Forum Discussion

Togger's avatar
Togger
Explorer
May 28, 2015

This leak is UNBELEIVABLE

I have been trying to solve a most difficult rain leak since last summer. I have a Wildwood DLX park model with a domed rubber roof. When it rains I get water seepage on the back side of the trailer where the linoleum covered floor meets the sidewall (not in the slideouts).

The dealer has been out 3 times to try to solve it with no success. My wife and I have spent hours spraying the back side of the trailer with hoses and couldn't make it leak.

In desperation, we began spraying the front side of the trailer opposite the leaking side (NOT overspraying to the leaking side). After 40 minutes of spraying the front side wall/roof joint, water begins to leak on the opposite side of the trailer where the wall meets the floor. There is no sign of leakage in the ceiling or walls, just at the floor.

This seem unbeleivable. The water would have to do one of three things and none seem possible.

1. Cross above the ceiling and under the roof without making the ceiling or walls wet and run down inside the opposite wall to the floor.

2. Follow channels in the aluminum siding along the front side, around the back end, and 15 feet along the back side over the top of a slideout to where it ends up on the floor.

3. Run under the floor from the front side of the trailer to the back side, and then show up on top of the 3/4" tongue and groove plywood at the wall joint which would make it defy gravity by at least 3/4".

Has anyone ever seen a leak travel from one side to the other like this and have any idea how it could happen? I pulled the plastic cover strip off the gutter rail screw track and everything in the screwed joint looks normal. This is driving me absolutely insane.
  • Togger's avatar
    Togger
    Explorer
    May 30, 2015
    Westend, I am curious how the Eternabond tape would be used over the screw joint on the top side edge of the roof. All the pictures I have seen of it used are flat roof areas like around hatches, vents, flat seams, etc.

    To apply it over a screw rail that has a gutter on the bottom I am imagining it being applied over a couple inches of the EPDM rubber roof, down over the upper part of the rail where the screws are, and down on the aluminum rail to about a point in the gutter where the water would actually collect???? Would the plastic screw cover trim piece be removed or taped over?

    This seems like a very uneven surface to apply tape that is supposed to be rolled down. I have never used Eternabond so am very curious if it would be a successful long term solution on the screw joint.

    Pictures anyone??
  • westend's avatar
    westend
    Explorer
    May 29, 2015
    Togger wrote:
    I did not remove the screw cover plastic trim piece on the gutter rail when I did my leak test. I just looked for bubbles coming out from anywhere on the trim piece, which were not evident. I can see that a leak from the plastic screw cover could be a moving target since it would not be coming directly out of the trailer shell at a fixed point.

    Looks like my next step is to remove the trim cover and and do another pressure test of the rail.

    I am told there is supposed to be putty behind the rail and that the screws pull the rail tight against the putty to create a seal. I'm not sure how to tell if the putty is there or not. It would appear that the only way water could infiltrate at this joint is through the screw holes themselves. Insight from anyone familiar with the construction of this screw joint would be appreciated.
    Yeah, moving target since the cover may channel the air out to another exit point. No bubbles.

    FWIW, when I restored my Starcraft I used a very good sealant between the framing and the siding, between the roof edge and the roof, and anywhere else I thought a leak might be possible. I still had two very small leaks from above, one from a missing screw and another from water getting past the screw, both of these in the roof's trim edge. I ended up installing Eternabond tapes over everything and got rid of my pesky leak problems.

    Other Forum members have pulled all the screws in the edge trim and applied sealant to the new screw before reinstalling. They reported success.
  • Spridle's avatar
    Spridle
    Explorer
    May 29, 2015
    If it was my trailer, I would pull the strips and put a fresh bed of dicor after removing the old sealant. I would dip each screw thread in Dicor before re-installing to prevent water from migrating down the screwhole. Also check your skylights and vents and exterior light fixtures. I find that by doing repairs myself I am sure its done right and will last for years. Do some research to make sure you use the best products for your roof type. Good luck.
  • Togger's avatar
    Togger
    Explorer
    May 29, 2015
    I did not remove the screw cover plastic trim piece on the gutter rail when I did my leak test. I just looked for bubbles coming out from anywhere on the trim piece, which were not evident. I can see that a leak from the plastic screw cover could be a moving target since it would not be coming directly out of the trailer shell at a fixed point.

    Looks like my next step is to remove the trim cover and and do another pressure test of the rail.

    I am told there is supposed to be putty behind the rail and that the screws pull the rail tight against the putty to create a seal. I'm not sure how to tell if the putty is there or not. It would appear that the only way water could infiltrate at this joint is through the screw holes themselves. Insight from anyone familiar with the construction of this screw joint would be appreciated.
  • PaulJ2's avatar
    PaulJ2
    Explorer
    May 28, 2015
    Togger wrote:
    Since I am on a permanent site with a screenroom attached I can't get a dealer to do a seal tech test because the only dealer in Delaware that has a sealtech machine won't do mobile calls with it.

    I have learned to do my own pressure test with a carpet dryer very effectively (search DIY Pressure Testing for Rain Leaks in Tech forum). I found 2 major and several minor air leaks in my camper and sealed them but so far they don't seem to be the source of the leak.

    The screws along the gutter rail all appeared to be in tight but I didn't put a wrench on them to test them. I guess I need to do that next. I am surprised that so much water could get under the plastic trim strip to cause major leaking.


    X2 I did a very good pressure leak test on mine by just turning the fantastic fan on high,on "in" mode. Found some bubbles around window trim in my case.
  • westend's avatar
    westend
    Explorer
    May 28, 2015
    I bet it's situation #1. Water will travel along a rafter to the wall and you'll never see it on the ceiling. When you pressurized the trailer, did you spray everywhere, every surface? Did you remove any screw covers before testing? If you have screw covers on the gutter rail, that can certainly be a leak spot and you'll probably never see a bubble when testing since the cover blocks your view.
  • Togger's avatar
    Togger
    Explorer
    May 28, 2015
    Since I am on a permanent site with a screenroom attached I can't get a dealer to do a seal tech test because the only dealer in Delaware that has a sealtech machine won't do mobile calls with it.

    I have learned to do my own pressure test with a carpet dryer very effectively (search DIY Pressure Testing for Rain Leaks in Tech forum). I found 2 major and several minor air leaks in my camper and sealed them but so far they don't seem to be the source of the leak.

    The screws along the gutter rail all appeared to be in tight but I didn't put a wrench on them to test them. I guess I need to do that next. I am surprised that so much water could get under the plastic trim strip to cause major leaking.
  • realebill's avatar
    realebill
    Explorer
    May 28, 2015
    when you pulled the rubber strip off the gutter rail,did you check to see that all the screws were tight ? the leak i had on my rockwood ultimately was found to be wicking into the screw holes behind the gutter rail.when I checked the screws,i could almost tighten them a full turn. water seeped across the ceiling and actually dripped out of the A/C vents in the middle of the ceiling as well as running down inside the walls leaking out of the window and door frames. solution,removed all the screws in the rail on both sides of the trailer and replaced with SS screws dipped in Dicor caulk. I made sure that each screw was totally snugged when I put them back in....result,stopped the leaks completely !
  • pianotuna's avatar
    pianotuna
    Nomad III
    May 28, 2015
    Hi,

    Is it under warranty? If so, have the dealer do a sealtest, where the RV is pressurized and then sprayed with bubble soap. Then fix the leaks.

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