Delamination or not?

wingfoot

Well-known member
Does this look like a delaminate problem? Just purchased the trailer, 3400RE, 2008. The waviness is under the front cap. I asked the dealer if that was what I was seeing. He assured me it was not delamintaion..But, I want to see what you guys think. It actually looks worse in the pictures than it really is. The molding seals look great and no brakes seen.



100_9685.JPG100_9686.JPG

Click on image to get a larger view.
 

SJH

Past Washington Chapter Leaders
Very difficult for me to tell by the photos but I don't think it is delamination. It could however still be resultant from a water leak. There should not be that many waves/ripples in that part of the cover.
 

TandT

Founding Utah Chapter Leaders-Retired
When my neighbor in our park was winterizing his BH ,( he was in Washington.) he forgot to drain the line going to the washer/dryer closet in the bedroom. It froze, blew and warped his panel under the bedroom in a similar fashion as yours. Although his was worse and was pulling out of the seam on one side. Although, it dried and has been stable since. Not getting any worse. He is going to cut out the panel and replace it. Also fixing the plumbing at the same time.
Not saying you have the same situation. Just thought it might help. Trace
 

wingfoot

Well-known member
When my neighbor in our park was winterizing his BH ,( he was in Washington.) he forgot to drain the line going to the washer/dryer closet in the bedroom. It froze, blew and warped his panel under the bedroom in a similar fashion as yours. Although his was worse and was pulling out of the seam on one side. Although, it dried and has been stable since. Not getting any worse. He is going to cut out the panel and replace it. Also fixing the plumbing at the same time.
Not saying you have the same situation. Just thought it might help. Trace


Thanks for the reply's. Sounds reasonable and kinda hope that's what's going on with my trailer. I failed to mention that the caulking on the right side of the front cap looks like it may have been resealed. This would make the hypothesis of leaking and the freezing plausible and it very well could be from a washer/dryer leak. If that's the case, my hope is that it did leak, froze and then causing the underside of the cap to warp and has been repaired. Which this would explain the new/but not brand new caulking. I just didn't want it to be delamination. In that case it may not get any worse...You just hate to see this on your newly purchased 5R..:mad:

BTW: I've bought trailers from this dealer before..I trust them and they had one of the techs look at it and they again assured me it was not delamination.
 

kakampers

Past Heartland Ambassador
That piece does not need to be "cut" out...it is screwed into position and can be easily removed by taking off the trim pieces and unscrewing it from the frame. Ours was removed and replaced several times early on....
 

davidg

Active Member
I would not settle for nothing more than having the whole thing replaced, call Heartland & send pictures.
David
 

wingfoot

Well-known member
That piece does not need to be "cut" out...it is screwed into position and can be easily removed by taking off the trim pieces and unscrewing it from the frame. Ours was removed and replaced several times early on....

Just curious, was yours "looking" like this...Or did you have other problems that caused this.
 

jpdoggett

Well-known member
I had something like this on the side of my SOB and it was caused by flexing of the side did not have good bracing under the slide
 

jmgratz

Original Owners Club Member
That piece is not laminated. It is a piece of a fiberglass type material. As someone else said it can be easily replaced but the real thing to look at is why did that happen. Usually that happens due to either a frame flexing problem or in the earlier models there was a cardboard backing which would ripple when it got wet. The intrusion of water could be from poor caulking on the roof where the top of the front cap joins the roof. You can call Heartland Customer Service and talk to them about it and be sure to have your vin when you do.
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
If you crawl into the front compartment, you can see the underside of that panel (part of it, that is). It kind of feels like thin plywood that's been coated (fiberglass ?). Don't be surprised if you find evidence of critter nests in there if the front compartment has not been foam sealed between the frame and wall. May also consider stuffing soft foam around the jack openings when you're parked. In case you're wondering, no, the factory does not seal it up. You do.
 

scotty

Well-known member
My 06 has the same issue and I can tell looking in the front compartment that at some time in the pass it had leaked. Not leaking now and not getting worst so I live with it. I don't think the earlier BH were built to much of a standard. I've had more problems with this unit then any of the other five. Oh well, I wanted it, liked it and now live with it.
 

Bob&Patty

Founders of SoCal Chapter
Wingfoot. mine had the same issue. It was caused by the caulking going bad at the molding. It was leaking water into the bottom cover. My bad for not finding it sooner. You can buy the whole piece from HL. Should take about 2 hours to replace it. The whole thing is held on by screws. If you do replace it, recaulk the doo-doo out of it with a good RV caulk. Inspect all the caulking on the whole coach every year and repair as needed.
 

TandT

Founding Utah Chapter Leaders-Retired
That piece does not need to be "cut" out...it is screwed into position and can be easily removed by taking off the trim pieces and unscrewing it from the frame. Ours was removed and replaced several times early on....

Okay, maybe "cut out" was a poor choice of words. In a manner of speaking I meant removed. Trace
 

rustyshakelford

Well-known member
Is this the area around the pin box? If so, ours is very wavy but the material feels more like a heavy plastic sheet than fiberglass. I wonder if I should take some pics to see if it gets worse.

Brett
 

TandT

Founding Utah Chapter Leaders-Retired
Is this the area around the pin box? If so, ours is very wavy but the material feels more like a heavy plastic sheet than fiberglass. I wonder if I should take some pics to see if it gets worse.

Brett

That is what I'm getting out of my exchange with the OP.
Mine is a tiny bit wavey also. I believe what the OP and my neighbor has is a serious wavey,more towards the side seam, including pulling out the side seam. Trace
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
I would not settle for nothing more than having the whole thing replaced, call Heartland & send pictures.
David
David, this is on a used 2008 trailer. What would you expect Heartland to do?

Wingfoot, we had a very similar situation on our 2007 3400RL. As TANDT was mentioning, we also had some leakage in the W/D area. Ours was in the drain. We didn't have the washer hose stuffed far enough down the drain pipe. It had overflowed a couple of times. The panes is basically a cardboard like material coated with fiberglass/filon. It only leaked for a few washer cycles but there's no way to manually dry that area so it became warped.
 

wingfoot

Well-known member
OK, I called Heartland and spoke with one of the service techs. Here is what he said..."I've seen this a hundred times. If the bulkhead is not sealed properly, water will go directly to the bottom of the bulkhead and distort the cardboard backing on the fiberglass/panel and delaminate from it. It will not get worse, if it in fact it has been fixed." He went on to say that it had been his finding that most of the leaking problems originated at seal/caulk on the top of the bulkhead. He stressed how important it is to check the top seal often." I asked him if he had heard of "Eternabond" and he said "yes-good stuff". So after hearing that, I'll be applying Eternabond to the top of my front cap..I used it on my other 5r and it worked well. Never had to re-caulk thereafter:eek:
 
Top