Fix for OEM Leaking Panniers

[Putts255]

Having been a motor home owner for the last 7 years (20 year old Class C and now a 12 year old Class C) and doing a lot of maintenance I have made a change to the panniers which I think would be benefit for other pannier owners who have professed having had some leaks.  

They sell rolls of Butyl tape at the RV dealerships that are used on seams of trailers and motor homes to seal out water.  It looks a lot like plumbers putty but is much more sticky.  The tape needs to be changed out every 7 or so years, long difficult process but essential to keeping your trailer water proof.  

So using this butyl tape I removed any pieces (latches, brackets, etc...) from the panniers that may allow water to get by and removed the flimsy rubber gaskets and replaced with some butyl tape and reattached them.  Trimmed off any excess tape that squishes out when done.  

Ran  hose over all seams and no water is getting through at all.  Took me a couple hours to do both.

[Bixxer Bob]

Seems a good idea mate; is the tape adhesive on one side only?  I've looked at tape in the UK and it seems to come mainly as double-sided adhesive tape.
 '
I'm just starting out as a motorhome owner but already doing a lot of DIY - mostly electrical installations / improvements.  The previous owner also did some which i'm having to undo.  Unswitched, unfused and improperly terminated 12v supply in the drinks cabinet for instance.

[iansoady]

Sounds good. I dismantled mine completely and reassembled with plenty of silicone (Sikaflex might have been better with hindsight) and mine too have remained leak-free.

[KuzzinKenny]

+1 silicone  

KK

ps i never leave my boxes totaly closed, i just hook the latch to hold them together when off the bike !! i think it lets the seals expand so when i need them, the seal will compress when totaly closed !!  :?
if that makes sense ??

[Putts255]

It is actually note a tape so to speak.  It is like a roll of flat putty.  I will grab some out of the garage and take a picture of the roll and then post what it looks like.  Its like $7 bucks for a roll of 25' (about 7½ meters).  

The biggest advantage this stuff has is when it is time to replace it, unlike silicone it is much easier to remove the old and replace it.....  Silicone is a good solution but since I have worked with this stuff in the past and had to remove previous owners silicone, this stuff is a breeze to work with after it is installed compared to silicone.  

Have some crap to get done tonight.  I will try and take a picture late tonight or tomorrow and post if possible.  

Paul

[walker]

ford uses this on the rear windows of their pickup trucks.... a lot of owners have leaks at the top of the cab, it's because it will dry up over time. I think the ford part # is a foam core butyl tape. Very sticky.

I could see this for waterproofing the latch areas.... I already used RTV silicone on mine, but this is a good idea too :)

[JasonS]

I was fortunate to put together my first set of Girly bags ( for my SprintST) and found that it would be very easy to assemble them such that when closed they would likely leak. Where the parts and case halves are riveted together, the through holes are sloppy, allowing the parts to move, thereby allowing a loose connection. These bags were shipped to dealers un-assembled and it was up to the dealer to put them together, and it would seem that the guy lowest on the seniority pole got the job, resulting in a sloppy assembly and leakage.

Methinks that the Girly cases were capable of being water tight if assembled well, which explains the huge number of people that complained about water leakage, as the instruction set for assembly didn't make the point about how to assemble to prevent leakage.

My current set of bags on my Tiger leak a bit. Some day I will break them down and re-rivet them... and I'll prolly add some sticky tape while I am at it... :D