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Old 12-10-2005, 09:03 AM   #1
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1997 30' Excella
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Leaky Excella

My 97 30' Excella has an obvious leak. On the street side of the coach the lower arm of the couch gets wet every time it rains. The carpet surrounding the couch is dry as are the walls. The hardware holding the couch arm to the inside wall of the trailer are all rusty. There is no obvious place for the water to be coming from yet it is definitely getting inside the trailer from somewhere.

Besides recaulking the entire trailer (all of my caulk appears dry and cracked) is there something else I should be looking for? Which product is the best for caulking exterior seams and windows?

Thanks!
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Old 12-10-2005, 12:19 PM   #2
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Vulkem, Sikaflex and Par bond all work well. Is your antenna above the leak?
Sometimes a leak form there can migrate, I had one took me forever to figure out, it even leaked all the way to the back along the ceiling seam trim

Can you post a pic?

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Old 12-10-2005, 12:46 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by balrgn
Vulkem, Sikaflex and Par bond all work well. Is your antenna above the leak?
Sometimes a leak form there can migrate, I had one took me forever to figure out, it even leaked all the way to the back along the ceiling seam trim

Can you post a pic?

Yes, my radio antenna is directly above the affected area. I'll start out by caulking the antenna holes as well as the mounting points for my window awnings.
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Old 01-07-2006, 09:00 AM   #4
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1997 30' Excella
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Another Leak

I partially gutted my Excella yesterday and found another obvious leak. The left rear corner of the trailer. The floor and all the wood that sat on the carpet near the streetside head of the bed were wet and show signs of having been wet for a while.

Any ideas where to start looking? Nothing is obvious from the outside.

Thanks,
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Old 01-07-2006, 09:07 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Heywood
I partially gutted my Excella yesterday and found another obvious leak. The left rear corner of the trailer. The floor and all the wood that sat on the carpet near the streetside head of the bed were wet and show signs of having been wet for a while.

Any ideas where to start looking? Nothing is obvious from the outside.

Thanks,
Could be coming from all sorts of places, Lower trim, water seeps in behind there and migrates to the plywood, Holding tank vent, seal dries up and seeps in there. Tail lights..... I had a pretty good separation that needed sealing above the outside storage lid in the rear........
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Old 01-07-2006, 10:26 AM   #6
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Steve, inside the rear locker right there is the city water intake and pressure regulator and drain valve on my trailer. On my trailer, that's where I would start looking, to see if there was dampness at any of the joints or pipes. My wife is small enough to get right inside that locker, legs and feet included, to check on leaks there, and behind the water heater. One day she got right in there, and found she was face to face with a scorpion. I now do my own checking in that area.... Another possibility, which was the cause of my wet floor in that area, was the water heater rusting through the bottom of the water container, and slowly saturating all the floor in that area. Failing that, I would make sure the beltlines have continuous thin beads of sealant above them. Good luck.
Nick.
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Old 01-07-2006, 11:03 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nickcrowhurst
Steve, inside the rear locker right there is the city water intake and pressure regulator and drain valve on my trailer. On my trailer, that's where I would start looking, to see if there was dampness at any of the joints or pipes. My wife is small enough to get right inside that locker, legs and feet included, to check on leaks there, and behind the water heater. One day she got right in there, and found she was face to face with a scorpion. I now do my own checking in that area.... Another possibility, which was the cause of my wet floor in that area, was the water heater rusting through the bottom of the water container, and slowly saturating all the floor in that area. Failing that, I would make sure the beltlines have continuous thin beads of sealant above them. Good luck.
Nick.
Thanks for the reply. I'm 99% certain it has nothing to do with either my city water intake or my water heater as they are both several feet forward of the affected area. Most likely is a leaky seam, lots of them in the immediate area.
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Old 01-07-2006, 01:54 PM   #8
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Steve,
The other guys have all given you some very excellent inputs~
One thing that seems be overlooked by nearly everyone, (Myself included) is the rubber gasket seals around the sewage vent pipes on the roof. Given that they should be replaced about every 5 yrs and, given your trailer's age.. I'd think you be wise to double check those..They're located under the aluminum caps..(Some models may have plastic caps by now..) It's real easy to check as you don't really need to crawl up on the roof top.. just be real careful on the ladder..~
Some where on the forum, I've posted some photos on what to look for..
ciao
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Old 01-07-2006, 07:38 PM   #9
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Front of the coach, goucho...my bet is the antenna on top.
Next guess would be Vista-Views if your coach has those.
Awning rail attachment areas can also present problems.
Otherwise, the running lights on top at the corner, and the curved seams with time and flexing down the road, can open themselves to a capillary leak.
ParrBond is a great product to seal these places.
Good luck finding the leak....sometimes they are a REAL PAIN to find.
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Old 01-07-2006, 08:49 PM   #10
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leak

I had the same leak problem with my '99 Excella. My leak was originating from the "television" antenna support bracket. I had a broken rivet and water was entering through the rivet hole, and I guess running down a roof beam and wetting the floor around and behind the couch. Hope that this solves your problem.

Bruce
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Old 02-18-2006, 08:31 PM   #11
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Update on leaks

I cured the leak I had on the left-front corner of my Excella (loose antenna mount) and on the mid-right side (vent pipe cap). However, the major leak in the left rear corner that damaged my subfloor and the minor leak on the back side of the entry door still continue to leak.

I think I have a handle on the entry door leak (re-caulk the back side of the door frame) but the left rear corner continues to baffle me. Nothing obvious that I can see.

Anyone have any other ideas?

Thanks,
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Old 02-18-2006, 10:23 PM   #12
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Hi Steve,
I would bet the door leak is water coming from the skylight. The OEM skylights of our vintage year were poorly installed, lacking an aluminum mounting flange. Most were just installed with screws without washers. Of course the screws eventually break the skylight flange allowing water to leak in. One way to check is to take down the trim around the bottom of the skylight and inspect. Hope this helps.
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Old 02-19-2006, 02:28 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Thompson
Hi Steve,
I would bet the door leak is water coming from the skylight. The OEM skylights of our vintage year were poorly installed, lacking an aluminum mounting flange. Most were just installed with screws without washers. Of course the screws eventually break the skylight flange allowing water to leak in. One way to check is to take down the trim around the bottom of the skylight and inspect. Hope this helps.
Both of my skylights are ALWAYS wet on the inside if it rains. I've always figured that it was just condensation but now you have we wondering. Might also explain the leak in the left-rear corner.

Ddi you have to replace your skylights or just reseal them with the correct installation hardware?

Thanks,
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Old 02-19-2006, 02:35 PM   #14
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Check out my posts #71 & #74 here: http://www.airforums.com/forum...a-10522-6.html
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