Hole/Water Leak Behind Fridge Vent Door '99 Safari

[Soyboy]

Please see the photo below (which I borrowed from another thread, credit to member CC Wilson1).

I am wondering why there is this caulked "gap" in the floor/body joint behind the refrigerator vent door on my 1999 Safari 27' (the grey caulked area, ignore the red circles for the purpose of this thread) . On mine, there was no caulk, you could see the exposed wires in the channel below it.

I noticed this when trying to find out why the carpet was wet under my microwave/pantry cabinet. FWIW, I had it out to get some upholstery work done on the side of it. While it was out, I did what I always do when opening up normally unexposed areas of the trailer, I pulled the carpet out. It's nothing but a water trap in those areas . While removing it, I saw that it was damp and I could see that it was coming under the wall that separates the pantry and the fridge. I went around and looked inside the vent door and I could see that the space that is caulked in this photo was wide open on mine. Why do they even have this space cut out? Since it was too cold for Sikaflex I stuffed some foam molding in the gap and put a bead of Acryl-R (which works at lower temps) along the leading edge to hopefully act as a bit of a dam for the time being and also seal along the edge of the foam.

I think I stopped the leak, and I am going to keep the foam in there as a filler and then caulk on top of it (similar to CC Wilson1's photo) to (hopefully) give it a permanent fix, or at least permanent as any caulk fix can be.

As there is an open area in the floor behind the fridge, I might cut part of that out to cut some of the carpet out and let it (hopefully) dry and inspect at least part of the floor for damage (from what I have seen so far it's not rotted). I think this might have started happening recently, as previously I had put some foil tape over that gap (YES I should have sealed it, but I figured it was like that for a reason and mostly put the tape over it to keep crap out) and I think it was sealed until the adhesive began to give up the ghost more recently. BTW, if I cut a hole in the floor, I will cover it with an alum "plate" to seal it up. But use screws so I can inspect it if need be.

Anyway, my main question is: why in the world does the "gap" and opening exist in the first place? I assume it might have been sealed before and a previous owner or servicer opened it up to look at some wiring? Don't know, the wiring doesn't look like it was disturbed. But why is it even there? Anybody know?

[dznf0g]

Well, the fridge in mine sits on an aluminum framed "stand" or "table". That tabletop is what butts up against the outer wall. So there's a gap which needs to be sealed. Mine also leaked a bit. I cleaned the sealer out and used eternabond tape carefully trimmed to fit well. I followed it up polyurethane sealer where needed.

[Soyboy]

Rich, yeah, I think your setup is a bit different than mine as my fridge is more like the one in the pic. Good idea about the eternabond tape, I have a couple of sizes of it (I use it for sealing around vents etc) so I might use that and some caulk like you mentioned. Thanks

[dznf0g]

Mine does look just like the one in the pic.

[dznf0g]

Ok, I re-read your post more closely. Are you talking about the cutout in the vertical flange in the center, where the rest of the flange is covered by the white vinyl? If so, I have also wondered why. Only thing I can reason is it is to allow any water which gets on the shelf floor a path out. But then they glob it up with sealer so it can't drain anyway?????

[Al and Missy]

Both of my trailers were made like that. I never had a problem with the Safari, but the Classic was parked with the trailer slightly tilted to curbside in a heavy rain and here was water running across the (tile) floor in front of the refrigerator. I scraped and cleaned the old sealant off, cut a piece of aluminum angle to fit, wedged it between the inner and outer skins to bridge the opening and sealed it with Parbond. I took a picture of it but I can't find it now. If I find it soon I'll post it. The trailer is in storage; if I go that way I'll take another.

Al

[Soyboy]

Good points Rich, maybe it is a drain point, but of course, that would only help if the trailer was "leaning" to that side. But who knows when it comes to Airstream LOL. And the whole caulk thing would seem kind of stupid if it was a drain, but then, like I said

Al, I would love to see that pic if you can find it. Sounds like a nice solution.

Den

[Pressdr]

Good afternoon Airstreamers.....

The calk that you see behind your refrigerator is to form a "air tight" seal of the back of the refrigeration compartment from the living area inside your trailer.
Should there be a refrigerant leak, (Ammonia gas) you would not be affected by the vapors because the back of the refrigerator is sealed from the living area. Ammonia gas will stop your heart. Because Ammonia refrigerators can be mounted with its working components mounted to the outside, they are safe to use on trailers and motorhomes.

The first home gas refrigerators were Ammonia, but proved to be deadly when a leak occurred.

Peace in out Time
pressdr

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by Pressdr

Good afternoon Airstreamers.....

The calk that you see behind your refrigerator is to form a "air tight" seal of the back of the refrigeration compartment from the living area inside your trailer.
Should there be a refrigerant leak, (Ammonia gas) you would not be affected by the vapors because the back of the refrigerator is sealed from the living area. Ammonia gas will stop your heart. Because Ammonia refrigerators can be mounted with its working components mounted to the outside, they are safe to use on trailers and motorhomes.

The first home gas refrigerators were Ammonia, but proved to be deadly when a leak occurred.

Peace in out Time
pressdr

Yeah, if you've ever pulled a refer out, you would find that "sealed" is a relative term.

[Soyboy]

I get that about the caulk, but I still don't understand why they have the cut-out that can let water in under the fridge. Seems stupid/unnecessary to me. But maybe there is a reason.

BTW, I laid some foil tape on top of the wires with the protective backing still on it, so the caulk wouldn't stick to the wires in case access is needed to them in the future. I also used some foam weatherstripping as filler on top of that, where needed then sealed the whole thing up with Sikiflex 715 (after treating the aluminum with the Sikiflex pre-treatment - expensive, but it seems to do a good job of prep). Beforehand, I had checked as much of the floor beneath the fridge that I could via a small gap along the wall. The carpet seemed dry and the plywood floor seemed ok wall and the subfloor where I could poke it seems solid. Fortunately, I don't think water had been getting in there for very long. I'm glad I discovered it when I did.

FWIW here is a pic of the finished product. Maybe someone will still chime in with the reason for this gap. In any event, I think this fix will hold it for a good while.

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by Soyboy

I get that about the caulk, but I still don't understand why they have the cut-out that can let water in under the fridge. Seems stupid/unnecessary to me. But maybe there is a reason.

BTW, I laid some foil tape on top of the wires with the protective backing still on it, so the caulk wouldn't stick to the wires in case access is needed to them in the future. I also used some foam weatherstripping as filler on top of that, where needed then sealed the whole thing up with Sikiflex 715 (after treating the aluminum with the Sikiflex pre-treatment - expensive, but it seems to do a good job of prep). Beforehand, I had checked as much of the floor beneath the fridge that I could via a small gap along the wall. The carpet seemed dry and the plywood floor seemed ok wall and the subfloor where I could poke it seems solid. Fortunately, I don't think water had been getting in there for very long. I'm glad I discovered it when I did.

FWIW here is a pic of the finished product. Maybe someone will still chime in with the reason for this gap. In any event, I think this fix will hold it for a good while.

Ah, I see how yours is different than mine now. The cutout and the framing of the opening is the same, but your fridge sits on the floor. Mine sits on a built up frame, as part of the fridge location overlaps with the wheel well...so they put a handy drawer below the fridge. When mine leaked, it pooled and stained the inner wheel well housing, but never got to the floor. With mine a bit higher, I am confident that rain/road splash never enters the compartment. I think all mine comes from washing it...maybe a hard blowing rain to that side. I've only found water after a wash.

Yours may enter more frequently?

[Soyboy]

Rich, yes mine was coming in when it rained. I guess around the edges. Normally it would just run out the bottom, but I guess if there was enough of an angle "off center" even just a bit, that it would go inside the trailer. Hopefully, the Sikiflex will take care of it for a long time But I will be keeping my eye on it. I still wonder why they have that cut out.

Den