front aluminium panel - small dent with a crack

[mbanks]

Long story how that happened, but I know have a dent just a few inches about the battery box. The dent is deep enough that the aluminium panel cracked so I have a small hole there.

I see the whole panel can be removed (screws), but I am worried about preserving water-tightness of the camper.

Has anyone removed this front panel? Or maybe I should try to do the repair from the inside?

Any ideas will be appreciated, thank you!
greg

[tinkeringtechie]

Can you post a picture? I not sure which panel you're talking about.

[admin]

What sort of repair were you thinking about attempting? A little silicon on the inside would certainly prevent water from penetrating the crack, but inside access might not be easy. I guess technically some sort of UV resistant silicon, caulk or other sealant would work from the outside as well, but it would also stick out like a sore thumb I'm sure. Where you trying to repair the crack both from a water tight perspective and structural? If so I would think a small/thin sheet of aluminum with some JB Weld or other epoxy would work well. Again it might stick out, but not too much depending on how well you could match the repair material. Come to think of it, just a bit of JB weld over the crack would probably solve the problem as well, and the grey color would blend in a bit.

I'm usually rather cheap and if I were in your shoes I'd probably start with the cheap and easy options first. As I type this I keep coming back to the JB Weld option as my first choice. http://www.amazon.com/J-B-Weld-8265S-Original-Reinforced/dp/B0006O1ICE

If an easy external repair doesn't work you could always move on to plan B

-Sean

[mbanks]

thank you Sean. I was thinking to first "undent it", this would make the crack come together. Access from the inside would make this much easier.

I was thinking to reinforce it from behind with aluminium sheet, but I did not know how to attach it. You JB Weld idea is very helpful.

At last I was thinking to cover this area with a sticker or something

The area - this is the front aluminium panel, okok, off I go to take a picture....

http://imgur.com/a/fXXkh

If you look 7 o'clock from the taped area (cute, huh?), you will see a smaller dent that is not cracked.

[solds88]

[font size="3" face="comic sans ms"]Try something like this, [a href="http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Adhesives/Tapes/Products/~/3M-Aluminum-Foil-Tape-3381?N=5472880+3294275812&rt=rud"]http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Adhesives/Tapes/Products/~/3M-Aluminum-Foil-Tape-3381?N=5472880+3294275812&rt=rud[/a]  This is metal foil, not fabric. Pretty much every big box store has this on hand. Overall I like the 3M brand as I find their adhesive products to be better than most other brands. This is not a fix for the crack, or dent, only a cosmetic cover-up.[/font]

[walt3]

I have fixed aluminum tool boxes with JB weld and a piece of an aluminum can. Get to the inside. Knock the dent out a little then JB weld the can to the inside of the panel.

[spot1]

[quote source="/post/4779/thread" timestamp="1415141574" author="@gregcolumbus"]thank you Sean. I was thinking to first "undent it", this would make the crack come together. Access from the inside would make this much easier.

I was thinking to reinforce it from behind with aluminium sheet, but I did not know how to attach it. You JB Weld idea is very helpful.

At last I was thinking to cover this area with a sticker or something



[/quote]
Here's how I would try to repair the diamond plate panel.
With the diamond plate panel removed and laying on carpet, use a piece of wood directly over the dent to be straightened with a hammer. Hitting the metal directly with a hammer would probably leave dings in the diamond plate. You can attach a square aluminum sheet metal patch from inside. Drill four 1/8" holes on each corner of the patch, drill diamond plate using the pre-drilled patch hole pattern. Use 1/8" pull (pop) rivets to secure the patch. A sealer like silicone can be used to to seal between the patch & diamond plate.

[admin]

[quote source="/post/4779/thread" timestamp="1415141574" author="@gregcolumbus"]thank you Sean. I was thinking to first "undent it", this would make the crack come together. Access from the inside would make this much easier.

I was thinking to reinforce it from behind with aluminium sheet, but I did not know how to attach it. You JB Weld idea is very helpful.

At last I was thinking to cover this area with a sticker or something

Here's how I would try to repair the diamond plate panel.
With the diamond plate panel removed and laying on carpet, use a piece of wood directly over the dent to be straightened with a hammer. Hitting the metal directly with a hammer would probably leave dings in the diamond plate. You can attach a square aluminum sheet metal patch from inside. Drill four 1/8" holes on each corner of the patch, drill diamond plate using the pre-drilled patch hole pattern. Use 1/8" pull (pop) rivets to secure the patch. A sealer like silicone can be used to to seal between the patch & diamond plate.
[/quote]


Good call and mentioning the piece of wood to buffer the metal from direct hammer strikes. I know working with bend or dented metal is always a PITA mainly because of how the metal stretches and reacts when its re-worked.

I like the pop rivet idea, but I think it might be overkill for this size of a repair. I would also think the rivets would be a bit complicated due to the slight bend in the original diamond plate. I assume any patch material is going to be rather thin so it can easily be rounded to match the current bend in the diamond plate; and in my experience rivets have never worked well when attaching thin material. Maybe I just haven't mastered them yet  

Ultimately I always find myself ending with the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid).

[spot1]

Yep, understand. Sometimes I will go into "too" much detail/work on sheet metal repairs. Built some sheet metal parts for experimental airplanes in the past, and will "overkill" sheet metal aluminum parts in a heartbeat, if given a chance! I have driven & bucked loads of AN solid rivets & used pull rivets, too. In the end, guess that's why I'm prejudice and prefer an all aluminum camper & airplane!

Good luck on the repair!

[mbanks]

thank you but again - has anyone removed this panel?

What worries me - and forgive me my ignorance - is there any caulk or a gasket that I will have to reapply? I am also worried that the screws will not hold it well for the second time.

[pinstriper]

[p]Just how big is a "small hole" ? I would be tempted to drill it out and put a stainless steel screw through it and call it fixed.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Now I think of that, a pop rivet might do nicely as well. Neither of these would require access to the other side.[/p][p]
[/p]

[mbanks]

it is narrow but I could easily push a quarter through it.

[spot1]

[quote source="/post/4807/thread" timestamp="1415222814" author="@gregcolumbus"]thank you but again - has anyone removed this panel?

What worries me - and forgive me my ignorance - is there any caulk or a gasket that I will have to reapply? I am also worried that the screws will not hold it well for the second time.[/quote]
Don @ LivinLite could help. I've not had the panel off of my CampLite, yet.

[vmcmn]

In doing my A/C mod,I installed a door in the front inside panel to take advantage of the space between the outside diamond plate and the inside panel. You can see by one of the photos that the diamond plate is attached to a framework of 1 x 1 square tubing. If it was attached like the inside panel,it uses double sided tape to hold it to the tubing then it is anchored with the screws.If you are worried about the screws not holding well,you might want to see if you can get the next size up from someone like Fastenal.Make sure that if you do replace the screws that you use stainless steel screws or you will have rust problems,also you might want to use a dab of silicone sealant in the hole before you run your screw in. Here's the link to my post on the A/C mod,you can see in the 3rd pic what the tubing looks like.  http://livinlite.proboards.com/thread/15/mods-on-8-1