Community Forums

trode · 10-12-2017, 05:55 AM

I am always checking my 1341 for leaks, and view a rainy weekend as a good opportunity to make sure I have none. Well, the dreaded leak turned up this weekend, and it isn't new but hasn't been wet before while I've owned it. Occurred in VERY heavy rain this weekend, found wet area where former carpet stain appeared before. It is in passenger side rear of bedroom, immediately in front of the "night stand" against rear wall (no window in rear wall). No sign of water intrusion at ceiling, and nothing visible on wall. A quick inspection of the roof area above turned up no suspicious areas. My next best guess is the bedroom slide, though not sure how water would end up there from the slide area, unless traveling under the night stand. hard to determine that. Wet area was about 2X2 inches. I think this may be an issue for others, as I looked at a Dolphin a couple of years newer than my Sea Breeze a few weeks back, and saw the same exact area stained on that carpet too. Bedroom layout was identical.

Leads to my next question/comment about roof. Thinking of cleaning off the old dicor sealant and putting eternal bond on all the seams. From what I have read and seen, I think this would be more reliable than caulking. Would appreciate feed back from anyone who has done.

BraveWrigley · 10-12-2017, 06:39 AM

Eternabond almost always better than caulk, especially on seams .... Make darn sure surface is clean, maybe even use some steel wool for final prep and be sure to roll the Eternabond in wilh a roller or at least by hand.

Coloradodude · 10-12-2017, 06:56 AM

Fist thing I did when I bought my motorhome is Eternabond all my seams on top the whole motorhome. Get the 6" wide. I just used a good cleaner. Goes right over the top. No need to remove old caulking. I bought the cleaner and the roller also. Got everything through Amazon.

Thanks for the tip on where to watch for a leak.. Maybe it only happens if motorhome is not perfectly level.

TNTraveller · 10-15-2017, 03:27 AM

We had the same problem.
Caulk the end of the gutter and back vertical seam up to where it meets the roof.
Our leak seemed to be from a previously installed gutter spout extension.
It has not leaked since applying new caulk.

Good Luck

Chuck Q · 10-15-2017, 03:54 PM

Same problem, found the rear bottom angle Trim on the slide was loose and water ran into the rear corner of the RV. Was a perfect trough. Still working on repairing the H2O damage.

rjsupersonic · 10-21-2017, 09:05 PM

I used eternabond tape on the front and rear caps several years ago no issues whatsoever great stuff! Recently I had a leak in the hallway ended up being the seal along the rain gutters. I took the rubber trim piece off both sides which looked like it was in pretty bad shape. I then made sure the small screws that connect the fiberglass roof to the sidewall were tight and resealed with Magnus bond...which is the stuff Winnebago uses on their roof edges. Once it dried I used eternabond tape to cover up the seam all the way to the bottom of the rain gutter. I shouldn't have to mess with for a long time now

speed racer · 10-22-2017, 08:21 AM

The water is coming from the top of the slide. It will acumulate under the cover and run off after you pull the slide in.

ga traveler · 10-22-2017, 08:36 AM

Most of the slideout leaks we found were from the inner flange. The face of the slideout has a large flange with the seal on it. the slideout is made and installed and then the flange is installed on the inside. This flange is usually a L shaped piece of aluminum and then the facia board is attached. If the aluminum flange is not sealed perfectly, it will allow water to run under it and into the motorhome.

BraveWrigley · 10-22-2017, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ga traveler

Most of the slideout leaks we found were from the inner flange. The face of the slideout has a large flange with the seal on it. the slideout is made and installed and then the flange is installed on the inside. This flange is usually a L shaped piece of aluminum and then the facia board is attached. If the aluminum flange is not sealed perfectly, it will allow water to run under it and into the motorhome.

Sounds like a good suspect ..... and not the roof:

Consider the Five W’s of a Leak:

Who Saw It?
What Did They See?
Where Did They See It?
When Did They See It?

and the final W is the toughest W

Why Did It Leak?

Sometimes you will have multiple sources contributing to one or several leaks close to each other and often times when one component fails it will cause a second to fail and I’ve seen the second source fixed without first source being fixed and now Year later the second fixed source is broken again ...... It is most important when repairing leaks you study all possible sources and not just the field portion of the roof - As a 42 year roofing contractor we’ve seen entire roofs replaced and the darn thing still leaks - Reason: Leak was not roof related and after that $5,500 Roof Quarantee Job you realize it was the Slide Out!