Newfound storage and a newfound leak

[Richard S.]

The trap door is under the matress below the head board of the bed.

[Dunner]

I know that from the top pic, but are the bottom 2 pics the top of the false panel?

[Richard S.]

No, that is the floor of the slide room

[Dunner]

That's what I thought, but I don't see the slide mechanism. I don't remember if mine went all the way to the outside end of the slide.

[2Labs]

I pulled the nightstand drawers out today to get a better look and for sure, there was a noticeable amount of mold/mildew on the wood floor in the nightstands.

After cleaning it up I climbed up on the roof and leaned over the edge to look at the bedroom slideout while it was open. It appears that the slideout rooms have a rubber or membrane roof to them and this looks like where our leak may be coming from.

I can clearly see areas on the slideout roof where the edges are no longer sealed and where I can slide a piece of paper or a slim putty knife under the edge. I can also see sections of the rubber roof that have bubbles in them. I'm assuming that the bubbles are from areas that have become detached and have allowed water and air underneath.

This means that the leak is probably running down the interior of the wall and that would give a better explanation as to why the wall, where the mattress touches it stays cold and damp to the touch. I noticed again tonight that one side of the head of the mattress, where it touches the wall was wet and a little mildewy smelling ... time to pull and wash the sheets again.

Given tonight's finding, now the questions are:

- how do I remove the slideout topper so that I can work on the bedroom roof? From a mechanical perspective it looks like it would be easiest to close the bedroom and then detach it at the points where it's attached to the exterior slideout wall. I'm guessing that the topper rollers must have some kind of spring loaded mechanism that allows them to tightly roll up the topper when the room comes in, so I'm going to have to do some research on that.

- How should I repair these areas? In the short term I can certainly use some sealant, probably one of the dicor sealants, to seal the edges back up. If that works well for now, then its onto a more permanent fix for the roof ... mabye a new rubber roof on the bedroom?

We've been happy with our Sea Breeze so far, but this puts a real damper on things :(

[2Labs]

After doing some more internet research, it looks like some other people have used eternabond to seal the seam where the rubber roof meets the metal/aluminum frame. I'm thinking this may be a better immediate solution than trying to seal up with dicor or a similar material.

Plus I have also found some dampness and what appears to be soaked up water in the back wall - at the very back corner of the bedroom .. the corner right next to the slideout room. This leak is more than likely different from the one I am tracking down under the bed, as this newly noticed damp spot is in the rear wall of the motorhome



Provided the weather is nice tomorrow, it will be time to get up on the roof again and look for the entry point for this newer, newly found leak

grrr .. if I didn't have bad luck lately, I feel like I wouldn't have any.

[2Labs]

Here are some links I found for AE Slide Topper removal ... guess I'm gonna' need a buddy to do this.

http://www.rvtechlibrary.com/exterior/AE_topper.pdf


A & E Slide Topper/Safe Roller Removal?

[Richard S.]

On my 07 Seabreeze the rubber roof on the slide out were sealed with eternabond tape from the factory. Also National used the tape to finish off the front and rear cap splices on the main roof.

[2Labs]

I received an email today from the service department where we purchased our motorhome and they have asked us to bring it in on Monday. I think that is GREAT news! We've owned the motorhome for nearly 7 months now and at the very least, they are willing to take a look at it.

I have no reason to believe that they will not work with us to resolve this water intrusion problem and will post any updates as we discover them.

Great service after the sale is what really sets a dealership apart!

[2Labs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard S. On my 07 Seabreeze the rubber roof on the slide out were sealed with eternabond tape from the factory. Also National used the tape to finish off the front and rear cap splices on the main roof.

Wow I find that to be a very interesting discovery .. that the factory used Eternabond to cover the seams. That's good to know though, and I think that I'll be up on the roof cleaning up the seams and "Eternabonding" them.

Thanks!

[Richard S.]

The Eternabond was what NRV used to fix leaks at the front and rear splices on early units. As I understand 2006,07 and 08 the tape was used on the manufactureing line for all coaches. I had a 01 Surfside and had to reseal the splices two times in six years.

[Scooter]

We got around to pulling the mattress back and found.....the trap door. Pulled it up and no mold. There is a metal junction box with wiring, no doubt for the bedroom slide.

[Dunner]

I was finally able to check for the trap door. Sure enough I have one too, and no signs of a leak or water damage.