Interesting Leak- Your Ideas?

floridarandy

Well-known member
Interesting Leak- Any Ideas Where it Came From?

Well Noah would have been right at home. Our 5 day 4 night trip started with a bang. Arrived and set up in the dry on Wed, Wed night a storm system blew in and rained until sometime the night Thurs pm/ Fri am. 9 tornados within 10 miles of Hillsborough River State Park, several large trees down in the park, one taking a power line with it. No power from early Thursday morning until around 7 pm Saturday evening. I think the weather report 6" but I'd guess more like 10" from the flooding in the park. Friday was cool and dry, ditto Sat and Sunday.

No leaks anywhere we could find during the rain storm. After closing up to leave this morning I lifted the front end to back the truck in for hookup and a noticeable stream of water came out from the thru-wall fitting for the battery vent. I pulled all four screws and the source of the water was the horizontal surface running from bottom of the front cap, past the king pin to the front baggage door. This surface is screwed up from underneath and is not bonded to the bottom of the front of the camper. Pushing up on this area and "walking" it to the front arc where it meets the baggage door increased the flow of water out the vent opening. I'm going to guess maybe a pint or two water. Apparently it had pooled here during the storm and only moved when we lifted the front end.

I've attached pictures to indicate what I've described.

There appeared to be a slight separation in the caulk where the front cap meets the front sides of the rig. I'm guessing?? water streaming off the top and sides may have entered here? There's also a small vertical joint just below the front of the bedroom slide that appeared to be slightly separated. I removed the caulk and resealed these areas when I got home as we're expecting rain in 2 days again.

My first question is....is this the likely entry point fo the water? I didnt' inspect the cap at the top where it meets the roof. There was no moisture in the carpert in the bedroom or in the front closet that we could determine. If water had to travel from the top to this pan on the bottom it seems we'd have seen more moisture.

Secondly, assuming th water came somewhere near the bottom of the sides...where this pan meets the sides, what consequence will the water have. Is there wood immediately above this pan. Presumably there is decking that provides the "floor" for the front portion of the rig which I assume is treated material. Insulation above this pan?
Assuming I've stopped the intrusion I assume the heat will "bake" the area dry but the groups thoughts on longer term damage are appreciated.

Randy in Florida

P4032278.JPGP4032279.JPGP4032280.JPGP4032281.JPGP4032282.JPGP4032285.JPGP4032283.JPGP4032284.JPG
 
Last edited:

floridarandy

Well-known member
Re: Interesting Leak- Any Ideas Where it Came From?

point of clarification. the arrows in the pics shows where the water was coming from. the X show the areas where water appears to have pooled. pushing up on the X areas caused water to flow out the opening at the arrows. water cam from above the opening.
 

boatto5er

Founding VA Chap Ldr (Ret)
Re: Interesting Leak- Any Ideas Where it Came From?

Randy - I suspect you're pretty close to being correct on the possible entry point. When we had our 2900, we had the same thing occur a couple of times. I recaulked all the seams in the areas you are referring to and didn't have any problems afterwards. Only way to tell is to recaulk and wait for the next very heavy rain.

BTW, didn't have any flooring problems.
 

Bob&Patty

Founders of SoCal Chapter
Re: Interesting Leak- Any Ideas Where it Came From?

Randy, pix #'s 6-9 look like where the leak could be. Those area's need to be chalked. Chalking should be completely across both sides of the molding under the front cap also. Get a ladder and check the chalking all the way to the roof on both sides of the molding.
 

HappyKayakers

Well-known member
Re: Interesting Leak- Any Ideas Where it Came From?

Same here, check the front cap molding all the way around. I've been using ProFlex RV caulk for my recent projects. Goes on great and keeps looking good.
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
Re: Interesting Leak- Any Ideas Where it Came From?

Another potential area for water intrusion is the upper clearance lights. We had a leaky connection at the washer/dryer area that caused the same situation you had.
 
Top