Water Damage

[SJC]

Rough Summer no time for camping after dewinterizing, well this past weekend I put the battery in and was checking eveything out and noticed my rear light was on and the switch was off, I have one of those intelli light(?) were you press the metal plate and it lights the rear light, well I removed the polate inside to remove the circuit board and I saw lots of black wood so I am wondering how hard it is to tear into this and try to fix my water damage. The one problem I have is I don't know where the water entered so do I start removing parts or just go and try to remove the paper covered panel on that rear portion of the camper? It is a 2001 Lance 1030
Thanks
Steve

[SJC]

Rough Summer no time for camping after dewinterizing, well this past weekend I put the battery in and was checking eveything out and noticed my rear light was on and the switch was off, I have one of those intelli light(?) were you press the metal plate and it lights the rear light, well I removed the polate inside to remove the circuit board and I saw lots of black wood so I am wondering how hard it is to tear into this and try to fix my water damage. The one problem I have is I don't know where the water entered so do I start removing parts or just go and try to remove the paper covered panel on that rear portion of the camper? It is a 2001 Lance 1030
Thanks
Steve

["007"]

SJC.Welcome to irv2

Where you see the black wood is the wood wet or falling apart, is the wall paper falling off panelling, an is there any seal left around outside lite fixture? You need to fine where the leak is first. You could remove the whole wall panel if you think your fiber glass or bead board is all wet. Where your panels butt you may have a trim strip that if removed will reveal the staples holding on the panel to wood stud, just pry off panel carefully to elimiate damage to panel. Some times if you push on panel you will see heads of staples that can be removed. If you have any papers on construction of your Lance it may help to give you an idea what your up against. Even a call to Lance they could give some advice. If your lucky an the panel and inside is not wet now you may just have to fix the leak.

[Paul Beddows]

First thing I would do is find an RV dealer in your area that offers Seal Tech. Go to their website and look for one in your area. it will cost you around $100, but it will identify where the leak is & any others there may be. This should give you a pretty good indication of which route the water took, & allow you to determine what you have to take apart.

Paul Beddows
President
North American Truck Camper Owners Association

[SJC]

Thanks for the help, I only have a hole about 4x5" and the wood didn't feel wet just black in color, I am going to pull some of the screws and reseal these first.