miller]

As you can see in the picture I have the plastic scraper and some caulk solvent. Underneath the paper towel was a spot that I was soaking in remover. If I extrapolate how long it took to soften and remove this one spot with the above method I would be at this for two to three weeks straight without taking time to go to work...


-Alden

[thecatsandi]

Originally Posted by Alden Miller

As you can see in the picture I have the plastic scraper and some caulk solvent. Underneath the paper towel was a spot that I was soaking in remover. If I extrapolate how long it took to soften and remove this one spot with the above method I would be at this for two to three weeks straight without taking time to go to work...


-Alden

Give a call to a good AS dealer, Out-of-Doors Mart in NC or Colonial AS in NJ. Anything harder than plastic will scrape the shell. A solvent will disolve the frame of the vent (if plastic).

[Schu]

Originally Posted by thecatsandi

Give a call to a good AS dealer, Out-of-Doors Mart in NC or Colonial AS in NJ. Anything harder than plastic will scrape the shell. A solvent will disolve the frame of the vent (if plastic).

Get the sealer loosen up at a corner(you made a putty knife with the end sharpened) to get the sealer loosened enough to crasp and pull.Once you get it started you should be able to pull (apply tension)and use sharp edge of PK to cut while pulling.You do not want to scrap the aluminum .It all depends on the type of caulking that was used.

[wahoonc]

Depending on the type of sealant, applying some heat with a heat gun might speed things up a bit.

Aaron

[perryg114]

The gel Kleen Cutter paint remover works pretty well.

Perry

[ddstech]

I would use a paint eater wheel on a drill. Carefully take off the bulk. Then proceed as mentioned above once you get close to the shell. It's my opinion based on my own experience, do as you please.

[bangzoom]

Had the same problem. I used a heat gun and a dull putty knife to remove the bulk of it. Then sprayed it with "Contractor's Solvent", available @ Ace and various hardware stores. Used a 3M pad to remove the residual as I wasn't concerned about marring the finish up there and finished it up with rubbing alcohol to prepare the surface for new caulk.

[195Pilot]

Alden,
Count Your Blessings, The PO of our 31ft decided the best material to seal the entire roof was with BLACK TAR, APPROX. 5 GALLONS OF BLACK TAR.
It did take 3 weeks to remove all the tar, so I know you can remove that sealant quicker.
Of course you can look at it from a different prospective I did not have any water leaks from above.
Good Luck,
Jack

[ROBERT CROSS]

Alden,

The caulk your trying to remove may not be silicone based.

This,(West Marine), worked pretty well on our black tank vent.
Soak well, let sit, scrape with plastic putty knife. Final wipe-down with mineral spirits.

If your really careful and mask the plastic, 3M brake clean also works very well and is a lot cheaper.

Bob

[Eric H]

Braided wire wheel on an angle grinder will eat through it very very fast. You may scrape the aluminum, but no one will ever see it up there... Wear eye protection and gloves, because it will liquify it and splatter and that wheel will fire off metal spears. Once you get the bulk off you can move to a finer wire wheel on a drill to get the last bits right on the surface.
A paint removing disk will work too, but may get clogged.
Heat and a scraper will work, but there are most likely wires that run in the ceiling right near where you're working.

[Alden Miller]

Wow, lots of good ideas! Thanks!

I had been thinking of a heat gun and paint stripper. I need to do something (like suggested) to remove the bulk of this before trying to get it really clean.

West Marine is right down the street from work so I might try some of their solvent too.

If I give up and attack it mechanically I have a Fein Multimaster with scraper blade that will get right under it and remove it but it will scrape the aluminum up so I was going to hold off on that until I try other methods.

Jack, thanks for making me feel better about this!


-Alden

[L.D.Clara]

I used a 2" x 3/4" x 2' long piece of hardwood sharpened like a chisel with a hand plane to get the most of the sealant out from around mine. Looks like a different sealant though, but it also worked on the silicone chaos around all the windows. I got the worst off with brute force then applied silicone remover, went over it again and so on. You have to keep sharpening your 'chisel' though.

[Alden Miller]

Resurecting one of my old posts. I think I have this mostly solved finally and with a little more work I will have it completely solved.

It took a few sessions and a couple different techniques but I was able to remove the huge pile of caulk and the original vulkem sealant. Paint stripper worked to remove some of the latex caulk off the top but it was slow going. So, I used a heat gun to soften the caulk and then dig under it with a scraper. Once I had removed the majority of the caulk using the heat and scraper I was able to use stripper to get it down to bare metal.

After all the junk was removed I used Eternabond Aluminum tape (4" wide) and sealed the vent. I had my wife watch the vent inside of the trailer and I soaked it (really soaked it) with a hose. There is one very small drip at the center of one side and that is where the vertical side of the vent that sticks above the roof is cracked. I will apply more Eternabond up the sides of the vent and I should have no leak at all.

At this point I am thrilled with the results and look forward to not having to worry about the leak the next time we are camping and there is a rain storm.

-Alden