Noobie with a leak

[Twinkie]

hello everyone! My husband and I recently bought a 1964 Overlander twin. The previous owner did quite a bit of refurbishing, new carpet, storage doors, recovered the couch, etc. Before we bought it we noticed a very tiny amount of warping to the wood at the bottom edge of the wardrobes in the bathroom area and to the wooden panel next to the stove. The owner told us when he bought it had water damage to the floor from the windows being left open and a poor seal around the door. When asked if the floor was sound with no rot, he said "well if you pull up that carpet it sure won't look pretty, but I fixed the problem areas." He said he fixed the rotted area around the door, including laying oak flooring for he entry, and then carpet throughout. It has rained a few times since we bought it with no leaks detected, until yesterday when it POURED for 2 hours. With nearly 6 inches of rain, I wanted to check for any damage. When i felt around the warped edges in the bathroom wardrobe it felt a little damp and the edge of the carpet as well. I opened the outside panel to the service compartment (toilet/battery/tub/dump area) and the wood floor is really wet in there. I pressed on the floor and it seemed ok, a little squishy from being so wet. So would this be from a bad sewer vent on the roof? would that leak into this area? Could it be from rain blowing into the back panel? It seems like a good tight seal though. What would be the most probable cause, so I know where to start? Any help on this would be wonderful, or lead me in the right direction if this has already been addressed. Thanks for your time!

[davidz71]

Twinkie,
Good to have you as a new member. To answer your question, yes, it sounds like a vent gasket. I have a corner bed, mid bath and both blackwater tank and greywater tank vents are close together. I found both gaskets had split in 3 or more places and the screens had rotted away almost completely. I ordered new gaskets and screening from Inland RV and caulked with Trempro 635 purchased from Vintage Trailer Supply. Check out Johnhd's thread on sewer vent replacement. He did a good job on the pictures. My Winegard antenna was also near the area and I found part of my leak was through a rubber cap that sealed the antenna cable to the base (it was pulled away from the base).

[TBRich]

Twinkie... Welcome to the forum! Glad you could join us. Leaks just stink. But be persistant and you'll find the source...they can be tricky, but you are heading in what sounds like a good direction.

We had a small leak in our 2006 Bambi...water dripped out the antenna crank...but after a few attempts we found the water was not coming in through the antenna hole at all, but under the solar panel about 24" away from the antenna, where the solar panel is mounted to the roof...so do beware that water travels and it is not always from the most obvious piont. There are several threads on leaks you may want to check out.

Good luck with that drip.
TB

[Ganglin]

It could be several places. Is it wet mainly at the very rear edge near the trunk door? It could be the door seal (our leak) it could also be the rub rail - any gap between it and the body. Another spot to check is where the body meets the trunk lid - if there's a gap it could be running back under and soaking the wood.

Good luck with it...

[Twinkie]

it seems mostly wet more to the left side, the area between the water heater and toilet, with electrical wires hanging above. And also under the toilet, but not really up close to the door. I opened the outside panel for the front of the WH and it is dry, but the backside, (under the linen closet) is wet and has saoked thru the wood panels in the wardrobe and linen closet area. grrr....

[Ganglin]

This may seem like a lot of effort but it should work. Open her up and get her dried out - if there is access under the bed near the tank you may want to open the lid on that too.

I think the roof sewer vent is on the opposite side of your leak - but it still could be the culprit. First check the seal on the water heater flange where it fastens to the body - reseal that if it looks bad. Make sure the hole where the gas line enters the heater body has sealant around it. Finally make sure that side marker light is sealed.

Tape the edges of the sewer vent - tape the top edge of the rub rail - tape the gap where the rear trunk door opens - tape the edge where the body meets the bumper.

Water hose with no nozzle on it and start with the sewer vent - DON"T direct water down the hole just around it. See if it leaks. If not - use the the hose to wet down all the other areas you've taped - leak?. If not it's got to be one of the taped off areas. Remove one taped off item and wet her down again - keep doing that until you find it. Oh, check the seals on the tail lights also.

Good luck... I love the 64 Overlander - they have so much character...

[Twinkie]

I climbed up to check out the 2 vent pipes on both sides of my bathroom. here is what I have....



One side looks much worse than the other. Ok, now see how the bases are more rounded than the others I have seen on here? The replacement covers I found on inland rv are square, (Like JOHN HD's photos) so will those still work? the one I found on vintage trailer supply looks more like this, but am wondering if it will work since it is to be riveted on and this one is screwed on...?? Anyone...Anyone..??

[scottanlily]

hello there Ganglin ,

very nice rig there ,Im noticing what appears to be 15x7 or 8 chevy truck
ralley wheels with those wide tires ,and the trim rings ,looks awesome ,very beefy and gives it a performance look .A great idea .I have a set of four of those ,maybe someone else wants that look ,for my 60 trdwnd its a single axle with 15x7 steel wheels blue, (matches the travelall ) and heavy duty
herculese tires for the vintage look ,but that look is really an eye catcher ,........hmmm

Scott of scottanlily

[Ganglin]

Is there some reason you want to replace the trim rings? I'd pull those - clean them up and reinstall with stainless screws. You'll want to add screen over the pipe opening to keep the varmits out - then slide the ring down over it.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Twinkie

I climbed up to check out the 2 vent pipes on both sides of my bathroom. here is what I have....



One side looks much worse than the other. Ok, now see how the bases are more rounded than the others I have seen on here? The replacement covers I found on inland rv are square, (Like JOHN HD's photos) so will those still work? the one I found on vintage trailer supply looks more like this, but am wondering if it will work since it is to be riveted on and this one is screwed on...?? Anyone...Anyone..??

Most owners solve the vent pipe problem by installing the polished oval metal cover with it's associated gasket, that Airstream has been using for over 30 years.

There is a small movement in that pipe as the trailer twists, therefore the original design lasts a short time, then has to be fixed again.

Andy

[TomW]

The vent cover that Vintage Trailer Supply sells is the style that came on my '67 Airstream. I consider the way that cover functions to be superior to what Airstream uses now.

When I refurbed my Overlander, two of the three vent covers were still sealing well in spite of sitting, with no maintenance for over twenty years. The one vent cover that was leaking was doing so because it had been smashed to smithereens, presumably by a basketball. It was replaced with the current-design vent cover simply because Steve was not yet offering his OEM-style vent cover at VTS.

Tom

[Twinkie]

Sorry for the stupid questions, but I am a noob...So I don't have to replace the trim rings with some new type of cover? Just remove the rings, clean them up, put down the screen over the hole, then a gasket, then glue the screen and gasket down with what, Vulkem? then replace the old rings with stainless screws. And I assume I can buy just a few gaskets and vulkem at inland rv or vintage trailer supply? Thanks, you guys are great.

[TomW]

Originally Posted by Twinkie

... Just remove the rings, clean them up, put down the screen over the hole, then a gasket, then glue the screen and gasket down with what, Vulkem? then replace the old rings with stainless screws. And I assume I can buy just a few gaskets and vulkem at inland rv or vintage trailer supply? ...

Yes.

The new style vent covers do nothing more than look better than your current trim rings. Stainless screws would look nice, but you can always wirebrush the rust off of your existing ones, and smear Vulkem over them for protection. Just don't glob it on where it will be difficult to remove when you do this all over again in five years or less.

If mean time between maintenance is important, take a second look at VTS's vent covers.

Tom
p.s. It's a secret, but the screen is nothing more than fiberglass window-screen material

[Ganglin]

I don't believe you'll get gaskets from either vendor you mentioned. Two gasket materials I really like. Shower pan liner (sold at Lowes by the linear foot) for thin applications. The other is pipe saddle tee gasket for a thicker and more flexible gasket. Both because they are environmentally unfriendly. They don't rot and they last darn near forever - perfect for an Airstream application.

[Twinkie]

Thanks for the help guys, We taped everything off and got out the water hose. Sure enough, the leak is coming from the sewer vent, so we'll be fixing replacing the seal on that ASAP. The trunk door also leaked some water in, the door doesn't seem to have a real tight seal. I guess I can just use some foam weather stripping around the inside edges?

Also, the panel on the outside for the water heater, is there any way to seal around the top? (where leaves and debris would collect) When I look down behind the protruding square, I can see where water can just run inside the water heater area, so I took the panel off, as if I was lighting the water heater and that area is was wet and the water has dripped on the fitting/gas line over the years and rusted them pretty bad. How can I keep rain from running down into this gap?

[Twinkie]

Here is the gap Im talking about. Rain water runs right down in there. Is there a way to seal that off, or make a little cover to keep water out?

[Ganglin]

In your photo it looks like the seal has pulled away at the bottom of the picture. Cut the edge off the old sealant and recaulk it. Water should be able to run down in there without it leaking into the trailer.

[Twinkie]

Well, we replaced the gaskets and vulkemed the 3 roof vents. It rained shortly after with no leaks to the water heater area, and the bottom edges of the closet were dry. YIPEEE everthings fixed and leak free....Until I checked it today after another heavy rain. The water heater area is still dry, so I know fixing the sewer vents did help, but the back toliet/battery area is wet again....AARRGGG...I'm about ready to snap. And, to top that off, I go under the kitchen sink today and pressed on the carpet, and, yes it is now wet too. So I pull up this piece of carpet to find it wet mainly around the base of the furnace. Are you kidding me??? I remove the outside furnace vent cover to look for a possible leaking area, I don't see anything, but I don't really know what I'm looking for either...I have wanted an airstream forever, now that I have one, I just want to get rid of it, this is driving me nuts.

Advice on fixing/finding a leak around the base of the furnace AND inside the back battery/toilet compartment PLEASE!!!