Shower enclosures

charris57

Member
Heartland needs to seal their shower stalls better. We have had a problem from the beginning, and have finally found is is coming from the shower enclosure. We are now sealing it ourselves with marine 3M 5200.
 

Sawbonz

Member
Ours is being repaired now, right after our initial outing. The problem for us seems to be that they were trying to caulk while outside of the shower. You have to actually close the door and sit in the shower pan to adequately caulk the bottom of the unit on the inside.
 

RickNB

Well-known member
I have had a problem with our shower leaking from the start and have had our dealer add caulking to the outside of it but still leaking. When I look at the design of the shower bottom and top pieces I question where the caulking should go as it looks like the top overlaps the bottom . Maybe someone could tell us where it should be sealed. By the way there was never any caulking on the inside.

Thanks
Rick:D
 

5erWonk

Well-known member
I'm still tracking my leak as well.....Stevie, I find mine dripping in to the basement area of my BH.

Another source I discovered when I found a drip into the basement newt to the heat vent came from the shower door when opened water ran off the door gutter and down the side of the floor vent. Easy fix, I just put a dab of caulk on the end of the gutter and no drip.

BTW, my Montana shower leaked as well and we never found the source.
 

fishn2dmax

Well-known member
Is it me or does the plastic shower wall panels/ insert appear as if it is not attached physically to the walls? I also don't see any caulk used where the shower attachs to the shower base? While the base does come up behind and above the wall joint, it wouldn't take much to get moisture up behind the joint in the wall / floor.

Maybe its just my Sundance 2900MK, but as I push on the plastic shower walls, they don't appear attached at all to the wall and actually bow out from the physical wall. Is this normal? I haven't noticed any leaks, but then again we have not had the opportunity to use the new trailer much.
 

Johnm

I wanna go camping - NOW
The shower in our 2997BHS appears to have the same issue as fishn2dmax's has.

We've also had water pools on the vinyl flooring next to the shower and in the basement storage area under the shower (both after using the shower).

It's also in the shop for repairs, and winter storage.
 

StevieWonder

Well-known member
OK. So other than an ugly looking caulk job on the interior of the shower, what are the fixes being offered by the dealers you are seeing about this?
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
If you have the PVC shower/tub surround they should not need to be caulked around the bottom of the walls. There is plenty of lip on the tub/base to prevent leakage in that area. Depending on the type of shower enclosure you have will determine the need for caulk. If you have a sliding fabric folding door, it is probably leaking through the channel at the base. If you have the 3 wall glass enclosure like us. It could be leaking from a couple different spots. I've caulked the entire inside of the surround and still get an ounce or so of water near a corner. I think it may be coming through the vertical channel against the outside wall. I have to run a thin bead of silicone on those channels and see if that does the trick.
 

Oldlthrnecksgirl

Hisyoungercuterwife
Ok, I am going to go out on a limb here. We have the glass enclosure shower and it leaked. We went and got a 5 dollar tube of caulk and I caulked it. Took almost ten minutes. There was still a bit of a leak so called the dealer because we were worried it was coming from the bottom, He came out and caulked around the drain.

Sometimes it is easier to deal with a minor issue on our own when possible. In a perfect world there would be zero issues but I am very pleased with almost perfect.
 

RugRat

Well-known member
This seems to be a common issue. I know mine leaked into the basement and my dealer used silicone to reseal the inside of the shower. Problem solved. I think it was leaking in the right front corner.
 

5erWonk

Well-known member
I also caulked where all the glass frames met the walls which helped...Also caulk the screws on the interior channels, they are not counter sunk so they do not seal completly.
 

StevieWonder

Well-known member
Maybe it's just me, but wouldn't Heartland be well served to caulk these areas at the factory even if it means an extra $20 charge to a $35-50K trailer? Cheaper to do it right the first time and there's the value of customers (apparently more than a couple) who don't have issues. Maybe that's why I don't build trailers for a living.
 

Oldlthrnecksgirl

Hisyoungercuterwife
I guess you could go spend tens of thousands more for a unit that is caulked better on every single unit but develops different issues. I just think it should be kept in mind that a handful of people with the same issue doesn't negate the overall quality that I feel we have gotten.
 

5erWonk

Well-known member
I'm not sure why they don't do a better job sealing these showers, like I mentioned before, my Montana shower leaked as well. I suspect the unit is supposed to seal itself and the caulking is the remedy when the built-in seals don't do their job.

One nice feature on my BH that Montana did not have is the port hole access inside the shower stall, this make it verry easy to see if the plumbing fixtures are the source of the leaks.

BTW I think you are better off trouble shooting the leak issues yourself than having the dealer work on it.
 

Sundance_kid

Well-known member
Same problem with the 3300SK. It's in now for the 3rd time on the shower leak. They will get it fixed one of these times, but I like it going back to the dealer as there is a record of the problem. That saved me a $1000 on a vehicle problem once.
 

denhammkc

Member
stoped my leak

I had to caulk all along were the glass meets the metal frame the rubber there does not stop the water as well as all around the bottom it finally did the trick, I also had to put a residential door threshold sweep on the outside of the door so that when the door is closed it bows in but does not come all the way past the bottom frame. pics to follow, it is cold here and it is in storage.

PS I was going to go to my dealer but judging by the condition the rig was in when we picked it up I think everyone at that dealership come to work on the short yellow bus. I would not trust them to wash it (they didn't do that either) let alone do any real repair work.
 

sunriverman

Active Member
shower leak

I have noticed a little water on the vinyl in front of the showe door. Have caulked the base where it meets the vinyl to prevent water going under the shower base and into the storage area. With the shower door flap as it is I think you will always have the potential for a little moisture. I just leave a towel on the floor and an extra measure. Someone mentiioned caulking around the shower drain. If that is the area of the leak the drain needs to be loosen from the bottom and new plumber putty installed not caulk.
 

itsbeertime

Well-known member
Ours leaked from day one too. It's the 3 panel glass wall version and it ran down into the UDC which is how I found it. It leaks between the bottom of the glass panels and the shower base, in several places. There is actually caulk there but it still leaks. It also leaks under the door because the clear plastic sweep is too short. Seems with ALL the people having this issue they'd spend an extra 30 seconds to do it right. But nah, that would be too easy.
 

RVerFulltime

Fulltiming Since 2004
Interesting...From the beginning, our shower area had leaked. We stripped the old caulking off and applied new. Why Heartland is this a problem area for your assembly people?
 
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