Rust stain on door interior

[Nate L]

Anyone seen this type of stain on a door interior? It looks like its running down from the latch mechanism. I cannot find anywhere water would be leaking in. The door closes and latches well. If I clean it off it will re-appear to this extent in about a week. Trailer is a 2018 FC.

[Nate L]

And how do I rotate that photo? It's correctly oriented on my computer?

[SteveSueMac]

Not sure about the photo but check for the seal around door locks and latches. Water’s getting in there somehow....

[1973Argosy]

Edit the picture to be taller than it is wide. If you are taking pictures from a phone simply hold the phone straight up and down instead of turning it sideways. Solved all of my sideways posted pictures.

[Snowy]

We have the same issue. Water sometimes gets inside the door in winter. We see the rust marks at the bottom but it's clearly from water inside the door. Subscribed to see if anyone has resolved this issue before. I've not debugged it yet

[RandyNH]

If you zoom into where the latch is attached, where the door seal is and where the bottom panel edge is, it doesn't all sit flush, little air gap area. Depending upon where you are and how you keep your trailer, that could just be condensation build up, where the air meets causing the crappy hardware in the door latch starting to surface rust.

[PatLee]

Your 2018 trailer is under warranty - recommend you take it to an authorized AS dealership to fix this for you.

[AirstreamInc]

Originally Posted by Nate L

Anyone seen this type of stain on a door interior? It looks like its running down from the latch mechanism. I cannot find anywhere water would be leaking in. The door closes and latches well. If I clean it off it will re-appear to this extent in about a week. Trailer is a 2018 FC.

Hi Nate L

Please send us a direct message with your contact information and the last 6 digits of your VIN so we can share it with our Customer Service and Technical Support team. We look forward to helping you get this resolved.

You can also reach Airstream Customer Service and Technical Support at customer_support@airstream.com

Thank you.

[Mollysdad]

Assuming it really is water and rust, I'd remove the latch plate, and see what's rusting. Spring? Fastener?
Then find out where the water gets in. It could be coming in the top of the door or window and running inside the door until it hits the lock.
Mine hasn't done that and I have the same lock.

[guskmg]

Once you figure out where the water is coming in and fix the leak, you can clean up the rust with Ascorbis acid. I don't think that it is available anymore, but just take a few vitiman "C" tablets, crush them and make a little paste with water and rub it on the rust. Presto! A great rust remover on good finishes.
guskmg

[Nate L]

Update.....After exploring this a little bit I believe water is leaking at the top right corner of the door opposite of the hinge side around the door seal, then running down behind the doors interior vinyl clad skin until it hits the locking mechanism. Then exiting from behind the skin and running down the face of the lower vinyl clad panel. I believe the rusty color is coming from the lock mechanism hardware. I think the door may need to be adjusted. It appears the top corner of the door opposite the hinge side does not seal as tight as the rest of the door. It looks like the door needs a little more curve to it. I'm going to get with Airstream before I do anything on my own do to it being under warranty. It also appears the insulation under the door skin may be saturated. It is a slight leak so it may have been leaking for some time but has just recently soaked down to the latch where it has became visible. I see no other signs of water leaking on the floor or bottom of the door.

[1973Argosy]

I would agree with all above that stopping the leak is the most important thing you should do. I might add that you may want to pull the interior skin of the door and paint any raw steel that you can find. As another poster stated there is a lot of condensation between the skins if you ever use your trailer in milder weather and are running heat in the interior. A little paint could save cleanups and head scratches in the future.

[mixolydian12]

Was this repaired under warranty?

I have the same problem and am about to bring it to a dealer in hopes of a warranty fix. I’ve received conflicting information about whether it’s covered if the leak is due to a “door adjustment.”