Water Leaks driving me crazy

[Spdracr39]

Not really a question in here just ranting. We bought this bus from and older man that kept it in a covered barn and rarely used it. In hindsight I now realize by some of the things he said he didn't know how to use it. Apparently he bought it from someone that never used it but left it sitting outside for a long time. The roof had been resealed with clear proflex and you could see the severe cracking of the old sealant underneath. There were some minor water stains on the interior ceiling but nothing catastrophic so I wasn't overly concerned. After getting it home every slide out leaked when extended and 2 leaked when closed. I resealed the roof and that solved one of those. After pulling all the old carpet the age of those leaks was apparent. I decided to replace all the wiper and exterior bulb seals on the slides. In the process the slide awning toppers must be replaced also. After pulling the topper for the front passenger slide there must have been a 5 gallon bucket of leaves, sticks, pecan shells ... crammed under the slide wiper seals. Well at least I know why that's leaking. After cleaning that up, replacing the bulb seal, resealing the front top of the slide wall, and replacing the completely destroyed wiper under the slide. (still waiting on the new wiper seal to be delivered) everything looks perfect. I get up this morning after a nights rain and bam more water under the slideout in the area where the mechanism sits. Where could it be coming from . When I started tearing into this I was very overwhelmed with finding problem on top of problem that had to be repaired before I could repair what I was working on. Now at least I feel like I am on the way up albeit slowly. After this weekend I will have one slide sealed and only 3 to go It will not beat me or bankrupt me I will prevail ! Thanks for listening

[Timaz]

I feel the same way at times with all of the problems I continue to find and some I haven't been able to figure out yet...

[Kahoona]

Sounds like you are well on the way to making it work. I also rant. RV'ing is a constant game of repair catch up for me too. We bought a used DP with a decent pedigree thinking it would get better......Nope. Dashboard burst into flames, brakes quit, batteries dead ect. They have that camera on the back so you can see if the parts that fall off are worth stopping for. We love it so much we are going full timing. RVers who turn their own nuts are a special breed. See you on the road.

[barmcd]

It's a steep learning curve. Welcome to the club!

[96 Wideglide]

Does your slide roofs have Eternabond around the perimeter?

If it's original, it's likely overdue to be replaced. I can see the edges starting to lift on my '08. Wish I had been replacing it as I was doing slide toppers !!

[RustyTools]

"They have that camera on the back so you can see if the parts that fall off are worth stopping for."

So that's why my previous camera was stuck in the full-down position .


It will get better... or so that's what they keep telling me . You're not alone!

[Spaceball]

Leaks are extremely frustrating.... they might be originating completely away from what you think initially. I think many of us have been through this... just keep at it, you will find it eventually.

I had a slide leak on bedroom... for the longest time I thought it was the wipers or some part of the slide seal itself... one day on the roof I noticed a hairline crack in the fiberglass crown right by the roof/wall seam.... fixed that and resealed that seam thing and no more leaks. It didn't help that Monaco has the slide toppers anchored to that seam bead thing and it was pulling it away from the wall breaking the silicone seal.

It was wicking down behind the fiberglass... and found it's way to the slide channel aluminum that covers the wall opening and was exiting right out of the bottom corner onto the inside floor carpeting. It totally looked like the slide was leaking but it wasn't the slide at all. Frustrating as can be!!!

[Spdracr39]

Originally Posted by Spaceball

Leaks are extremely frustrating.... they might be originating completely away from what you think initially. I think many of us have been through this... just keep at it, you will find it eventually.

I had a slide leak on bedroom... for the longest time I thought it was the wipers or some part of the slide seal itself... one day on the roof I noticed a hairline crack in the fiberglass crown right by the roof/wall seam.... fixed that and resealed that seam thing and no more leaks. It didn't help that Monaco has the slide toppers anchored to that seam bead thing and it was pulling it away from the wall breaking the silicone seal.

It was wicking down behind the fiberglass... and found it's way to the slide channel aluminum that covers the wall opening and was exiting right out of the bottom corner onto the inside floor carpeting. It totally looked like the slide was leaking but it wasn't the slide at all. Frustrating as can be!!!

That sounds exactly like one of my leaks I will inspect it a little closer when I get to that one.

[Outbound]

Good luck, it's a labor of love, or that's what they tell me.

[Kahoona]

Originally Posted by RustyTools

"They have that camera on the back so you can see if the parts that fall off are worth stopping for."

So that's why my previous camera was stuck in the full-down position .


It will get better... or so that's what they keep telling me . You're not alone!

And if it doesn't get better we learn to handle it.

[bluetoad7]

One easy thing to check is the Air Conditioner bolts that compress the foam gasket to the roof. As the foam becomes compressed at the same level of tightness over time, it begins to lose it's sealing capabilities. My Dometic/Duo Therm units have 4 hold-down bolts that compress the foam gasket seal. Tightening them was easy and the front one turned out to be the culprit. The leak that showed up was 5 ft. away from the AC unit since, as always, the water migrates to the first area it can escape. Worth a try.....

[hypoxia]

Originally Posted by Kahoona

They have that camera on the back so you can see if the parts that fall off are worth stopping for.

[Spdracr39]

I am going to finish replacing all the slide seals and awning toppers then take it for a Seal Tech pressure test. Hopefully this will at least give me some guidance. If it does it will be well worth the $300.00. I can't put the new carpet in until I know it is not going to leak and I can't decide to sell it or keep it until I get the carpet in or I will lose a ton of money. The thing that makes this harder is we have a 5'er that has nothing wrong with it, is paid for, and we love the layout in but somebody (me) felt like having a DP would be cool.

[Kahoona]

Originally Posted by 96 Wideglide

Does your slide roofs have Eternabond around the perimeter?

If it's original, it's likely overdue to be replaced. I can see the edges starting to lift on my '08. Wish I had been replacing it as I was doing slide toppers !!

Another place I didn't check!