Almost two months ago we traveled to JC to get the rear flooring fixed and leaks sealed. (
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f42/...-oh-58049.html ) I just realized that I had not reported on all the leaks we found. Maybe some of you might be interested from the standpoint of checking your own trailer for similar problems.
I know I wish I had known a couple of years ago what I know now. I might have been able to prevent some of the damage. This is definitely one of those "forewarned be forearmed" situations.
1. Bumper area - The bumper allows the water to "pool" against the back of the trailer. This water can work its way under and behind the rubrail. Once it gets there the water can enter through the c-channel through any kind of holes that happens to be there: i.e., screw holes, rivet holes, etc. Our floor was completely rotted the full width of the floor in the rear. Unfortunately the leak and damage was "hidden" by the plastic covered carpet under the cabinet and wet bath closet. To find the leak you would have get your hand under the plastic carpet covering to feel the moisture.
Here are some other posts on the same problem
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f396...eak-56099.html
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f477...ign-23121.html
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f456...ybe-56674.html
2. Furnace vent - This vent has two parts: intake and exhaust. Both parts have to have their own seal. Mine only had one sealed when I first discovered it.
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f456...ing-56342.html This area could have leaked in on the carpet/OSB subfloor for 7 years before I discovered it last month. Our shop technician resealed this area after taking thinks apart.
3. Refrigerator - Rain water, under the right circumstances can enter into the refrigerator compartment through the louvered compartment doors. There generally is lots of caulk around the edges in that compartment to keep the water from entering the trailer. In my cases the bottom louver door opening had a "dam" at the edge that prevented any water from being able to run out once it got in there. Our factory shop tech remounted the frig so that any collected water would flow out of the compartment.
4. Right rear tail light. I thought I had completely checked this before and so was embarrassed when Jon pointed it out to me. He caulked the tail lights very well. Lesson learned: Check your seams and caulks over and over --- and frequently.
5. Rear Awning foot - I didn't notice anything here, but it stands to reason that wherever there's a screw or hole in the skin, it could leak. Jon at JC said it had a small leak and recaulked this area.
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6. Outside compartment door. This is a weird one. The compartment door has a wire rope to hold the door in the open position. This wire rope was fastened in a position where the rope would press on the rubber grommet around the door frame when the door was closed. Apparently, the rope interfered enough to allow a very small leak. Simply rescrewing the rope in a different positioned fixed it.
7. Rubrail in front. Twice we have driven through some rain storms and then noted moisture in front under the desk/cabinet by the bed. Our technician thought water could be entered through the rubrail or down a window (see next). He re-caulked the top of the rubrail.
8. "Eyebrow" seam over front window. He said the caulk link showed signs of cracking.
9. Roof vents. While there was no clear evidence of a leak from any vent. Jon resealed all the roof vents because he said they looked old and were slightly cracked. We should be in good shape here for a couple of years.
10. Stove Vent - When we arrived at JC, we noticed a few drops of water on the interior wall above the stove. Jon replaced the stove vent fan exterior vent cover as a matter of fact. He said the new one comes with the appropriate gasket to make a good seal.
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