Shower Leak - Montana Owners Club

AZCampinfool · 09-02-2006, 07:27 AM

O.K. Keystone.....What's the deal with all the shower leaks??? It seems this issue is constantly rearing it's ugly head. I know of two other posters on here right now not including myself who are having the same issues. The water is leaking between the surround and wall. Others have had the drain leak, while others have had the faucet connections leak. Same issues, month after month, unit after unit...what gives....is anyone out there listening...does anyone care? I don't understand why this is a never ending problem with so many folks. Frustrating to say the least...

O.K....rant over!!

Me, "outnumbered" by three red heads...my dear wife
& 2 DD's, plus Sam & Taylor the yellow camping labs.
2001 GMC Sierra 2500HD Crew Cab 4X4
8.1L big block/Allison
06 Mountaineer 319BHD w/Trailair Pin Box

richfaa · 09-02-2006, 08:22 AM

We are told the water running between the surround and wall is a good thing..prevents moisture it is said ?.You will note that the top of the surround is not caulked and you may or may not have any caulking at all anywhere. We noted that on low end campers the surround is not caulked but on high end campers and motor homes they are. We caulked ours..The drain is sealed with plumbers putty..it leaks..We replaced our drain with a replacement drain used in a Winnebago MH complete with a real gasket..it does not leak. The Faucet connections..not excactly high quality .The faucets used in higher end campers will fit Ok..It is a good idea to have one in your spare box. These are just little things..

Rich& Helen N.Ridgeville,Ohio.

F-350SD, Lariat, V-10,4:30 Diff, tow command Long bed, Crew Cab Dually, 06 3400RL
Mor-Ryde Pin Box

Glenn and Lorraine · 09-02-2006, 08:48 AM

Gotta agree, the one complaint we seem to see more often than anyother is the leaking shower leaking. It does make ya wonder if they are reading this. This will definitely be a question I will be asking when we next tour the plant.

Glenn
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AZCampinfool · 09-02-2006, 09:29 AM

Rich, I would agree with you that these are little things if they are easily fixed. In my case, this has not been an easy fix, and to this day the shower still leaks. The way the unit is built, one cannot access the panel for the shower controls without removing the bathroom vanity. Either that or you have to remove a panel in the basement and cut a hole in the floor from the bottom. I have tried sealing all the seams and joints in the shower to no avail at this point. That being said, I have not taken the rig to the dealer because we have been in our busy camping season and I don't want the fiver at the dealer for 5 to 6 weeks sitting idle when I can be using it. Maybe once the holidays roll around I will take it in since we won't be using it as much.

Me, "outnumbered" by three red heads...my dear wife
& 2 DD's, plus Sam & Taylor the yellow camping labs.
2001 GMC Sierra 2500HD Crew Cab 4X4
8.1L big block/Allison
06 Mountaineer 319BHD w/Trailair Pin Box

richfaa · 09-02-2006, 10:18 AM

I am being facetious when I say "they are just little things" There are way to many little things for what we pay for these things..but..If your gonna be a Rv'er you gots to keep a good sense of humor. Sometimes I laugh when I should be crying..

Rich& Helen N.Ridgeville,Ohio.

F-350SD, Lariat, V-10,4:30 Diff, tow command Long bed, Crew Cab Dually, 06 3400RL
Mor-Ryde Pin Box

RLVoumard · 09-02-2006, 02:14 PM

You can ad our 319BHS to list of SHOWER LEAKS. First time out last week end and guess what……….I had some ISSUES to be corrected at the dealer and so back I went. I also have a shower wall that looks to be unattached to the wall.

DEALER ANSWER : YOUR TUB FAUCETS were leaking and we need to order more RIVETS to attach you shower surround to the wall ??

Sure hope that this is not just a GUESS

sreigle · 09-06-2006, 07:05 PM

You are, of course, free to do as you wish but I would highly recommend removing the caulking that was placed where there was no caulking along the bottom of the surround. That is intentionally left uncaulked to allow moisture to escape. The moisture from condensation from difference between the hot shower and cooler outside air. I'm not sure about the top of the surround. I think other Montanas were caulked along the top. I haven't checked this one yet.

I learned this the hard way on our first Montana. We had our dealer caulk ours and when we developed bubbles on the fibreglass outside the shower, Fox RV, in Middlebury, IN, told me as they repaired the damage that caulking that shower stall caused the problem. The moisture has to go somewhere. Caulk the bottom of the surround and the moisture goes into the wall.

Again, do as you wish but ours will remain uncaulked. Our 3295RK was uncaulked for it's whole four years and all our fulltiming without a problem from being uncaulked.

See another Montana or Mountaineer on the road? Flash lights twice, it might be one of us!
Steve Reigle (pronounced Regal)
Fulltiming since 3/21/03
'07 3400RL
'05 Ford F250 SD Lariat CC SB 6.0L PSD/TS FX4 4x4

Our RV Travels (now Firefox-compatible)

richfaa · 09-07-2006, 06:48 AM

Humm. One wall of the shower stall in our home is on a outside wall.. It is caulked on the bottom as well as all the way around.Of course there is green board behind it a product that the RV industry has never heard of.The top of our brand new 3400 was wide open..could fit my fingers behind it in many places. It was also cut to short on the bottom and to long at the corners causing the wall to bend out and cause gaps along the bottom. Little things..repaired by me. Also noted that the stalls on high end motor homes are caulked all the way around..I guess they don't have condensation??? A contractor told me the idea was to keep water out of between the walls not let it in.I guess if Keystone has developed some magic forumula to prevent mousture by adding water..they did good////

Rich& Helen N.Ridgeville,Ohio.

F-350SD, Lariat, V-10,4:30 Diff, tow command Long bed, Crew Cab Dually, 06 3400RL
Mor-Ryde Pin Box

sreigle · 09-07-2006, 03:26 PM

Just checked ours and it's not caulked on top, either. But it fits well, unlike what Rich found on his. I have no idea about the water comment. All I know is we had a problem when we had ours caulked and I was told by Fox RV, a very reputable repair service several here have used, that I should not caulk it. I didn't caulk the next one and had no problem with it. There were probably well over a thousand showers taken in that shower stall. I'll not caulk ours. I made that mistake once. Again, everyone do what they feel is best.

See another Montana or Mountaineer on the road? Flash lights twice, it might be one of us!
Steve Reigle (pronounced Regal)
Fulltiming since 3/21/03
'07 3400RL
'05 Ford F250 SD Lariat CC SB 6.0L PSD/TS FX4 4x4

Our RV Travels (now Firefox-compatible)

richfaa · 09-07-2006, 04:13 PM

Steve..Looking at the shower head.the top right hand corner right at the corner..I could stick my hand down there..Filled it with that foamy stuff.Straight down that corner at the bottom the panel was bowed out due to it being cut to long. They did a bad job on our shower..It is on our list of things to be done under warranty when we take it back to the dealer..That list, by the way is very short and nothing major.

Rich& Helen N.Ridgeville,Ohio.

F-350SD, Lariat, V-10,4:30 Diff, tow command Long bed, Crew Cab Dually, 06 3400RL
Mor-Ryde Pin Box

AZCampinfool · 09-07-2006, 04:43 PM

Steve, that is an interesting theory I may have to ask the dealer about. When the shower leaks, I can actually see the water running between the shower surround & wall when viewed from the water supply line hole in the basement. It's not much, I would guess it's about a teaspoon per shower. I just can't figure out how it is getting behind the surround. I know it is not from the underside of the faucet connections because I could see them when looking for the leak. Here in AZ we have very little water issues with our rigs compared to other parts of the country. It's so hot and dry here...(unlike Texas where it is hot and humid), that I can't imagine any condensation being able to form, or let alone stay actually wet for any length of time. We also don't have any type of mold issues either because of the dry climate. I have put up my awning in driving rain, packed up and headed home. The next day when I put out the awning, it is bone dry because of the heat and low humidity. That makes it nice in most cases, but the downside is my 1 15K a/c won't cool the fiver below about 85 degrees in the summer until the sun goes down, and that is with awning out, and foil bubble wrap covering all the windows. Hmmmmm...so the mystery continues......

Me, "outnumbered" by three red heads...my dear wife
& 2 DD's, plus Sam & Taylor the yellow camping labs.
2001 GMC Sierra 2500HD Crew Cab 4X4
8.1L big block/Allison
06 Mountaineer 319BHD w/Trailair Pin Box

Driftwoodgal · 09-07-2006, 05:43 PM

AZCampinfool,

So far we have the OEM shower and have not had any problems. Granted we have only taken about 20 showers in our 3400 Montana but haven't had any problems with any leaks. I have run the shower with hot water and cold water several times with the spray nozzle pointed at the different walls and haven't had a leak.These tests were outside of the showers that we took. If the Montana travels another 10,000 miles will I have a problem who knows.

We have not caulked the bottom of our shower siding as the dealer told us that Keystone doesn't recommend that. We do not have any gaps in our shower siding at the top of the shower or at the bottom of the siding. This was a real stickler for us when buying the Montana, as I wanted a one piece unit shower stall to cut out the leak problems. It kept us from buying a Montana for about two years. If I could change something about my Montana it would be that they offer a one piece shower like our New Vison had.

Because of posts on the thread I have watched our shower like a hawk and so far we haven't had any problems. If I did have a water problem I would be contacting anyone and everyone to get the problem fixed.

One of the things Montana puts in their manual is that water is an enemy of an RV. If you get condensation in it you could have mold so they won't approve the Montana as a fulltime rig. If they are worried about the fulltimer they should be really worried about a short timer that has a shower leak.

I live in an area that had the largest claim ever paid out for mold in a home. Farmers Insurance is still fighting the jury award. Texas insurance policies have forever been changed because of the jury award. I don't agree with the jury award, but heah I guess they thought it was justified. I would have pulled out my trusty Clorox and gotten rid of the mold. If I do have a problem I will be calling my son who does mold remediation for a living. Who knows I could be the next person retiring from a mold claim. We don't live in our Montana full time so the sky could be the limit if they aren't producing a quality product.

Sorry I am not good at posting quotes so I will just take from your text.

You mentioned that Texas is hot and humid, that depends on what part of Texas you are in. We have had over 25 days of 99+ weather here in Austin and are in drought conditions. It has been more like desert conditions this summer. I had all of the windows with solar panels on our last camp out. Temperatures got to about 107F, the coach never got cold! We were parked in an area that was in full sun. I mentioned to hubby that we might need a second AC......I think he tossed and turned one night so he grumbled that maybe we needed a second AC. I think you could get by with one if you weren't doing ANY cooking in the RV, but I would rather have home cooked meals.

Colleen

Parrothead · 09-07-2006, 07:08 PM

We have not had any shower leaks and have done nothing to our shower. We used it the first nine months as full timing. Then we have used it about 3-4 months all told since then. So this is not a problem with ALL Montanas, just some. On our previous unit we never had a problem until I decided to soak the mini blinds one day and put the plug in the shower drain. The caulking around the drain had hardened and we had a very wet basement. Recaulked and it was fine after that.
Happy trails.........................

Sue and Ed Rowe
Hemet California

2005 3400RL

2006 GMC 3500 Dually, D/A, Crew Cab, Long Bed

sreigle · 09-08-2006, 05:32 PM

We never had any shower leaks in our 3295RK for 3 1/2 years of fulltiming. Never had a moisture problem, either. Montana has attic vents to vent moisture. And we use the bathroom fan to exhaust when we shower. That's about all we do about moisture and have had no problem.

See another Montana or Mountaineer on the road? Flash lights twice, it might be one of us!
Steve Reigle (pronounced Regal)
Fulltiming since 3/21/03
'07 3400RL
'05 Ford F250 SD Lariat CC SB 6.0L PSD/TS FX4 4x4

Our RV Travels (now Firefox-compatible)

richfaa · 09-09-2006, 03:16 AM

We also have not had a shower leak in our 4 month old 3400.We did some preventative things to prevent leaks like a different shower drain.Tighten all hose and faucet connections and we did choose to caulk all around the shower stall. We pulled the panels under the tub yesterday to check things out and it is dry as a bone under there.

Rich& Helen N.Ridgeville,Ohio.

F-350SD, Lariat, V-10,4:30 Diff, tow command Long bed, Crew Cab Dually, 06 3400RL
Mor-Ryde Pin Box

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