2002 L/Y 390 XL Rain Leak

[JosefZ]

I have a passenger side leak that appears to start above the passenger window behind the door. I've attached a couple of pics that show the stain. Any thoughts?

[masseyfarm]

It rains in California?????

You have checked for obvious roof caulking deterioration? Have you got a door awning mount located directly over that window area?

Some outside pictures of the roof and that corner might help.

Water will travel for some distance if the unit is parked all the time with that being the low corner, the actual leak may be further back.

You should be able to remove the side panel above the door to try to help determine the route of the leak.

Is it possible that the water would run from a leak at the marker lights. I am not sure if your markers are on the front of the cap or on the top. I will have to look at some pictures to verify that.

I have to go out here so I will get back to you later in the evening.

Dave

Originally Posted by JosefZ

I have a passenger side leak that appears to start above the passenger window behind the door. I've attached a couple of pics that show the stain. Any thoughts?

[gloran]

Looks like you have a light mounted on the exterior between your front door and window you could check. Also where your roof line overlaps your side wall between the awning and front nose piece, above front door awning, might not be properly sealed.

[JosefZ]

Thanks for getting back so quickly massey and gloran. I'm attaching more pics. I'm ready to do what it takes as we love our rig. How do I go about dismantling the interior? Are there any tutorials online?

BTW, Massey we do have our seasons; flood, fire, wind, and drought.

[masseyfarm]

This looks suspect here.



The main drip rail that the main awning mounts to ends right at the front cap seam. That runs down to the top of the door awning and gathers there.
This may be the problem.

I do see that your marker lights are the new style and mounted on the top of the cap. I would check them close to make sure they are not gathering water and letting it run down the wire harness.

From looking at your pictures, I do believe that panel above the door comes off. Probably pink insulation right there and not bead board. If its wet I would remove it and replace with SM board and reflectix.

If you can stop the leak and dry it out, you may be able to clean the stain on the fabric. It does not show any delam in the picture??

That is a nice unit, so try to restore what you can without major surgery if possible.

If you remove that window, it would give you a good idea what damage has been done to the wall. That window should be resealed after this type of incident anyway.

That should be aluminium framing there at the window, but the front windshield framing will probably be steel. On these front door units the door frame mount structure may also be steel?????? Not good to have this or any area wet for any length of time.

Those roof seams have been touched up and if there was a problem with the original caulk, adding more will seldom stop the leak. Look at my posts re- ETERNA BOND TAPE for some tips on cleaning up those seams.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f313...tml#post896205
Dave

[JosefZ]

I've had luck using hydrogen peroxide to clean the stain. Do I remove the moulding to get to the panel edges?

[masseyfarm]

I only have experience with what I have owned Josef.

What moulding are you speaking of? Inside or out.

You should probably not remove anything outside until you have investigated from the inside. Any outside tampering will show up like a sore thumb right at the door there.

Dave

[JosefZ]

There's a moulding strip around the interior of the door. I'd really like to remove the cabinet above the door and behind the passenger seat. I guess I'll just dig in from the inside and hope I don't do more harm than good. I'll keep posting as I plod along. Thanks.

[JosefZ]

I've removed the furnishings curbside back to the kitchen table. It appears the leak is caused by an intrusion from the seam that joins the roof to the cap. What is recommended as the mother of all seals? I've seen some pics of others here on the forum that use some type of flashing, or tape, and then caulk.

[masseyfarm]

Is the PINK insulation dry then?

You are saying the leak is to the rear of the front cap seam?

If that is correct, I would make sure the leak is sealed, and if no delam on the exterior, let the interior dry with the help of a fan and try to remove the stain and reassemble. If there is a power plug or anything else you can remove right in that area to allow air to dry the wall I would try that.

Did the problem reach the floor on that corner?

Dave

[JosefZ]

Dave, you're amazing for getting back so quick. Yes, but that insulation is in front of the seam. I haven't pulled the next panel back down enough yet to check that insulation. We're expecting rain this weekend, so I'm going to monitor from inside and hopefully see where it's coming in. I'd like to seal it myself, but have read pros and cons regarding eternabond. The other popular seal seems to be Dicor. What experience do you have regarding either? Thanks again.

I'm off on a bike ride and we'll check back soon. BTW, I spoke with Dan Snider at Airstream. He gave me some guidance on removing the cabinetry and seems interested on how this all turns out.

[masseyfarm]

I am pretty sure the insulation to the rear of that wall joint is going to be solid SM or bead board, sandwiched between the inner and outer wall.

If the glue is solid, don't tamper with it. The bead insulation should not hold water and if you can get some airflow, it will wick out to the inside fabric and dry out. Keep the fan going to move the air around.

You have a lot more dry warm weather in your location than many of the rest of us do.

Eternabond requires a clean surface for proper installation. But, no matter what you use, it needs a clean surface. THAT MEANS THE OLD STUFF IS BEST REMOVED.

It looks like some water was going to the windshield post area but probably just traveling along on the upper door frame??

Dave

[masseyfarm]

When you are putting that all back together why not install this alarm sensor, with the battery box in the top cabinet where it is easy to access.


Water Alarm from Basement Watchdog | The Home Depot - Model#: BWD-HWA

Then you don't have to wait on the damage to be done to know you have a problem.

I have used a similar device on other projects and as long as you remember to change the batteries, it does 'give peace of mind'.

We all get complacent after a problem, but with constant movement and weather exposure, this type of repair is continuous.

Dave

Dave

[JosefZ]

Done! I'll post pics soon. Used elastobond on the roof. Leak was along front seam. Minor damage. I replaced front curbside wall covering. I found the discontinued Guilford of Maine fabric from a reseller in Mass. Had to interface to foam. I ran a cat5e cable along curbside roof wall seam while I was at it. Now have HDMI DVD to bedroom. Learned a helluva lot. Will talk details layer.

[masseyfarm]

Sounds good. Update any detail/techniques that you think might be useful to others when you get a chance. Unfortunately, these annoying incidents happen to new and old equipment. One must keep a close watch to try to minimize damage.

Dave

[AdamB]

JosefZ,

Nice Airstream and nice Jeep! Although my roof was resealed by a respectable shop prior to purchasing my rig 2 years ago, this seasons rains exposed some of the problems that WILL occur if I don't get up there and inspect and repair damaged items on a monthly basis as Dave recommends (yes Dave, we do get a lot of rain, flooding and regular summer fires here in coastal California.... but not much snow).


I appreciate your pictures and narrative through this process. Although your rig looks new compared to mine, it's not getting any younger and I can see that if I ever upgrade to a newer Airstream pusher, there will always be a need for proper roof maintenance. I'm going through something similar right now and I'm going to order a new skylight this week to replace the aging one up there which is causing me a bit of leaking trouble right now. I replaced the Fantastik Fan last year and the front marker lights a few weeks ago with LED units. I'm also planning on replacing the A/C gaskets and shower vent fan while I'm up there.

[israndy]

I sent JosefZ a comment, hope he gets it. Hopefully this thread will be finished as I am up against this same issue and would love to see how the re-upholstery was done...

-Randy

[israndy]

I did get a PM from JosefZ, he did not have pics of the repair. He advised that the triangle block of wood is simply pried up to get access to the screws that hold the cabinets. He also stated that he had found the original fabric but was traveling and would get back to me with updates when he was home. Have not heard anything else.

My fabric is MUCH worse off, both sides but I am getting no leaks currently so not sure what happened. Perhaps the leaks are so small the effect is only seen on days of rain, but I am looking and the cumulative damage of years now.

-Randy

[israndy]

Well, I have owned the RV since June. I didn't see any effects of the rain storm I drove thru on the way out. Then the RV has sat all summer. Suddenly it's winter and storms have started. I tried to tarp the RV but got a swimming pool on the roof of rain collected by the tarp.



Dangerous amount of water weight, took hours to bail out. So I removed the tarp for the most recent rain. This time the water collected inside. Looks like I have a leak in the roof access, but I have others elsewhere. The leak on the roof access collects around the rim of the staircase. It then exits into the ceiling where the one ceiling piece was rotted.



Hard to see in these photos. The soft touch vinyl is glued to luan plywood which is strong enough to hold the vinyl across the 8 foot expanse. There are clips that run across the RV to hold the luan tightly to the roof.

The water then dripped down the walls and on the floor. Took out my battery monitor and my roomba in the process.



The crazy thing that I could not photograph was the water up front. This probably comes from the gutters running along the sides of the RV collecting the roof rain and depositing them above the door and the drivers window. This is also where the front cap meets the side wall. There is a little 3 inch piece that is riveted to the two pieces and seals it shut. I think mine is no longer sealed.

The stairs were completely wet inside and the vinyl below the DVD player was bulging holding 3 gallons of water. This photo sucks, but look at yours and see the difference. Yours is flat.



Water was dripping thru the fan mount holes onto the dash and going down the heat duct. The water that made it to the floor from the roof access was going thru the passenger seat mount. The wood under that seat where you put your feet is also rotted. Looking into the generator area I could see water dripping in, probably from the dash or the entry stairs.

The fabric around the entry door where it is stained black was wet again, both over the door and under the little passenger window. I will likely have to take down the cabinets over the drivers seat to find the leaks there.

The roof access fix may simply be a matter of getting new gaskets, the D shaped gasket peals and sticks to the door, and more automotive gasket shaped like a U with an O attached clips to the surround. It's not a big leak, but it was raining for days. Need to take up the grey trunk cloth to see how much damage it's doing around the top of the staircase.

I planned to do a greenhouse style tarp over the RV to keep the rain out, using plastic pipes to form the structure that drains off the sides of the RV. But now it's snowing on the RV. Not sure how to support that weight...

-Randy

[PSchw]

Had mine sit in TX for 5 weeks also have leaks on the roof access and on the window.
Peter