Water leak in slide - where coming from?

[cmalberto]

When it rains AND when the slide is open, the carpet gets wet...interestingly right in the middle of the short side of the slide. Of course it spreads but I have been keeping an eye on it to see where it might possibly be coming from. I finally confirmed the middle as this was the wettest spot prior to spreading.

I have checked the walls on the inside of the camper and they are all dry. It just seems to accumulate at the carpet level.

I have been trying to locate the source by placing blue painters tape on the outside around windows, etc...not to fix but to identify the source so I can properly fix. I am striking out everywhere in my quest.

The seals around the slides are still in excellent shape. I have also placed tape over the top around where it seals the roof. I have also expected the roof and no issues found.

SO at this point I am looking for ideas of what to try / look for next. I have included some pictures to help show the leak as well as what I have tried outside. Also of note, I have tried to recaulk about the side window.

Any thoughts and comments would be appreciate it.

[Gary RVRoamer]

Could be leaking around the window frame and down thru the wall, or it could be trickling down the outer edge of the slide-to-sidewall seam and leaching in under the bottom edge at the corner. I had one like that on a bedroom slide. Or it could run along that bottom metal trim and down into the corner (Monaco slides were notorious for that in the early 2000's.

It looks as though your blue tape would have sealed off any window leaks, but I can't see it well enough to be confident.


Sometimes a piece of toilet paper or Kleenex tucked in a spot will help identify where the water travels. Those wet quickly if they touch any water at all.

[Country Road]

Originally Posted by cmalberto

When it rains AND when the slide is open, the carpet gets wet...interestingly right in the middle of the short side of the slide. Of course it spreads but I have been keeping an eye on it to see where it might possibly be coming from. I finally confirmed the middle as this was the wettest spot prior to spreading.

I have checked the walls on the inside of the camper and they are all dry. It just seems to accumulate at the carpet level.

I have been trying to locate the source by placing blue painters tape on the outside around windows, etc...not to fix but to identify the source so I can properly fix. I am striking out everywhere in my quest.

The seals around the slides are still in excellent shape. I have also placed tape over the top around where it seals the roof. I have also expected the roof and no issues found.

SO at this point I am looking for ideas of what to try / look for next. I have included some pictures to help show the leak as well as what I have tried outside. Also of note, I have tried to recaulk about the side window.

Any thoughts and comments would be appreciate it.

I realize it’s difficult sometimes to duplicate leaks with a water hose. But I do think that may be the way to proceed. I’d take a water hose and start on one corner of the slide and keep moving the hose. Have someone inside watching for water coming in.

Don’t be fooled thinking the leak is directly above the wet spot. Water can travel sideways before it travels down.

[ChrisDParise]

If there's nothing obvious leaking from the inside window frame or down the walls then i've learned to start at the top on the outside cleaning and resealing every seam - from top to bottom.

Chances are you'll see some crack in the caulk, missing caulk, thin caulk, etc.

You might get lucky observing an active leak while it's raining - they can be very revealing, but not always, and point you to specific areas outside.

Keep up with drying the carpeting and put a dehumidifier in there near the wetness. I place a dehumidifier on a large baking sheet in case of any dripping. Don't trust the auto shutoff.

Good luck.

[Cumminsfan]

I had a leak from a window in my slide less than a year after buying the TT.
I tried all sorts of tests and ended up just taking the inner trim piece off and having the wife run the hose outside. With the trim piece off I could easily see where the water was running down from. Crazy thing is everything on the outside look perfect.
Since I was under warranty I took it to my dealer who said they fixed it but it still leaked.
Because of other issues I needed to take it back to the factory. At the factory they removed the window, and reinstalled it, probably in less of a hurry than when in production and it hasn't leaked since in 3 years.
Taking the windows out is easy but since I was under warranty I had them do it.

Also when I took the inner trim piece off I found several of the trim screws went into nothing. So that may have led to the leak from not enough compression between the inner and out window trims.

[hamm2018]

One issue I have heard of, is the screws on the bottom trim pieces. Sometimes these leaks, so take these out 1 at a time, shoot some sealant in each hole, reinstall the screws. Also, if any of the screws are rusted, it will help locate the leak.

[cmalberto]

All great ideas - I will get a water hose to it...I suspect the bottom trim was the culprit - I previously sprayed some clear sealant on it but now I will focus there first with the water hose. If the culprit, I will remove and reseal.

As far as the window goes, I am not sure my caulking is that great on top - will water hose that next. As far as removing the inside frame goes - I like that idea but the valence or what ever that is called will be a beast to remove to get to the top screws of the frame. But that would help confirm water traveling down from just about any where in that area.

I even thought about removing the lower third of the paneling to see where the water is coming from but that is a last resort. The wants to remove the carpet and replace with fake tile - never a fan of carpet in an RV anyways as you can't get to most of it to keep clean anyways.

Again - thanks for all of the ideas - gives me some more ways to attack this problem to find the root cause.

[hohenwald48]

Hard to tell the difficulty level from the pic. It's usually not hard to remove the window frame, window valance, all the edge trim and pop off the inside wall panel to get a better look. Probably the route I'd take.

[bentjm]

Look at the sealant at the top of the trim piece at the bottom.

[Dutch Star Don]

Since leaks like this can come from anywhere, it's almost impossible to suggest where to look, you just have to look at everything. I had an almost identical leak on my 2005 Monaco Diplomat. We get very little rain California, so I could only try and diagnose it a few times a year. Somehow, the water was ending up right where yours is. I eventually found the culprit. The water was accumulating at the top of the slide, there was a hole drilled in the frame rail at the center of the slide and the water was running down the inside wall.

I eventually found that at the top corner of the slide on both sides, where the seals meet at both corners, the water was getting in there. I used some silicon to build up the corners and resolved the issue.