Forum Discussion

aarond76's avatar
aarond76
Explorer
Apr 02, 2014

Slide Topper Rail Height

After replacing my slide floor due to leaks, I am taking every precaution I can to prevent this from happening again. One of the things I would like to do is to install a slide topper awning. My slide is 12' long. My concern is water ponding on top of the awning when the slide is extended. I have 6-1/4" between the bottom of the gutter on the camper, and the top of the slide out flange. I would like to install the awning rail on the side of the camper as high as possible to promote water runoff. Assuming the slide roller will stick up about an inch higher than the slide flange, and the receiver for the awning fabric will be about an inch below the bottom of the gutter, about 4-1/4" of slope is about the best I can hope to accomplish. Any issues with this? My only concern is when going down the road I am leaving a bigger pocket for air to get between the camper and awning and try to unroll it.
  • winkyb's avatar
    winkyb
    Explorer
    Jul 07, 2014
    JJBIRISH wrote:
    It will pool a small amount of water, but that should be of no concern… its not enough to hurt anything and most will blow off on its own when the rain stops…
    I don’t run my slide in to drain it off, and never saw a need to, if its still there when I leave it will drain off at that time…

    I hope you found the source of the wet slide floor… unfortunately some are built to fail with water wicking up from the bottom of the floor where the topped may or may not help…
    Search for slide floor repairs by JBarca…

    click


    Thanks I think the water wicking up is what I have. It was getting the carpet wet beside the slide. That is fixed but still gets just damp in one corner when the slide is in. Every crack and seem has been resealed. It rained like 2 inches today It has a place in the corner about the size of a quarter. but that is still to much. Who knows what I can`t see. If it is slanted just a small amount to the side of the slide it does not do it. But I don`t like knowing it can do it and just knowing it is not right. The cover mite help as I think the water is running down the frame beside the slide. and the cover I got gives me about a four inch or more over hang on each side of the slide. So if it was getting in the frame at the top it mite stop it but still want to find out for sure how it is getting to the floor.
  • JJBIRISH's avatar
    JJBIRISH
    Explorer
    Jul 06, 2014
    It will pool a small amount of water, but that should be of no concern… its not enough to hurt anything and most will blow off on its own when the rain stops…
    I don’t run my slide in to drain it off, and never saw a need to, if its still there when I leave it will drain off at that time…

    I hope you found the source of the wet slide floor… unfortunately some are built to fail with water wicking up from the bottom of the floor where the topped may or may not help…
    Search for slide floor repairs by JBarca…

    click
  • Gaffer222's avatar
    Gaffer222
    Explorer
    Jul 06, 2014
    winkyb wrote:
    dadmomh wrote:
    Not sure what our measurements are on our topper, however.....if you get a good downpour it absolutely can and will pool on the awning. Simple fix.....slowly put the slide - we use the start/stop/start/stop method - in allowing the water to run off, then put it back out. We usually will do this a couple of times just to make sure the water did drain off. The awning fabric will have some give to it, just as your large awning does, so just make it part of your routine to put it in and out a couple of times and you'll be fine.


    Thanks but I am looking for some way that I don`t have to do that as stuff has to be moved ounce we are set up. Also getting up in the middle of the night I don`t like either.:)


    I'm thinking about getting one of these.

    Awning air wedge
  • winkyb's avatar
    winkyb
    Explorer
    Jul 04, 2014
    dadmomh wrote:
    Not sure what our measurements are on our topper, however.....if you get a good downpour it absolutely can and will pool on the awning. Simple fix.....slowly put the slide - we use the start/stop/start/stop method - in allowing the water to run off, then put it back out. We usually will do this a couple of times just to make sure the water did drain off. The awning fabric will have some give to it, just as your large awning does, so just make it part of your routine to put it in and out a couple of times and you'll be fine.


    Thanks but I am looking for some way that I don`t have to do that as stuff has to be moved ounce we are set up. Also getting up in the middle of the night I don`t like either.:)
  • dadmomh's avatar
    dadmomh
    Explorer
    Jul 04, 2014
    Not sure what our measurements are on our topper, however.....if you get a good downpour it absolutely can and will pool on the awning. Simple fix.....slowly put the slide - we use the start/stop/start/stop method - in allowing the water to run off, then put it back out. We usually will do this a couple of times just to make sure the water did drain off. The awning fabric will have some give to it, just as your large awning does, so just make it part of your routine to put it in and out a couple of times and you'll be fine.
  • winkyb's avatar
    winkyb
    Explorer
    Jul 04, 2014
    Tequila wrote:
    As long as it has any slope at all, it will not pool. Slide awning toppers are spring loaded so are quite taut.


    As above I am thinking about air getting under it on the road as it would be about a 4 inch drop so would leave about 4 inch`s of cover pulled out when the slide was closed. Any mounting other than level with the roller is going to leave a inch or so of the topper off the roller and in the wind.
  • Tequila's avatar
    Tequila
    Explorer
    Jul 04, 2014
    As long as it has any slope at all, it will not pool. Slide awning toppers are spring loaded so are quite taut.
  • winkyb's avatar
    winkyb
    Explorer
    Jul 04, 2014
    Well that is the question I was looking for but no one must have the answer. If you did this all ready how about letting me know how you came out.

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