Water damage from an overlooked source
Check your Happijac electrical connection boxes!
I have been meticulous in maintaining my Northstar Igloo. I have spent many hours removing old but perfectly good caulk and replacing it with fresh Geocel or Dicor caulk. Even so, I had a very unpleasant surprise a few days ago. I was checking my generator compartment and found wet, spongy, rotten wood. It was a sickening feeling, especially because the source and extent of the damage were not clear. Fortunately I was lucky and the damage was restricted to the area of the generator compartment. The wood in the corner was entirely rotted out from about 2" below the top of the compartment to the bottom. A side rail at the bottom of the compartment was rotted out from the corner until almost the end of the compartment.
I had to remove lots of screws including the screws from the bottom of the Happijac support bracket. I spent hours slowly removing the damaged wood with a chisel. I worked slowly to the skin of the camper without damaging it. Along the way I encountered lots of additional screws and staples. I evened the remaining wood with Bondo and fit new wood in place with Bondo behind it.
Because of the way the rot spread it was initially difficult to determine the source. The water appears to have come from the Happijac electrical connection. For the back two jacks, Northstar installed the boxes upside down. Instead of having the wires from the jacks come into the bottom of the boxes, the wires inserted on the top. With time the plastic connection box on the right side cracked. Water ran down the wire into the connection box. The water entered the camper through a 3/8 inch hole where the wires enter the camper. With time the rot spread upwards about 4", traveled down about 10" to the bottom of the compartment and then rotted 10" of the adjacent horizontal wood at the bottom of the compartment. It is hard to believe a slight cracked resulted in that much damage. The leak must have started months or possibly years ago.
I have been meticulous in maintaining my Northstar Igloo. I have spent many hours removing old but perfectly good caulk and replacing it with fresh Geocel or Dicor caulk. Even so, I had a very unpleasant surprise a few days ago. I was checking my generator compartment and found wet, spongy, rotten wood. It was a sickening feeling, especially because the source and extent of the damage were not clear. Fortunately I was lucky and the damage was restricted to the area of the generator compartment. The wood in the corner was entirely rotted out from about 2" below the top of the compartment to the bottom. A side rail at the bottom of the compartment was rotted out from the corner until almost the end of the compartment.
I had to remove lots of screws including the screws from the bottom of the Happijac support bracket. I spent hours slowly removing the damaged wood with a chisel. I worked slowly to the skin of the camper without damaging it. Along the way I encountered lots of additional screws and staples. I evened the remaining wood with Bondo and fit new wood in place with Bondo behind it.
Because of the way the rot spread it was initially difficult to determine the source. The water appears to have come from the Happijac electrical connection. For the back two jacks, Northstar installed the boxes upside down. Instead of having the wires from the jacks come into the bottom of the boxes, the wires inserted on the top. With time the plastic connection box on the right side cracked. Water ran down the wire into the connection box. The water entered the camper through a 3/8 inch hole where the wires enter the camper. With time the rot spread upwards about 4", traveled down about 10" to the bottom of the compartment and then rotted 10" of the adjacent horizontal wood at the bottom of the compartment. It is hard to believe a slight cracked resulted in that much damage. The leak must have started months or possibly years ago.
