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Lockers are commonly found on caravans and motorhomes. They are normally used as a cover to a storage compartment, such as the battery or gas bottle compartment. This maximises space efficiency and ensures that personal belongings, tools and essential equipment are securely stowed during travel. These compartments are designed to be easily accessed whilst maintaining organisation and protecting your contents from damage or loss during transit.
To work in the way they were designed, lockers need a watertight seal to keep your belongings dry and free from dirt. This is only possible by having a reliable rubber seal that compresses when the locker door is closed.
Edge trims are a fairly common seal used on caravan and motorhome lockers. There are three types of edge trims;
1 – Edge Trims
2 – Edge Trims with Side Seal
3 – Edge Trims with Top Seal
All of these products are manufactured with a metal reinforced self-gripping spine. Unlike other rubber sealing profiles, this enables them to hold themselves onto the edge of your frame without the need for adhesive or mechanical fixings.
Side seals and top seals also have a sponge sealing bulb which helps create a watertight seal when compressed. This sponge bulb is located on either the side or top of the edge trim, depending on the angle in which the lid closes against the section. As most lockers are manufactured with a horizontal edge and a lid that closes down onto the side of this edge, you normally need to use an edge trim with side seal.
To identify a replacement product you will need to measure the thickness of the edge that this section will clip over.
We recommend that you use a Vernier to get a precise measurement of the thickness of this panel. This will allow you to purchase a product that is large enough to clip over the panel edge, but is not too loose and risks falling off. You should take this measurement in millimetres so that you can cross reference this measurement with the products on our website.
Most lockers will be manufactured from single or double-skinned sheet metal. The thickness of this is usually between 1.6mm and 3mm. However, some lockers may be lined with carpet which, depending on how it has been installed, may increase the thickness of the panel edge you will need to fit your sealing profile over.
You should also measure the sealing bulb on your current side seal before attempting to source a replacement product. This will allow you to choose a section that adequately seals the gap you are trying to fill. In the same way how you measured the panel thickness, you should use a Vernier to take an accurate measurement of the diameter of the sealing bulb on your current section.
You may find that the sealing bulb on your current locker seal has badly distorted. If that is the case, gently squeeze the profile until it vaguely resembles a circle. You can then take this measurement in what was probably its original form.
If you don’t have the previous seal, you will need to measure the gap that you need to seal. In most cases this is very difficult as the gap is inside the hatch, and getting access to it is impossible when you close the door. If you can find a fairly large piece of blutack, stick this on the edge where the sealing bulb would go. When you close the door, this squashes the blutack. You can then remove the blutack from the gap and measure its thickness. This will give you a fairly accurate measurement of the gap you need to seal. We have recorded a separate video demonstration on Measuring a Hidden Gap.
To get the best seal, we recommend compressing the sponge sealing bulb by around a third. This will adequately seal your gap and reduce the chance of compression set caused by over compression. To give an example, if you have a gap of 10mm, you will want to find a product with a sealing bulb around 15mm diameter. When the door is closed, the seal will compress by 5mm, approximately a third.
Once you have measured the thickness of the panel edge and diameter of the sealing bulb on your existing seal, you can order a replacement product. We supply a large range of Edge Trims & Seals, most of which are available by the metre. In most cases you will need to order an Edge Trim with Side Seal, but you may need a different profile depending on your specific locker.
For more information on How to Replace a Locker Seal on a Caravan or Motorhome talk to Seals Direct Ltd