Missing vent cover all winter spring

[rtreptow7]

So I went in my camper and noticed the led lights in the bathroom ceiling were very dim and flickering...barely working. A closer inspection finds the lens filled with water 😞 I climb up on the roof and noticed there is some sort of round vent cover that is missing right above the bathroom allowing direct access to the inside of the ceiling of my camper. Probably been exposed like this all winter and spring getting snowed and rained in. Not sure what the vent is for. it is right in the middle of the bathroom area of the fiver. Inside the fiver there is no vent directly under the one that is mounted on the roof, it's just the middle of the bathroom ceiling. There is also another vent like this in the middle of the living area roof, but again, nothing on the ceiling on the inside of camper. I wonder how much water is trapped in the insulation in my camper ceiling now and if we have to worry about mold. Have an apt April 19 to have it looked at. Got plastic taped over it for now to prevent more water from getting in as it is raining now and supposed to snow some more this week even. First photo is of vent with missing cover, and second is the other vent that has it's cover yet. Does anyone know the purpose of this vent? Anyone have a similar experience?






Note: Moderator edit to fix picture URL's

[laknox]

fj12ryder wrote:
"Hell, it was 97 here in PHX yesterday!"

A good reason to be somewhere else.

Oh, yeah, like Flagstaff. 🙂

Lyle

[fj12ryder]

"Hell, it was 97 here in PHX yesterday!"

A good reason to be somewhere else.

[laknox]

MFL wrote:
Lyle...we don't get a new FW every year! Maybe you should be a little more aware, use the GOAL method. Maybe wife was driving? 🙂 Hey, at least you are able to use yours. Expecting 12-18 inches of snow Wed night-through Thurs.

Jerry

My "new" FW is 18" taller than my old one, so I was still learning to judge heights. I =thought= I was clear... 😞

Yeah, we've got about 24" of sunshine predicted over the next few days. Hell, it was 97 here in PHX yesterday!

Lyle

[MFL]

Yes, lucky for the OP, as most water intrusions, end up being way worse than expected. Sounds like you are doing great with finding access to drying/cleanup areas.

Jerry

[fj12ryder]

Cool, sounds like you may have dodged a bullet.

[rtreptow7]

I figured out they do turn, very hard, and come off then the base is held on by 2 screws. Got them off. Started the drying out process. Surprisingly not very wet. Was able to take off the shroud to the bathroom roof vent and get between the ceiling, insulation, and roof really well that way. Was able to reach around up there and and feel around for any moisture too. having the vent there allows me to see up there good too. Was using a couple blow dryers on low heat under close supervision to blow air through the area. New vent is supposed to come today and I plan on drying things out from the top by blowing air down too. I think I lucked out by having a low spot in the ceiling right in the bathroom area near the lights. There was only a small amount of water pooled in the lens cover of the lights. No other "pools" but some slight dampness. Took off some other light covers and did some inspecting and couldn't find any other damp areas.

[fj12ryder]

rtreptow7 wrote:
Anyone know how these ceiling lights come out? I can't seem to pry the covers off? They are the round LED lights that only stick out about 1/4" below the ceiling. Tried prying them off but didn't want to pull too hard and break one.

Pictures? I have some puck lights and the lens turns and pulls off. But have no idea if they're like yours.

[MFL]

Lyle...we don't get a new FW every year! Maybe you should be a little more aware, use the GOAL method. Maybe wife was driving? 🙂 Hey, at least you are able to use yours. Expecting 12-18 inches of snow Wed night-through Thurs.

Jerry

[laknox]

I dinged the front one on a branch (also the front vent cap). Have a new one...somewhere, to replace it. I'm under a cover, so no issues. Have the old cap duct-taped to the roof for temporary, though.

Lyle

[rtreptow7]

Anyone know how these ceiling lights come out? I can't seem to pry the covers off? They are the round LED lights that only stick out about 1/4" below the ceiling. Tried prying them off but didn't want to pull too hard and break one.

[fj12ryder]

Yeah, I had the same issue when I tried to replace just the covers, you have to buy the whole thing. A little irritating, but whatcha gonna do?

[garyp4951]

I would pull the ceiling lights out ASAP, and get some heat going to dry out the attic area. If you get black mold in the attic, the ceiling will have to come out.

[rtreptow7]

Thanks for all the responses. Just FYI, the camper is just 1 year old so I don't think it was brittle/weak from sun exposure yet. When I checked the other one, it was very loose and only 3 or 4 turns from coming off too. I tightened it down, but like the idea of using a bit of silicone on the threads to help hold it in place. I did order two whole new vents like the ones in the link above because I couldn't find a place to order just the covers. I'll have a spare cover on hand too then if it ever happens again. One more thing on the list of things to check regularly.

[memtb]

I’m not sure of the size of your attic vent cover, but when we reroofed our camper two summers ago.....we went with galvanized steel vent covers. We should never have to worry about them again!

And good luck getting the attic dried-out. As some one mentioned, trying to getting a positive flow through the attic may be your best option. If you have two or more vents....maybe you can attach the discharge hose from a large (high volum) Shop Vac into one of the vents, and push warm dry air throughout the attic! Good Luck with your repairs!