Found Cold Air Leakage

[jcrowder47]

Hi Folks,

Its been a while since I made a posting, and I hope some of you can use it. I came across this by accident while I was tightening some loose screws. Had to remove the sliding door before the shower/bathroom, the same side as the shower. As I was trying to tighten the screws for the slide tack, I felt some serious cold air coming in from the pocket, (I mean some really cold air). Looking at the back side of the pocket (outside wall), I remembered that the access door from the outside of the coach to the backside of the shower (square locking door to work on the water lines and if necessary to replace the controls), is just a few inches from the door pocket. That is the only location that is not sealed with any rubber type gasket to keep any and all cold/hot air from coming in while driving or parked with wind blowing.

It is not all that hard to fix, just a trip to any hardware store and pick up two packs of 2" square foam rubber packs. The type used for window AC units, and you will need two packs. Both pack is the same height as the inside wall, floor to ceiling, to insulate and block any air from coming in.

First thing you need to do is pull the sliding door out. Looking at the top of the door, you will notice a plastic clip for each hanger rod. Just rotate the clip to unlock the door hanger. Slip the hangers off of the door hardware and lay the door up against the opposite wall.

Look to the back of the pocket, you should see the outside wall that has a wooden frame for the door to be parked in. Take the 2" foam rubber and with the help of a small broom or a small stick, place the top end of the foam rubber at the ceiling and start to push the foam rubber in. Hold the foam rubber in the other hand to help guild it, also, in case you need to re-position it. Once the top is tight against the ceiling, start pushing the rest of the foam rubber in till all of it is tight between the wooden inter door frame, make sure that the rubber is straight and not bunched. Do the same with the second 2" square foam rubber and place it at the bottom of the first one and do the same. You should not have any left over at the bottom, if you do and both pieces are snug to each other, the left over will fit at the bottom of the door pocket, the door will not interfere as it moves in and out.

Re-connect the door to the hanging hardware and re lock the plastic clips at the top. If you have the door installed correctly, the door will slide as it did before. The only issue at first will be the door may not push in all the way as it did before, the foam will not let it be pushed flush with the outside wall, but it will when you lock it for travel.

Since doing this, I have noticed a difference in heating, we mostly use space heaters with the heat pumps. The rooms stay warmer longer while parked, some times we had to turn down the heat, also noticed a difference while driving, the dash air helped a little bit more. I also went a little farther and sealed the inside of that access door to keep all outside cold/hot air from coming in. With summer coming, I hope the coach is not as hard to cool down and keep it cool. It should also help keep the hot air from coming in while driving. A lot of folks use their generators and roof air to cool their coach while driving I try to use the dash while driving and will find out shortly how it works now.

I hope this works for you, if you try it, the cost should be less than $6.00 for the foam rubber and maybe 30 minutes at the most.