Roof pitch leak ...

D-mo · 08-18-2012, 07:47 PM

So im starting this new thread, because I found what i thought was a window leak .. to be a roof pitch leak . I removed the facia of the back bubble window ... and hosed water on window for about 5 minutes to no avail. Even tho the the window was a bit roughly cut .. at few places ... it leaked no water from the inside of the bubble at all . After a good 3 minute soaking with full hose on directly only on the rivets and the window ..still no leaks.
Im stumped ...
So i directed the hose to the pitch .. and it all came true.
The window leaked from the exact same point it did when we did camping .. but further more ...the front end of the roof, which lays over the back end, upon setup, started to leak, on the sink side ...just behind the sink ...
Thinking that i forced water up under the weatherstriping, i hosed down the camper from the front .. and had the same result.
Somehow the water is leaching through between the styro and the metal inner roof skin .. and dripping into .. or onto your rear window ledge.
This is what i have found ... and will be reporting it to my dealer when i take it into servicing .. on tuesday ... hope this helps ..

d-mo

D-mo · 08-18-2012, 07:55 PM

i would like to thank the posters who have dedicated their time on this forum, which helped me work out this problem ...

cugos ... d-mo

backpacker3 · 08-19-2012, 08:22 AM

Sorry to hear about the leak you have. So far I have had only one leak and that is from the window by the sink when too much water in the drain channel cannot drain out fast enough and then flows down the wall onto the counter behind the sink. I now check this channel regularly and keep it as clean as possible. When I do wash down the camper, I do have to be careful not to get too much spray by the roof overlaps, water goes right up and into the camper and down the wall.
Good Luck at the dealer.

handbuilder · 08-19-2012, 09:12 AM

Thanks D-Mo & Backpacker for sharing your findings. This is something I will keep watch for with my trailer. I have not experienced unknown leaks just caused my own from leaving the windows half open when I went to sleep & it poured rain during the night.

D-mo · 08-20-2012, 05:23 PM

I'm going to have to eat a little crow here, because my inital impressions of the leak were incorrect, and i do not want to lead anyone down the wrong path on this subject.
The leak in the window is coming from the window ... once I took off the inner window ring/blind holder... I couldnt find out how the water was travelling into the trailer. Running my fingers around the inner liner of the glass, i could not find moisture, however the moisture wicks down from the fiberglass outer skin, over the styro, and onto the metal interior roof, where i had the drip. I have a small bit of shrunken caulking at that spot.
My more major concern now, is the roof pitch leak ... which i cannot and will not fix, and will go in to the dealer in the next day for this to be looked at. There is no dirt or leaves up there fouling up the seal, it just now leaks on the sink side of the trailer.

d-mo

daveinpickerington · 08-20-2012, 06:42 PM

Good luck D-mo. Having owned several rvs through the years, leaks can sometimes be a real PITA. Sometimes the source is obvious, sometimes it is as allusive as finding an honest politician.

Do you have the Extreme Sealing Tape around your window?

Dave

Brian99R · 08-21-2012, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by D-mo

I'm going to have to eat a little crow here, because my inital impressions of the leak were incorrect, and i do not want to lead anyone down the wrong path on this subject.
The leak in the window is coming from the window ... once I took off the inner window ring/blind holder... I couldnt find out how the water was travelling into the trailer. Running my fingers around the inner liner of the glass, i could not find moisture, however the moisture wicks down from the fiberglass outer skin, over the styro, and onto the metal interior roof, where i had the drip. I have a small bit of shrunken caulking at that spot.
My more major concern now, is the roof pitch leak ... which i cannot and will not fix, and will go in to the dealer in the next day for this to be looked at. There is no dirt or leaves up there fouling up the seal, it just now leaks on the sink side of the trailer.

d-mo

Hi d-mo,

Short of getting eaten by bears this has to be the biggest fear for all of us: a leak and no sure fix.

You have my deep concern. Please keep us appraised of the outcome.

Brian
City-Boy
A122 to be picked up on Sept 5.

D-mo · 08-21-2012, 01:06 PM

No exteme tape around my window ... yet.
Although .. finding the window leak wasnt really all that hard to do when you have the inner window skin/blind removed ... my biggest concern is how they are going to address the issue of the roof pitch leak ... water seems to be just bypassing to two rubber gaskets at the pitch of the roof for some unknown reason .. and i have no idea ..how they will fix this.

d-mo

D-mo · 09-06-2012, 08:36 PM

So we are back from the dealer .. after a 10 day event. The window seal is fixed .. hopefully. The first cauching job was just a mess, and i rejected even picking up the trailer after I saw it...it was pushed back into servicing, restripped and recauched in the proper manner.
notice to newbuyers ... if your not impressed with the job .. complain, and get it done right.

As for my main complaint .. the roof pitch leak ... this has still not been addressed. The dealer is in touch with forest river to seek out how to fix the situation, with new roof seals. After getting up under the pitch of the roof where it was leaking, I noticed that the smaller rubber weatherstripping was not sitting correctly incenter of the larger block seal on the oppossing roof section. This i think seems to be the problem .. as the stress on the smaller weatherstrip allows water to enter the block, and drip down the side of the trailer.

An iteresting note shared to me by person who was incharge of these repairs was .. that forest river recommends that the roof be adjusted in these leak situations. This had been done by them in the past ... and was definately not recommended.

D-mo

gregory · 09-07-2012, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by D-mo

An iteresting note shared to me by person who was incharge of these repairs was .. that forest river recommends that the roof be adjusted in these leak situations. This had been done by them in the past ... and was definately not recommended.

D-mo

I don't quite understand and I want to because I know you are trying to help us with the findings in your posts, so please bear with me here.

Is this what you are saying:
They (the dealer?) did the roof adjustment like FR recommended and you are not recommending it because it doesn't work... or ??

Thanks,
Deb

2lvrvn · 09-07-2012, 08:40 PM

Thanx Deb....I didn't understand it either. Please explain further so that others who may come across the same problem & need to know ow to correct it.

D-mo · 09-17-2012, 02:36 PM

just to clarify ...
It was suggested to me by the dealer that the roof can be adjusted as per instructions from FR. This however did not work on the trailer that they did the repair on, and basically only turned into a tremendous logistical problem .. that they did not want to discuss any further.
if you look closely at these little trailers you will note that they are actually cut and pieced together with very tight tolerances. This adjusting that they did to the previous trailer most likely ruined the whole unit.
I have narrowed my roof pitch leak to the fact that the smaller of the two weatherstripings at the peak of the roof is not sitting correctly on the other, causing a small gap. This leak only happens when i spray a stream of water directly at the pitch ... it never does it during storms or heavy rains ..
So im leaving this issue alone for now ... as i truely believe that dealer fixes are far inferior to the origional manufacturer specs. If it happens during a rainstorm, which i dont think it will .. it will go back in for warrenty service.

d-mo

gregory · 09-17-2012, 03:15 PM

OK, thanks D-mo for clearing that up.
Some service departments are better than others who go after repairs a little too briskly (i.e. like a bull in a china shop). I think you are wise not letting them fool with it too much and making things worse.

I expect that the design is new to Forrest River and maybe the R&D department hasn't relayed certain repair know-how with the service/repair end of the company.

Thanks for keeping us updated,
Deb

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