What Is Causing The Chipping Fiberglass On The Exterior Of My Motorhome?

by Chris
(Yarmouth, NS Canada)

What is causing the exterior walls on my 2005 R-Vision Trail-Lite B+ motorhome to flake? There are dozens of pencil eraser sized flakes of fiberglass popping off. They are primarily located on the passenger side of the coach. Some near the roof line. Some in the middle of the wall, near the fridge?????

And how do I repair these blemishes????

ANSWER: Greetings Chris thanks for submitting your question on our Ask An RV Question Page.

I cannot tell you exactly what is causing the blistering and chipping on the exterior walls of your motorhome. I can give you some possible causes of the problem.

1. This could be due to some type of chemical that has come in contact with the exterior of your RV causing the Gelcoat to blister or crack.

2. This could be a problem that occurred at the factory when the gelcoat was applied. The fiberglass surface may not have been primed or cleaned properly prior to applying the Gelcoat.

3. You could have a leak in that particular part of the RV and the moisture has gotten into the fiberglass laminate.

4. This could also be the first sign of a serious delamination problem within the walls of your RV.

The fact is I cannot tell you for sure what is actually causing the problem. I would suggest that you take your motorhome in and have it inspected by a Certified RV Technician to see if they can get to the root cause of the blistering and chipping.

The type of repair that is required depends solely on what the root cause of the problem is. The repair could be something as simple as using a Gelcoat Repair Kit to fill in the chipped areas of the Gelcoat.

I am sorry that I could not give you the exact cause of the problem you are experiencing, but hopefully it will turn out to be something minor.

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Happy RVing

RVing Al

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