Leak Fixing Help Needed! Best Way to Remove Silicone Caulking?

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RoughMonkey

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May 30, 2016
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Hi folks, new guy from NH here, great forum! Looking to fix a few leaky spots on my 98 Itasca Spirit, its a 33' Class C, planning to use eternabond on all the roof seams, and dicor caulk around the rear window, but someone went hog wild with silicone caulking trying to seal her up, whats the best way to remove the silicone? I know scrape the heavy stuff but what about the residue before applying the tape?? Thanks in advance!

Ryan
 
Hi neighbor and welcome to the forum. Are you anywhere near Rochester?
I don't know the answer to your question but you'll probably find that within an hour, someone will have an answer for you.
 
Rene T said:
Hi neighbor and welcome to the forum. Are you anywhere near Rochester?
I don't know the answer to your question but you'll probably find that within an hour, someone will have an answer for you.
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Howdy, I'm over in beautiful ManchVegas!
 
RoughMonkey said:
Howdy, I'm over in beautiful ManchVegas!
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Oh ya, over there where they openly express the Second Amendment in public quite frequently lately.  Over here we only profess the use of drugs.  :'(
 
Rene T said:
Oh ya, over there where they openly express the Second Amendment in public quite frequently lately.  Over here we only profess the use of drugs.  :'(
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Yes they do, I prefer being a bit more discreet when I carry LOL...No shortage of drugs over here too sadly
 
  Aside from elbow grease and a steady hand using a razor blade, I'm not aware of an easy way to remove silicone.  Once you peel it I have wiped it with varsol (a brand name) for some type of paint thinner, which often softens silicone enough to peel what's left.  But good luck.  One of the main problems is that nothing sticks to silicone, so unless you use eternabond tape wide enough to completely cover the old silicone you will soon leak again.

Ed
 
RoughMonkey said:
Hi folks, new guy from NH here, great forum! Looking to fix a few leaky spots on my 98 Itasca Spirit, its a 33' Class C, planning to use eternabond on all the roof seams, and dicor caulk around the rear window, but someone went hog wild with silicone caulking trying to seal her up, whats the best way to remove the silicone? I know scrape the heavy stuff but what about the residue before applying the tape?? Thanks in advance!

Ryan
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Our porch light is attached to the wall with screws and Winnie sealed it with silicone. I had to cut through the silicone to remove the fixture, so I could replace the bulb with an LED (Good design, huh! :eek: ) While reinstalling it, I was re-sealing it with more silicone and I accidentally got a small dab of it on the black paint. I have tried (in vain) for three years to get it off, but to this day it's still visible. If you figure out how to remove silicone completely, I'd love to learn how you did it. My bet is you're going to have extend the Eternabond tape beyond the boundaries of where the silicone is, because you're not going to be able to get it all off.

Kev
 
Try DSR 5 at amazon. Cut or scrape off as much as possible leaving just a thin film. Then apply the DSR. keep the area moist with the DSR. Keep checking the moist area to see if the caulk is starting to dissolve or soften. I use a plastic putty knife or a piece of hard wood cut like a wedge to further remove the caulk. the palstic or wood will not scratch or dig into the fisnish like a metal putty knife or chisel. For the finial clean I use a nylon scrubby.  once you get the system down it goes pretty fast. Don't forget to wash off the cleaned areas with a good soap to remove remaining DSR as it might affect your new caulk.

Hope this helps, Tom
 
Kevin Means said:
Our porch light is attached to the wall with screws and Winnie sealed it with silicone. I had to cut through the silicone to remove the fixture, so I could replace the bulb with an LED (Good design, huh! :eek: ) While reinstalling it, I was re-sealing it with more silicone and I accidentally got a small dab of it on the black paint. I have tried (in vain) for three years to get it off, but to this day it's still visible. If you figure out how to remove silicone completely, I'd love to learn how you did it. My bet is you're going to have extend the Eternabond tape beyond the boundaries of where the silicone is, because you're not going to be able to get it all off.

Kev
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What a great idea they had  :eek:
 
I feel your pain. I have the joys of scraping silicone soon. The person who owned my tt before me sealed a leaking corner with silicone. -.- it still leaks.

So in the next week, we are going to have to scrape it all off, fix the leak, peel away old silver tape (some kind of flashing), and than put new stuff on to it. JoY!!!!
 
oh how I hate silicone.
I read that mineral spirits actually causes it to swell.  The thing I was reading said to wipe it with spirits, scrape, and repeat.... and repeat.... and repeat....
I've done it a few times and it really does seem to work.  The residue swells just a tiny bit, and sort of softens, and can be scraped.  More spirits makes more appear and scrape away.  It's subtle but it has worked for me.  Several iterations and it cleans up fairly well.
 
Burn the trailer! :mad: Seriously, in the rubber industry,  we automatically fired anyone who brought silicon even close to a plant where molding of conventional elastomers  was done (a real probkem since its used as a release for molding urethanes - in a different building). Physical removal by grinding or scraping will get some, or even most, of it off (if you hold your mouth right).

You can try any solvent, and who knows there may be one that helps, but I never found it!

Ernie
 
Once you peel it all away, I've had fair luck with mineral spirits to remove the oily residue. Something more potent, e.g. acetone or MEK, is much better, but few RV surfaces can tolerate those chemicals without damage. As Ernie says, there always seems to be a spot or two left behind - the stuff is miserable to get rid of!
 
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