A Winnebago Journey DL Class A RV has a fiberglass roof, brand name Filon, a sheet of thin plastic with a paper carrier. With millions of lengths of embedded plastic fibers that are molded into a single large piece, large enough to fit on the roof of my 35′ RV spanning from side to side, as well as from slightly under the front end cap, all the way back to the rear end cap. So approximately 270 square feet of material. Amazon carries it in rolls of various lengths with a 102″ (8.5′) width: Filon Sheeting.
It is formed at the factory so it has a slight dome shape to shed water, matching the roofs profile. At the edges on either side, it is formed to roll over the edges of the roof, a rolled edge that goes down the side of the RV (over the sidewall) about 4″. It’s sealed to the side walls by a single bead of special sealant applied to the gap between the sidewall and the extruded aluminum channel (see drawing here). This bonds the roof to the sidewalls without using screws, brackets, or glue…allowing the roof to expand and contract somewhat.
[Note: There is much talk on the forums I frequent whether or not owners should use silicon on the roofs edges to head off any failure of the factory sealant. Sometimes there is conflicting information from Winnebago or it’s reps of the type to use…so I’m going to avoid that whole argument and just use Eternabond instead. I’ve noticed forum posters recommend either regular ordinary outdoor silicon or a special sealant suggested by Winnebago. It’s not clear which product is suppose to be better or if re-caulking even works. For the story of what I ended up doing see the link below for ‘Roof Edges’.]
The metal ‘rain gutters’ are attached to the sidewalls slightly lower than the bottom of the fiberglass roof. The end caps (large molded pieces of plastic that make up the front and back covers of the RV), made separately, are screwed to the roof and frame, and a self leveling sealant, usually Dicor, is used along the transition between the fiberglass roof and end caps…front and rear. Dicor is also used on top of the roof to seal all the holes and edges up there and because the roof is directly subjected to weathering, especially sun and heat, it’s important to check the roof seals periodically, 2-3 times a year, to ascertain the health of those seals.
Pretty sure the Winnebago roof design uses caulking to hold it instead of some mechanical method because of the the racking an RV roof can undergo. Even some everyday driveways can cause a wild racking.
A TPO or rubber roof can handle that sort of thing because it’s fabric and can take it in stride but a thin Filon roof wouldn’t handle it well. Likely cracking or at least pulling out of the edge caulking. So the caulking provides some ‘give’ and ‘elasticity’ to the roof and it should be able to handle light racking without pulling apart. The more often the racking happens or the more severe it is, the more likely the roof is to pull away from the caulking. The older the caulking, the dryer it is and the less it holds securely to the roof. Hence the ‘inspect the caulking every 6 months’ as required by Winnie.
The roof is going to rack, there’s no getting around that. And a TPO roof is going to streak the sides of the RV no getting around that either. For the average user though, fiberglass roof is better. AND it can last for decades whereas a TPO roof has a limited lifespan.
For those of us who loath getting up on the roof and having to (or pay to) caulk the edge every year or so, Eternabond tape on a fiberglass roof is the best solution as it gives the roof ‘give’ so less chance (not zero though) of it pulling away and being lifted by the wind, plus there’s little or no streaking like you get with TPO.
I’ll take my chances with Eternabond and try to avoid racking the RV as much as possible.
Here’s a couple pictures of my healthy fiberglass roof, for reference. The work I’ve done on it so far is simply preventative maintenance. I’d rather not have to deal with a leak during a heavy rainstorm like I did several times in my Bounder, so I’m trying to get ahead of any problems.
These shots show that right now the roof is in pretty good condition, and I plan on keeping it that way. Every device, vent, or cover mounted on the roof has the potential for leaks, as do the edges of the roof, and the endcaps. So I need to get up there and check on things a couple times a year, and also right after big wind, hail, and rain storms to make sure everything is still in tip-top condition.But
Here’s a shot looking towards the front of the RV.
This shot looking towards the rear of the RV includes not only the normal RV roof items, but also the plastic sack I used to carry several items up to the roof, which were the roll of tape, a rubber roller to smooth out the tape, scissors, and a straight edge.
The following sections are mainly about having added Eternabond Roofing Tape to the roof where I feel it’s best to use it at this point in the roof’s lifespan.
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New Hampshire State Police stopped a dangerously over-packed van with a chest, bike and broom strapped to its roof.
Happens all the time… 🙂
We have an older Rv with a Batwing Antenna. The motor has gone out. Is there anyway to repair without ripping inside roof apart to get to it?
Sorry, Judy, I am unfamiliar with a Batwing antenna with a motor inside the roof. Usually any motorized model of attachable antenna, such as a roof mount, has the motor inside the antenna housing, not in the roof. This means you wouldn’t need to rip the inside of the roof apart. I suppose there could be one out there like that, but I’ve not seen one or read or heard of one.
Tell ya what, tell me both the RV’s and the antenna brand, & model number and I’ll try to find info about it…Oh, and the year of the RV too.
We have a 2001 Monaco Dynasty. This is what I could find on bat wing BAF 25560.
Any help would be appreciated. Love to read all problems and comments. Have helped in past.
Judy
That’s NOT a Batwing part or model number. It’s a PURSE. So I think you grabbed the wrong piece of paper. Please try again. Batwings would have model numbers like RV-30xx and that link shows what they look like.