citation skylight leak

henryn · 02-08-2015, 05:50 PM

Thor motorhome company.. thought you'd like to know this. I bought a 2015 citation sprinter late last summer, and had a persistent problem with skylight leakage. I drove from NC to your plant and you referred me to Value RV. They "sealed" the skylight. rain...leak bad. Took it to CW twice for same problem. New skylight and "Fixed" at least until it rained! Today is first nice day and I was disgusted with repairs. I took my 70 y/o body on the roof and examined it closely. My suggestion? If your selling a brand new 2015 MH, make sure that the marker lights are TIGHT, and the bases they attach to are NEW. These were dry rotted and no sealant around the base to speak of. Plenty of rvia "techs" and no one notices this? I was going to do a google search on repair and thought "maybe I just have to tighten the screws and reseal the bases and the area over the screws" Didn't think I would have to do this so soon on a NEW MOTORHOME. Please, please, get your QC in order and maybe some refresher courses for your repair people.

brad13 · 02-09-2015, 02:29 AM

An RV tech told me the most common leaking problems on roofs he sees are with skylights.

henryn · 02-09-2015, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brad13

An RV tech told me the most common leaking problems on roofs he sees are with skylights.

I can understand some problems with skylight. If leak is a persistant problem shouldn't some research by the manufacturer be done? Maybe a flashing system with a gasket. I'm not an engineer,but why keep pushing these out if they have problems.

Free Ranger · 01-09-2017, 02:39 PM

My 2014 Citation skylight has now started leaking. Were you able to resolve yours successfully? If so, how? You mention the marker lights in your post. Were those the source of the roof leak into the skylight or was that a separate problem. I've had to replace my marker lights twice since I purchased my coach due to warped bases.

henryn · 01-09-2017, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Free Ranger

My 2014 Citation skylight has now started leaking. Were you able to resolve yours successfully? If so, how? You mention the marker lights in your post. Were those the source of the roof leak into the skylight or was that a separate problem. I've had to replace my marker lights twice since I purchased my coach due to warped bases.

Hello free ranger, yes my skylight became leak proof after some work. I removed the entire unit from both the inside and outside. I found two screws about 1/4" sticking up from the roof. I removed them and replaced with new smaller screws. Put the unit back together and used sika multiseal tape (bought at camping world). Then applied dicor self leveling chaulk around the edges. This permanently sealed the unit. Be careful when working on the roof. The support braces are not the greatest. While I was fixing the skylight I reinforced the structure with 3/4" plywood..you may find that the leak is coming from the corners of the skylight located front. You may want to reseal the corners with dicor self leveling chaulk first. Hope this helps. I will be happy to help with more info if needed.

Free Ranger · 01-09-2017, 10:06 PM

Thanks henryn! I'm on the road in NC right now and will try and get to it when the weather warms up a bit! Thanks for the encouragement and the good advice. I redid all of my roof seals and penetrations last summer, but let the skylight go. My mistake I guess. At times I feel as if I've rebuilt a lot of my new Thor but with no help from Thor and little support from dealers, what other choice is there?

henryn · 01-09-2017, 11:28 PM

Glad to help. I understand about dealer and company support. I drove up to Thor in 2015 and visited dealer x2 for this repair. My motto now is you want it fixed correctly, do it yourself. Suppose to get warm here in NC latter part of week. Safe travels.

SuperD · 01-09-2017, 11:32 PM

Marker lights are BAD about leaking, I always run a bead of clear silicone around the top.

Free Ranger · 01-18-2017, 11:44 PM

Free Ranger here again Henryn. I found a small RV repair shop here in NC to work with me on the skylight problem. We sealed the skylight frame with Eternabond and then lap sealant. I looked completely bombproof and should have been so. Last night it rained and this morning water was coming in again from the motor switch of the skylight. We inspected the seals again and could find no way the water could get through. When we removed the interior plastic skylight housing I found what appear to be two clear plastic drain tubes that extend right and left from above the motor and, if they are drains, they would empty to the inside of the housing and into the coach. Did you find these when you worked on yours and, if so, what are they and why? I see what you mean about poor flimsy interior wood framing! I would appreciate any insight you have.

henryn · 01-19-2017, 12:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Free Ranger

Free Ranger here again Henryn. I found a small RV repair shop here in NC to work with me on the skylight problem. We sealed the skylight frame with Eternabond and then lap sealant. I looked completely bombproof and should have been so. Last night it rained and this morning water was coming in again from the motor switch of the skylight. We inspected the seals again and could find no way the water could get through. When we removed the interior plastic skylight housing I found what appear to be two clear plastic drain tubes that extend right and left from above the motor and, if they are drains, they would empty to the inside of the housing and into the coach. Did you find these when you worked on yours and, if so, what are they and why? I see what you mean about poor flimsy interior wood framing! I would appreciate any insight you have.

Hello free ranger. Sorry to hear your still having problems. When I did mine, there were no tubes above the motor. You're right tho, why drain tubes leading into the coach. What may be helpful is to have someone shine a bright light from inside the coach and see if you can see light around the exterior. I also found a a probable area at the hinges. If you look closely at the hinges (exterior) you may notice that water accumulates there in a heavy rain and it overflows under the Plexiglas cover. At least I noticed it on mine. When I redid my sealant I made sure to have the water flow more towards the sides. Where in NC are you. I live in nc east of Raleigh. Gee I hope you find the problem. There is no gasket under the skylight, so if all else fails you may have to remove the entire skylight and redo it. I wish you success sir.

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