Truck Camper - RV Leak Check In The Rain 12 02 2017

That's cool although angle metal seems like overkill to divert water around a window. The Window was leaking before? Was it not sealed properly? Are the other windows in the camper flashed/sealed differently to avoid water intrusion? Was the water accessing through the operable separation of the surfaces of the window or the seal of the window to the camper?

In any case glad you stopped the leak!

work2much wrote:
That's cool although angle metal seems like overkill to divert water around a window. The Window was leaking before? Was it not sealed properly? Are the other windows in the camper flashed/sealed differently to avoid water intrusion? Was the water accessing through the operable separation of the surfaces of the window or the seal of the window to the camper?

In any case glad you stopped the leak!

The dinette window is sealed the same as all the other windows. None of the others have been problematic. I think one possibility is that the flood of water was flowing down the window over the weep holes at the bottom of the window frame. It may have been able to back up in through there to the inside but I never noticed it happen. I did notice the bottom of the window frame had an accumulation of water in it which I figured to be condensation a couple times.
This window had been sealed a couple times and it continually failed possibly from body flex or unknown other forces. It has passed the test of a few good rains now without failure with the drip rail so I'm happy. This is the second location on the TC where all other attempts to stop a water leak failed and the aluminum angle drip rail resolved the leak problem as yet permanently in the first case and so far so good in this case.

If it does fail, I'll be back to talk about it. Full disclosure...

Nice job. Sometimes a little overkill is a good thing, especially when it gets the job done.

Keep us updated on it's performance.

Good job Jeff. I’ve had to do that to some of the campers I’ve owned in the past. Sliding windows have been the most leak prone in my experience. My current camper has crank out, jalousie type windows and so far they haven’t needed a drip cap.

Another option to use are these molded aluminum drip caps that come in various lengths. They aren’t as rugged as your angle aluminum though, and can be bent easier, and probably need a little more clearance than you have under your awning arm.

Drip Cap

:):)

I went to the auto parts store and bought window vents that attach with 3M tape. That works pretty well.

I still consider that covering the problem without fixing it.
Some wind and the whole idea goes down the drain.
Your roof gutter seems to have a problem dumping all that water into window area instead of downspout.

Being good TC'ers means improvising sometimes. I think we all do to some extent. I know I have in the past.

Kayteg1 wrote:
I still consider that covering the problem without fixing it.
Some wind and the whole idea goes down the drain.
Your roof gutter seems to have a problem dumping all that water into window area instead of downspout.

Part of the problem is the top mount of the awning is designed to use the gutter as part of the support for the awning. It hooks down into the gutter and has two bolts that go through the top edge of the Truck Camper framing just below the roof and above the gutter. The mount effectively blocks the flow of water in the gutter causing pooling which you can see in the video, surges out over the gutter, directly above and flowing like a river down over the window frame. I don't think any sliding window can really stand up to sealing out that much water. With the amount of continuous flow, it's virtually submerged in water. Last night, we had windy conditions and it was blowing significant rain onto the area around the window and it was still dry this AM when I checked. Personally, I think this drip rail is the proper fix for this particular situation. It's working and that's what matters on an 18 year old truck camper.

The “gutter” on my TC is a joke. Any rain stronger than a drizzle is goin to overflow it. It might as well not be there.

:):)

Never seen a 'downspout' on an RV but there is a first time for everything I guess.