Rain water on slide toppers

RetiredBob · 01-03-2011, 03:24 PM

How do you keep rain water from collecting on the slide toppers?

bdpreece · 01-03-2011, 03:35 PM

Buy some cheap blow up beach balls and stuff them under the toppers. Just remember to take them out before closing the slide.

**NLOVNIT** · 01-03-2011, 03:57 PM

If rain is forecasted, we level the coach & then retract the rear jacks just enough to get run-off to the back. Even then, sometimes it pours so fast, water will puddle & make a hammock of the topper anyway. When that happens, I just run the slides in/out a time or two to dump so standing water doesn't stretch the topper. Did that once while DH was outside doing something in the wet bay (next to the big slide). Oops!

Lori-

GaryKD · 01-03-2011, 04:20 PM

Hi RetiredBob,
I do not lower the rear of the coach, but after is rains I will retract the main slide enough to get the water to run off the rear or front of the topper. The slide usually has to be brought in 1/2 to 3/4 of the way.

**"007"** · 01-05-2011, 05:23 AM

If your awnings are real slack you may want to tighten the topper awning.
More info can be found in Quick Tips.

The Danes Are Coming · 01-05-2011, 05:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bdpreece

Buy some cheap blow up beach balls and stuff them under the toppers. Just remember to take them out before closing the slide.

Would this not (to a certain extend) cause the water to run towards your rig rather than away from it

I would have thought that this would add to the risk of having water entering your rig if the seal between slide-out and roof/wall is not 110%. I am just speculating - I have no experience with this since I have never done it.

**"007"** · 01-05-2011, 05:48 AM

They have this to help also that may help.
Slide topper wedge
Just do not forget when moving in slide.

a k · 01-05-2011, 08:44 AM

Why do they have toppers anyway? Slide shoudn't leak should it?. My door slide on my coach doesn't even have a topper. Can't leave the main awning out in a storm,it'll rip off.

**RJay** · 01-05-2011, 10:01 AM

I had a slightly different problem but the solution had some success on the problem you describe. I notice that my topper would flap in the wind. I was concerned since the flapping would occur on the ends where tears in the topper would begin. I decided to adjust the spring tension in the topper roller to cut down on the amount of movement. As I was adjusting the tension I thought about the accumulation of water and how I could possibly solve two problems with one solution. I had a piece of 21/2” PVC pipe about 5 feet long that I placed in the middle of the topper and adjusted the spring tension so the pipe rolled to the front of the roller. My thought was if the pipe rolled to the roller so would water and not pool in the middle. I was also concerned if I over tightened the spring I would tear the topper. I don't think you will ever stop all the wind movement in the topper since that depends on its speed but I've reduced the flapping to a mere flutter in a good breeze. As for the accumulation of water, I've noticed a lot less accumulation and the water mark on the topper is considerably smaller. I think I could have tension the spring tighter. At least I delayed the tearing of the topper.

RetiredBob · 02-02-2011, 03:15 PM

Found the perfect solution (for me, at least). Two plastic gallon milk bottles that I slide in about five feet from each end. Tie a small rope to the handle so I can pull them out when it's time to close the slide. The bottles are the right size to keep the topper from sagging under the weight of the water, but not too big that they stretch the material.

GaryKD · 02-02-2011, 05:00 PM

Hi a k,
I just saw your post. For me, slide toppers help keep the sun from radiating heat into the coach. On my coach the forward slide on the passenger slide has no topper. On the inside this slide has cabinets extending the entire slide. The sun can make the inside of these cabinets very warm. To compensate for no topper, I extend my main awning just enough to cover the topper. The temperature inside the cabinets is now no different than the rest of the coach interior. The auto retract feature is left on. I have had no problem with the awning.