Slide D-Seal Bulb-Seal replacement questions

[Cat]

Hi all! I searched here, and on the net, for information on replacing one of my slide seals; the D-seal over my largest slide has deteriorated and become gooey in places.

So, I've bought new seal material and removed the old seal and cleaned up that gooey mess and am ready to install the new seal. The track for the seal looks good with no loose staples so I won't be replacing any of that. And, the side seals look really good too.

Here's my quandry - the original bulb seal was screwed in on the ends, through the bulb, so it was smashed down. Additionally they had used a silicone to seal off the end of the bulb seal.

In all the videos I've seen for replacing the seal, I don't see anyone add silicone to the open end of the bulb. Do I need to do this? If I place the holding screw into the base of the bulb only, like suggested on the videos I've seen, wouldn't it need something to keep the water out of the bulb? And, if the silicone across the top of the track looks good, should I replace it anyways?

Y'all are always so helpful, I'd appreciate some feedback. Thanks!

[franktafl]

I don't think I would use regular sillycone... Do a search for RV Silicone.

[Cat]

Thanks Frank for the reply. I wrote silicone, but I meant RV stuff

I finished replacing the D-seal last night, and with the slide closed, it matches up pretty nicely with the side seals, so I don't think I'll add any silicone to the ends...