Draining the coroplast

While working on another project under the trailer, I saw the coroplast sagging more than usual. I cut two little holes at the lowest points and here is what happened.


I know for a fact there are no water leaks in the plumbing and I actually thought the under belly was sealed a lot tighter on this trailer than on the BC. Guess I was wrong. We came home yesterday in heavy rain.

So now I have a new project-same thing I had to do to the BC, seal the under belly.

I really LOVE camping-UGH!!!

What about all the insulation that is in there. Is it all wet now? Will it dry?

2psnapod2 said:

What about all the insulation that is in there. Is it all wet now? Will it dry?

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There really isn't any insulation batt in the bottom. It is a bubble insulation like Relectix. Kind of like bubble wrap - only foil. The rest of the space is filled with hydraulic hoses, wires etc.

Having water there is not good but it is not the end of the world either. Just don't like it when it happens. Just got to dry it out so it doesn't start rusting.

Sorry to see that Larry, I can only assume my BC will do the same if driven in hard rain. There should not be any water issue with the insulation as the floor is laminated Styrofoam.

SouthernNights said:

So now I have a new project-same thing I had to do to the BC, seal the under belly.

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What did you do to seal this area?

We found the same problem with our BH last year and spent alot of time trying to figure out where it was coming from because we had not driven in any rain.We took the colorplast off looking for leaking pipes, tank, etc. to no avail. Finally towards the end of the season I was sitting under the awning while raining and happened to see why we were getting so much water in the underbelly. The rain was running down the outside wall and would fall off the lower metal wrap and drop onto the ledge of the frame, where it run down the frame and go between the frame and the underbelly. I have not fixed it yet being it was the end of the year when I found it, but I plan on doing that this spring. Hope this helps other that don't know where the water may be coming from.

Thanks PizzaGuy for the heads up.

Larry - let us know what you find out.

N--

SJH said:

What did you do to seal this area?

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The coroplast was buckeld between the screws so I dropped the coroplast and worked from front to back adding screws to flatten out the corplast. The I used expanded foam to fill in holes around the drain etc.
BTW, what is above the coroplast will scare you. LOL

Pizzaguy said:

We found the same problem with our BH last year and spent alot of time trying to figure out where it was coming from because we had not driven in any rain.We took the colorplast off looking for leaking pipes, tank, etc. to no avail. Finally towards the end of the season I was sitting under the awning while raining and happened to see why we were getting so much water in the underbelly. The rain was running down the outside wall and would fall off the lower metal wrap and drop onto the ledge of the frame, where it run down the frame and go between the frame and the underbelly. I have not fixed it yet being it was the end of the year when I found it, but I plan on doing that this spring. Hope this helps other that don't know where the water may be coming from.

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Wow, good investigative work. Never thought about that one.

SouthernNights said:

There really isn't any insulation batt in the bottom. It is a bubble insulation like Relectix. Kind of like bubble wrap - only foil. The rest of the space is filled with hydraulic hoses, wires etc.

Having water there is not good but it is not the end of the world either. Just don't like it when it happens. Just got to dry it out so it doesn't start rusting.

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Mine is an 06, but we have the batt insulation in ours. Loosely floating around on top of the bubble stuff, and it was squished under the water tank too.

Ours did the same thing a looong time ago. I found the low spots and drilled 1/4 holes in the coroplast. Problem solved. I know I could seal it water tight....BUT...I might need to remove it at some point also.

SO water in this area is not a big deal? I was concerned with mine when my water filter busted in the UDC and flooded my basement and under belly. We dried the basement by pulling everything out and leaving it open. We stabbed two holes in the coroplast to drain it. I guess that all we needed to do?

Bob&Patty said:

I found the low spots and drilled 1/4 holes in the coroplast. Problem solved.

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I'm with you on this one Bob. I have suspected a certain amount of condensation could be going on as well. You've got heater air, and moist air from inside the rig in contact with the cloroplast, cold water lines, and the steel frame - makes sense that it would condense. I too have a couple "weep holes" strategically placed in low spots. I don't think you ever could seal it up to be considered water-tight.

I like Dick Hill's suggestion about installing several boat drains in the coroplast, that way it would self bail,

dave

What would really be cool..if you could find something that would work. Install a rear facing small vent that would use vacumn as you are moving to suck all the water out. Just install them in the low spots. HUUUUMMMMM, need to look into this. OK Rick Hansen, your up to find something that will work.

Bob&Patty said:

...Install a rear facing small vent that would use vacumn as you are moving to suck all the water out. Just install them in the low spots. HUUUUMMMMM, need to look into this. OK Rick Hansen, your up to find something that will work.

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Bob, Thanks for the challenge. Hypothetically, this might work (a little bit anyway) but I think that in reality whatever vacuum might be pulled to suck the water out, would also suck more water in somewhere else. Maybe the answer would be the opposite, to pressurize the entire rig and underbelly so that the air escaping from every opening would keep water from getting in. HUUUUMMMMM, indeed - I think I need to ponder this over another beverage...

We have had the water in the underbelly since we bought our Landmark - ours comes in while driving in the rain. We replaced the batt insulation twice before we threw in the towel and just removed it - sopping wet even when we tried the plastic wrapped batts.

Maybe if we could figure out a way to install the coroplast on the inside wall of the I-beam instead of the bottom? Whatever we come up with, it will be in smaller removable sections for easy access to the underbelly.

I had that problem with mine to when driving in the rain and also found thair was comeing in. I went around the frame cleaned it off on the top edge of the i beam, got some tape called Gorilla tape and lapped it around the top edge of the i beam and down over the coroplast. This stop it in my case and also stops the air from entering the under belly. I would do like mister Hill ( have to respect my elders ) suggested put some drain's in the low points in case you do have problem it will let it out and also tell you that you do have a problem.

Just a follow up to last weeks rain storm.

The factory indirectly suggested that there might be a leak from potable water or holding tanks because of the amount of water draining from the coroplast.

So, thinking that might be a possibility, I put a flow meter outside the coach and pressurized the coach. No leaks.
I filled both gray tanks (although it was obvious there was no soap in the draining water) one at a time and let them sit for several hours. Al this with the coroplast dropped down so I could see in above it. Then drained them individually . Still no leaks.

Next I used the back flush for the black tank. I was really expecting to find a leak on the flush system. Dropped the coroplast were I could get my hand on the tank fitting. Still nothing.

So, I have to conclude that all this water came from driving in the rain. Wow,something needs to be done to be prevent this. Never had this much water in the BC underbelly.

Here it is still draining a week later (today). I dropped the belly a little further today.


Thanks for all the suggestions and ideas. I think I will drop the belly all the way and start over.

On the plus side, there really are no water leaks on my trailer.

Larry, Thanks for posting your findings, as it's always good to have closure.
As you put it all back together, I'd suggest looking using foam board insulation rather than fiberglass batts. You'd be able to cut it and glue it in place in most areas. Any water intrusion wouldn't be very much of an issue after that. I'd also plan on taking time to route water lines away from the frame, insulate them, and generally clean up the mess I imagine is under there.

Good Luck.