A little water in trailer...should I worry?

[scottandanna]

OK, in case you haven't heard, we got TONS of rain down here in Southeast Texas over the last few days. We didn't get the worst of it, but we did get 6" +/- over the past two nights.

Well, we stayed in the trailer last night, and the wife found some water seeping out from under the cabinet that holds the electrical box. Not a lot. She was able to sop it up with a paper towel. But I proceeded to take the converter/fuse panel out to try to figure out where the water was coming from.

Once I got back there, I found a little dampness. I don't want to say I even found sitting water, but as I moved my hand around on the floor, I could feel a little wetness on my hand. So lets say, 1/4-1/2 of an ounce total, between what my wife found and what I found. And this is all on top of the floor, which is woodgrained waterproof plastic flooring.

Anyway, seems like the water came off the pvc sewer vent pipe that exits the ceiling. The pipe had a little dampness on it, and it seems that the bulk of the water was around the base where it goes into the floor.

Got up on top of the trailer today, and the seals up there look fine (trailer is just one year old).

Should I even worry about this?

It was raining HARD and really blowing. And raining LOTS! We have stayed in thunderstorms before, and never seen any water inside the trailer.

Is there a chance that it blew up under the vent cap, and came in along the outside of the pipe?

[Gary RVRoamer]

I would. Any water penetration is bad, in my opinion, and needs to be dealt with promptly to avoid ongoing damage. Maybe it takes severe weather to leak today, but next month? And even dampness will start wood rotting and promote mildew.

[vsheetz]

Originally Posted by Gary RVRoamer

I would. Any water penetration is bad, in my opinion, and needs to be dealt with promptly to avoid ongoing damage. Maybe it takes severe weather to leak today, but next month? And even dampness will start wood rotting and promote mildew.

Agree. Get it fixed ASAP. Water kills RV's.

[cooncreekers]

[nothermark]

FWIW I would not blow it off and I would not panic. Water is bad but that little may be splash spray into an opening that is supposed to be there. The thing to do is make sure there are no problems then watch what is going on.

[Off Road]

Maybe have someone take a hose and try to recreate the conditions that caused the water to come in and see if you can pinpoint the point of entry.

[Dogpatch]

Get a pressure test done. It will reveal the source better than any other method.

[Lovin2Camp]

Originally Posted by Dogpatch

Get a pressure test done. It will reveal the source better than any other method.

X 2!
Definitely the BEST way to go!!👍


Sent from my iPhone using iRV2 - RV Forum

[scottandanna]

I think it may not be a leak, but where I dumped the dog's water bowl last week. I was rocking the trailer to get some paper unstuck from the black tank, making waves...

When I came inside, I noticed that I had dumped about half a gallon of water onto the floor right there, and sopped it up with a towel.

What I am thinking happened is it got pulled into the space between the floor and baseboard molding by capillary action, and that is why it only seemed wet along the baseboard. I probably got my hand wet near the baseboard, then as I felt around other areas, assumed that those areas were wet, as well, which explains why I could not SEE any water anywhere in there.

Now that it is dry, I will keep looking in on that area whenever we encounter any rain, and look deeper if I come across any more water.

Otherwise, everything looks like it is sealed well.

[YosemiteBobR]

A good test is to take some paper towels and lay along anywhere you suspect a leak, then check frequently the towels. They are a dead giveaway. Space the towels just a bit that way one towel won't make another wet.

[Dogpatch]

You could stop at an RV dealership and have them check the walls with a moisture detector. Any dealer worth their salt will have one. If it's not a heavy rain and still penetrating into the walls, it will not show on the floor. Moisture will stay in the walls and start to develope mold! Moisture detectors will read up to 1-1/2".
If you can't find a dealer with one, call a restoration company. They're guaranteed to have one and would do it for free or a small fee.

Money well spent when you look at the cost of repairs!

[Mike and Cha]

I think you are ok, even more so that you found what probably was the source of the water. Keep an eye on it and if it doesn't happen again don't worry about it. That's a lot of rain and if it was windy on top of that, you can get a few drips around vents ect. If it was all puddled up that would be a different story. Sounds like it was the dog's bowl to me though.

[scottandanna]

Easy enough to get to where I found the water, so I will check it again after the next rain, but after going over it (and on top of it) with a fine-toothed comb, I am sure it isn't coming from outside.

This area is an internal part of the trailer, so I am sure it isn't coming from the walls or slides, and the only thing near the water, other than the dog bowl, is that vent, and it looks nice and sealed up all around.

I think I just got freaked out because there was water on the floor at the same time as it was raining hard, and just jumped to conclusions. But, just to be safe, I will check it again after the next rain.

I like that paper towel suggestion, and will use it, as well.

[scottandanna]

...and after an overnight downpour, I think we got around 3" last night, I went out this morning and pulled the electrical box out and...


...completely DRY!

So, apparently it WAS the dog water bowl that I had spilled a couple days prior.