Slideout Leak

[SKP099512]

I've got a weird one for you. We recently discovered a wet portion of the carpet under the dinette in our Lifestyle LS38RS. No water stains or trails on the walls of the slideout nor was their dampness near the walls. Traced the damp area by hand to the outside TV cabinet area that is part of the dinette. Went outside and lifted up the cabinet door and the carpet was wet in the corner where I traced the dampness inside. There was also no water stains or obvious tracks inside the TV area on the walls.
 

Ripped out the carpet as best as I could in the corner where I traced the water from the inside but still some carpet there since carpet was laid then the cabinet placed on top. Set fan on the outside cabinet area and dehumidifier on the inside and then began searching.
 

First noticed that the caulking around the outside TV door wasn't the best so recaulked that. Then I noticed a drip a water underneath the cabinet in the underbelly of the slideout. I punched a weep or drain hole in that and more water came out. Got up on the roof and looked at the top of the slideout and didn't see any obvious areas where water could get in.
 

Dried it out and had a few rainy episodes and checked the carpet inside and the outside TV cabinet and the ground underneath the slideout and all was good. Thought we had the problem licked but after the last rainy episode I noticed some water underneath the slideout and water was dripping out the weep hole.
 

i know water goes where water wants to go but this one has me stumped. No obvious water path anywhere yet the water is collecting in the bottom of the slideout underneath the outside TV.

Any tips or suggestions, or sympathy, would be most welcome.

[Fulltimer51]

When I had my Lifestyle I had some doors that would leak. I had to reseal all of the moldings, including the door panel, as well as the latches. I suggest you also reseal all of the moldings on the side of the slides, as well as the tops of the windows. From your description, you are getting a lot of water on the slide floor. It will rot if you dont find the problem. 

 

[SKP099512]

1 hour ago, Fulltimer51 said:

When I had my Lifestyle I had some doors that would leak. I had to reseal all of the moldings, including the door panel, as well as the latches. I suggest you also reseal all of the moldings on the side of the slides, as well as the tops of the windows. From your description, you are getting a lot of water on the slide floor. It will rot if you dont find the problem. 

 

Already had the leaking windows so all the tops of the windows have been sealed but it wouldn't hurt to check those again. Going to look over the sides of the slideout too in different light conditions hoping to see something we haven't seen yet.

Yeah, we are worried about the floor since this problem may have been there from the beginning.

 

[Kirk W]

9 hours ago, SKP099512 said:

Already had the leaking windows so all the tops of the windows have been sealed but it wouldn't hurt to check those again.

The best way to reseal a window is to remove it and replace the strip caulking that is between the window frame and the side wall. 

[ALLOY]

Use clear caulking like Proflex.  That way if you can see dirt behind it you'll know it is leaking

[gjhunter01]

We also had a leak on our Cameo slide. What I found was separated caulking on the outside front corner moldings which allowed water to run down and pool  in the belly under fabric. This pooled water then soaked the plywood flooring and carpet. Inspecting the caulking closely, it was separated only where the decal stripes were located and it was hard to see. I replaced the caulk, floor plywood and no more leaks in 2 years.

[SKP099512]

After multiple caulkings, sealing, taping, etc. we still had a leak so we had a slide topper installed and blogged about it here, http://bobandjotravelblog.blogspot.com/2018/06/we-got-slide-topper.html

So far it has rained a couple of times and no leak but we haven't had a gully washer.