Bounder: Slide Leaks Revisited - Fixed?

[Jack Myton]

The solution used on our Revolution when the bottom of the large right slide was not coming in far enough and the top was too tight, was quite simple. The dealer techs pushed a rubber hose of the appropriate diameter, through the centre of the top bulb seal. You might try this in reverse. Try shimming the bottom and see if the slide tilts in at the top. Or perhaps a filling of the upper bulb seal will result in a tighter upper seal. Good luck.

[GerryB54]

I did see that post and made a note of it...didn't remember it was yours, thanks.

Last night's rain had no water on top of slide roof this morning when closed.

I went to the local AutoZone and bought 4' of 1/4" ID rubber fuel line, about 1/2" OD to try to fill the bottom two corners...got each 2' length in about a foot, closed the slide and it made a slight improvement.

I wish all three of my slides closed like my kitchen slide, even all around and the gasket is compressed well.

The living room and bedroom slides just don't snug up as tight as the kitchen slide...may call Powergear and see if they have a suggestion.

[dickfrompasadena]

I had water come in on my large slide behind the driver's seat. My dealer fixed it and said that Fleetwood did not install the seals correctly. I bought my Bounder at Media Camping Center in Hatfield, PA (near Phila). They have excellant service techs. Give them a call. I don't think you are too far from there. They may be able to fix your problem.

[Jack Myton]

I kinda feel like I have invested some time and effort in getting your problem fixed, and after sleeping on it, here goes, again. Try holding a shim, somelike like some plywood, 3/8 inch or so, under the lower seal when closing the slide. The bottom will stop and then the top should pull in, hopefully enough to complete the seal. If this works, we need to get that rubber hose inside the bulb seal, all the way through. Using a snake or a stiff cable, like coax, attach it to the hose, by drilling a small hole in the hose and attaching the wire, and tape the end smooth. Lubricate the hose with some silicon or other soapy lubricant that won't harm the foam seal. You should be able to pull the hose all the way through. If it prevents full compression of the lower seal, it should result in the top seal sealing properly. There really is no adjustment for these slides, except up and down. Good luck.

[GerryB54]

Jack,

The horizontal lower seal you refer to is actually mounted to the main frame of the RV and the bottom horizontal slide comes in and presses against it. It's a black hollow bulb seal similar to the white bulb seal around the sides and top of the slide itself.

Regardless, I should be able to get something inside this seal as well to allow the top to seal better, either that or replace it with a harder seal so it compresses less.

Either way, I think you're spot on, this may give me the minor adjustment tweak I'lm looking for...I'll keep you posted.

[GerryB54]

I was able to add the 1' of the 1/2" OD fuel line rubber hose to each side of this lower horizontal black bulb seal, and I don't see much improvement.

I understand you wanted this run thru the entire seal, but thought I would try the ends first.

There must be a limit switch/adjustment on these slides, I just need them to come in about another 1/4" to 1/2" on closing...this would compress the seal perfectly (like the kitchen slide does).

[GerryB54]

Well I did a little digging on the Powergear website, basically I found the 'adjustment in' - stop bolts, one on lower rear was hitting the stop point, lower front was not even hitting the stop point, and this front edge has the largest gap between the slide flange and the RV!

I did experiment with getting the two of them more 'in adjustment', but when both were adjusted to not even hit the stop point, the slide still stops a little too early...really no significant change that I can see.

Further research on Powergear's website indicates there is a way to set electrically the "out" stop position and the "in" stop position, but I haven't figured out yet if this is adjustable by the end user...most things I find indicate it will not be.

I think I need the slide motor to run about a second more on both the in and out cycles.

Called and left a message at Powergear, no call back yet.

[GerryB54]

Received a call back from Powergear Tech Support the following morning, had a good discussion with the rep. about slide adjustments.

He understood my feeling that the electric limits need to be reset to run a 1/2 second longer on extension and retraction to seal the slide better, but did not instruct me in any way in how to accomplish this. He suggests taking the rig to a dealer that sells Fleetwood/Gulfstream products, assuming they would have the personnel competent to adjust these slides...that is where my opinion diverged from his!

I called our local Camping World dealer (who recently bought out Meyers RV in Lakewood NJ), spoke to a customer service rep...they immediately say they need the rig for more than one day to "properly diagnose" the issue...duh...the slides aren't closing all the way and compressing the bulb seal/gaskets 1/2 way as Powergear advises!

The next "blanket statement" was that it's usually the electric motor needs replacing, it's lost the power to pull the slides in/out all the way, "after all it's a 2005 unit"...are you for real?

These motors show no indications of any problems at all, weakening or anything else.

I got no mention of being able to adjust the electrical "out stop" and "in stop" as Powergear's rep. and documentation suggest...

I made an appointment for March 17th, but most likely will cancel, just don't feel they have a clue.

Sitting out here in the RV today under heavy rains, slide open, seems to be shedding water just fine. The new slide topper does it's job, small amounts of water getiing blown under the awning, but since I re-adjusted my leveling system to sitting perfectly level (it was low on the curbside on "AUTO" level when I bought it), the water that gets under the awning stays to the outside edge of the slide, not running into the rear inner corner when we first found the water leaking down to the carpet/dinette area.

Anyway, just updating the saga, I'll keep you posted.

[GerryB54]

Update - Well, I finally decided with all the problems I was having with the living room and bedroom slides leaking to find a "reputable" service facility to see if they could correct the situation.

Located Risco Inc. in Atlantic Highlands, NJ, interviewed them and decided to leave it there...thay had it for three weeks, spent 13 hours on it, made stop adjustments, had to remove the slide toppers to reseal the boxes, water tested it, still not satisified but now they claim they finally found and fixed all the problem areas. They did find a lot of unsealed areas around the slide box exterior top/aluminum beam area, not surprised.

They also represent Power Gear, and called them to properly re-level and adjust the bedroom slide, if you ever looked at Power Gear service instruction manuals, you'll know why they called them.

My rig was the low budget entry in this place, they were servicing six or eight high end diesel coaches in the $300K to $500K range, not sure why they were there but proves the point that how much you spend doesn't insure quality.

I'm waiting for the rains to see what happens. This service was expensive, just hope it solves the problem.