It seems the problem of black streaks has been around a long time but what causes them? I don't see problems on white vans or cars and I would have thought that since this seems to be a common problem, manufacturers would have been aware of it and done something to stop it happening.
Why black streaks?
- Thread starter Sam Vimes
- Start date
Possibly the caravan follows the car far more closely than you follow the vehicle in front. The caravan is therefore far more susceptible to things thrown up.
Not sure about that... black streaks seem to appear when not being towed. To me it looks like water running down from window surrounds and the like.
Certainly the windows and other features that have rubber seals are a prime source of the streaks. If you wipe the rubber surrounds with something like Armourall or Vinyl and Rubber Care, you get black marking on the cleaning cloth. So I do that every autumn. I also use Fenwicks Overwintering before putting it away in winter. If I use it over winter I just leave the Overwintering in situ otherwise it’s a complete wash down and reapplication. Then when it gets its spring clean the streaks have not really been that difficult to remove.
Parksy
Moderator
A caravan spends the majority of its life being stationary.
A caravan roof is normally flat, unlike the roof of a car or van, so dust and road grime and vehicle exhaust particles accumulate on the roof and are gradually washed off onto the sides by rain.
When the rain running down the sides of the caravan dries in the wind the residue of dirt, road grime etc. is left behind.
The same dust and grime settles on top of caravan windows.
A caravan roof is normally flat, unlike the roof of a car or van, so dust and road grime and vehicle exhaust particles accumulate on the roof and are gradually washed off onto the sides by rain.
When the rain running down the sides of the caravan dries in the wind the residue of dirt, road grime etc. is left behind.
The same dust and grime settles on top of caravan windows.
What Parksy said... Plus you do get them on cars; just less visible and less frequent.
This must be due to the overall size and water management on the car. For example: Water doesn't run off the roof down the boot due to the gap of boot hatch, same on the front, it runs down the windscreen and into the the scuttle. Roof gutters prevent water running down the sides.
On my car, water collects around the door mirror housing and with it sitting more this year, I have a streak down the driver/passenger doors. Same happens if I wash the car and don't dry that part thoroughly.
This must be due to the overall size and water management on the car. For example: Water doesn't run off the roof down the boot due to the gap of boot hatch, same on the front, it runs down the windscreen and into the the scuttle. Roof gutters prevent water running down the sides.
On my car, water collects around the door mirror housing and with it sitting more this year, I have a streak down the driver/passenger doors. Same happens if I wash the car and don't dry that part thoroughly.
I think the paint for caravans is a different formulation than that for cars, if so, perhaps that may be the culprit.
John
John
I guess 'milage may vary' as they say. I've had numerous cars of various colours including white and not noticed and problem like the van black streaks. Car windows also have rubber surrounds in varying degress but at least on mine they didn't/don't produce black streaks.
My motorhome had raised edges on the roof so water didn't really run of of it onto the sides but black streaks still occured when parked up.
Could be a nice bullett point on a marketing sheet that black streaks don't occur because of.......?
My motorhome had raised edges on the roof so water didn't really run of of it onto the sides but black streaks still occured when parked up.
Could be a nice bullett point on a marketing sheet that black streaks don't occur because of.......?
So far not notice any black streaks on my car but it had paint protection put on when it was new .
I’ve always thought the black streaks are caused by the rain reacting with the aluminium awning rail, I know aluminium is a very soft metal that tarnishes easily and then rain runs over it and carries the black oxidation.
BP
BP
I think there are some caravans that do not have an awning rail on both sides so if someone has a van with no rail on the one side maybe they could let us know if the black streaks are still present on both sides.
BP
BP
Awning rails are painted white on my van, but the roof has raised edges so water finds its way forward or back and does not run off the roof down the sides, so no streaks north of the windows. I do get streaks off the side window top hinge (they are like little gutters) with the caravan nose-down in storage the streak is at an angle which does not interact with the rubber seal. Streaks also appear off the door handle and also off the raised "SPRITE" lettering. It just seems to be due to where water & dirt concentrate.
I use the same strips as Beachball and find they do help with the streaks down the sides.
I raise the front of the van in storage so most of the streaks are down the rear of the van.
Probably something to do with the fact its parked under trees☹
The only streaks I get on the Santa fe is from water dripping down on the sides of the doors from the mirrors.
They don't have the chance to turn black though with the amount of times I'm out there washing and polishing it.🤗
I raise the front of the van in storage so most of the streaks are down the rear of the van.
Probably something to do with the fact its parked under trees☹
The only streaks I get on the Santa fe is from water dripping down on the sides of the doors from the mirrors.
They don't have the chance to turn black though with the amount of times I'm out there washing and polishing it.🤗
I have previously used the awning rail inserts and they worked to a degree, I’d hazard a guess that a good 75% less streaks than without them, the ones I had came with a used caravan we bought and wasn’t in the best condition so eventually I binned them, I might well get replacement as I’d forgotten just how much of a difference it made.
BP
BP
Well if it worked 75% why would you binned then my awning protectors have been great i don"t get any black streaks on my caravan down the sides and they have been on since we brought the van
It is dirt and soot in the atmos landing on the roof and in the rain following the same chanel down the side of the van all the time-builds up-we had a white car and when i didn't get it washed due to new hips it did start appearing down the side of the rear windows.
Our van has PaintSeal. Even now at 5 years old streaks are few and easily cleaned off. That suggests to me that the paint coating used on vans is different to that used on cars. Perhaps ‘stuff’ sticks less easily to cars.
John
John
I think that the surface treatment, cleanliness, environment and paint application on cars is probably of a higher order than caravan panels. Especially the size and pressure of the paint application by robotic lines for car bodies. The surface microporosity on cars will be far better. That’s why paint sealant work well on caravans whether proprietary or self applied.
All agreed with. I have also heard, but have no idea how true it is, that the paint formulation for steel is different than for aluminium. But then both cars and caravans have multi materials their build.
I wonder if ABS or other plastic panels are self coloured, like van sides, they also suffer from streaks.
John
Car bodies on the paint lines are also electrostatic charged too. My BIL in Coventry worked at Peugeot in body prep and paint before they closed. Body preparation for aluminium and steel are different particularly for the priming etching phases.
And of a design so water and dirt runs off quickly ie curved unlike flat van roofs.
Interesting comments, thanks.
I took a look at my black streaks this morning. On the door side of the van the awning rail is in three sections. The black streaks on that side are in line with the joints, so perhaps an accumulation of dirt in the channel is washing down through the joints. On the other side the awning rail is just one complete section and the only black streak starts at and is in line with one of the windows. Could be the same thing that dirt is accumulating at the top of the window and running down the side.
I remember Fenwicks was always good at removing them.
I took a look at my black streaks this morning. On the door side of the van the awning rail is in three sections. The black streaks on that side are in line with the joints, so perhaps an accumulation of dirt in the channel is washing down through the joints. On the other side the awning rail is just one complete section and the only black streak starts at and is in line with one of the windows. Could be the same thing that dirt is accumulating at the top of the window and running down the side.
I remember Fenwicks was always good at removing them.
As an adjunct to this, I bought a boat in 2005 that had spent the previous two years in Dover Marina near the main road. For the first 6 months I was forever cleaning up black dirt that had absorbed into ropes and covers. It amazed me how much of that stuff is in the atmosphere...
For the van, awning strips are your friend. They're cheap and save a lot of cleaning!
For the van, awning strips are your friend. They're cheap and save a lot of cleaning!
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