Water tracking in from slideout?

[acritzer]

Our camper is a bit low on the door side, opposite of our slideout. Today, after very hard rain I noticed some water, which appears to have crept in past the rubber seals very near the slideout track.

Is this "normal" or expected? And mostly a symptom of the trailer being angled poorly?

We have previously camped through a much longer and harder rain with no issues.
It's a 2015 Coachmen Apex.

To me, the rubber on the sides looks good, and on the top, but the pieces around the track looks poorly designed. Not broken, but not a great seal either.

[atwowheelguy]

I've been reading about slide leaks here and about several others in another thread discussing replacing water damaged floors in slides. All this helps me to not be envious of nice campers with slides. I only have to worry about a 26 ft. long weatherstrip seal on the back door. I'll be sure to keep an eagle eye on it.

[acritzer]

peirek wrote:

acritzer wrote:

peirek wrote:
I had a similar experience and it was the bottom horizontal extrusion that had lost its seal to the slide face. Water was seeping behind the extrusion and running along the bottom edge of the extrusion, around the corner, and into the camper. It took me a long time and many buckets of water to find it. After ruling out the seals (the rusty screws in the bottom of the extrusion gave me a clue), I kept assuming it was the window in the slide. Scratched my head so much I was almost bald by the time I realized the problem.

Water leaks can be very difficult at times.

Any particular fix you made for it?

Dicor sealant (non-leveling)

Ok...but where specifically?

[peirek]

acritzer wrote:

peirek wrote:
I had a similar experience and it was the bottom horizontal extrusion that had lost its seal to the slide face. Water was seeping behind the extrusion and running along the bottom edge of the extrusion, around the corner, and into the camper. It took me a long time and many buckets of water to find it. After ruling out the seals (the rusty screws in the bottom of the extrusion gave me a clue), I kept assuming it was the window in the slide. Scratched my head so much I was almost bald by the time I realized the problem.

Water leaks can be very difficult at times.

Any particular fix you made for it?

Dicor sealant (non-leveling)

[acritzer]

peirek wrote:
I had a similar experience and it was the bottom horizontal extrusion that had lost its seal to the slide face. Water was seeping behind the extrusion and running along the bottom edge of the extrusion, around the corner, and into the camper. It took me a long time and many buckets of water to find it. After ruling out the seals (the rusty screws in the bottom of the extrusion gave me a clue), I kept assuming it was the window in the slide. Scratched my head so much I was almost bald by the time I realized the problem.

Water leaks can be very difficult at times.

Any particular fix you made for it?

[spud1957]

OP wrote:
Well, we leave Sat for a 3 week trip out west. No time to dig into things and try to caulk or otherwise redo and seals. I'll try to clean it up real well, spray some seal conditioner on the flaps, and angle a bit so it's tilted away.

Great idea.

[peirek]

I had a similar experience and it was the bottom horizontal extrusion that had lost its seal to the slide face. Water was seeping behind the extrusion and running along the bottom edge of the extrusion, around the corner, and into the camper. It took me a long time and many buckets of water to find it. After ruling out the seals (the rusty screws in the bottom of the extrusion gave me a clue), I kept assuming it was the window in the slide. Scratched my head so much I was almost bald by the time I realized the problem.

Water leaks can be very difficult at times.

[acritzer]

Our previous trailer had the track underneath the slide, which seems like a better idea. This new one has the track on the side, creating an uneven surface to try and seal.

Well, we leave Sat for a 3 week trip out west. No time to dig into things and try to caulk or otherwise redo and seals. I'll try to clean it up real well, spray some seal conditioner on the flaps, and angle a bit so it's tilted away.

[Camreal]

I had a similar problem couple years a ago and it was the vertical seams on each end of the slide not caulked properly. Water ran down the slide and seeped into the inside and ran out the bottom of the slide. My slide is trimmed with aluminum strips attached with sheet metal screws.When I took the screws out I found them very rusty. Recaulking these seams cured the problem. I also try to level with the slide side of trailer slightly lower and the water will run away from the trailer.

[acritzer]

horton333 wrote:
Is it the seals around the tracks that look suspicious? I had to put drops of silicon calking on the tracks on the inside to stop it leaking through as the seals can't really wipe there and the water runs down the side in large quantity.

Yes, it's the seals around the track. Can you describe where you caulked? I'd be nervous about putting caulk on the track for fear of messing up the mechanism. And I can't really say that I could get to the track area from the inside.

[horton333]

Is it the seals around the tracks that look suspicious? I had to put drops of silicon calking on the tracks on the inside to stop it leaking through as the seals can't really wipe there and the water runs down the side in large quantity.

[acritzer]

wildtoad wrote:
Slides are a result of a major hole in the side of the RV. The top, bottom and side seals do a decent yet not perfect job of preventing water intrusion. One should not been surprised with a small amount of seepage during a storm. Do what you can to keep the seals clean and lubricated, and trash off the top of the slide that might cause a poor seal.

Sounds like what I was thinking too. Hard to explain over text, but the bottom part of the seal just doesn't look especially well thought out. I realize the track not being flush with the wall makes it's a challenge, but there's a goofy little rubber piece that doesn't fit in here particularly well. I suspect that's where it was sneaking in.

[wildtoad]

Slides are a result of a major hole in the side of the RV. The top, bottom and side seals do a decent yet not perfect job of preventing water intrusion. One should not been surprised with a small amount of seepage during a storm. Do what you can to keep the seals clean and lubricated, and trash off the top of the slide that might cause a poor seal.

[acritzer]

spud1957 wrote:
Trailer needs to be level for seals and drains to work properly around the slide.

Experience speaking.

Or even better, a little low on the slideout side?

[spud1957]

Trailer needs to be level for seals and drains to work properly around the slide.

Experience speaking.