Community Forums

DavidWSnow · 10-04-2014, 10:23 AM

On my 2005 40’ Country Coach Inspire the large driver-side couch slide seems to have an intermittent leak. I think that it only leaks when the slide is open and the rig leans slightly to the driver's side. Where we first noticed the water was at the floor level. The carpet at the rear of the slide was damp an inside of the cabinet we could see water stains soaking up thru the laminated wood. There are signs of rust on the forward two bolts holding the couch in place at the front of the slide, so I suspect that I may also have a leak there.

I had already re-sealed and pop riveted the stainless angle covering the joint between the bottom of the slide and the front and rear panels. At the front the steel piece had come loose - the rear was still firmly attached.

The Carefree of Colorado slide topper does a fine job of holding water, since the edges of each panel at double thick and 2X stronger than the middle which sags and holds the water. I’m not sure that it actually helps at all for keeping water out, but it does keep leaves and debris out of the slides seals.

Looking at the outside top edge of the slide is a metal strip with about a dozen #8 or #10 screws. There appears to have been some black sealant, possibly Sikaflex Polyurethane covering the screw heads and ends of the strip. The sealant is failing and I think that this may be the cause of the leaks, as water can pool up at the outside corners. To fix this it looks like I’ll have to remove the slide topper, clean – dry – and prep the area and re-seal. Looks like it will be fun in my driveway here in the Pacific Northwest ;=}

Have any other Country Coachers had similar leak problems? If so what was your ultimate fix? Would you re-seal this with Polyurethane or Dicor?

Dale C · 10-04-2014, 09:21 PM

Yep, exact same problem. Just finished re-sealing mine today, so it has yet to be tested. I stripped off the old sealant and cleaned with Eterna Bond Cleaner (basically acetone). After cleaning I applied 4" Eterna bond tape and then sealed the edge of the tape with self leveling Dicor. The strips on the top of side wall of the slide create quite an effective dam, holding water and really testing the sealant. One of the first very poor design issues I've found so far.

Sure hope that does it! New toppers are next on the agenda.

smlranger · 10-05-2014, 05:28 AM

While we have not seen any evidence of leaks so far, I had heard of this issue with CC slides. And yes, it seems it would have been a much better design to have the top (roof) of the slide overlap the sides instead of having this seam at the top.

We recently replaced all of our slide toppers so I was able to get a good look at the tops of the slides. All of my Sikaflex sealant still looked good but I still used 4" Eternabond tape on the seams. I had good results with Eternabond on my previous coach.

We tightened the rollers and pulled the new toppers as tight as we could but the larger toppers still pool some water

, and mine also has the Summit system which lifts the topper in the middle. It is a function of not having sufficient slope to the toppers.

nytrorcr · 10-05-2014, 08:43 AM

My problem was 2fold, sealant failed at the seam on top as yours 4" Dicor tape did a great job sealing that, but the carpet at the rear of the slide still would get wet. I found the the bottom edge SS cover had lost its sealing ability and water would wick to the inside of the room. With the slide out the bottom of the slide-out angle was higher on the outside and angle down toward the MH alowing it to wick and channel water to the inside along its top edge. I had a thin tri-angle sheet made with a 90 bent in for the bottom under side gives it accent and keeps the water channeling away from MH. Now leak free but if you look hard enough you can see water damage under the gel coat above the slide windows.

DavidWSnow · 10-05-2014, 10:45 AM

I would love to see a photo of you tri angle at the bottom.

--------
Dave Snow --- 40' 2005 Country Coach Inspire - 400 HP Cat C9
2004 Honda CR-V EX (BlueOx tow bar)

smlranger · 10-05-2014, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidWSnow

I would love to see a photo of you tri angle at the bottom.

--------
Dave Snow --- 40' 2005 Country Coach Inspire - 400 HP Cat C9
2004 Honda CR-V EX (BlueOx tow bar)

Ditto. A pic of that would be helpful for future reference.

ginnysjim · 10-06-2014, 03:10 PM

We also have a leak in our drivers side rear slide (bedroom). We have been fighting this for a couple of years. It is driving us crazy, only leaks when the slide is out. Would like to see a picture of your fix too. Thanks for your info. We have a 2006 CC Allure 42'
Jim

smlranger · 10-07-2014, 04:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ginnysjim

We also have a leak in our drivers side rear slide (bedroom). We have been fighting this for a couple of years. It is driving us crazy, only leaks when the slide is out. Would like to see a picture of your fix too. Thanks for your info. We have a 2006 CC Allure 42'
Jim

Just curious but have you thought of traveling to Oregon and having the folks at Country Coach in Junction City take a look at it? We had a stubborn leak into one of our basement storage compartments and I tried everything I could think of to fix it (I am usually pretty handy) to no avail. My excellent tech (Daniel) at CC fixed it pronto. No more leaks

.

Another option for you (since you live in Florida) would be Fountain RV in Lakeland. Their service manager, Butch Williams, is a former County Coach tech/builder and might be a good source for a satisfactory repair.

ginnysjim · 10-08-2014, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smlranger

Ditto. A pic of that would be helpful for future reference.

Thank you for the info it's very helpful. We hope to be in Fl in Jan. We'll look up Butch in Lakeland for repairs, it would be great to have this issue fixed after all this time. ( :

xrings · 12-03-2014, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidWSnow

On my 2005 40’ Country Coach Inspire the large driver-side couch slide seems to have an intermittent leak. I think that it only leaks when the slide is open and the rig leans slightly to the driver's side. Where we first noticed the water was at the floor level. The carpet at the rear of the slide was damp an inside of the cabinet we could see water stains soaking up thru the laminated wood. There are signs of rust on the forward two bolts holding the couch in place at the front of the slide, so I suspect that I may also have a leak there.

I had already re-sealed and pop riveted the stainless angle covering the joint between the bottom of the slide and the front and rear panels. At the front the steel piece had come loose - the rear was still firmly attached.

The Carefree of Colorado slide topper does a fine job of holding water, since the edges of each panel at double thick and 2X stronger than the middle which sags and holds the water. I’m not sure that it actually helps at all for keeping water out, but it does keep leaves and debris out of the slides seals.

Looking at the outside top edge of the slide is a metal strip with about a dozen #8 or #10 screws. There appears to have been some black sealant, possibly Sikaflex Polyurethane covering the screw heads and ends of the strip. The sealant is failing and I think that this may be the cause of the leaks, as water can pool up at the outside corners. To fix this it looks like I’ll have to remove the slide topper, clean – dry – and prep the area and re-seal. Looks like it will be fun in my driveway here in the Pacific Northwest ;=}

Have any other Country Coachers had similar leak problems? If so what was your ultimate fix? Would you re-seal this with Polyurethane or Dicor?

Dave, having the same problem with my 2005 330 inspire. Did you find a solution for your leaking slides yet!
Thanks-Mark

DavidWSnow · 12-03-2014, 12:51 PM

I found the the top front and back edge of the slide were leaking under the metal corner piece. I bought 50' by 4" Eterna bond tape from Amazon for about $55. I cleaned and placed about 2' of tape on the top, both front and rear while the slide was in the coach. Then I extended the slide and did the outside 2', overlapping the tape. I plan on removing the topper and doing the outside of the slide when the weather improves. I also plan to look at the tops of the other slides.

BTW, you should also rivet, and re-seal if necessary, the bottom angle iron on the slides as well.

--------
Dave Snow --- 40' 2005 Country Coach Inspire - 400 HP Cat C9
2004 Honda CR-V EX (BlueOx tow bar)

xrings · 12-04-2014, 09:35 AM

Dave, thanks for the information. We may visit CC in Oregon and have them fix the leak since it is on our way home in Idaho.

DavidWSnow · 12-04-2014, 10:08 AM

Please let us know how they fix this. I used the endurable do to help troubleshoot the source of the leak. The like showed itself on the carpet of the slide and insid of the cabin ate located in the slide.

--------
Dave Snow --- 40' 2005 Country Coach Inspire - 400 HP Cat C9
2004 Honda CR-V EX (BlueOx tow bar)

B Bob · 12-05-2014, 09:15 PM

Our coaches slide leaks are intermittent too. They only leak when it rains.

If we lived in a rainy place all the wood around our slides would have rotted long ago. I have replaced the seals on both slides twice. I have had the coach to Country Coach in JC several times. They replaced the seals the second time. This last summer I had all the seam sealer stripped and replaced. Since then we have not been in a big rain storm with the slide out. So I am hoping this has fixed the problems. The leaks have been the biggest PIA by far on this coach in the five years we have owned it.

BTW our slide toppers are fine.