06-17-2015, 06:36 PM
Over the last year I have conducted two tests that I felt would take at least a year to evaluate results. Hopefully the results will help others in the maintenance of their coach.
The first was I have not washed my coach with soap, water & a brush for over a year. I have used microfiber cloths and Wash & Wax All exclusively. I have not seen any degrading of the painted surface. No scratching of any kind. The positives I have found is washing the coach can be done in my shop in any weather. I don't have to do the whole coach at one time and I no longer deal with water spotting. I wax my coach once a year and have found that it polishes & waxes easier now than before. This is not an advertisement for Wash & Wax All as I have received nothing from the company. I chose it based on availability and price. There are other products that may be similar and give similar results.
The second test was with some delamination of the basement skins. I caught the delamination early on four different doors. The delamination areas ranged from 3 inches to about 12 inches. Each of the delamination areas started at the door frame corners. I tested several products using scrap aluminum of similar qualities. After testing I chose to use in a real life test two products. The first was Loctite epoxy instant mix. It is a clear epoxy that is mixed in a mixing tip as it is being dispensed. I worked the epoxy behind the aluminum frame where it was delaminating and then clamped the skin to the frame. After letting it dry I unclamped and all of the delaminated areas were now solidly attached. I chose to reenforce the corners by adding a bead to the corners of the door frame. After doing a couple of doors I felt the epoxy was not leaving the bead as I wanted as it tended to run. I left it to see if it would stand up to use though. I decided for putting a bead to reenforce the corners on the rest of the doors to use Sikaflex 252. The Sikaflex was easier to apply in a larger bead that did not run like the epoxy. After a full year I have not had a single door that I fixed begin delaminating again. All frames have stayed tight with the frames. Both the epoxy beads and the Sikaflex beads remain intact. The epoxy beads are clear. The Sikaflex 252 is black. Again this is not an advertisement for Loctite epoxy instant mix or Sikaflex 252 as I received nothing from either company. These products were chosen based on my testing of their bonding qualities, availability & price.
http://www.loctiteproducts.com/p/epxy_1m...Minute.htm
http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/use...oCFgnw_wcB
The first was I have not washed my coach with soap, water & a brush for over a year. I have used microfiber cloths and Wash & Wax All exclusively. I have not seen any degrading of the painted surface. No scratching of any kind. The positives I have found is washing the coach can be done in my shop in any weather. I don't have to do the whole coach at one time and I no longer deal with water spotting. I wax my coach once a year and have found that it polishes & waxes easier now than before. This is not an advertisement for Wash & Wax All as I have received nothing from the company. I chose it based on availability and price. There are other products that may be similar and give similar results.
The second test was with some delamination of the basement skins. I caught the delamination early on four different doors. The delamination areas ranged from 3 inches to about 12 inches. Each of the delamination areas started at the door frame corners. I tested several products using scrap aluminum of similar qualities. After testing I chose to use in a real life test two products. The first was Loctite epoxy instant mix. It is a clear epoxy that is mixed in a mixing tip as it is being dispensed. I worked the epoxy behind the aluminum frame where it was delaminating and then clamped the skin to the frame. After letting it dry I unclamped and all of the delaminated areas were now solidly attached. I chose to reenforce the corners by adding a bead to the corners of the door frame. After doing a couple of doors I felt the epoxy was not leaving the bead as I wanted as it tended to run. I left it to see if it would stand up to use though. I decided for putting a bead to reenforce the corners on the rest of the doors to use Sikaflex 252. The Sikaflex was easier to apply in a larger bead that did not run like the epoxy. After a full year I have not had a single door that I fixed begin delaminating again. All frames have stayed tight with the frames. Both the epoxy beads and the Sikaflex beads remain intact. The epoxy beads are clear. The Sikaflex 252 is black. Again this is not an advertisement for Loctite epoxy instant mix or Sikaflex 252 as I received nothing from either company. These products were chosen based on my testing of their bonding qualities, availability & price.
http://www.loctiteproducts.com/p/epxy_1m...Minute.htm
http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/use...oCFgnw_wcB
Steve Bare
1999 Newell 2 slide #531