Need help finding water leak on slider roof.

Hansville · 12-30-2009, 02:40 PM

Hello,

This is a hard one, I have an 04 diplomat with four sliders. I went to replace a burned out light bulb above the kitchen table (front right slider was extended) unscrewed the glass light cover to find it was filled with water. It had rained the day before and the roof of the slider is of course covered with the canvas that comes out with the slider. Climbed on the ladder the next day while it was raining again to peek in the gap between the slider canvas and the roof and it looked bone dry. The roof canvas does not leek and can not imagine how water is leaking onto the roof of my slider. It was a small amount of water, maybe a quarter of a cup. Water seems to coming in on the wire that goes to the light bulb fixture, sought of a wicking action. Has anyone else had a similar problem?
Thanks

Jim Stewart · 12-30-2009, 04:14 PM

I had a problem where the water was leaking into the slide and running along the wood trim to the inside. In my case the topper has ripped at the seam and I could not see it from the ground. It turned out that the seam on the slide roof itself where it met the flange was covered with eternabond tape. The edge of the tape had come up over time and the in and out movement of the slide pushed the tape up and exposed the seam. New eternabond solved the problem.

What I am talking about may be hard to visualize. If you stand on the side of the MH in the rear of it, with the slide extended and look at the end of the slide at the roof, you will see the flat surface of the roof of the slide and the flange that looks like a "L" with the vertical part of the "L" being the flange that is the lip on the inside and the bottom of the L overlapping the roof of the slide roof. It is at that overlap that it was leaking. If it is leaking there, it can flow to a low point or in your case follow the wires down into the light.

Even if your topper is in good shape, if you are slightly off level or the wind is blowing, it can blow water against that seam underneath the topper.

MonacoMama · 12-30-2009, 05:35 PM

Jim...Do you mean the"L" that is seen in this photo?

It is at the far right edge in this photo...

Jim Stewart · 12-30-2009, 06:06 PM

Not exactly, here is a photo I found and doctored-up for illustration purposes. I have drawn a front fascia. The top of the fascia is mounted to an "L" flange shown where the upper red arrow is. That flange sits on top of the slide out and has a seam where they screw or rivet the flange to the top of the slide out roof. That seam is where mine leaked. The actual leak that I noticed was 4 foot away from where it leaked through on the inside. It followed the underside of the seam to a low point and that is where it leaked through on the inside. I know this is a poor drawing, but hope it helps.

Jim Stewart · 12-30-2009, 06:27 PM

Here is another picture, there is an identical flange on the edge on the top that runs the length of the slideout. I think you can imagine what would happen if water set against the top side of that flange. The best way to inspect it is to pull the slideout in and stick your head over or on the end to look along the inside edge.

Hansville · 12-30-2009, 07:22 PM

Thanks for the ideas. I will pull the slider in tomorrow and look for wet spots on the edge. Can it be repaired with some caulking around the edges?

Jim Stewart · 01-01-2010, 09:26 PM

That should work for temp fix, but I would get some eternabond tape and use that if it is leaking along that seam.

wjwest · 02-15-2010, 09:21 AM

I have a 4 slide Monaco and had a similar problem. Behind the facia there is an aluminum angle that is riveted and siliconed to the top of the slide. I pulled off the old , not attached silicone, cleaned the top and the angle with laquer thinner and put new silicone on it . It solved my problem. I had to use a mirror to see behind the facia to see the problem. Hope this helps.