Window leaks, where to start?

[Safari Tim]

Chuck,

If you push on the window just above the seal, can you get it to move?

Look closly at the window and the seal while you push and see if you can open up a crack. If you can, water can get in.

Originally Posted by chuck

here's an even closer shot that didn't make it into the last post. you can see the shaved olympics holding the window in....yep, it was out, at some point in its life. This trailer has apparently taken some lumps. I also found shaved olympics along one of the segments in the front end cap. owned the trailer for 2 or 3 years before I noticed!

.

[Jim & Susan]

Chuck, the last pic in post #17. That vertical seam in the aluminum was leaking in my trailer at one point. I haven't seen in leak lately, so i don't know if it was a "phantom" leak (running down from some place else that I already repaired) or an actual leak that is only there during a really hard rain.

Leaks are driving me absolutely nuts. Just when you think you have them all, another one crops up. As I stated above, right now I'm working on leaks everywhere. It is soooooooooo time consuming that I'm really worried that I may never actually get to go camping in this thing.

I wouldn't discount the lights or Airstream emblem as a source of leaks either. Here is a couple of pics I took a little while ago that shows some of the leaks I have repaired (or seams I have resealed to prevent future leaks).

Jim

[wacnstac]

My goodness I hope my leaks don't prove to be so hard to fix. I caulked around all the windows in the supicious area but I didn't caulk between the glass and the aluminum as these seem to be sealed well. I'll give the caulk some time to set and give it the hose test.

[wahoonc]

Jim,
Your windows are different from mine, I don't have the internal fasteners...mine are a one piece extrusion with mild steel splice plates in the corners that hold things together. It looks to me like yours can be dissassembled.

Aaron

[Chuck]

tim: I'll try that test on the window when I get a chance...ran outta time, yesterday.

Jim: in your pic in post #20: are those screws holding in the inner window frame? I think that's what the SM reports. if so, it shouldn't be too hard to get it out.
I'm not discounting the markers and letters as a potential source of leakage; its just that I was in there not long ago, and there was no sign of anything. the area is packed with insulation, and I would think that if there had been water coming in that way, the insulation would have been soggy. but maybe not. I'll certainly re-visit the area if other attempts fail.

[Jim & Susan]

Yes, those screws are holding the inner frame in there. After I looked at this thread yesterday, I went out and tried to remove a couple of them. They won't budge. There is some kind of sealant over them that is hanging on tight. The sealant appears to have some type of metal componenet to it (like gutter seal, maybe?). Once I got most of the sealant removed from a couple of them, they still wouldn't move--even using heat and the phillips bit in the drill. I may drill one of them out just to see what's going on.

As you can probably tell from the picture, the Vulkem is very thick in this area, that may have something to do with it. I'll keep you posted.

Jim

[Chuck]

yeah, I don't know what the heck I was thinking when I said that. "shouldn't be too hard..". yeah, right. must have been "lack of coffee", or somthing. I've run into some nasty screws, myself, that required some innovative techniques to remove.

I guess what I meant is that typically, "screws" (instead of "rivets") kind of implies that these fasteners were meant to come out at some point. (i.e. "routine maintenance item...like my vent stack covers, for example). not that they ever "would" come out...again, like my vent stack covers.

My question IRT these particular windows: lets just say that you should, by some far stretch of the imagination, get these screws outta there.....then what? Is the whole thing going to come falling out in your hand, inner and outer glass together? or just the inner glass? and can the outer pane be left by itself?

The service manual says that you'll need to gently pry along the vertical edge w/ a screwdriver, but it doesn't say exactly what is going to come out when (or if) you succeed. "assembly is the reverse of disassembly". well, what if I don't want to put the inner pane back? it doesn't say...