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mcarter
podders Helping podders - pHp
Joined: 07 Apr 2016
Location: Greenbrier, TN
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Posts: 3419
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Topic: Bad roof ???? Posted: 10 Feb 2021 at 6:29pm |
Pods have a one piece roof. Sealed around items mounted on roof. As long as you have no leaks and seals are good, I would say your OK. Some delamination is acceptable. Where you do not want delamination is around side walls to roof, which could be a sign of a leak at sidewall.
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Mike Carter
2015 178
" I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability."
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tttrules
Newbie
Joined: 01 Feb 2021
Location: Portland, OR
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1
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Posted: 10 Feb 2021 at 4:57pm |
I recently purchased a new to me 2018 RP179. While cleaning the roof I also noticed a couple "air" pockets of deflection. I am certain there is no delamination going on and after watching a couple videos of how the R-Pods are made the roof structure is not solid so some deflection seems likely.
At first I was nervous but not so much after watching the videos and reading through the forum. No signs of leakage and seals look great. All appears very solid around penetrations.
Should I be worried or this a pretty common condition?
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Toyanvil
Senior Member
Joined: 15 Feb 2019
Location: Bakersfield
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 157
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Posted: 06 Oct 2020 at 8:10am |
Yes, they can come loose.
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BigJones
Newbie
Joined: 11 Jun 2020
Location: Oakland, CA
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Posts: 5
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Posted: 06 Oct 2020 at 12:39am |
Originally posted by Toyanvil
I would also check the AC mounting bolts under the inside cover. |
Toyanvil, do you mean check to the bolts to see if they are loose?
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BigJones
R-Pod Skipper
2017 R-Pod 178 (Blue)
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Toyanvil
Senior Member
Joined: 15 Feb 2019
Location: Bakersfield
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 157
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Posted: 05 Oct 2020 at 8:53am |
I would also check the AC mounting bolts under the inside cover.
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offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018
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Posts: 5290
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Posted: 05 Oct 2020 at 7:58am |
Originally posted by offgrid
I don't trust VHB tape even if the surface isn't flexing. Pressure sensitive adhesive is a hit or miss method. I had a customer with a 100 kilowatt solar array he attached to a structure with that tape. Half of it came off in the first windstorm, the other half was rock solid. Never could determine why. We added clamping screws, problem solved.
Use a mechanical fastening system, its more certain and secure. |
Sorry, the solar array we used vhb tape on was on racks. We used clamps similar to these. very common in the solar industry.
I wasn't meaning to suggest that you use them directly to the roof of your rpod, although you could if you could find the roof structure to attach them to. For fastening to the roof surface many folks use the technique in the Renogy manual.
In your case if your roof fiberglass is very loose then it might be that nothing attaching to the roof surface will work. You might want to consider running a couple of pieces of rail across the roof side to side and then attach the solar module(s) to that with the top down clamps. The rails can then be solidly mounted to the wall structure at the top corners. The top down clamps slide in the rails so that you could place them wherever you want The other benefits of this approach are that there are no holes in the roof itself and the solar modules get cooling air under them.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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SC for Huskers
Senior Member
Joined: 22 Feb 2017
Location: Goose Creek, SC
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 144
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Posted: 04 Oct 2020 at 3:50pm |
Mine is a 2017, 172, and has stayed outside since I got it. Most of my roof has about 1/4-3/8" springy air gap. What I worry about is, How thick the fiberglass skin is and when should I look for cracks. It is snug around all the components extending through the roof.
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Happy Traveling,
Tom
2017 172pod
2011 F150 STX
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BigJones
Newbie
Joined: 11 Jun 2020
Location: Oakland, CA
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5
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Posted: 04 Oct 2020 at 12:14pm |
... also, same question, is the air gap between the fiberglass and whatever is below an issue with mechanical fasteners such as the clamping screws mentioned by offgrid or expanding rubber nuts (rivnuts?) used by other forum members?
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BigJones
R-Pod Skipper
2017 R-Pod 178 (Blue)
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BigJones
Newbie
Joined: 11 Jun 2020
Location: Oakland, CA
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5
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Posted: 04 Oct 2020 at 12:12pm |
Thanks, offgrid. What are clamping screws? I googled them and got lots of different results.
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BigJones
R-Pod Skipper
2017 R-Pod 178 (Blue)
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offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5290
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Posted: 04 Oct 2020 at 6:43am |
I don't trust VHB tape even if the surface isn't flexing. Pressure sensitive adhesive is a hit or miss method. I had a customer with a 100 kilowatt solar array he attached to a structure with that tape. Half of it came off in the first windstorm, the other half was rock solid. Never could determine why. We added clamping screws, problem solved.
Use a mechanical fastening system, its more certain and secure.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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