New to winter--cabover leaked!

[EMD360]

OK, so I'm new to winters, moving from Arizona to Colorado. This is a game changer.

Last winter I drained the water from the RV--tried to blow out the plumbing with a compressor and left it parked for the winter. Seemed to be OK except the pump was dead in spring. I put in a new one and a larger pressure tank. Notice I didn't use the pink stuff--put windshield fluid in the drains--that is what we used to do in a house that we winterized-drain the pipes and put windshield fluid in the drains and toilet traps.

This year I was totally surprised by the immediate and steep drop in temps here. I had dumped the tanks and not treated them but had not emptied the fresh water. Yeah, I thought we could fit in one more trip this late fall. So I plugged into a 20 amp outlet and put in two oil heaters and cranked them up so it was pretty HOT inside, opened the couch to circulate by the fresh water tank, opened the cabinets, and then just worried about it until it warmed up the last day or so.
Whew--the water is running and the pump is working! Thank goodness--temps got to below zero--about 1 or 2 degrees and most days were in the teens for over a week.

I went back to work on the RV today--it is in the 40's now--to complete the winterization and found a wet spot in the upper bunk corner! Yikes--seems the snow and ice seeped into the overhead when just rain had not?

I noticed that the outside caulk was looking a bit ragged so on the side that was wet, I stripped it out, cleaned it up with mineral spirits--what I had on hand, and recaulked with sikaflex--that was left over so it was so hard at the tip that I had to cut it off and dig out the stuff in the tube. I used a nail to apply it and smoothed it a bit with my fingers. Kind of an emergency application. Didn't even get to underneath the cabover area though.

I hate to see water intrusion--maybe I've been lax this summer with the increase in rain here as well as the cold and snow as winter begins. I have eternabonded the rear corners and wanted to do the front, just have not gotten to it. Maybe I should cover it for winter? We do get very fierce winds here and I couldn't even keep the tire covers on so don't know how a cover would do.

Since I was working on other projects before I found the wet spot and then it took me the rest of daylight to caulk the front corner, I will have to drain and do the water tomorrow. I have pink stuff to pump in this year. At least I was lucky that the heaters kept things above freezing inside.

Climate can really make a difference! It is an adjustment to keep things working in the cold.

[Snowman9000]

Sounds more like a leak. If you know the source, that's 95% of the battle!

[EMD360]

Dusty R wrote:
We had a wet spot once, it was condensation, not a leak.

I guess it is POSSIBLE that there was condensation under the mattress in the front corner of the cabover. I had heaters cranked up to high to keep the water from freezing and it was REALLY cold outside. The heat would have risen to the cabover and the outside had lots of icicles so it was obvious that heat was escaping there.
But my gut says leak. The signs seem to be there--slight cracks in the caulking--edges darker behind the caulk. Blackened wetness in the front corner--mold sure grows fast! Just all the scary stuff that say LEAK! Maybe condensation added to the damage though.

[EMD360]

mikeleblanc413 wrote:
As most of you know, shortly after buying my Winnie in 2011, I was greeted with a cabover leak. Stressful in the beginning, I've learned to manage it and it hasn't stopped me from enjoying traveling.

Yeah, I've followed your quest to deal with the leak and noticed how difficult it has been to just stop it. I figured we would eventually need to do something more drastic to the cabover to help keep out water. Time is not on our side--but you are right about enjoying the rest of the RV and just having to keep vigilant about the leaks. Easy to lose focus though and be surprised by the water.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

With high winds, abrasion from the cover can do lots of damage to the finish.

I would only use dicor for sealing purposes.

Do the Eternabond as soon as temperatures will allow.

[Dusty_R]

We had a wet spot once, it was condensation, not a leak.

[mikeleblanc413]

EMD360....even though the news is not good, it is good to hear from you. As most of you know, shortly after buying my Winnie in 2011, I was greeted with a cabover leak. Stressful in the beginning, I've learned to manage it and it hasn't stopped me from enjoying traveling. During the past two years Baby Girl (my Catahoula) and I have traveled 23 states and over 20,000 miles: first with a circus and we have just completed 4 months in Montana at Glacier National Park. The unit is mechanically sound and everything works as it should: with the exception of the cabover leak! I'll continue to keep an eye of new leaks and continue to enjoy traveling and enjoying! Best of luck!!!

[coolmom42]

You better park in a covered building, if you are not going to be meticulous in your waterproofing. Snow and ice will find every miniscule hole and your RV will be ruined in short order, if you don't.