Stress cracks in skylight on 337rls 2020

[pfoster002]

Hello GD family. Had some leaking in the shower and what appeared to be condensation in shower skylight. Hubby does regular roof inspections, sealant and cleaning. Rained hard this week and had a lot of water on floor of bathroom, and in the skylight. I have seen other posts about this issue however there is no way to know that you have the stress fractures unless you remove the skylight cover inside the shower. We had 4 of these these stress fractures. My husband could not see them when on the roof. Looks like Grand Design needs to do a recall on the skylights. Also it looks like they need to upgrade to a better quality skylight. Our 5ver is one year and 5 months old. I am posting this to add to your inspection list. We think we might have caught early enough, to save wood framing. We turned on air, placed fan in bathroom, blow dried, and I placed flex sealant on cracks for now. The humidity is really high and if it rains again we are in trouble, so that is why we applied flex seal on the cracks. We did email GD this weekend, and will call tomorrow on Monday. It seems most people are choosing to buy a completely different skylight to solve the problem. We are having to spray bleach on the frame to kill mold and mildew. Happy Camping and hope this will help prevent someone else from having to get heavy rain inside your camper lol. Will give you an update once removed and replaced, and let you know what GD says and does. Happy Camping.

 

[geotex1]

Sorry to say, the skylight used in GD is the exact same one used widely across the industry. The polymer is junk and sooner or later embrittles and will crack. Replace it with an ICON skylight and never worry about it again. The Flex Seal will further weaken the polymer so be prepared to seal in an emergency with something else. Gorilla Tape inside and outside work the best, but not over Flex Seal.

 

[pfoster002]

Thanks so much for the feedback, we really appreciate it. Just very temporary to keep dry as we will install new skylight quickly.

 

[pfoster002]

Hello Grand Design family. I always like to follow up and wanted to let you know that Grand Design even though bought out by Winnebago it's still standing behind their RVs. We were just outside of our warranty by 4 or 5 months and grand design replaced the skylight, and the water damaged pieces of the framing around the bathroom door. It reassures why we purchased a grand design product in the 1st place. Happy camping to all and glad to not have a leaky skylight. Just remember to add checking for stress fractures on the inside of the skylight from time to time it was not noticeable to my husband when he would inspect the roof.

 

[Indy Tim]

Hello Grand Design family. I always like to follow up and wanted to let you know that Grand Design even though bought out by Winnebago it's still standing behind their RVs. We were just outside of our warranty by 4 or 5 months and grand design replaced the skylight, and the water damaged pieces of the framing around the bathroom door. It reassures why we purchased a grand design product in the 1st place. Happy camping to all and glad to not have a leaky skylight. Just remember to add checking for stress fractures on the inside of the skylight from time to time it was not noticeable to my husband when he would inspect the roof.

Did they replace with the same type of skylight that failed or a heavier material?

 

[mkm98584]

We are on a trip to Texas, when taking shower, felt water dripping down from the skylight, investigation found several cracks.

 

[Mr. Goodwrench]

Another Cracked Skylight (Wrong Screws Used In Installation)

We are on a trip to Texas, when taking shower, felt water dripping down from the skylight, investigation found several cracks.View attachment 50474View attachment 50475View attachment 50476View attachment 50477View attachment 50478

Here's some pictures taken by the shop that replaced my roof due to a leaky skylight. I asked them to give me the old screws that Grand Design used to secure the skylight. As you can see, these are flat head Phillips screws that look exactly like drywall screws. The head is only 1/4"diameter and the holes in the skylight are about 3/16". The skylight was cracked at several of the screw locations due to the screws being over torqued. The factory caulking did cover the screws but eventually leaked. When I contacted GD about this, they told me that an owner has 3 months on a new purchase to report water intrusion then the skylight is out of warranty for leakage!

The cracks didn't appear above the caulking until last November but it is obvious that these are not the proper screws to use in this installation. I had the shop install an Icon brand skylight because of the recommendations on this forum and other user reviews I found. It is a polycarbonate material vs acrylic material that the original was made from. Polycarbonate is stronger and more flexible and not brittle like acrylic material is.

I'm very disappointed in GD for using the wrong screws and for over tightening them. Once the skylight is slathered in caulk, this poor installation can not be seen until much later so inspect, inspect, then inspect again. I couldn't see the cracks until they got long enough to appear above the caulking but I'm sure they were there for a long time just waiting to spread and leak under the roofing material and cause a soft spot which was damaged wood and required the roof replacement.$$$$


2

 

[Zetadog]

Had my 260RD in for an inspection after 4600 miles and service reported to me about a crack in shower sky lite. They ordered a new one as its less than a year old. They will install later. Until I read this post I would have thought it was just an anomaly. Will talk with them about options. Being its warranty probably not many options.

 

[WhittleBurner]

Had my 260RD in for an inspection after 4600 miles and service reported to me about a crack in shower sky lite. They ordered a new one as its less than a year old. They will install later. Until I read this post I would have thought it was just an anomaly. Will talk with them about options. Being its warranty probably not many options.

You should talk to GD CS and the dealer , they may pay the dealer what the OEM cost is and possibly you could upgrade materials and pay the difference

 

[pfoster002]

Reflection 337RLS

Hello,
GD replaced our skylight and it cracked and leaked about a year later. It is a defective. If you look at the new models they are omitting skylights and replacing with a light in the shower. I saw this at the Austin Tx RV show February 2024. The GD rep asked me to contact GD to ask for this new insert. When I contacted them with 2nd leak...they said try getting your dealer to replace. They did n9t offer a permanent solution to the pur problem. Warranty on it should have restarted! We just took new photos and trying to get the new insert. I am out of town and will send photos next week. Say a prayer they will help us. We will probly upgrade our rig when retire in about 3 years. If they do not help us with this defect...we will not buy a GD again. My opinion is this should be a recall! It is a design flaw. We were not going to have a third light placed in the shower, as the material is flawed. We believed that the screws were tightened too much. Our dealer took great care not to over tighten. The skylight is defective. We were on a trip and heavy rain came. I had to stay up all night to catch water, so we did not get water damage. Next day we used Gorilla tape to seal it up. When we got home we wrapped the entire skylight with Enternabond tape. So far it has not leaked again!!! I will see if GD will offer to find a permanent fix to this problem! We luv our rig and other than this awful problem, everything is good. We are not full timers, and mostly travel on weekends and take 2 longer trips a year. The sealant around the skylight is great...it is just the horrible plastic skylight. I will never buy a rig with a skylight again. I hope you get help for your problem...but we found away to keep the damaging water out. We hope you di as well. Welcome to Texas and have a great time while you are.Yee Haw!

We are on a trip to Texas, when taking shower, felt water dripping down from the skylight, investigation found several cracks.View attachment 50474View attachment 50475View attachment 50476View attachment 50477View attachment 50478

 

[mkm98584]

I used clear flex seal tape to cover the cracks. Should hold till we get back to TN, then going to have a long talk with the local LazyDays RV Service people, already have had way too many problems with this new 5th wheel, not really impressed with it, should have kept our 2019.

I was born in Victoria, but here in San Antonio because of family death, 21 year old granddaughter, service on Sunday. So fun will have to wait for next trip.

 

[WhittleBurner]

I used clear flex seal tape to cover the cracks. Should hold till we get back to TN, then going to have a long talk with the local LazyDays RV Service people, already have had way too many problems with this new 5th wheel, not really impressed with it, should have kept our 2019.

I was born in Victoria, but here in San Antonio because of family death, 21 year old granddaughter, service on Sunday. So fun will have to wait for next trip.

Sorry for your loss,, that is way to young.

 

[huntindog]

Hello GD family. Had some leaking in the shower and what appeared to be condensation in shower skylight. Hubby does regular roof inspections, sealant and cleaning. Rained hard this week and had a lot of water on floor of bathroom, and in the skylight. I have seen other posts about this issue however there is no way to know that you have the stress fractures unless you remove the skylight cover inside the shower. We had 4 of these these stress fractures. My husband could not see them when on the roof. Looks like Grand Design needs to do a recall on the skylights. Also it looks like they need to upgrade to a better quality skylight. Our 5ver is one year and 5 months old. I am posting this to add to your inspection list. We think we might have caught early enough, to save wood framing. We turned on air, placed fan in bathroom, blow dried, and I placed flex sealant on cracks for now. The humidity is really high and if it rains again we are in trouble, so that is why we applied flex seal on the cracks. We did email GD this weekend, and will call tomorrow on Monday. It seems most people are choosing to buy a completely different skylight to solve the problem. We are having to spray bleach on the frame to kill mold and mildew. Happy Camping and hope this will help prevent someone else from having to get heavy rain inside your camper lol. Will give you an update once removed and replaced, and let you know what GD says and does. Happy Camping.

IMO, your expectations for the skylight are not realistic. I have already replaced the one on my 2021. I had to replace the one on my previous Palomino Sabre as well. They just do not last very long. The good thing is they are not expensive, and are easy to replace..This is not a defect, but a maintainence item. You will experience the same with any brand RV.
I did spend more money on an ICON this time. Time will tell if it was worth it.

 

[Indy Tim]

IMO, your expectations for the skylight are not realistic. I have already replaced the one on my 2021. I had to replace the one on my previous Palomino Sabre as well. They just do not last very long. The good thing is they are not expensive, and are easy to replace..This is not a defect, but a maintainence item. You will experience the same with any brand RV.
I did spend more money on an ICON this time. Time will tell if it was worth it.

I called GD and they sent me a free one which I installed with the correct screws (Wafer Head). I had a Keystone Cougar 5th wheel for 15 years and never had a problem with its shower skylight.