Pressure Tested Camper Leaks Found

Its less about causing damage with too much pressure and more about getting enough pressure to make the bubble solution work.
The goal is less than an inch on the water column which is why a manometer should be used. Considering one PSI is over 27 inches of water column you can see that not much pressure is required but getting the desired pressure is key for the test to work properly.

Looks like he sealed the window with tape and a piece of cardboard. The weight of the blower is sitting on a piece of metal. That in itself is going to limit the pressure to a couple of psi at most. And if that causes the leak, the seal needed to be reworked anyhow.

I would not worry about building up too much pressure. My camper had plenty of areas that are not sealed: The vent from the kitchen exhaust is not sealed. Roof vents have raised lips and covers but are not sealed. The exterior shower plumbing sits in a recessed cavity but the door does not have a seal. The Heki skylight was the worst. This keeps out water with a 3 inch lip but there is no seal. In fact I often get small pieces of leaves and other debris that falls into the camper from this skylight.

BTW, instead of trying to deal with a leaf blower I used the output connection from a Shop Vac. I got a good flow of air but certainly not as much as from a leaf blower.

maxum1989 wrote:

gitpicker2009 wrote:
I hope this doesn't sound stupid, but can't you actually be causing the leak with that type of test? I mean, if you have a closed system, like a truck camper and start pushing air into it, aren't you sort of just waiting for the weakest point to pop? Again, I'm just asking.

A reasonable question. With too much pressure damage can occur which is why a manometer should be used to monitor the pressure. Without knowing the pressure being applied to the interior of the RV you are just guessing and the desired results of finding leaks will be minimized.

Been my personal experience that your average Home Depot leaf blower won't produce enough pressure to compromise any impending leak points that aren't already compromised.

I happen to own a Dwyer Manometer but I've never even considered using it in as much as there are enough 'leak' points in a TC or any RV for that matter that building excessive pressure would be very hard to do.

A reasonable question but not something to worry about. If the pressurized space was devoid of leaks (which it isn't because things like range vents, outside shower ports entry door seals, furnace access points, will all relieve pass the pressure to the atmosphere).

You 'think' your camper is a sealed space... It isn't by a long shot.

My other comment is, if you like to wear a tinfoil hat and are a worry wart, take it to a CW service facility and have them do it. That way you get to pay for the service and maybe that makes you feel better somehow. It don't me.

JimK-NY wrote:
You would think that reports like this would mean the end of Artic Fox. No one would buy from them. Unfortunately it seems that poor design and poor construction techniques are par for the course for the entire RV industry.

We need to see a foreign manufacturer enter the market with a well made product. The RV industry needs a big shake up similar to what happened to the car industry in the 60s.

In the meantime it seems all we can do is to frequently check every seam and seal on our RVs. I have caulk on top of caulk. I have even pulled out many of the screws, checked for rust and replaced them with a stainless steel screw with the threads coated with sealant.

Apparently you haven't read your owner's manual or standard practice ---seals and caulking need to be checked every 90 days.

Please enlighten us how this is a manufacturers issue or a foreign company would do this better.......?????:h

pianotuna wrote:
Hi billyray50,

I suggest you be there when the Seal Tech is done. I was told I had zero leaks. The next rain storm I had water coming out the interior ceiling lights.

Thanks.

gitpicker2009 wrote:
I hope this doesn't sound stupid, but can't you actually be causing the leak with that type of test? I mean, if you have a closed system, like a truck camper and start pushing air into it, aren't you sort of just waiting for the weakest point to pop? Again, I'm just asking.

A reasonable question. With too much pressure damage can occur which is why a manometer should be used to monitor the pressure. Without knowing the pressure being applied to the interior of the RV you are just guessing and the desired results of finding leaks will be minimized.

I hope this doesn't sound stupid, but can't you actually be causing the leak with that type of test? I mean, if you have a closed system, like a truck camper and start pushing air into it, aren't you sort of just waiting for the weakest point to pop? Again, I'm just asking.

kohldad wrote:
Thanks for posting. I'm thinking I'm going to do this test on my unit. We will see how well it works on an aluminum sided camper.

When I was at truck camper warehouse, the owner spent some time showing me some units he was rebuilding. He said if the puddy tape is squeezing out of the seams, that is usually caused by water intrusion. In your second picture, notice the buildup to the left and above the bubbles.

Should not make any difference, filon (glass) or aluminum, so long as it's caulked sufficiently you should be good. One thing about an aluminum skin is, you don't have to worry about delamination, unlike Filon (fiberglass) skins.

noteven wrote:
^^ what woodhog said

Would a fantastic fan pressure the unit enough to detect leaks?

Anyone wonder why it has not occurred to this industry to build units that don't leak and self destruct?

First, no, a fantastic fan is not strong enough to do a pressure test. I tried.

Second, manufacturers don't have to build units any better than they do currently. They can hardly keep up to the demand now so why the need to improve? Pretty sad actually. Build an inferior product, people buy it and eventually sell for whatever reason and come back for another because there isn't another choice.

But, we are our worst enemies. Price point is such a strong buying concern that no unit build perfectly would sell as the price would put it out of most of our budgets. Just go to an RV show and watch a good portion of the potential buyers. All they notice is the monthly payment. Until this mindset changes, no manufacturer will change.