Eternabond Removal

Since many of us with Winnebago coaches have used eternabond at the roof/sidewall seam, I thought I would share my efforts to remove some of it prior to having my coach painted. While we've elected to use a color scheme that will use enough white to allow us to leave the 2" Ebond along the seam in place, I did have to remove a couple of smaller pieces I had placed along the outer edge of the rear cap at the top (the cap will be fully painted).

The ebond website suggested heating the tape with a heat gun or hair dryer before attempting to remove it. I used the hair dryer. The tape will pull up pretty easily but the sticky adhesive backing...that is another story. I see how it got its name...the stuff really, really sticks. You can kind of roll/scrape the sticky goo as you heat it but it is a mess. What I could not scrape off I could dissolve with Goop adhesive remover. I suspect other solvents might work....perhaps acetone or MEK.

We had first picked a color scheme that would change all the white to a tan color but that would have required painting the roof radius. I had resigned myself to the task of removing 70' feet of tape. However, to save on labor (no need to paint all the existing white awning hardware, window awnings, slide awning hardware, etc.) we picked a scheme that will not require any painting above the drip rail and will include just enough white to not require a change in exterior hardware color. We've seen another coach like ours with a similar scheme and it looks really good.


So, if you ever want/need to remove any eternabond, be prepared to do some real messy work.

Lacquer thinner, MEK or acetone will indeed remove the Eternabond adhesive nicely. Just use it very sparingly, especially around a rubber roof. It will quickly penetrate the rubber and loosen the adhesive under it  too. Those solvents can also remove the shine from fiberglass in a couple of heartbeats. A little bit on a cloth and wipe away the adhesive quickly. Do not soak.

Eternabond  can be painted....Why remove it...I'm having my 02 Horizon painted in May...The paint shop told me that they have painted over Eternabond a few times without any problems so mine is staying along with the integrity of the roof seam....

3M makes a great Adhesive Remover.  Red and white can.  It works real well but is not as nasty as acetone or MEK.

movin-on said:

Eternabond  can be painted....Why remove it...I'm having my 02 Horizon painted in May...The paint shop told me that they have painted over Eternabond a few times without any problems so mine is staying along with the integrity of the roof seam....

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Tell me more.  At least two shops, including Precision Painting in Indiana, told me they would not try and paint over eternabond.  What kind of prep will your shop use over the tape?  Will they be using base coat/clear coat?  If the stuff can be painted and it will stay on, I may modify the color scheme before we take the coach for painting.

That's interesting about Precision because about a year ago they told me that they could paint over it.....Anyway the $15,000 price tag to paint my rig made me start looking elsewhere....I know that they are the gold standard but the reviews from the shop I picked were as good and at $200.00 per foot to paint mine with pretty much the same procedure made my decision.....The first thing I did was to call Eternabond to see if it could be painted and that I had concerns about the paint peeling off...They assured me that it could be painted and that it had a negative or positive charge, I don't remember which...I figured that they make the stuff so hopefully they know what they are talking about...When I decided on a paint shop, I asked them if they knew what Eternabond was and they told me that they had just painted a coach with it on the roof seam (not a Winnie)and gave me the persons contact info...I talked to them and it's been on their coach for about 6 months so far no problem...To me it is worth taking a chance...If it doesn't work out, I'll reapply it .. you can get it in colors now (black, grey, tan)...

movin-on said:

That's interesting about Precision because about a year ago they told me that they could paint over it.....Anyway the $15,000 price tag to paint my rig made me start looking elsewhere....I know that they are the gold standard but the reviews from the shop I picked were as good and at $200.00 per foot to paint mine with pretty much the same procedure made my decision.....The first thing I did was to call Eternabond to see if it could be painted and that I had concerns about the paint peeling off...They assured me that it could be painted and that it had a negative or positive charge, I don't remember which...I figured that they make the stuff so hopefully they know what they are talking about...When I decided on a paint shop, I asked them if they knew what Eternabond was and they told me that they had just painted a coach with it on the roof seam (not a Winnie)and gave me the persons contact info...I talked to them and it's been on their coach for about 6 months so far no problem...To me it is worth taking a chance...If it doesn't work out, I'll reapply it .. you can get it in colors now (black, grey, tan)...

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I sent an email to Eternabond and they responded that they were aware that some folks had painted the tape by adding the same additives paint shops use when they are painting plastic bumpers.  They did also say flexing of the tape could cause the paint to flake or peel.  We've pretty much decided on a paint scheme that will keep enough white on the coach to prevent any painting above the drip rail so I can forego painting the tape for now.  We settled on a price nearly $3K less  than Precision and much closer to home.