water in the double paned window

[Delphine]

Hello, We have a 1985 34' Excella trailer. The front side double paned window has been leaking for the past four years. At first it was a small amount of water in the bottom of the window. I thought I could fix it by removing old caulk and recauking. It didn't work. Now there is at least 4 inches of water in the bottom of the window. Does anyone know if this is fixable. Should the entire window be removed and replaced. Could one pane be removed and the other left in place. Some have suggested drilling a small hole in the bottom of the window so the water could leak out. I would be afraid of breaking the whole thing. Does anyone know the cost of a new single or double window. We are in a campsite in the Crossville, TN area. Tennessee Cumberland Plateau Campground. An Airstream park. We don't live here and only vacation for 3-4 weeks at a time. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[Wabbiteer]

I stopped intrusion by cleaning then sealing every seam, including the glass-gasket-metal joints with Alcoa Gutterseal - people have tried drilling a drain - weep hole into the air gap, use your search function here to see the successes and the glass-shattering failures. The mineral deposits left behind have driven some to distraction enough they pulled entire assembly and/or shattered the inner pane to reach it, though once the high-water lines appear they can have etched the glass...

[Lumatic]

Originally Posted by Delphine

Could one pane be removed and the other left in place. Some have suggested drilling a small hole in the bottom of the window so the water could leak out. I would be afraid of breaking the whole thing.

I think you are less liable to break "the whole thing" by drilling a drain hole.

There are 2 ways to remove one pane. The fast way is to break out the inner pane. Use a spring loaded centerpunch rather than a hammer. The second way is to remove and disassemble the window. This is a lot of work. Relatively easy disassemble but a Humpty Dumpty to put back together again, but I did it. Wouldn't want to again. When my window in my 71 broken I replaced it with one from a 75. The 75 window had 2 thick and substantial panes 3/16". If you disassemble you then have a spare pane. I was not able to reuse the rubber gasket which for 70s models anyway is no longer available. I used Vulkem as a substitute for the gasket.