Found the source of 2 leaks, maybe

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

We've been dealing with something we've never had a problem with before--leaks in our 2007 3585SA. We've determined that two of the leaks, one on each side of the bedroom slide, are more than likely caused by the high winds accompanying the frequent thunderstorms that blow in off the Gulf of Mexico (1/2 mile from that side of our RV). When I saw "blow," I mean blow--hard. If there's no wind and/or the rain comes straight down, we have no leaks in that area. But most of the time the rain blows nearly parallel to the ground, and we then get pretty big leaks.

Is there any way to combat what the wind is doing to cause those leaks in a blowing rain? If I stick my finger in the bottom of the slide where it meets the bedroom proper, I can feel carpet--dry carpet when there's no rain. After a rain, that carpet is soaked, as is the carpet in the bedroom in that area. At the present time, we've stuffed in all kinds of things to keep the rain from coming in at that point, but that's just a hit-or-miss stopgap measure. Maybe we should add some duct tape to the rubber flap that seals the slide to the side of the rig, extending that tape to a point below where that bottom gutter and opening are into the bedroom carpet area.

We're tearing our hair out over this problem because we can't leave without worrying about the RV flooding while we're gone (the rain showers have been that frequent over the last month). We also can't move to another site in the park because we are park hosts and have to be in the designated park host spot through November.

The source of the other leak, the one in the big slideout, is still under investigation. Because it's directly under a small window, we suspect the source of the leak is related to the window, but since water can travel a long way before manifesting itself, we may be way off track with that leak. We've resealed the window and all other areas near it where the seal looked suspicious. I guess the next thunderstorm will let us know if we have found the source of the leak.

Thanks to everyone who gave us the name of places where we might take our RV for this problem IF we can ever get away from the park for an extended absence. Right now, the recommendation for Camper Clinic II in Buda, Texas, looks the best. The MOCer who recommended it said that Camper Clinic was able to find a leak that other RV places could not find. Considering RV labor costs , we'd like to go somewhere that had a record of success!

Carolyn

[Jolu]

Carolyn,
I had a problem with water on the floor on each side of the bed. After many tries sealing things I found it was the metal trim piece at the bottom of the slide on the outside. The trim piece is about 4" wide and runs the length of the slide.
The sealant had small separations and water migrated in and traveled and showed up on each side of the bed.
The fix was to reseal that trim piece and no leaks for a couple of years.
Others have reported this problem also.
Joe

[8.1al]

Our bedroom slide has a metal trim on both sides near the bottom running horizontally. The trim has a vinyl stip covering the screws. We had trouble with rain getting in behind the vinyl and migrating into the bedroom carpet. I removed the vinyl and filled the channel in the trim with silicone back behind the slide seals

[richfaa]

On our 06 3400 we could see daylight at the corners of the kitchen and main slides when they were out.We could lift the seal on the inside and see outside.
Put a level on the fesca at the top of the main slide and see if it is level all the way across.Ours dipped in the middle and water would collect on the slide roof in a heavy blowing rain even tho we had slide toppers.

[HamRad]

Wayne and Carolyn,
If you need to travel and leave your trailer at the CG why not pull the slides in. If it is leaking around the seals then having them in might stop any leaks. Just a thought. Good luck. Dennis

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

Dennis, we thought about pulling in the slides when we left the campground, and that would/should take care of the bedroom leaks. However, the worst leak is in the slide where our recliners are, on that outside wall, so rain would still hit that area whether the slides are in or out. We're sort of damned if we do and damned if we don't! I can tell you that our situation makes going 25 miles down the road to buy groceries a "pray and hurry" situation every time we make the trip because of the daily thunderstorms and winds off of the Gulf that we're getting now.

Carolyn