Exterior Access Doors

[nowinter]

I have a question regarding the propane access doors, on my 2009 Montana 3400RL. Last summer, I noticed swelling towards the lower portion of my passenger side, propane access door. When we were at the Fall Rally, I had a Keystone representative look at the damaged door and he brought out a new door, later that day. I asked him what could have caused the swelling and how could I prevent this from happening again. He indicated that he was not sure why it happened and did not have any suggestions regarding preventing a reoccurrence.

Just the other day, I noticed similar damage/swelling on the opposite propane access door, on the driver's side. I just spoke to Keystone Customer Service and they were empathetic regarding the swollen door and will be sending me a new door, at no charge. I informed Keystone that in my opinion, when I removed the black rubber gasket on the inside panel of the door, I could not find any sealant on the bottom edge of the door panel. In fact, the door panel was 90% loose once the rubber gasket was removed. Thus resulting in the door wicking moisture up. She disagreed with me and said all panels are sealed at the factory and it is the owner's responsibility to maintain and seal the doors. I should have applied a thin coat of silicone sealant around the perimeter of the door panel and the aluminum frame, in her opinion. She would send a new door, just this one time only. Since I was getting a free door, I did not think I should debate this issuer further.
Here is my question: Do any of you apply silicone sealant where your door panels meet the aluminum door panel frame. Thanks.

[Trailer Trash 2]

I think if you are going to put silicone sealant I would leave the top alone and one sweepstarting at the top right then down and around and stopping at the top of the other side. top is open for drying if there is dampness.

[exav8tr]

I have an '06 and NEVER applied sealant to the doors and do not have any bulging panels. I wonder if they changed manuf at some point. Sounds like they were trying to cover their bottoms. Never even heard of doing this......

[Trailer Trash 2]

it sound like the partical board that is used to make the doors could be getting wet, and when it gets wet it expands this might be whats happening to your doors, just another guess on my end.

[nowinter]

Trailer Trash: That is exactly what has happened. Rain water is getting in the bottom of the panel and wicking up and bulging out the panel. I informed the rep that when I disassembled the access door panel, I did not see any sealant or silicone between the fiberglass panel and the aluminum panel frame. She basically said I was wrong and that all panels are sealed at the factory and they apply a very slight amount that is difficult to detect. Like you indicated, I feel she was covering her tracks. But she was kind enough to send me a new panel without questions so I did not want to debate this issue further. I was curious if any other Montana owners have experienced this problem.

[sreigle]

I was told by Fox RV several years ago that sometimes bulges are caused by poor bonding of the layers inside and also because of moisture trapped inside during the manufacturing process.

Also, Keystone is no more perfect than the rest of us. We all know sometimes things are screwed up during manufacturing. I think if you found there was no sealant around the perimeter then they should accept that. Otherwise you'd find at least some signs of remaining sealant.