trailernovice wrote:
During a pounding thunderstorm today, realized I had a pool of water about 9 inches across, 6 inches wide and maybe 1/16 inch deep on the bedroom side of the half-wall dividing the bedroom from the rest of the trailer...also some indication of water (very little) along the camp-side wall of the bedroom
Most likely culprit? A leak around a window, that kind of hid the source on a site that wasn't perfectly level? Infiltration through the outer front edge of the trailer?
I don't see any evidence of wicking from the roof down a wall.
Ideas?
Is this your camper, and does it have aluminum corrugated siding?
https://www.jayco.com/rvs/travel-trailers/2019-jay-flight-slx-8/264bh/You didn't say where the water was seen at inside the camper, making an assumption where it might be, was the water you saw was on the vinyl tile floor? Or is there carpet on the bedroom floor? And, please confirm this is the master front bedroom and not the rear bunk area bedroom? I think you meant master front as you talked about leaking in from the "outer front edge" but please confirm?
From that Jayco link, it does look like they installed slider windows. And that both master bedroom windows are not under the main camper awning? Is that correct?
The seals in slider windows have been known when heavy rains off the roof come, they overflow the gutters and gush/rush down the camper walls onto the slider windows.
As was said, the window frame drains can be clogged or pinched tight close to shut. This needs to be ruled in or out that it is occurring. I have seen this drain type of failure before. On one slide room end wall window where the drains where formed almost shut from brand new. This was never a problem on normal rains until monsoon type rains came. Then the drains could not drain the wicking water coming in from the window seals fast enough. The glass slider channel overflowed inside camper and down the wall the water goes. Many times, vinyl wallpaper is used on the wall board. It works real well at hiding moisture that runs over the top of it. This might be why you are not seeing any staining on the walls of any type. It was not there long enough to stain up like paper type wall paper does.
If you want to test/help prove pinched or clogged drains could be the issue before doing any corrections, below is a test I did after correcting the pinched too tight drains and opening them up. I wanted to make darn sure this leak issue would not happen again.
Take about a 1 quart or more measuring cup with a pour spout on it. Fill the cup with water. Inside the camper, with the window closed, pour the water into the slider window channel that is an open U facing up, this channel is inline with the slider window that is closed. The drains slots in the window frame should all be draining all the water out as fast as you can pour it in. You can see the draining water from inside looking out the window. If it starts backing up and getting higher, then soon it will start overflowing into the camper if the rains are hard enough.
The test above is what I did to prove that I fixed the pinched tight drains to be open enough that as fast as I could pour water into the slider glass channel, it would run out and not build up. Prior to this, the drains worked some, but not enough for the mega heavy rainfall. The RV roof gutters are way to small and water pours over the tops of them down the side of the camper right onto the camper windows.
I had to fold over and add a small piece of fiberglass window screen tucked in the drain slot to help keep small insects out after I opened the drains up. You want/need about a 1/32" to 1/16" air gap in the drains to keep up with mega rains. What I had I could barely see daylight through the drains the metal was squeezed so tight.
If the drains are not the issue after you test, and correct the drains if needed, we need some pics on the inside and outside of the camper to help tell where else water can get into the living space that fast.
Hope this helps
John
