Bedroom Slide Leaking Water

[Bill-N-Donna]

Has anyone fought with their bedroom slide leaking water during or right after a rain storm?

When we purchased our Monty I noticed where there was or had been a problem. I was prepared for the possibility of a leak. However, looking it over real good, I didn't see anything that looked like any kind of damage to be concerned about.

This may be difficult to explain so I will use A few photos to try and explain exactly where I’m talking about. Water leaks in only while the slide is open. I have sealed along both sides of the rubber flange where the big seal is against the slide wall.



This looked to me like it might have allowed water in tiny cracks. The water is seeping onto the floor in the area where the slide is along the edge. The carpet on the floor will become wet and it will also be wet about 6 inches below the edge of the slide area, in the very corner of the carpet.





When I first had a problem I took it to my dealer and they put a little caulking near the top where they thought it might be leaking. It may have helped a little but between what I did and what the dealer did it seemed to almost stop the leak. Well this week end we had a lot of rain and it’s still leaking.

There is what feels like a tiny trough below the slide that seems to go all the way across underneath the slide extending also below the black rubber flange.



It looks to me like water can get in the trough running down the side along the rubber flange. I can actually place my small finger in part of this trough. What I think is happening is water is getting in by running into the trough and overflowing inside where the carpet is getting wet.

I put some caulking in the part of the trough that seemed to be exposed and also touched up another area hoping that it will divert the rain somewhere else not allowing it to get inside stopping the leak. If this is where the water was coming from I hope that it has stopped it.

I’m just curious if anyone else has had any kind of problem and dealt with anything like this. If so, I would like to hear what you did and also if there is a known problem in this area or not!

Thanks!

[jpkelpe]

We had water in our slide area after a rain storm--the tape on the slide out roof along the edge was "loose". We put new Dicor roof silicone stuff on it along with the Eternabond tape--no problems since then. It seems that the water ran down the wall and that was the reason the carpet was wet. Check the roof out, as that may be ther sorce of the water.

[JH Sechelt]

We had water coming in the bedroom slide a few times in the rain. To make a long story short the roof of the slide is too flat. We used to park with the drivers side of the trailer a little tiny bit higher then the curb side. The old keep your head higher then your feet thing (when sleeping). Because of that, as water pooled on the roof of the slide, it would run in towards the trailer. The seals are not that water tight. Let the drivers side down off of the 2 X 10, we park on, the pooled water would now run down the outer part of the slide to the ground. Another thing we do is bring the bedroom slide in 3/4 of an inch. Actually only the bottom comes in, putting a greater slant on the slide roof so the water runs to the outside. So far it works for us.

Hope this makes sense.
J&D

[Bill-N-Donna]

I will watch and see how the repair goes for a while. It appears that this may be a common problem after all.

I was inspecting the tape that jpkelpe mentioned and it looks pretty good as far as I can tell.

I will also keep in mind what JH Sechelt said about bringing in the slide at the bottom. That sounds like a good idea but wouldn't that loosen the seal near the bottom and allow more room for leaks in that area?

[Bill-N-Donna]

Well I checked the slide out this morning after a long rain and sure enough, it's still leaking. I closed the one slide and now it’s quit raining. I’m not sure what to do at this point. The only place I didn't seal it is on top next to the main seal. Maybe just maybe it's leaking somewhere along that.

Does anyone know if you can remove the bed enough to get a better look at the slide area without a major job? I was just wondering if maybe that would show where the leak is at.

[Waynem]

Bill,
Are you really sure it is the slide that is leaking? Water seeks it's own level and the leak could be some where else and just traveling to that location.

Depending on the total unit being perfectly level, the water could be coming in from the opposite sade and traveling to the puddle area.
Just a thought.

[NewFlyLady]

Well, I have a slide leak and it has been worked on 8 times by the dealer. It still leaks when I get a heavy rain. One thing the dealer told me was that when looking st the outside of the slide you can actually put your figure in the bottom corner and feel the carpet. Once that carpet gets any water it just starts wicking to the inside. He cut away some of the carpet, put in a little ramp to drain water that got beyond the gasket and sealed the ends of that bumper tube you see on the bottom edge. As I said, it still leaks in a heavy rain but at least it does not leak all of the time now. I have given up on the dealer fixing it.

[Bill-N-Donna]

Wayne I know what you’re saying but I don't think it leaks when the slide is closed. I may need to do more tests on that to be sure. The water also shows up right at the bottom of the slide on one corner.

[steves]

Check the weep holes in the slide window. If they are blocked, rain will leak in onto the carpet area.

[rubble express]

Our bedroom slide was leaking on the bottom of the left front (looking from outside). The carpet would get soaked between the bed and the closet. From outside, pull back the bottom of the left side weather stripping and see if you can see any carpet. If you can, that could be your problem (it was ours). Might be that way on the right side, too. The fix is simple enough. Pull the slide in a little bit and with a utility knive, cut away any carpet that is wrapped around the "kickboard". This keeps the water that settles along the bottom ledge (below the slide) from wicking in. Now I can actually see daylight from the inside and I can stick my finger inside from the outside. This fix completely stopped the leak even during extremely heavy rain. Hope this is all that is wrong with yours.

[Ishler]

We had a similar leak with our unit. After the second try to repair it Keystone authorized an update to the current style bottom molding. They replaced the molding on the (bottom of the slide under the windows) that has the tape to hide the screws to the current style that has the screws on the bottom. This solved our leak.

[8.1al]

Bill,
If you look at the side of your slide, there is,as Mike said,a molding along the bottom that has a vinyl strip covering the screws. This is where water was leaking in on ours. Peel that vinyl back in the area where it disappears into the side of the trailer and fill it with silicone caulk. This fixed ours.

[Bill-N-Donna]

quote:Originally posted by steves

Check the weep holes in the slide window. If they are blocked, rain will leak in onto the carpet area.

I haven't seen any weep holes, could you explain to me where they are located?

[steves]

Bill: My bedroom slide - corner (next to the wardrobe closet) rug was getting damp in heavy rains. My slide has a bedroom window on that side of the slide. If you look in the bottom of the window frame you will see two slits which are intended to let water run out of the window frame. My slits (weep holes) were blocked and water was running in behind the window and down my wall. I re-caulked around the window corners with black caulking and opened the weep holes with a small knife blade.

[Bill-N-Donna]

quote:Originally posted by steves

Bill: My bedroom slide - corner (next to the wardrobe closet) rug was getting damp in heavy rains. My slide has a bedroom window on that side of the slide. If you look in the bottom of the window frame you will see two slits which are intended to let water run out of the window frame. My slits (weep holes) were blocked and water was running in behind the window and down my wall. I re-caulked around the window corners with black caulking and opened the weep holes with a small knife blade.

Thanks!

I'll have to check that out.

[Bill-N-Donna]

quote:Originally posted by 8.1al

Bill,
If you look at the side of your slide, there is,as Mike said,a molding along the bottom that has a vinyl strip covering the screws. This is where water was leaking in on ours. Peel that vinyl back in the area where it disappears into the side of the trailer and fill it with silicone caulk. This fixed ours.

Thanks,

I'll have to check that also!

[Bill-N-Donna]

Big thanks to everyone who has made suggestions!

I'll keep looking back at this thread from time to time as needed.

[Bill-N-Donna]

quote:Originally posted by 8.1al

Bill,
If you look at the side of your slide, there is,as Mike said,a molding along the bottom that has a vinyl strip covering the screws. This is where water was leaking in on ours. Peel that vinyl back in the area where it disappears into the side of the trailer and fill it with silicone caulk. This fixed ours.

I finally took the time and looked at that weather strip as you have mentioned. The strip itself has shrunk to about 2 inches short of where it should be. I can see how water could easily get into the coach from that avenue. I pulled the strip back and placed some silicone caulking in that area. We will watch and see if this will help. The way it looks I might get a good test tonight with some rain.

On Edit: Up date, it would appear at this time that this has stopped the leak. We had a hard rain this afternoon and its still raining. I just checked where it had been leaking and it is dry.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Second edit: Looked at it this morning and still looking good!

[8.1al]

That's good news, hopefully that's the cure

[rono]

Our carpet was getting wet as described above. I found that if I pushed the 'out' button to move the slides out the bedroom slide would move an ever so small amount, but that was enough to stop the leaking. I'm assuming that after awhile the slide would 'sag' and needed to be seated again.
Ron