Leaking slide from towing in heavy rain?

[myredracer]

The background: Got home last night from a late season camping trip in southern WA (just the dog & me so no copilot). Sunny summer-like weather on Monday! Started out in light rain and no wind that should have been a routine 4-5 hour trip home. Turned into an epic 10 hour trip due to a fall storm with high winds and pounding rain. Knew about the weather forecast but no concern. All was well until almost to the ferry I had planned to take from the Olympic Peninsula to Whidbey Island (about an hour from the border), there was a sign on the road saying the ferry was shut down. Had to double back southward and take another ferry over to the north side of Seattle area, then got caught up in HEAVY commuter traffic out of Seattle. So, many hours of towing in heavy rain... 😞 😞

The issue: Went into the TT at home last night to find water on the floor from under a foot or two length of the carpeted slide floor and running across the floor. Not much but enough to be a concern, as any water intrusion is. Def. not from an inside spill. (Wheel well is under the slide.) Pushed a paper towel a bit under the slide floor and it got wet. Definitely not from the vertical seals or seal along the top.

Can a leak be from water thrown up from the tires into the wheel well area and get inside? Looking under the slide this morning, there looks to be a seal immediately above outer edge of the outrigger and under the slide floor and it *seems* okay. Could the slide maybe need adjustment or is the water simply a consequence of towing for so long in heavy rain? Don't recall ever reading about something like this.

[doxiemom11]

We had water that leaked in the refrigerator roof vent, ran from under the frig, across floor near the furnace and back into the bedroom where the carpet at the edge of the slide soaked it up. We finally tracked it down and had to reseal around the frig vent. Apparently the wind driven rain got in when regular rain did not.

[myredracer]

Lynnmor wrote:
You can build your own sealtech unit, all you need is a cheap plastic tub over an open vent. A leaf blower (preferably electric) is then inserted in a hole in the side of the tub. Spray soapy water at any suspect area and take a photo of any bubbles for later repair.

Great idea! Have thought about that in the past and maybe this event is the motivation I need to do it.

[Lynnmor]

You can build your own sealtech unit, all you need is a cheap plastic tub over an open vent. A leaf blower (preferably electric) is then inserted in a hole in the side of the tub. Spray soapy water at any suspect area and take a photo of any bubbles for later repair.

[myredracer]

Thx for the additional comments!

The flex cable thingy for the fridge could be another possibility and will check that out.

Yes, the AC is directly above where the water was. One more possibility.

Can't say that I'm overly impressed with the way the factory seals things up under the slide and wheel well area. Driving at 50-60 mph in torrential rain for hours has to be almost like shooting a fire hose up there. Wouldn't be the least bit surprised to find that water is getting forced into or wicked through cracks.

It's not like I'd be towing in this kind of a rainstorm often though. Can't recall anything remotely close to it in the past. Am guessing that if any water is getting through from below it's not going to get better over time, it'd get worse so warrants a good inspection.

I'll use caulk and Gorilla tape in suspect areas. The local guy with the SealTech blower said he will rent it out to some folks and that's what I'll likely do next spring and which will be good for checking for leaks anywhere else.

[Yeti_plus]

Just a thought, but is your A/C near the wet spot?
I went out to the trailer one day and found a puddle on the floor in the middle of the trailer. I checked the bolts holding the A/C to the roof and all 4 had backed off until they hit the interior grille. Tightened them up and no problems since.
About once every time we take the trailer out now I check that they are still tight.
Brian

[alfredmay]

I have the same problem and for me it is the seal above the tires. It seems to seal fine but if I drive for hours in heavy rain then the floor gets wet. I checked other brands to see how they cope with this. Some have a metal shield protecting the slide seal from high speed water spray.

[brulaz]

That happened to us a couple of times after driving in heavy rain all day. Looked underneath, there's double seals that look good.

But found a spot where the coiled electrical cable enters the slide outer wall under the floor that was open near where the wetness appeared in the floor. Have covered and caulked around there and replaced the outer slide seal. So far, no more problems.

But I now try to avoid puddles as much as possible.

[myredracer]

ScottG wrote:
That was one miserable trip!
Have you looked at the seal under the slide when it is in?
The seal (foam tape really) on our last TT got flattened with age so I removed it and used some better, more rubber like stuff from Home Depot to replace it. No problems after that.

I'm sure you've gotta know what the traffic and bad storms can be like down your way! Seattle area traffic has to be among the worst anywhere. FWIW, I went down to Chehalis via some roads east of 405 just for fun (rt 9, 203 & 18). Lots of twisty roads plus some freeway - slow but still fun (dry and sunny too). Would never do that as a shortcut but coming back thru Bremerton on rt. 3 was def. much faster and easier to drive than the 101 on west side of Puget Sound that we've usually used.

It's just starting to rain hard and not a good time to be poking around. Supposed to be some nice weather next week and may hold off on putting the cover on until then and see what there is to see.

[myredracer]

the bear II wrote:
Is your refrigerator close to where the water is. On ours, while traveling in heavy rain/wind the water will blow into the refrigerator vent and leak out onto the floor from time to time. I use duct tape to seal the vent if I know I will hit rain.

Excellent suggestion! Yes, have a fridge in the slide. Went and looked and the floor is bone dry.

I think I might have found the culprit... Not 100% certain, but very likely the culprit. Dumb dumb if that's all it was

It was raining when I was shutting up shop and getting ready to hit the road and had a winter jacket on that got soaked. Hung it up on a hook across from where I found the water on the floor and didn't think twice about it. It probably dripped water and ran across the floor. From now one will hang up wet jackets in the shower. Have a large garbage can right below the hook and no water is in it tho.

Just looked under the slide with it out and everything looks okay. I see that along the outer edge of the slide along the full length there is a piece of thin aluminum bent at 90 degrees and the horizontal part gets covered over when the slide is retracted. Maybe it's possible that water could get wicked up into the slide floor? When warm returns next year, might put some Gorilla tape along the seam.

Have been thinking for a while about getting a Sealtech pressure test done one of these days. Just called the local guy that does it and he says it's getting to be a bad time of year to do it due to weather. His new shop isn't ready so can't do it indoors. He suggested just putting the cover on until next spring. He said he would also rent the unit out which is fine by me.

Time to put the cover on it seems (sniffle, sniffle, wipes tears away).

[ScottG]

That was one miserable trip!
Have you looked at the seal under the slide when it is in?
The seal (foam tape really) on our last TT got flattened with age so I removed it and used some better, more rubber like stuff from Home Depot to replace it. No problems after that.

[DutchmenSport]

Your camper should be able to withstand any type of rain, towing or set up for camping. Me-thinks you are right, in the fact it came from the wheel well, under the slide and across the floor. You may never find the exact spot where it happened, and it may never happen again. All you can do is try to find any places where water could intrude and seal it up.

Many moons ago, I was taking clothes out of the slide-out closet in my current camper. The bottom of the clothing was wet where they hung down on the carpet on the bottom. The carpet was drenched. I removed all the clothing and get towels and dabbed up the wet from the closet, and then went to town looking for the leak. I never found it, spraying water with a garden hose from all directions, including upward, as if it could have intruded from the bottom when driving in rain. Finally I gave up looking and trying. That was more than 3 years ago, and it's never done it again. Dry as a bone under all conditions! Sometimes things just happen,in a fluke, very weird, when all the circumstances are just exactly so-so, and never occur again. I keep an eye on the closet after rains, and especially when traveling in rain, and "knock on wood" it's always dry. Never did figure that one out.

Hopefully, it will never happen again to you either.

[the_bear_II]

Wheel well sounds possible. In the dark use a flashlight to look for holes. Have someone inside shining the flashlight and someone outside to look for light.

Is your refrigerator close to where the water is. On ours, while traveling in heavy rain/wind the water will blow into the refrigerator vent and leak out onto the floor from time to time. I use duct tape to seal the vent if I know I will hit rain.