Community Forums

Maladoo · 06-10-2018, 07:08 AM

I just bought this fifth wheel and had new tops put on all the slides. The main slide topper is about 12’ long, and in our first good rain the center filled up with water and caused the topper to sag right down. Is it a poor product (Dometic), a poor installation, or is the tension too loose? I’m not very happy with it the way it is.

Waiter21 · 06-10-2018, 07:20 AM

This is somewhat a common problem.. My 1999 Soutwind does this also..

A couple recommendations / observations.

* Does the topper have an angle to allow water to run off without collecting. Mine has a slight angle, but if it rains hard, the water can't run off fast enough and then BAM I got that water bubble in the middle. Once the bubble starts, that's it..

* The tension on the topper can help prevent water from pooling, but this depends greatly of angle and how hard its raining.

* I havn't tried it yet, but someone recommended getting one of those foam "swimming pool noodles" and place it under the topper to keep the bubble from forming.

* We did learn a lesson. Before I retract the slide, I see if there is a water bubble. If there is, I retract and re-position the leveling jacks so the MH tilts a little toward the drivers side. Now when I retract the slide, the water will run to the outside of the slide and drain off (Before I did this, water would pool on top of the slide and drain to the inside of the MH.. Great for cleaning floors..)

egwilly · 06-10-2018, 07:28 AM

If this is a new trailer and slide toppers, take it back to the installing dealer.

This is usually caused by incorrect tension of the material. You may be able to tighten it.

Otherwise, inflated beach balls underneath will help shed the water.

Good luck!

Walt Bennett · 06-10-2018, 07:41 AM

If it's new, it wasn't installed right. If not, a beach ball or pool noodle will work. I've never used either as when there's a pool and I need to retract, the water falls off the ends or over the roller. If yours does anything different, that's another installation issue.

**TonyDi** · 06-10-2018, 07:55 AM

Allowing water to pool on the slide top is a bad idea. In time that weight will cause the topper to stretch and it will sag much more.

If you have tension adjustments then that would be the best start. If not the idea of beach balls under the topper works. BTW we're not talking about those big beach balls. If you do a search you'll quite a few ingenious ways others have addressed this problem.