DadWolf:
Our propane hatch has the double-cut bottom flange (I think the manufacturer of the hatch cuts these, not Outfitter?). The first thing did was dam the 2 cut-outs, with 3M closed-cell foam strips, backed by house-wrap tape (this tape is indestructible by weather/water).
This did absolutely nothing against water infil. It actually made the problem worse. Then, I drilled 2 large weeping holes along bottom of hinged door (water poured out of the door frame onto my expensive Bosche drill when I pierced the 1st hole!). 2 holes did nothing WITH the foam dams in place. Took dams off, still water came in. Note: the hinged door frame with rubber spacer is HIGHER than the mating frame-stopper (the mating frame-stopper has that built in rubber gasket, but think about it: f the door weeping holes do not drain the frame filling water quick enough, the water will overspill totally over the frame flange into the compartment VERY EFFICIENTLY :E ).
Then, drilled 3 holes in the bottom of door; useless. Water still coming in. I then put an after-market gasket all around the radius door frame. This did nothing to stop the water infil. Then, I sealed all the horizontal air vents in the hatch door: no good. Still water pouring in. Hey Zeus...what the h*ll do I do next? I inspect the hatch door hinges, and caulk the end flanges (2 on each hatch door). Nada. Water pouring in. Now I'm getting really pi**ed off. I examine the door hinges and visually reverse-engineer them.....these hinges are actually PERFECT eaves troughs, effectively funneling water INTO the containment compartments (whether they are top mounted or side mounted, doesn't make a hill of beans of difference how they are mounted)! Jeez. So, I now cant the camper towards the rear and propane door side slightly (taking advantage of rain shielding and roof drip)..I almost forgot: I also caulked all around the exterior door panels where they mate to door frame early on..then:
.....so, I pack large bath towels in both compartments lining the floors, and trim large sheets of vapor barrier (clear poly 8mm thick) over both hatches permanently (I now carry these poly tarps and a roll of house wrap tape with me at all times in camper in case of rain!)...
I'm now interested in tearing this******out of the walls of the camper and installing some yet-to-be-discovered vastly superior hatch door system.
