sunlight and vent fan replacement

[AAMAFIGHTER]

Replacing a broken skylight and doing the vent fan while I’m at it. this job is pretty straight forward. Be forewarned the sealant removal is the biggest pain but it just takes some patience and time. I did a few extra steps I think will help with moisture and overall structure, but they aren’t necessary.

First, I removed the inner shrouds (I used some spray foam here to fill in the gaps. I trimmed this later when I add some duct tape). Next, I used a putty knife (I put more of an edge on mine with a grinder) and removed the old sealant from over the screws. (Be careful not to puncture roof membrane as I did… 😳 lap sealant to save the day)

[AAMAFIGHTER]

Next I worked the skylight off of the roof and cleaned the surrounding area. I used alcohol to clean the roof. The butyl tape and sealant are not completely gone (I’m not sure if that’s even possible, but it is smooth and down level with the roof membrane. Again this took a lot of work with the putty knife. I punched a hole in the membrane trying to use a multi tool, which I saw on YouTube…. I DON’T RECOMMEND THIS METHOD. I also tried a heat gun and it worried me about the glue under the membrane or overheating the membrane itself. So my process was just elbow grease, putty knife and rubbing alcohol.

also: I noticed that Grand Design for some reason only used every other hole when installing these… not sure why but there was butyl tape which I have seen some don’t have.

[AAMAFIGHTER]

The pictures always upload out of order but I prepped the vent fan opening the same way with alcohol and elbow grease. After getting both openings cleaned and spraying the spray foam in the gaps, I had some left over foil tape from doing my air vents so I went ahead and trimmed the foam and sealed the openings with the foil tape.

[AAMAFIGHTER]

Next I prepped the new skylight and vent fan by cleaning the plastic with alcohol and adding butyl tape along the bottom edge making sure to cover screw holes. After making sure the membrane surface was clean I flipped them and placed them. When I did the skylight I had the interior shroud installed to make sure I lined it up right. I went inside the camper to check alignment for the vent fan.

[AAMAFIGHTER]

Next I pre drilled ALL holes to prep for screws. Big advocate of this on any job. I screwed in both the vent fan and the skylight very lightly at first. On the skylight I drilled a few extra holes. I allowed the light pressure to work the butyl tape for about 30 min while I wired the vent fan. It was a hot day so it spread quick. I then screwed the screws in very snug to their final tightness. I then cleaned up the excess that mushed out the side by using butyl tape on my finger.

[AAMAFIGHTER]

Next I went back inside and finished tucking the electrical wires and getting the shrouds installed. Pretty easy process. I did add a weather seal to the inside of the sun light shroud. This should help with steam from the shower ever making its way up there.

[howson]

AAMAFIGHTER -- excellent documentation. No doubt this will be very helpful to other forum members who will now decide to tackle this task themselves.

[AAMAFIGHTER]

One more haha.. just the self leveling sealant. One thing I do that helps is spit on the ol fingers to smooth it out when I need to. You can use soapy water too if you wish. Haha

thanks howson

[AAMAFIGHTER]

And on a side note I attached a picture with the skylights that grand design sent and an icon. I went with the icon because it seemed better made.