Carpet Binder Discoloration

Highgturn · 02-06-2007, 11:41 AM

Has anybody noticed a darkening of the color of the carpet edge binding on the outboard ten inches of the kitchen slide out flap? Ours has noticeable darkening and there has never been anything spilt on it. This is just the binding, not the carpet.

Highgturn · 02-06-2007, 11:41 AM

Has anybody noticed a darkening of the color of the carpet edge binding on the outboard ten inches of the kitchen slide out flap? Ours has noticeable darkening and there has never been anything spilt on it. This is just the binding, not the carpet.

ChiefJohn · 02-07-2007, 07:16 AM

Bob,
Haven't noticed any discoloration but I will check further when we get out of this cold snap.

Highgturn · 02-07-2007, 07:57 AM

John,

I think this may be caused from silicone lubricant used on the roller under the flap; however, I don't know why it hasn't showed up on the other slide-outs. If I knew what it was, I could probably clean/remove it.

clspds · 02-07-2007, 01:11 PM

Bob,
I use silicone on my rollers and I don't have any discoloration on my carpet. Sorry but I can't think what may be causing your problem.
Paul

zip · 03-19-2007, 02:10 PM

Not sure whether it applies to the binder or not, Highgturn, but we were recently told that carpet discoloration can be caused from humidity inside the trailer.

I e

Highgturn · 06-28-2007, 02:40 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Highgturn:
Has anybody noticed a darkening of the color of the carpet edge binding on the outboard ten inches of the kitchen slide out flap? Ours has noticeable darkening and there has never been anything spilt on it. This is just the binding, not the carpet. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Some of you may remember when I posted this back in February. Well I finally found out what is causing it. The slide is leaking from rain. We have had tons of rain here in the Fort Worth area the last few weeks and I guess the continuous rain has caused this nasty little problem to show up. Of course it had to wait until the warranty was up. Here is what to watch for. At the base of the fascia boards on the oak facade around the slide where it interfaces with the carpet look for evidence of water. Last night I noticed that the wood is wicking moisture from the carpet and turning black. This problem has now appeared on the left side of both the entertainment slide-out and the kitchen. I can't imagine how water is getting to this location, but it is a problem. I would venture to say that if we have it, some of you will eventually see it too.

rockintom · 06-28-2007, 03:39 AM

Bob,
You have me worried as we have the same/similiar issue on the rear area on our super slide. Just started leaving a dark brown stain on carpet....and now that I think of it, it happens after a rain. I have been just ignoring it. We clean the entire carpeting about every 6 weeks (remember we FT) and that seems to clean it up for a while. I just assumed it may be silicone from the rams, but if so, why not the other ram locations on the carpet? Gonna have to look a bit closer. We may have to exchange photos to compare....make sure we talking about the same thing. And boy have you had the rain!! Tom

ChiefJohn · 06-28-2007, 04:43 AM

Bob,
Post a couple of pictures if you get the chance, from the look of the forecast, you may be bailing water!

Tom, we had a similar stain that we were able to clean. I cleaned my slide-out rams and the bottom of the slides. Applied food-grade silicone and have not had any further problem. I discussed with the folks at Smith Center and they said to liberally apply the food-grade silicone to the underside of the slide.

Highgturn · 06-28-2007, 04:45 AM

Tom,

I believe we are talking about the exact same thing. This all started with the left side of the kitchen slide. The water migrating into the carpet and discoloring the edge binding was what I first noticed. Apparently, it takes a lot of rain for it to finally saturate and start showing up next to the wood where it mates with the carpet that covers the outboard roller. When it finally gets this wet it will start wicking up on and into the wood trim. When it gets to this point it will start to stain the carpet next to the wood. Several times I have cleaned the carpet with dishwashing soap and warm water, it comes right off. At any rate, now it is starting to do the same thing on the left side of the entertainment slide. This is the first significant rain we have had here since we got the coach in April of 2005. We had been experiencing drought conditions so it never had a chance to show up. Seems like there is always something to have to worry about. If anyone else discovers this, please let us know. Tom, now we have to figure out how to fix it. It is still raining here and is suppose to continue into the weekend so it will be a while before I can look into it. Once you bring in the slide a little you might be able to see how the water gets into this area.

rockintom · 06-28-2007, 05:33 AM

Thanks Bob and Chief,

I have been putting off buying the food-grade silicone due to cost, but may have to change my thoughts on that!

I cleaned the carpet recently and the spot so would not show up good on a photo right now.

Just installed a push-on/battery operated light in the electrical center. That way I can deal with inverter and surge protector at night. Basement lights don't quite hack it.

We'll have to stay in touch with each other on finding on the carpet stain issues. Together we can lick this issue too.

P.S. Bet you didn't think I could make a whole comment without some smart a** or stupid comment!

Quite a surprise! Tom

Highgturn · 06-28-2007, 05:48 AM

OK guys.....I'll bite. What we have here is water intrusion, how is food grade silicone going to help stop a leak?

ChiefJohn · 06-28-2007, 06:39 AM

Bob,
It doesn't -- that's why I addressed my response to you and Tom individually. Pictures of your water leak will provide all of us a better idea of the problem you're experiencing. I did not intent to divert the focus of your original topic.

Tom,
You "brown" stains are similar to the stains I had from the black fabric material on the bottom of the slide reacting to the petroleum distillates in many lubricants. I was surprised that PI sold slide-lubricant with petroleum distillates in their RV supply store. Folks use this stuff and then have problems--PI, in turn, corrects the problems (carpet stains, etc.) under warranty. Donna has the food-grade silicone available for the Service Center technicians. Go figure!