Rear wall very wet

Friends, we had a significant (awesome) hail storm on July 1. Tennis ball size hail. Hail lasted 30min. Rained hard much longer. Been raining hard lately, downpours.

Decided it was time to look closely at roof to see what hail did. A few pock marks but nothing outrageous.

Then, I started looking carefully, around the back side I noticed a "bubble" in the wall about window high near right side edge. Not big but noticeable.

I looked carefully underneath at the underbelly in the rear. I noticed drops.

Pulled lights out of rear bumper. Pulled bottom screws to release underbelly.

Found water in underbelly.

Removed rear bumper. (still haven't changed out the replacement heartland sent me last summer ... should have might have discovered this ... might not have.)

Anyway, when I removed bumper, I was sick, found the bottom of the rear wall soaked. the backing of the filon outershell was coming apart. very wet ...

I called insurance to say maybe I've got hail damage. I have full coverage. They took a report and rep came today.

He specializes in rvs and boats. When he saw the wet, he said, this isn't hail, this has been leaking a long time. When did you buy this.

We bought this 2010 32QBSS July 2009. He said, "man"!

Anyway, he said my comprehensive plan does not cover leaking. If it were hail damage that caused leaking that would be another story.

He suggested a repair shop. And he suggested I call heartland since it was so new. Even if I'd been slack on caulking it is very new for such leaking.

I called heartland. The tech guy said, no deal. the owner's manual clearly states owner should recaulk every 3 months.

I priced the rear wall from the parts folks. It is like 250 + 190 shipping. It is cut to size backing glued on and window holes cut. it is a simple remove and replace.

Anyway, I have been going over the caulking with a fine tooth comb. Washed the roof last night.

This morning the area was wet again. I spent today going over caulking again. Hoping for rain tonight. If not I will soak the roof in the morning and see what happens.

Any comments suggestions appreciated.

The good news is , the progressive rep said "You caught this early. If you do a good stop of the leaking, you can probably get away with doing nothing else.

I may spend the $$ and replace the wall.

Noticed a wet area in the entertainment area of my BH 3610RE but could not find the source. I must have looked for over a month. Checked all the normal suspects: wibdows; seams; roof caulk; etc. Just about to give up whe I got on a ladder again to check my roof and noticed the caulking around my radio antenna was slightly cracked. Tore it out, stripped the old caulk, recaulked (heavily), and reattached my antenna. Results around the antenna were not neat and pretty but I stopped the leak. Now, i just have to repair the wood damage

Pete, sorry to hear about your leak, but glad you told us. The radio antenna is one caulk spot I have never checked. The rest of the coach gets a thorough exam after every trip down the road (coming and going). If you find this stuff real early you can avoid 99% of damage. Keep the water out of these things, and they'll last a long, long time!

PSF513 said:

Noticed a wet area in the entertainment area of my BH 3610RE but could not find the source. I must have looked for over a month. Checked all the normal suspects: wibdows; seams; roof caulk; etc. Just about to give up whe I got on a ladder again to check my roof and noticed the caulking around my radio antenna was slightly cracked. Tore it out, stripped the old caulk, recaulked (heavily), and reattached my antenna. Results around the antenna were not neat and pretty but I stopped the leak. Now, i just have to repair the wood damage

Click to expand...

I have simply (wrongly???) been caulking with dicor OVER the older (original) caulk, except where it is obviously easily scraped away. I never thought of trying to remove old caulk from roof accessories (plumbing vents, skylight, vent covers, antenna, refrigerator vent, etc.). I figured it would be "risky business" to try to remove the old caulk for fear of tearing the rubber roof. So, I "push" and "press" and "spread" a new layer of dicor especially being diligent to get it good "into" the edge of the "old" caulk. Oh yes, a local dealer told me to carefully clean the original caulking with alcohol and do this. UNLESS it was silicone then get rid of the silicone before caulking. But being this is original "heartland factory" caulking I know it is not silicone but a dicor compatible caulk.

I can only know if this works by either having it rain or if not tomorrow morning I will soak the roof and check "inside" the rear bumper under the bottom of the wall which I have loose and which tonight is FAIRLY dry.

Might be time to try the Eternabond tape instead of caulking...and recaulking.

Are we really suppose to recaulk every three months?? That sounds ridiculous!

ZNK said:

Are we really suppose to recaulk every three months?? That sounds ridiculous!

Click to expand...

I've heard to inspect it "frequently," which I do, but recaulking the roof every three months can get very expensive. I had mine recaulked late in the first summer we had it, but it's been fine since. I've done touch-up on my own of the vertical joints on the front and rear caps, though. I'm thinking that when it looks like time to do it again, I'll use the Eternabond on the roof areas and be done with it.

ZNK said:

Are we really suppose to recaulk every three months?? That sounds ridiculous!

Click to expand...

Just finished recaulking my entire rig. OEM caulk was beginning to chalk and in a few areas letting go from the sides. One thing I noticed when removing the old...there were areas that had no caulk in the voids between trim and walls. Hard to explain but the bead of sealant was present but removing it showed gaps underneath. I am glad I took the time to reseal the entire thing and it is on my "every-other-year" list of things to do now. There is no doubt in my mind that it must be inspected every three months or more...especially here in the great Northwet!

It is possible that the tech rep said that the manual clearly says it is the owner's obligation to inspect every three months and recaulk where needed. he was clear though that they would do nothing, absolutely nothing about a 2010 with a damaged rear wall, that leaking was totally the owner's responsibility once outside 12 months of ownership. I heard, "No debate" "No consideration" ...

He did not mention eternabond at all. He did not mention necessarily removing all old caulk, rather simply recaulking the dry cracking areas.

I would have "felt" a little better if he would have shown some "feeling" and would have said, "Ah we've seen this, and although outside the 12 months, here is what I'd recommend you check ...

The Parts person at Northtrail was much more helpful.

I will look into eternabond as I've spent about $75 on dicor the northtrail and a Lance truck camper.

ridinpreacher said:

It is possible that the tech rep said that the manual clearly says it is the owner's obligation to inspect every three months and recaulk where needed. he was clear though that they would do nothing, absolutely nothing about a 2010 with a damaged rear wall, that leaking was totally the owner's responsibility once outside 12 months of ownership. I heard, "No debate" "No consideration" ...

He did not mention eternabond at all. He did not mention necessarily removing all old caulk, rather simply recaulking the dry cracking areas.

I would have "felt" a little better if he would have shown some "feeling" and would have said, "Ah we've seen this, and although outside the 12 months, here is what I'd recommend you check ...

The Parts person at Northtrail was much more helpful.

I will look into eternabond as I've spent about $75 on dicor the northtrail and a Lance truck camper.

Click to expand...

I thought I had the leak cured with diligent caulking. this is because I let a hose run on each rear roof corner for a long time and found no leaking at lower rear external wall behind the bumper. I had removed the plastic that covers the bottom of the rear wall and felt all along the width. All seemed well. Went camping with kids and grands tentatively convinced. We had one hard rain at the beach. Since returning home we have had two hard rains. My wife suggested I check. Sickening to discover wet again. I am pretty much convinced to pay a highly recommended shop here in SC their $200 fee to do a pressurized leak test to pinpoint the leak for me.

Maybe someone out there has some good sound guidance for finding leak. I have searched diligently. I have cleaned the old caulking with alcohol, peeling away only that which easily peeled away, otherwise caulking over the old with DICOR lap sealant.

I am wondering if I need to pull all of the molding off?

OR after spending so much on so many tubes of DICOR, let the shop do the pressure test and pin point the leak.

I am curious about using the Eternabond instead of DICOR. Does anyone out there have a good detailed explanation on doing this.

Our unit is a 2010 northtrail 32QBSS which is why I am really sick about the damage under the filon on the rear wall. Also the rear roof corners both sides are a little soft -- the area of softness about a 2 inch triangle shape at each roof corner. Not super soft but soft nonetheless.

As far as we can tell, we can find no softness, no spotting, no wetness inside the northtrail. We've checked under the rear dinette and inside the cabinets and find nothing.

Is there a web site for guidance on replacing caulk with eternabond? For doing at least the roof edges sides and front and rear with eternabond?

For now, until I can either solve or have inspected, my wife and I covered with a 40x20 tarp from harbor freight. We secured it with poly rope "sewing" the rope is how my wife described it working under the belly of the northtrail from front to rear like stiching a tent. Just in time, it stormed all night that night. i pulled the right rear tail light in the morning and the heartland rear was bone dry.

Reason I ask about the eternabond. I am thinking that an option is to simply work my way around the roof. Remove the top rear trim resecure it with new putty and new caulking; do each side the same; then the front. I've got to believe at this point my problem is actually either the top rear trim and or one of the side pieces. I would not doubt a leak through screw or screws under the trim on one of the top side moldings.

I'm also wondering about this. We just got our Cyclone in May and I would like to do some preventative maintenance.... with some Eternabond tape.

Thanks!

ridinpreacher said:

For now, until I can either solve or have inspected, my wife and I covered with a 40x20 tarp from harbor freight. We secured it with poly rope "sewing" the rope is how my wife described it working under the belly of the northtrail from front to rear like stiching a tent. Just in time, it stormed all night that night. i pulled the right rear tail light in the morning and the heartland rear was bone dry.

Click to expand...

We so feel your pain. A person buys something brand new and thinks everything is going to be perfect, not so anymore. You would think you could get through the first year without having to reseal practically the entire trailer yourselves.

Last year our brand new trailer spent more time at the dealers trying to fix a leak in our slide. My husband and I did 99% of the fix ourselves because our dealer was so clueless.

We had 2 used motorhomes before this brand new trailer and in 25 years never had to do one thing to either one of them in regards to leaks or bad caulking.

We do like this trailer a lot, but we sure got off on the wrong foot.

We used Sikaflex and carry Drip Seal with us all the time and eterna bond.

I did a Google search on "DIY RV Pressure Leak Test" and came up with a lot of hits, including this one using a leaf blower and a plywood adapter plate:
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/18436339.cfm

Maybe you can save the $200, and be able to recheck things when you want to.

We have used Eternabond extensively on our roof. I have used the 4in roll over the front and back caps and around vents which gives it a nice wide seal.
It would certainly help in the situation in this thread, I reccommend to seal the ends of the eternabond on the front and back caps with a sealant also so it ensures a good tight seal. It is good to clean the surfaces with Acetone (thats what I use) so the sealant gets a good bond to adhere to the eternabond and the rubber on the roof.
I have used some Dicor self levelling compound as well, but eventually I will replace with eternabond where I can. Cheers

My 2011 3610RE Bighorn had a water leak above the rear window in the caulk seam. Heartland customer service was rather rude when I called them to get some information, answer was, "it is the customers responsibility to check the caulk every 3 months and repair as needed". Asked if any suggestions on procedure, answer was, recaulk where needed. Apparently it is not just Heartland units that have this issue with water leaks. Fellow RVrs supplied me with a lot of good informaion. Got the water leak stopped just fine.

In case anybody is interested, a lot of Walmarts carry Eternabond in the RV section.

I was very impressed with the Dicor Roof patch I bought at Camping World ( http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/product/dicor-self-adhesive-patch/5738 ), although a 25 foot by 5 inch wide roll cost over $100. This stuff has a thick, grey, gummy, plastic adhesive layer under an outer layer of EDPM rubber. You do need prep cleaners and a hand roller to install it properly.