Potentially dangerous Basecamp leak... and the fix

[bobfowler]

Attention Basecamp owners - this one is VERY important!

I'm not in the habit of going into my Basecamp every day of the week, but Liz brought home a stuffed pink flamingo late yesterday afternoon and it just HAD to go into the trailer. When we opened up the doors, there was a LOT of water on the floor (FWIW, the trailer is sitting slightly nose and roadside high in the driveway). We had some torrential rains here in New Jersey early yesterday, but since the skies had cleared, it was time to find the leak - NOW!

I thought at first the roof vent might be leaking, so I removed the trim ring for a look-see - dry as a bone. With the trim still off and Liz closed up inside, I took the hose to the top of the trailer and gave it a good soaking down, no luck.

We took a longer look at the water pattern on the floor, and it looked like the water was coming in from the roadside rear console area, right where the power center is located. We went back outside and sure enough, the problem was the 120VAC duplex receptacle on the outside of the trailer, right next to the shoreline power connection. The receptacle has two nylon wings, just like a box you would use to add an outlet to an existing sheetrock wall. The cover has a foam rubber gasket (if you REALLY want to call it a gasket) that is tapered from top to bottom, and it was SOAKED! There is no box behind the receptacle, that foam rubber gasket and plastic cover is all that stands between your trailers innards and the elements. After disconnecting shore power, I loosened the two screws and pulled the receptacle off the trailer to find about 1/2" of water in the channel between the outside and inside walls. We mopped that up with paper towels and put it all back together.

I took a trip to the local SOB RV dealer at lunch today and bought a roll of putty tape. My after-work project was to take it apart again and use the putty tape instead of the foam gasket to seal the receptacle. It looks fine, and if my 2 hours of running water on it is any indication, the problem is fixed. BTW - the hole in the side of the trailer for the receptacle has sharp edges, be careful...

[thecatsandi]

Did you let AS customer service know about this?

[bobfowler]

Originally Posted by thecatsandi

Did you let AS customer service know about this?

Yeah, I sent an email last night about it. The info is being passed on to engineering, I hope they retro fit the existing units, or at least put out a service bulletin. I figured that posting here might get to someone who may have otherwise fallen through the cracks. Certainly better than keeping it to myself...

[Fyrzowt]

While I don't own a Basecamp, this is good info for those who do, and the type if posting that makes the forum great. Thanks Bob.
Dave

[martinto]

Bob, thanks for the heads up. I have my BC at the dealer for warranty repairs. They had previousley replaced most all the seals around the rear doors. Has some rivet issues to address and the famous skylight shade (with the heat of the sun, the adheasive fails and the shade fall off). Went to pick up the unit Saturday and when we opened the rear doors, a sizable amount of standing water was noted. We've had alot of rain in the Houston area as of late. We were guessing it may have come from the seal around the AC, but it's not clear. Before the rear doors seals were replaced, we would have standing water in the stair well. This was not evident this time. John, the Service Tech, and a very helpful guy, had pulled the unit from around back using a forklift with ball hitch. As the unit was raised at the front, we concluded the water was coming from the front somewhere as you could see the water had streamed towards the back during the move. I've forwarded your posting to John and the factory and asked John to look at that issues as well. Hope they can find the leak(s).

BTW, they seemed to have fixed the other open issues. The shade for the skylight is now velcroed around the skylight and not on the glass as before. The velcro is riveted into the ceiling panel. Should do the trick.

martinto

[bobfowler]

Originally Posted by martinto

Bob, thanks for the heads up. I have my BC at the dealer for warranty repairs. They had previousley replaced most all the seals around the rear doors. Has some rivet issues to address and the famous skylight shade (with the heat of the sun, the adheasive fails and the shade fall off). Went to pick up the unit Saturday and when we opened the rear doors, a sizable amount of standing water was noted. We've had alot of rain in the Houston area as of late. We were guessing it may have come from the seal around the AC, but it's not clear. Before the rear doors seals were replaced, we would have standing water in the stair well. This was not evident this time. John, the Service Tech, and a very helpful guy, had pulled the unit from around back using a forklift with ball hitch. As the unit was raised at the front, we concluded the water was coming from the front somewhere as you could see the water had streamed towards the back during the move. I've forwarded your posting to John and the factory and asked John to look at that issues as well. Hope they can find the leak(s).

BTW, they seemed to have fixed the other open issues. The shade for the skylight is now velcroed around the skylight and not on the glass as before. The velcro is riveted into the ceiling panel. Should do the trick.

martinto

Speaking of leaks...

We had a lot of rain yesterday, even more water on the floor, and water in the rear steps as well. Liz and I are going on vacation next week and planned on stopping at Jackson Center to take the tour. As of this afternoon, I have an appointment at JC on the 8th to get this thing fixed once and for all.

As for the sunshade, yeah, the velcro failed on ours as well. I've been looking at a better attachment method (not a big velcro fan).

[Silvertwinkie]

Great find, that could have gotten into a very bad situation with the water, electric and all.....

[martinto]

Originally Posted by bobfowler

Speaking of leaks...

We had a lot of rain yesterday, even more water on the floor, and water in the rear steps as well. Liz and I are going on vacation next week and planned on stopping at Jackson Center to take the tour. As of this afternoon, I have an appointment at JC on the 8th to get this thing fixed once and for all.

As for the sunshade, yeah, the velcro failed on ours as well. I've been looking at a better attachment method (not a big velcro fan).

bobfowler - got the BC back from the dealer today. They made up another sun shade but larger and ran velcro around the outside diameter of the skylight window and afixed the velcro strip with set screws thru the plastic roof panel. Much better solution. In the hot sun of Houston, radiant heat still comes through. My wife is making a cover to affix to the velcro using silver reflective tarp material for use during storage or when under the hot sun when camping. We'll do the same with the roof vent fan opening. I will post pictures as soon as I can figure out to to attach them to a message.

As to the leak(s) coming from the front end??? The dealer believes its from the AC drip pan which does not have a drain. I"ll wait for the next heavy rain and see if I can clearly see any leaks. The new seals around the back doors seem to be doing the trick at that end. I havn't noticed anything around the power center by will keep my eyes open.

[bigdogmike]

I bought 2008 bacecamp not knowing it has a water leaking problem. I notice a soft spot on the floor. Their was a vinyl cover over the floor I had to remove to see the wood floor damage. I had to cut the vinyl with a razor blade to get tho the wood floor. Now I see the floor is badly damaged and in need of replacement..Does anyone have someone that does this kind of repair? This is the older model basecamp the floor space is 6 x 9 1/2 . It would be great if I could get something other then wood put back on the floor, To stop the floor from rotting again.