Exterior Laminate bubbling

artraveler13 · 10-24-2010, 12:16 PM

We own a 2009 Cardinal 3100RK. The one year warranty expired in March and in May I noticed the exterior laminate is bubbling around the refrigerator vents. Any information as to what is involved in repair?

capucine · 01-01-2011, 08:44 AM

Artraveler: The first thing I would do is to find out where the water finds its way inside the laminate wall. Is your fridg drain pipe leaks inside instead or outside? what about the caulking sealing at the base. Reparing laminate wall is quite a big job and if the water leak has caused serious swelling and delaminate your wall the only solution I think will be to replace the wall section. It was so easy with the wood frame walls of the past ( some trailers are still using wood framing ) to do these repaird but with sandwiched walls it is another story to repair.

MtnGuy · 01-01-2011, 08:48 AM

I am having the same problem. I hope to post some pictures in the near future.

In my case, the silicon caulk used at the base of the vent wasn't sealing out water. The caulk pulls out as 1 piece.....not good.

grhodes50 · 01-01-2011, 08:58 AM

capucine is right, the first thing you need to do is locate where the leak is and get that stopped. Take pics and document everything, just in case.

Once delamination starts, it's hard to stop. Replacing the wall is the only fix I know of, but hopefully others may know of something that will work.

I would contact FR even though your out of warranty. You never know, but at least give them the chance to say no. Forest River Ph. Number, 574-389-4600.

You might also think about taking it to your dealer and let them inspect and take pics. FR will have you do this anyway to verify the delam problem.

Tkcakes · 01-27-2011, 04:42 PM

Unfortunately we are way too familiar with the delaminating sidewall. That is why we are now in the market for a new trailer or 5th wheel. It happened 1 1/2 years ago and I am convinced it will happen again. We were out of warranty and luckily my husband knows fiberglass/composite repair and he did an amazing job. Just on here to read info on 5thwheel vs trailers. Any advice?

Davewebb5500 · 01-27-2011, 07:13 PM

I have an 08 wildwood 5 th wheel that has the same issue.I contacted FR directly, sent pics and they are replacing both sides in Indiana right now even thou it was out of warranty.I was responsible for 1 way transportation because it was out of warranty.Good luck to you.

Sent from my Samsung Vibrant using Forest River.

rick_h · 01-27-2011, 10:20 PM

Good on them for taking care of it outside of warranty. Hope the others can have theirs resolved as well.

Palomino_G210 · 01-28-2011, 06:21 AM

Owners should check to make sure that the drain tube hangs outside the vent and that it is in good shape. Our drain tube crumbled to the touch and I extended it from inside with a piece of this black split wire cover used in cars. I believe it to be more UV resistant that that white tubing FR put in originally. Doesn't look so cool but hopefully it will stop the bulge from happening.

Smokyroo · 01-31-2011, 08:21 AM

Why wouldn't they just drain through the floor with this? Is this an issue with all types of FR trailers from pop ups on up? Or is this a concern for just the bigger TT and 5th wheels?

The other thing that catches my eye on this are these companies have now building TTs with fiberglass/gelcoat exteriors for years. Seems to me they would know the pitfalls or weak points when it comes water penetration and its effects on the walls and thus make sure these issues are addressed. Call me crazy from learning from previous mistakes.....

ColemanJ · 01-31-2011, 10:24 AM

Had my brand new 09 Flagstaff 829 RGSS to start delaminating right after the warranty ran out. Contacted dealer and was contacted by FR and was told they would take care of all of it. Got it back this past November and they replaced both entire walls, front wall, roof, and all trim. They even fixed a couple of other things I didn't even know about and some I did. You need to document everything with photos. I think it also helps to have a dealer that cares too. FR has admitted that they have had ongoing issues with badly laminated material and they are getting plenty of complaints about it too.

BigRed · 01-31-2011, 11:26 AM

In our 2011 Windjammer they got rid of the drain hose. They put cup type catch in place of the drian hose. I guess they think it will evaporate. Its behind the Fridg. access door...Black colored cup.

The Farmers · 06-24-2011, 08:43 AM

Not a club we wanted to be a part of, but we are taking our 2008 Flagstaff 829 RGSS back to the manufacturing plant tomorrow due to delamination on both sides of the camper. I hope our outcome is as favorable as yours. The dealership looked at it and said our seals were not broken and they did not think it was due to water but "bad" glue. FR stated the only way the camper would delaminate is if we had a water leak b/c they have had no issues with glue. They stated if they find a water leak they will take pictures and let us decide what we want to do (fixing the camper at a discount) and if it was found to be their fault they would fix the camper at no cost to us and ship it back. We've been somewhat encouraged by the posts where FR made it right for the customer. We're hoping for the same.

shineysideup · 06-24-2011, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grhodes50

capucine is right, the first thing you need to do is locate where the leak is and get that stopped. Take pics and document everything, just in case.

Once delamination starts, it's hard to stop. Replacing the wall is the only fix I know of, but hopefully others may know of something that will work.

I would contact FR even though your out of warranty. You never know, but at least give them the chance to say no. Forest River Ph. Number, 574-389-4600.

You might also think about taking it to your dealer and let them inspect and take pics. FR will have you do this anyway to verify the delam problem.

If your dealer is worth his/her salt, they will be your advocate. I got my trailer fixed last year 2 years out of warranty. FR and the dealer stood behind their product...

good luck,

Palomino_G210 · 06-24-2011, 02:57 PM

The problem with this laminate techniques is that the fiberglass is laminated to some 1/8 ply which looks suspiciously like "luan" which is used on hollow core doors. Check the striker plates for the doors. My guess is that the adhesive in the luan is not water resistant and the plywood separates and swells up. Crappy any way you cut it. My brother has a trailer, 23LB, where a loose screw on the kitchen vent let in water and the wall bulged. He wants to switch to the aluminium panelled trailer which he feels is less prone to problems like this.

I have an issue with a loose screw on the molding at the back of the trailer just above the bumper. That will be the first order of business when I start camping again next week.

Does any know of a book or website that describes the construction of these laminated wall trailer and how to repair the bulges?????? It would be good if we could see some sections thru the various panels and joints to better understand them.

The Farmers · 06-24-2011, 05:31 PM

We brought our camper home last night and I started unloading our personal items today. When I opened the shower door, there was brown water spots all over the tub. I also noticed brown water spots around all four corners of the skylight. Obviously, we have a leak, but still trying to understand since the dealership inspected the roof and stated that the seals were intact. Now, we are not sure what is going on. Could there be another reason it is leaking?

Thanks for your input!

capucine · 06-24-2011, 07:13 PM

I think you wiil have to climb on the roof and inspect the caulking around the skylight and around. It may looks good but you may have an issue of caulking that is not sticking any longer and the water is seeping under your caulking. Old caulking will have to go and new caulking will have to be install after a careful preparation.

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