Roof Light

[Tresjolie]

Started the refurb of the roof light today:-

1 Removed and cleaned the inner as described in Discussion 30, Little Exsis Book (got to update this again). Steve&Helen’s contribution.

2 The outer is seriously crazed but no cracks.

3 The frame is cracked. This has been replaced by Oliver Dill (Full description on FB Hymer Exsis page. I’ll be dating the book with this soon)

I need to source a supplier for spares in the UK. Any help appreciated.

Tom&Carol

• This topic was modified 4 years, 10 months ago by Tresjolie.

[Barry & Maggie]

Hi Tom & Carol,

It’s good to hear from you. Hope all is well (apart from the roof light!)

I’ve personally not needed any replacement parts for our Heki rooflight, but here are some contacts to get you started.  I hope someone who has had good service will be able to personally recommend something for you.

http://tinyurl.com/yyzqwnky

http://tinyurl.com/y4y68r92

http://tinyurl.com/yy4x8fsy

Good luck with this, Tom.  Let us know how you get on with this, please?

Best wishes to you both

Barry

[Tresjolie]

Thanks Barry

I read that you had a complete replacement. Can you tell me the manufacturer etc.

The cost of the four parts (outer skylight, seals and frame) supplied by Hymer to local dealer comes to
£532.73. If your replacement included everything and is be a cheaper option I would go down that route.

Regards

Tom&Carol

[Tresjolie]

Ok.I’ve gone for it. Waiting for Skylight, frame and seal from Fred’s favourite Hymer dealer. £520

Remove the 2 screws from each end then tease off the grey frame parts

Remove the lens rings from the lights and pull the lights out. Tease off the light frame. Push the lights back through and remove the light frame.

Unscrew the cassette and remove

 

Unscrew the frame and remove then remove the seal

At least the sun is shining

Barry! There was some grey putty type substance behind the frame. You can see it. Any ideas.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 10 months ago by Tresjolie.

[Barry & Maggie]

Thanks for all that, Tom. A great “How to”.

Unfortunately it was my garage that broke my perfectly-good skylight and THEY replaced it – I had no input!

We used to use a product “Dum-Dum”, which was an inert, rubbery “putty”.  I’m pretty sure this is no longer available.  A “bedding putty” or “body putty” would probably be what the grey stuff is, but I can’t say for sure, sorry.  I think I might be inclined to use one of the Sikaflex products.

Best wishes.

Barry

[Fred & Gill]

Good to hear from you again Tom, what a big hello and sorry to see your problem.

Excuse the pun, but what another cracking ‘how to do it from you’

It was a relief to see the price that you had secured as I always imagined a lot more.

Tom when my skylight leaked from around the seal ( frame meets roof) – I used Hodgesons Seemseal CV, it’s very easy to use and I had read that it is excellent for bedding in Windows etc as it does not set.

I have just washed/ polished my roof using my scaffolding tower and the sealant still looks good and has remained leakproof.

Thanks for another helpful and informative post and best wishes for some decent weather and a straightforward re-assembly.

Fred

[Barry & Maggie]

Great suggestion, thanks, Fred.

Hodgsons Seamseal – here it is, Tom…  http://tinyurl.com/y6pgxhxp

Barry

[Tresjolie]

Thanks Fred and Barry

Thank you both for well wishes. Hope you and yours are all well.

Fred! dare I mention the supplier (Brownhills) Free postage and 10% discount. I haven’t received it yet so things could go pear shaped.

I don’t like the idea of squeezing a runny product into the gap nor do I want it to stick fast in case I want to remove it. It doesn’t have to be super-watertight as it is inside and there is a rubber seal on the top of the frame. The nearest thing I found is W4 Mastic Sealing Sealant Strip https://www.amazon.co.uk/W4-00017-Mastic-Sealing-Strip/dp/B0036KG89I. Oliver Dill, whose roof light has only 2 lights so different procedure, did not replace the mastic so it was probably a tighter fit.

Also there appears to be a thin sticky tape above the frame probably for the seal. I will probably use silcone grease here.

Tom&Carol

[Tresjolie]

Fred

When you applied the seal to the roof light frame did you remove/loosen the frame or just applied the sealant to the edges.

I feel I should do something like this as part of the job.

The dumdum stuff that fell out of the inner frame was the excess squeezed out from under that outer frame. So no need to apply on the inside.

Tom&Carol

• This reply was modified 4 years, 9 months ago by Tresjolie.

[Tresjolie]

It’s here

and on. Don’t you just love star washers. Roof got a bit messy

Celebrating with first alcoholic drink of 2019.

Frame tomorrow

• This reply was modified 4 years, 9 months ago by Tresjolie.

[Tresjolie]

I’m on a roll. The skylight comes with an inner already attached but doesn’t have the 2 vents Instead it has 2 plug holes

[Barry & Maggie]

Blimey…  Steady on, old chap!  You have to pace yourself – otherwise Maggie will be expecting me to do all MY jobs as pronto!

That looks good.  My word! You can actually see the sky… It’s seagull droppings that are MY problem!

But that does look smart.  So you didn’t touch the sealed part of the frame?  If you did, how did you get on with the sealing?

Barry

[Tresjolie]

Barry!
The exterior sealing is under the top frame and lifting mechanism. There was lots of excess on mine so I left well alone. It was pushed through to the inner frame as shown above
Regards Tom&Carol

[Tresjolie]

I’ve just read Fred’s post in the Little Book regarding Skylight leak. All looks well on mine so I’ll leave that for now. I can easily get to it if there are future problems.

[Fred & Gill]

Thanks for a great post and information Tom. The roof light seems a scary project but it’s not so daunting now. A super quick job Tom, well done – you deserve that drink.

Regarding sealing the outer frame:

Firstly those Star washers had to come off so that I could remove the sky light for good access. I found that a some  of screws were up to a 1/4 turn loose so I applied the Hodgesons Seamseal CV around the edge and worked it in – then tightened the screws.

I then applied a generous bead all around everything and smoothed it out – it’s very visible but neat,  at that time I wasn’t up for removing the frame if I could resolve the issue easily. It’s so easy to work and not too messy.

I was up cleaning and polishing the roof last week from my scaffold tower and it still looks good and thankfully doesn’t leak.

Fred

[Tresjolie]

Job done

Mark Millergill on the Hymer Exsis FB group has a new skylight for sale including star washers £200. Bargain. Brownhills are selling for £340.

[Tresjolie]

Barry & Fred

I have a favour to ask. I didn’t measure the gap from roof to bottom of the roof light. There appears to be a larger gap than before. Maybe imagination. I can’t get a biro underneath. Could you have a look at yours and let me know if you think this is excessive please. I’ve pushed the seal as low as possible. Does it matter if there is a larger gap

Regards

Tom

• This reply was modified 4 years, 9 months ago by Tresjolie.
• This reply was modified 4 years, 9 months ago by Tresjolie.

[Barry & Maggie]

I’ll get the ladder and have a look at the weekend, Tom, if that’s OK, unless Fred still has his tower in situ?  Mine’s out in the road.

From memory, I don’t think the outer skylight quite touched the roof.

Does the inner skylight touch the frame?  Otherwise, I can’t see what could be wrong, except maybe the position of the holes for the lifting arms being “not right”?

Barry

[Tresjolie]

Thanks Barry
I’ll remove the inner seal tomorrow see how low it goes

Tom

[Tresjolie]

Hi Barry

Just removed inner seal and the wound the skylight down

It’s a lot lower. So the difference is the new inner on the skylight. It’s more of a double glazing unit so holds the skylight off a little more.

I think I’ll go with it. I suppose more rain will get under it when moving. I can’t see any problems as the seals are all good.

Regards

Tom

[nozzi]

Evening all

Thanks for the post tom & carol. Ours has cracks around the interior trim and a crack in the exterior panel; but as there’s no water ingress  I’ve kept putting it off.

This might be too late, but

For the putty, Toolstation do some Everbuild  (Puraflex?) glazing mastic which is quite cheap. I’ve used it on vehicle windows . it semi sets,  so would enable removal if necessary in the future. Sikaflex is very good, but might be more permanent.

Noz

• This reply was modified 4 years, 9 months ago by nozzi.

[Barry & Maggie]

Thanks for that, Noz.

Just a quick note – Sikaflex is not one product.  It’s a series of different products for different jobs.  The number after the name denotes what job it is intended for.

http://tinyurl.com/y2m25t8l

Good luck, Tom.

Barry

[Tresjolie]

Thanks Noz
I’ve got some Sikaflex EBT and I’ve bought the W4 mastic strips in case it shows any sign of leaking. I think I’ll also buy some star washers complete the emergency pack. Mark Millergill has a new skylight and washers for sale £200. A bargain

[Fred & Gill]

Tom, sorry for delay we have been away and as usual out of connectivity most of the time and usually too knackered whilst out walking or cycling and at the top of a hill to browse….it’s the extra years you know!

My sky light ( which is original) always held well off  the roof whilst the inner sat on the seal. I have just measured the outer with the inner sealed closed and the gap is 20mm.

This may well be slightly more than original, but only 2-3 MM because the last time I did the ‘dropped inner leaf’ I doubled up on the thick adhesive strip – (from supplier suggested by  Maldwyn.

Fred

[Tresjolie]

Thanks Fred. I measured ours at 7mm. So good to go.

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