# Puddles Of Water In My Camper - Loose Antenna?



## 1stTimeAround (Sep 22, 2004)

Good morning everyone!

I took my 28RSS to the dealer last Thursday, 11/4/10, for a state inspection (VA) and when I went in the unit to get some stuff out, I found a large puddle of water on the floor, the sofa was soaked and water drips were hanging from the crank handle for the antenna.

I asked the dealer to "take a look" while they had it. I noticed in August that the trim work around the sofa slide had warped directly in the center of the board, which happens to be directly below the antenna crank when the unit is in storage with the slide in.

The dealer found the four bolts holding the A/C unit were loose and thought that this may be causing the problem. They tightened the bolts and told me to keep an eye on it. I took it home and yesterday, 11/11/10, I washed the roof and conditioned it per the recommendation of the dealer. While I was up on the roof, I noticed that water seemed to puddle a little bit near the A/C unit.

When I got down off the roof and went inside the camper, sure enough, there was the same puddle and same soaked sofa as from the week before, and I could still see water drips coming off the antenna crank. I understand from the dealer that the handle crank is a low point so the water may be coming in from anywhere and just workings its way to the crank handle. They did recommend I remove all of the old Dicor and reseal the antenna with new.

How do you remove and replace the old Dicor? I know you can use anything really sharp on the rubber roof, but the Dicor is pretty tough stuff.

Also, the antenna seems to be pretty loose when it is in the "up" position? Is there a way to tighten it? I see what looks like the head of a nut on the antenna but it feels "plastic like" so I am not sure if I can tighten it or not. Any advice on that?

The guys at the dealer ship told me that I had "way too much" Dicor around the items on my camper roof, radio antenna, tv antenna, front and rear seals. I had always been told to use the Dicor liberally and have only put it on the camper 2-3x since purchased in 2005. I talking maybe 3 tubes total in that time.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

Have a great day!

Jason


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## 1stTimeAround (Sep 22, 2004)

"How do you remove and replace the old Dicor? I know you can use anything really sharp on the rubber roof, but the Dicor is pretty tough stuff. "

This should have read "I know you CAN'T use anything......."

Sorry!

Jason


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Use a blow drier to heat it and use a plastic putty knife to scrape it off. The shaft is sealed with an o-ring you should be able to get one from just about any auto parts store if you can bring in the old one to match it.


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## 1stTimeAround (Sep 22, 2004)

CamperAndy said:


> Use a blow drier to heat it and use a plastic putty knife to scrape it off. The shaft is sealed with an o-ring you should be able to get one from just about any auto parts store if you can bring in the old one to match it.


Hey Andy!

Are you referring to the crank handle shaft? Accessible from the top or the bottom?

I really hate giving the dealer the money for handling this if I can do it, but I am usually pretty nervous when working with this stuff. Scared to screw up!

Jason


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

Have you looked at the dicor around the antenna? Mine developed a split within the first year. Looked to me like they spread it too thin at the factory and it just split when it either got too hot or too cold. Bought another tube of dicor, cleaned the area with rubbing alcohol and gooped it to death.

All of the dicor self leveling sealant from the factory on my roof is gray. When I put more sealant on it, I am using white so that I can tell what I did and what was there before. It's not like anyone is going to climb up there and critique the color scheme.


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## Greg (Nov 12, 2009)

I had water running out of my antena crank at one time and it turned out to be where the antenna wire comes through the roof there is a rubber boot that covers the hole looks like a spark plug boot and it had poped off.


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## john7349 (Jan 13, 2008)

Greg said:


> I had water running out of my antena crank at one time and it turned out to be where the antenna wire comes through the roof there is a rubber boot that covers the hole looks like a spark plug boot and it had poped off.


This is what happened to be just last week. Pushed the boot back on and put some more Dicor around the seal.


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## 1stTimeAround (Sep 22, 2004)

I went up on the roof yesterday morning and removed all the old Dicor, it was a job! Took about 1 1/2 hour to take it all off. I discovered that EVERY screw holding the antenna down had back out at least 1/8 inch and some of the Dicor around those screws was cracked. After tightening all of the screws (some still would not snug up like I thought they should) I applied new dicor around the base of the antenna, around the metal antenna base, and then on top of each scres. According to my dealership, they factory used WAY too much Dicor. Their philosophy is to use as much as is needed but not to overdue it, in their opinion more is not better. So when I reapplied, I tried to be thorough without slathering the stuff everywhere. I was also thinking along the lines that if I have to take it off again, an excessive amount makes the removal that much more difficult.

I did pay particular attention to the "spark plug" wire. It hardly had any Dicor around it, so when I reapplied, I did so generously around this item.

I still am not convinced that this repair will resolve my leak issue. I still think it may have something to do with the A/C unit, but hopefully this will do it.

Thanks for your help!

Jason


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## Dub (Dec 8, 2008)

Do you leave your antenna up at your house or permanent campsite? Just curious if the wind may have caused the screws to back out or if it came like that from the factory. We never use ours but 1-2 times a year.


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## New England Camper (Jun 25, 2010)

We had something similar happen to us when we had our Jayco. The boot for the antenna lifted up and during the winter the melted snow seeped down and formed a puddle on the table and ruined a cabinet door. Fortunately I was checking on the camper before any major damage had occurred. Luckily my DH went up on the roof and checked to see where the water could be coming from and found the boot up a bit. Saved a trip to the dealer to check out. Which reminds me I should have my DH climb up on the roof to check the antenna just in case.


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## 1stTimeAround (Sep 22, 2004)

Dub said:


> Do you leave your antenna up at your house or permanent campsite? Just curious if the wind may have caused the screws to back out or if it came like that from the factory. We never use ours but 1-2 times a year.


I doubt that in the 6 years we have owned the camper that the antenna has actually been use more than 3 times. It is hardly ever in the up position and usually is only up when I clean the roof.


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