2007 Cayman PDQ water ingress

[UK_Steve]

Hello,

I am a newbie to this forum we live in the UK, I found you looking for some help and advise on a water leak we have on our Cayman, can anyone help please?

We have a 2007 Cayman PDQ and suddenly we have a water leak on the roadside (actually kerb side in the UK!) rear slide, the ingress is strange; it appears as a pool of water following heavy rain on the carpet almost in the centre of the slide when stood looking at it from the bed. I have checked for water pooling on the roof under the toppers – none and the wiper seal is in good condition and seals tight to the roof of the box. I have checked for water tracking down behind the wiper seals on each side – none, they are in good condition and fit tightly. I checked this by gently moving back the seal and placing absorbent paper towel behind, it came out dry! I have visually checked the seal at the bottom of the slide, all looks dry and clean. I am lost as to where to look next, any advise and help would be very much appreciated if any owner has come across the same thing.

Many thanks
Steve

[Rex]

Steve, I had a similar problem and thought it was a leak somewhere around the seals. It wasn’t. Monaco used a tape similar to EternaBond over the screws that were used to put the slide together. One of the screw heads had rubbed through the tape. I had to look really hard to find it.

You could take a water hose and work up very very slowly upward on each end of the slide spraying water and should be able to find the leak. Mine was on the rear side about two inches from the top where the side and top join the outside wall of the slide.

[UK_Steve]

Rex,

Thank you I think I know where you mean, it is dark here now. I will have a good look tomorrow and then work round gently with a hose and see if I can find the point of ingress, I presume you sealed the offending screw, or did you re-tape?

Many thanks

[Rex]

Steve I removed the old tape which was a real job. Cleaned the area well with solvent and let it dry good. Then applied EternaBond tape which seems to stick to anything. Make sure you use a small roller like used with wallpaper to make sure the tape sticks. You only get one chance to place it so take your time and DON'T rush the job. When it sticks, you don't want to have to remove it. It is better than what Monaco used.

I also added a small piece on the screw heads first to pad them a bit more before applying the tape. You can get the tape in 2 -4 -or 6 inch widths. Also comes with the surface in black, silver and white. It is a peel and stick.

Work very slowly with the hose, and move upward very slow. May take a while for the water to get inside the coach. You can use a step ladder and attach the hose with a sprinkler head to it so you don't have to stand there a long time wetting the area down. Do the bottom one foot area for a while and them move up a foot. Take your time and you should find it.

Best of luck. Let us know where it is when you find it.

[nodine]

Quote:

Originally Posted by UK_Steve Rex, Thank you I think I know where you mean, it is dark here now. I will have a good look tomorrow and then work round gently with a hose and see if I can find the point of ingress, I presume you sealed the offending screw, or did you re-tape? Many thanks

We had a different problem from Rex on our 2006 Diplomat roadside bedroom slide. It was hard to find and only leaked when the slide was open. You did not say if yours leaked when the slide was open, closed, or both. On our bedroom slide there is a large rubber gasket attached to the coach opening starting at the bottom of the opening and going up around the corner, across the top and down the other side. This gasket looks like the rubber door seals on an automobile and the slide seals against it when closed. This rubber gasket is installed as one piece and is not cut at each of the top corners of the opening. A radius is created when the rubber gasket bends 90 degrees to go around the corner. As you can imagine, the gasket does not make a square bend and a gap is created at the corner where the rubber makes the bend. Monaco was suppose to fill this gap with a sealer but missed one of ours. You could actually see daylight through the opening from inside the bedroom when the slide was open. I filled the opening with a sealer and problem solved. Open your slide and from a ladder or the roof check to make sure you have a good seal between the gasket and the slide opening on each corner.

Hope you find it,

Bob

[UK_Steve]

Hi Rex,

Re tape it is if that proves to be the problem.

Hi Bob,

Sorry should have said we are currently away on holiday and it started to pool water this trip with the slide out. I know what you mean about the gasket from bottom up and over and down the other side as both the front slides are like this and have in fills of a rubber type (not silicon) sealant on the corners which is as you have described.

Both rear slides has one gasket up and over and down, but the top corners are cut and glued back over each other forming a 90 degree bend/seal, I cannot see light through them from inside to out or outside to in – that said they will be water tested.

Plan – We are due a further rain storm this afternoon, so hopefully we can get the carpet fully dry in time, then bring the slide in and let Mother Nature due her bit – that will prove the ingress is either slide in or slide out or both! Monday and Tuesday are meant to be good weather, therefore slide out again. Then depending on when it leaks, i.e. slide in or out etc I will investigate further. Sounds like a hose on low pressure and work the seams and seals inch by inch until it becomes clear where the ingress start point is.

Thanks for all your suggestions and I will let you know the outcome at some point in the next few days.

Cheers
Steve

[itdave]

Make sure you check all the seams were the side walls connect to the bottom. One of mine had not been caulked with silicon and water running down the side wall of the slide would enter the seam and travel inside the coach.

[UK_Steve]

Hi Dave,
I have not been able to check the point of ingress due to the weather yesterday and being out today, tomorrow if all goes to plan I can have a good look and do a water test. But I have found two points where the area caulked with silicon has shrunk back – due to recent heat I assume. I plan to temporary plug both these areas and water test, then remove one temporary plug and re test if nothing shows up etc.

I will keep you posted.

[Rex]

Steve a friend had a slide leak that turned out to be the screws in his awning. On his the awning was mounted to the outside wall at the top of the slide. Monaco didn't caulk behind the awning, or where the screws went in to the slide wall thus it leaked. Was a few years old before it leaked. Actually the screws rusted out and that is when it started leaking. If you don't find it with the water test I suggested, put water on the awning where it mounts to the slide and see if that is where your problem is. The fix was to remove the awning, caulk all screw holes, drill new holes which were caulked and new screws inserted. Most of the old screws broke off when they were removed. On his the water was coming in on top of the slide and dripping down in the ceiling of the slide.

[UK_Steve]

Rex, thanks that is now on tomorrows check list so far not found anything positive two possibilities’ but still working on it taking it a little at a time to prove or disprove before moving on. As promised I will keep you posted.

[UK_Steve]

Update as promised – possible cure, not jumping for joy just yet :

After a few days of very close visual inspections, including the screws, tape covering, all caulked joints all rubber seals and topper where it attaches to the face of the slide and the roof all of which turned up nothing obvious , based on your kind advice.

Bad weather necessitated bringing in the slide to stop the ingress – low and behold the problem continued Therefore it can’t be the sides, the roof or the seals… Can it?

On the outer face of the slide there is an aluminium trim on the sides and the bottom that overlaps the box and holds the rubber seal that seals to the RV sides when the slide is in.


This trim is approximately 100mm wide; the bottom one had a tiny crack in the paintwork on the seam that was ironically in almost direct line with where the water pooled on the carpet, with much closer investigation this trim had been attached to the slide box and not caulked in anyway just painted over .


With very careful use of a craft knife, a tiny thin strip of paint was removed along the seam for total length of the slide allowing silicon to be forced in the joint and a miniature bead alone the length we now seem to have a water tight seal again – heavy rain since sealing and no water pooling.

We are back home again as the coach is in for a full annual service, this means that everything has time to settle and fully set, then when we get it back re test with a hose, then hopefully jump for joy.

Then the next move is to get a local paint shop to make good the colours (along with a handful of stone chips) and all will be good again hopefully .

Once again may I offer my sincere thanks to Rex, nodine and itdave for all your ideas and pointers, very helpful and very useful .

Many thanks