Basement Wet, Land Yacht, Clipper, Diesel Pusher, Cargo Hinge Leak

[masseyfarm]

As I live in, what some may call, the rain belt, I have had lots of ongoing searches to find water leaks.
One annoying ongoing problem has been a wet basement floor directly below the lock on both sides of the main cargo doors. This was so common the last year or so that I always had an absorbant cloth there to suck it up before it got furthur on the compartment floor.
Warm summer weather did not matter much as the small amount would dry up quickly.
I redid the weather strip on both doors a couple years ago and the problem persisted. I caulked the lock/handle area with no improvement.
I finally lay in the compartment with the trouble lamp and had the better half hose down the exterior.
ITS COMING THRU THE *%#$#%&^&***^ HINGE!!!!!

I sprayed the hinges with a silicone spray lubricant and the problem seems to be resolved. I have now added this to the preventive maintenance monthly routine.

The hinge on the Clipper is just below the rubrail but has no flashing to run the water out over and outside the hinge. It might have been an intelligent OEM thought to add a drip rail in this area. These doors get used often so there may be some wear in the hinge that contributes to the problem.
Again, persistance seems to have paid off. Time will tell.

Good Luck
Dave

[BarnacleBill]

Your a brave man, "I finally lay in the compartment with the trouble lamp and had the better half hose down the exterior." I would have to pick just the right day to do that. "And the authorities are still looking for the man who diapered while working on his RV..."

But seriously, one of my basement lockers leaking the same way in heavy rain. I will try the silicone spray lubricant. Thanks for your bravery and research.

[frankandsue]

Dave,
Frank would like to know the name/brand of silicone spray lubricant?

[masseyfarm]

Originally Posted by frankandsue

Dave,
Frank would like to know the name/brand of silicone spray lubricant?

I used "Motomaster Silicone Lube Spray from Canadian Tire" which is only in Canada, but any brand should do the trick???

Dave

[frankandsue]

Dave, how is the silicone spray experiment working? We see the problem on the rear cargo door openings the most.

[masseyfarm]

Sue:
My problem with the water leaking through the hinge has been solved with the silicon spray.

We did the Alberni trip on a very wet and windy weekend and had no moisture on the inside. The inside of the cargo door was dry,(where it used to run down and drip off the lock box onto the floor.) So after about 6 weeks of wet weather, the silicon spray has done the job. I did spray again all hinges and locks in prep for winter, but I should have done the rubber weather strip also!!!

We are currently in a major freeze for our area with 17F and it looks like it will last another couple more days before returning to normal temp. I tried the compartment door yesterday to get some tools and the door was froze, so I did not disturb it so as not to pull off the weather strip.

Nice and cozy in the Clipper (for storage) with the furnace's set at 50F and a ceramic heater set on low for backup.

I see you had a fun experience on the classified???

Dave

[frankandsue]

Dave,

Good to hear, our problem right now is Indian Summer, its about 80 and sooo humid. I have been opening the cargo doors during the day to keep it dry around the rear door top on each side. That seems to be the problem area with dew coming off the roof and down the sides and I think through those hinges. Frank hasn't done the spray yet but is going to right away. We have two trips planned through December but at some point in there we are having the decals all redone. Found a good guy at a great price. I'll email you the pictures I took with the new inside.

Yes, had some scammer fishing, I was wondering why the heck someone would want to transport it to Great Britian, didn't take me long to catch on.

[masseyfarm]

We have just had our first 3 day rain, at times heavy, since the spring.
Checked the Clipper at different times and all seemed well. But went to get my tape measure from the Clipper basement this morning and, surprise, wet floor directly under the door latch.(again)

I thought I had this problem licked back in 2010 and have not had any sign of a problem since. Of course, I have neglected to silicone the hinge lately because "out of sight out of mind".

I have not been spraying it regularly as it tends to leave a dark streak where it runs down the white cargo door that requires more than the wash brush to remove.

Used the air hose to dry off the hinge and sprayed liberally with silicone. If all goes well, this should last for the winter.

Made another note on the seasonal service schedule to remember to do this every fall.

So many things to remember to do.

I hesitate to remove the door hinge to see if there is any caulking between the hinge and the body mount. This may well be where the water is weeping in. I will see if the silicone does the job before going deeper into a larger repair.

Dave

Originally Posted by masseyfarm

As I live in, what some may call, the rain belt, I have had lots of ongoing searches to find water leaks.
One annoying ongoing problem has been a wet basement floor directly below the lock on both sides of the main cargo doors. This was so common the last year or so that I always had an absorbent cloth there to suck it up before it got further on the compartment floor.
Warm summer weather did not matter much as the small amount would dry up quickly.
I redid the weather strip on both doors a couple years ago and the problem persisted. I caulked the lock/handle area with no improvement.
I finally lay in the compartment with the trouble lamp and had the better half hose down the exterior.
ITS COMING THRU THE *%#$#%&^&***^ HINGE!!!!!

I sprayed the hinges with a silicone spray lubricant and the problem seems to be resolved. I have now added this to the preventive maintenance monthly routine.

The hinge on the Clipper is just below the rubrail but has no flashing to run the water out over and outside the hinge. It might have been an intelligent OEM thought to add a drip rail in this area. These doors get used often so there may be some wear in the hinge that contributes to the problem.
Again, persistence seems to have paid off. Time will tell.

Good Luck
Dave

[masseyfarm]

Close inspection confirms that the water penetrates the hinge and runs down the inside of the door and drips off the inside handle mechanism.

There is no sign of water under the hinge mount, which would result in a freefall drip onto the cargo floor.

The silicone spray has done the job. We have had heavy rain and wind the last couple days, and all the compartments are dry as they should be.

The constant use of the main cargo door requires silicone spray on the hinge to keep it water tight.

Dave

Originally Posted by masseyfarm

I hesitate to remove the door hinge to see if there is any caulking between the hinge and the body mount. This may well be where the water is weeping in. I will see if the silicone does the job before going deeper into a larger repair.

Dave

[masseyfarm]

Opened my cargo bay to get the drill last week, after wet snow and rain, and again I have a wet spot below the handle. I had installed my small entrance door drip rail for the winter, and it was directing the water to the rear, but some of it was splashing on the rub rail above the hinge on the cargo door.

As mentioned earlier, this main cargo door hinge probably has wear from plenty of use over the years, but hindsight says a drip rail here should have been engineered into these units. I don't believe there ever was a OEM drip rail installed on any of these Class A units and this closeup of a 2001 shows the same construction as my 96.




The silicone spray seemed to work not to bad, but is a temporary solution at best.
The water enters the hinge and runs over the top of the door flange. I am going to clean this area well and see if I can put a shallow bead line of caulk along the top of the hinge flange just to try and direct the water to the cargo door corners at a point outside the weatherstrip.

I will update at a later date as this will take time to prove any success.

Dave

[masseyfarm]

I cleaned up the hinge area and sprayed some white roof sealer on the hinge inside and out. There are two small weatherstrips on the flange top now and looking at them one would think they would do the job.

The long term solution is to install a drip rail under the rub rail and over the hinge itself. I have cut up some demo pieces of vinyl that should work and still not interfere with the cargo door opening all the way.
I don't want to loosen the rub rail so I will wait till the weather warms up a bit and drop the door and hinge and slide the new vinyl drip rail up under the rub rail.

For now I will just keep a close watch to see if my temporary spray today has any success.

Dave