Not sealing on top of slide

[Long Hual]

Hello all, so the wife and I just bought the rockwood 8286 and are pleased with the unit over all. Before we left the campsite on our first trip I thought I'd get the ladder out and sweep off the top of my slides to make sure there was no debris on the tops of them. On my large drivers side slide I noticed a fairly decent gap on the top between the seal and slide on one end where water could potentially get in. I think a vertical adjustment may be needed to solve this problem I hope ? We didn't hit any pot holes or drive down rough roads yet so I know I didn't jar the unit to send it off track. Hopefully it's a simple fix ?

[youroo]

I see this is your first post,Welcome! Now we more Info,is it new,what model & make is it,what year? Also Pics.are a great tool for info help. I have been thru the (Slide School)! Youroo!!

[Long Hual]

Originally Posted by youroo

I see this is your first post,Welcome! Now we more Info,is it new,what model & make is it,what year? Also Pics.are a great tool for info help. I have been thru the (Slide School)! Youroo!!

Hello, Thank you for the welcome the unit is a 2013 rockwood 8286ws.

It is at storage or I would take some pictures, basically the living room drivers side slide is the issue. When it is fully extended out the seal on the top is touching on one side only and has about a quarter of an inch gap on the other. Just by looking at it you can tell that it needs to be raised so the whole seal is evenly pressed down to keep the water out and unfortunately the dealership I bought it from is in another city and of coarse booked solid on repairs, but I do have a six year warranty which I'm glad I got. I'm not sure if I should attempt the task as it may void my warranty. But I sure would like to get out camping this weekend with out water leaks in my lines that ruined my last two trips where I couldn't even use the hot water to heat my baby boys bottles up. I'm actually kind of upset here as I payed good money for this luxury unit only to have problems the first time I get it off the parking lot. Where is the quality control here ?

[Tiggerdad]

You slide should be relatively level parallel running the length of your rig. Is it possible that one end of the seal is mounted too high?

[Long Hual]

Originally Posted by Tiggerdad

You slide should be relatively level parallel running the length of your rig. Is it possible that one end of the seal is mounted too high?

That sounds like it may be an easy fix ? Or possibly worse I'm not sure. So would a guy be able to tell if I run a level to the frame and then see if it matches the slide? Thanks

[Tiggerdad]

I would level the rig front to back and then check the top of the slide for level. Different manufacturers may set a slope on the slide to allow water run off. Looking at the sides of the slides on my current and former rig, the slide was very close to level but I never actually checked.

[Long Hual]

If it is a seal adjustment issue how does a person go about that? Hopefully not pulling the slide out!

[Tiggerdad]

The seal/wiper on my Crusader has a long channel strip that is glued/screwed to the wall. Over that the have what is called a bulb seal with the rubber extension part of it. That is the part that contacts the slide. If yours is like that, you can carefully disengage it from the strip. Look inside the bulb seal on the ends and there may be a screw that keeps it from sliding. The channel strip can then be removed and reglued and screwed back after lowering.

One needs to be careful with adjusting the seal/wiper because if the slide is unlevel it may be more prone to water seeking the low spot and entering under the wiper and getting to the wood sections of your slide. If you are unsure it would be better for a dealer to adjust the slide or wiper. The slide does not have to come out to level the slide or adjust/replace the wiper. I have found that it is a good practice to caulk the top of the length of the horizontal wiper to prevent water from getting behind it and corroding the screws that would lead to delamination. Dicor non-leveling or any good polyurethane sealant would work for sealing. Avoid Silicone. I would think but can not be sure but if the slide was unlevel, it would drag on the flooring under the slide.

If you can post picture Youroo and others can help.

[Long Hual]

Thanks for the info, it appears to be the outside wiper blade but I never looked behind it yet. I thought this outer wiper blade was the one that does the sealing to keep out water but as I'm reading on other posts, this may not be the case. I duno ? If I didn't half to drive a half hour I'd run out and take some pictures to post and check the slide for level at the same time.