Water leak - Montana Owners Club

oldgeezor · 11-03-2012, 10:48 AM

I have my trailer in storage with the slide closed up and was recently out to the site and noticed a pool of water in front of the shower and under the long close closet. See attached picture of location:

I have been on the roof and looked at all the seal around the bedroom slide and they all look good. I have also taken the panels off below the shower and it does not appear to have been wet. The only carpet area that gets wet is the laundry flip door and around it. Does anyone know where I should look to find this leak?

Ozz · 11-03-2012, 10:53 AM

I think that is the area that leaks when the vacuum breaker fails. But that would only be when the black tank is washed. Sitting there dormant, has to be rain-water related cause I would think. I assume the slides are closed in storage?

oldgeezor · 11-03-2012, 10:57 AM

Definitely rain water because slides are closed and we have had a bunch of rain this past week. Nothing obvious on the roof as I was up there.

grayghost03 · 11-03-2012, 11:01 AM

Do you have a vent directly above that area?

oldgeezor · 11-03-2012, 11:09 AM

Yes..you can just see it in the picture. It is not cracked or broken and is closed shut..maybe I should check the sealing around that vent and re-caulk.

Irlpguy · 11-03-2012, 11:23 AM

You did not mention if you have slide toppers or not Greg, I would bet the water is coming in around the slide. When it is closed, can you see on top of the slide to look for any indication of water up there.
My slides are all out right now and have been throughout all this rain we have been having, no sign of water so far, but I have toppers on them all. I don't see any other way water could get into that area.

With a slight slant to the rear any water entering around the slide would tend to migrate around the tub and over to the laundry chute.

thekennys · 11-03-2012, 11:34 AM

do you have shore water hooked up
residential pressure can be high, on mine it leaked under shower on fitting being loose
mikey

jimcol · 11-03-2012, 11:39 AM

Greg, Unfortunately it is hard to look at caulking and say if it is good or bad. I think I would pull the inside trim piece off that ceiling vent. If that is where the leak is I'll bet something like insulation or the top of the ceiling panel is wet. Good luck, Jim

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by oldgeezor

Yes..you can just see it in the picture. It is not cracked or broken and is closed shut..maybe I should check the sealing around that vent and re-caulk.

oldgeezor · 11-03-2012, 11:54 AM

Ed - we have slide toppers. Mike - nothing hooked up in the storage area. Jim - I can't see anything on the ceiling around the vent that looks wet but I will go out again and have another look. (it's about a 40 minute drive).

Thanks for the responses so far..

tim43 · 11-03-2012, 01:19 PM

If it is a Fantastic Fan vent, your leak could be there. Had one there myself and the water came in through the housing and did not mess with the insulation or roof structure itself. I think it is fixed after adding a tube of self leveling Dicor to the entire area.

**DQDick** · 11-03-2012, 01:32 PM

You might also check around the shower sky light. Once water finds a path in, it can travel before it makes it's elf known.

Irlpguy · 11-03-2012, 02:54 PM

I would assume Greg that you live here on the BC "wet" coast. In the last week or more we have had heavy rains sometimes driven by wind, when that happens the water can get in under the toppers and enter in an area we might not suspect. Because of the location of the pool of water you described I still think it is the slide. If it were the vent then the water should drip down directly on the Laundry chute and wick down into the compartment below through the carpet as the vent is directly above, if it leaked around the skylight in the shower then one would think it would have simply gone into the shower stall.
Trying to find the source of a leak can be very frustrating as it can travel along the structure and come out several feet from the actual area that is leaking.

Vents and such that are leaking should have moisture on them somewhere, water entering through the slide would most likely appear at the floor level where you indicated the puddle was especially if the unit sloped to the rear at all.
Just my humble opinion and it is an opinion only, as I am by no means an expert on "anything".

This rain is sure making me want to hook on and leave much earlier than we had planned to head to sun and warm. I hope you are able to find the source and solve the problem, as it sounds like our rain is going to be with us for some time. The good thing is you noticed it and can now deal with it.

fauch · 11-03-2012, 03:27 PM

Check this video. at time spot 2:50 is what i did to stop the leaks at the lap sealant areas on my vents and skylight. ... no leaks since :-})

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYwxEX3SBK4

oldgeezor · 11-04-2012, 05:42 AM

Fauch..there was no video attached. Ed- I live in Mississauga, Ontario and we had remnants of the hurricane out here with high winds a a lot of rain.

I am going out to the site tommorrow again to see how it's doing but if I can't fine the leak then, I will bring her down to my house on the weekend and park in the school lot behind and take a garden hose onto the roof and simulate a good rain storm. I'll have the wife inside watching for drips..hopefully I will find this before the snow starts coming.

bigskyjimmy · 11-04-2012, 06:45 AM

It could be the vent up top is leaking, my vent above the bed in the bedroom was leaking water on our bed and and also the vent in the bathroom was leaking on the toilet even thought it was closed so I installed vent covers over them PROBLEM SOLVED! why in Heck they did not come standard on a 60k 5th is beyond me

bigred715 · 11-04-2012, 08:28 AM

Try checking the 4 inch trim around the slide. Sometimes the caulking comes loose and water can get inside the slide that way. I had water in front of the shower and inside the closet next to the bed. Also on the other side of the bed on the floor. I resealed that trim since the calking had pulled loose and that took care of the water. The factory sealing is inadequate. Not put on thick enough.

fauch · 11-04-2012, 01:45 PM

here is the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYwxEX3SBK4

steelpony5555 · 11-04-2012, 04:09 PM

Yep that's what I did to mine and the last trailer. Eternabond tape goes on just as soon as I get the LT tires on before we go any where.

oldgeezor · 11-12-2012, 02:48 AM

Had the trailer down this weekend from the storage site and inspected the roof, which was fine but did some caulking anyway. My wife noted that the carpet in the closet was damp, so clearly the leak was in the slide. With the slide out I checked all the rubber seals top,sides and bottom. I did notice the top seal was twisted about half way down. I straightened this out and hopefully this was the cause. I did notice a couple other seals on the slides were twisted so I fixed those to. Will keep and eye out when the next rain comes to see if this fixed the problem. Thanks again for suggestions.

Bigboomer · 11-12-2012, 03:25 AM

Greg,

When the rig is in storage and the slides closed is the rig level, side to side, front to back? Did you check all of the silicone weatherseals where the exterior trim and panels meet to make sure no seals have failed where water can get in these?

If from visual all looks well, I would suggest that you try and replicate the leak by closing the slides and hose test the rig. starting from the bottom up put a hose without a nozzle on it running side to side along the slide(s)working your way up the exterior of the rig. Have someone on the inside with a flashlight watching. do about a one foot high section at a time lasting for about 15 mins per section. Continue all the way up until you get to the roof. Make sure you dump enough water on it so that if it is leaking it will allow the water to make it's way thru where ever it is migrating from.

Good Luck!

Les

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