Newbie with leak questions?

[Bassrats2]

We have just pulled up our carpet on our 1999 AS and noticed on the floor around the perimeter we have some wet spots on the plywood. No rot, just some bad water stains. Two in the living room on the sides of the sofa, two in the bedroom on the wall side in the floor. The AS is new to us, but we just sold a 1985 Avion and didn't have these issues. We are in the process of putting parbond at all the seams and at the awning attach to the camper. Any thoughts where the water could be coming from?

[Belegedhel]

Check the window seals, and how much water is piling up at the base of the window frames. Also, the rub rail and emblems are all held in place with pop rivets, none of which are sealed into the holes in the shell. Note also that you could have a leak somewhere on the roof, and the water is just running down the inside of the wall and ending up on the floor at the perimeter, so also take a serious look at anything that penetrates the roof.

good luck!

[dznf0g]

Since your unit is similar to mine, I will tell you what I have found. I had "corner" leaks in the front which were a result of the curved glass-to-frame seals deteriorating. I dug out the "vulkem like" sealer between the glass and its frame as best and deep as I could and replaced with Parbond. Has sealed for 3 years now. The water showed up on as a weep on the inside seal between the glass and its frame. Given the age of your unit, I would look to the track for the center glass rock guard as well.

Rear corners seem particularly susceptible as well. I have had tail light, lower rub strip (twice) and center trunk door frame-to-body seal leaks.

[Bassrats2]

Thanks to each of you that have replied back - We are learning so much from this site.

[Ridgerunner3]

I had a similar wet spot by the sofa. The problem was the top of the rub rail (lower rail, I think is called the rub rail) needed to be sealed. You could see that the top of the rail was not sealed and it was the exact spot where the subfloor was wet. The awning rail dumps water down at this area. After I bought my 2002 Safari two years ago, I ended up using parbond on the top of the rub rail and the top of the belt line to make sure I had no leaks from these two areas. I later went back and re-sealed all of my windows. No more leaks since then.

I also had a seal leak around the mounting flange of the water heater.

Good luck.

[perryg114]

Common leak areas are at the back where the storage comparment plate goes up under the back of the trailer. This plate is the devil and it will leak and cause floor and frame rot problems. The only way to seal it properly is to remove the rub rail at the back of the trailer and caulk the seem that is covered by the rail.

Also leaks will usually show up in the 4 corners because there is a gap in a U-channel (we call it the c-channel) between the straight and curved sections. Leaks will run down this channel and come out at that gap. So the leaks don't appear near where they come from. Water usually travels between the inner and outer skins and ends up in the floor at these corner locations. Window frames can leak especially on the older trailers with double pane windows. Usually the gasket goes bad and lets water into the frame and then into the trailer through a seam between the right and left halves of the frame. I cut my old gasket lip off and filled the gap with Trempro-635 and made a new seal with that. Also it is common to find loose rivets to the right of and above the door and around the door frame. Here are some links that will help.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f454/fixed-window-leak-problems-86517.html
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f456/still-have-leaks-85248.html
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f454/speaking-of-wing-windows-86615.html

Perry

[dznf0g]

I'm not sure, Perry, but I think a 99 30' Excella has the bumper drawer, a rear trunk door and a plastic/fiberglass bumper like the newer Classics. No plate and a rolled up lip on the plastic components. A pic would help here. That being said (and thought), the top of the lower rub rail requires sealing every few years---a lot of flexing and bouncing back there and the sealer tends to separate from the skin.