Rear bedroom slide leak on my 2015 DX3 37BHHD

[bclemens]

Cable slide adjustment

[bclemens]

I just talked to my service tech. He suggests that you don't need to pull the seals or the slide room. We do use a mechanical fastener into the face of the slide seal. It is a "U" shaped plastic piece that goes over the end of that wall and has the rubber bulb attached to it. We only have 5 series in that stage right now so I can't get good pictures.

So, his suggestion is that water is getting in behind the top slide seal under the slide topper. So he said to peel back the slide topper (put a cotter pin in it) so it does not retract. Once you have "FIXED" the slide topper so it won't force back in, detach it from the slide room and set up up on the roof. (like you're peeling back a can lid?) leaving the fabric attached in the awning rail. Once you do that, you have all the room in the world to work. He thinks water is getting to that top seal and sitting in the bottom of the U-section of the seal and wicking up into the wood. Tear out the wood inside of course (to do that all the fascia and everything likely needs to come off).

If you're heading by the plant, I'd happily give you some paneling. Panels have to be crated and freighted due to size...its like spending $800 to ship a $25 part.

[The Renegade]

Originally Posted by bclemens

I just talked to my service tech. He suggests that you don't need to pull the seals or the slide room. We do use a mechanical fastener into the face of the slide seal. It is a "U" shaped plastic piece that goes over the end of that wall and has the rubber bulb attached to it. We only have 5 series in that stage right now so I can't get good pictures.

So, his suggestion is that water is getting in behind the top slide seal under the slide topper. So he said to peel back the slide topper (put a cotter pin in it) so it does not retract. Once you have "FIXED" the slide topper so it won't force back in, detach it from the slide room and set up up on the roof. (like you're peeling back a can lid?) leaving the fabric attached in the awning rail. Once you do that, you have all the room in the world to work. He thinks water is getting to that top seal and sitting in the bottom of the U-section of the seal and wicking up into the wood. Tear out the wood inside of course (to do that all the fascia and everything likely needs to come off).

If you're heading by the plant, I'd happily give you some paneling. Panels have to be crated and freighted due to size...its like spending $800 to ship a $25 part.

I know we have banged heads a little but helping this guy out with his problem like this and his coach is out of warranty... Now I'm impressed

[AWF1945]

Originally Posted by Mountieman

I know we have banged heads a little but helping this guy out with his problem like this and his coach is out of warranty... Now I'm impressed

Please share pictures of process.. much appreciated..

[bclemens]

we'll see what tomorrow brings.

[murraym]

Originally Posted by bclemens

I just talked to my service tech. He suggests that you don't need to pull the seals or the slide room. We do use a mechanical fastener into the face of the slide seal. It is a "U" shaped plastic piece that goes over the end of that wall and has the rubber bulb attached to it. We only have 5 series in that stage right now so I can't get good pictures.

So, his suggestion is that water is getting in behind the top slide seal under the slide topper. So he said to peel back the slide topper (put a cotter pin in it) so it does not retract. Once you have "FIXED" the slide topper so it won't force back in, detach it from the slide room and set up up on the roof. (like you're peeling back a can lid?) leaving the fabric attached in the awning rail. Once you do that, you have all the room in the world to work. He thinks water is getting to that top seal and sitting in the bottom of the U-section of the seal and wicking up into the wood. Tear out the wood inside of course (to do that all the fascia and everything likely needs to come off).

If you're heading by the plant, I'd happily give you some paneling. Panels have to be crated and freighted due to size...its like spending $800 to ship a $25 part.

Are you talking about just the paneling as in 1/4" luann? or a full panel that covers the entire opening? If it is just Luann, I could really use some matching wallpaper one the wood has been replaced.

I am going to go ahead and remove the actual slide topper all together to clean and treat it with some 303. There is a really good video at this link that shows how to. I have no relationship with these guys. They have posted a lot of good RV how to videos. This one is specific to the topper I have.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF5IhGQuQm0

The Topper company even offers a discount if you buy there replacement toppers.
It's Easy to Replace Your Own Slide Topper Awning Fabric
Discount code: RVGEEKSROCK

As far as the facia, are you talking about the one on the inside? This one? If so, There is just enough room with the slide partially in about a foot to get my arm and some hand tools in there in order to remove and reapply the 6" tall wall board. I think the tight working space is just enough to justify not removing the facia wood and the slide metal facia base.


The water making it past that top D-cell seal were my original suspicions. On the top wall frame seal that the double sweeps are moulded to, is a top or outer D-cell that gets compressed when the slide is in. The slide does not leak when the slide is in and pressing against this D cell seal that is a part of the main seal. On the side double sweep seal the D-Cell can be popped off but the top horizontal seal is a part of the whole c-channel seal. From initial inspection, I don't see any mechanical 3M style tape holding this to the outer gel-coat wall. This is also in my opinion where the water is getting in and sitting on top of that inner C channel and wicking up from my initial posts. Do you recommend a 3M VHB tape securing it to the gel coat or some specific type of sealing sauce such as Proflex, or Sikaflex?


This slide cable gasket just does not want to adhere to the outer sweep. What do you recommend the best solution to be?


This top sweep that overlaps the side sweep has been chemically bonded together. What did you use to perform this sorcery, as I would like to do the same to the 4 slide cable gaskets that won't stick to the outer sweeps.
http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...1&d=1524855643

Lastly, like all of my posts there will be a comprehensive set of photos as well as a writeup for other members. I am also just finishing up my writeup on the repair and replacement of my MACH-8 AC units where the 3 blade fan went splody like a grenade.

[bclemens]

When I say "paneling"...we buy all of our stuff with the vinyl wall covering laminated to the lauan. Having said that, if you just buy the lauan locally, I'm sure I have some 6" or 12" overlay material. This is the same vinyl material, but instead of laminated to lauan, we have it laminated to an adhesive back. We won't really do wall paper per se (in the traditional sense).

I was just out there and we had several rolls of the self adhesive stuff..if you shoot me close up of the wall board I'm sure I can match it.

As for the sorcery...the first response was "super glue". I guess the plant manager stashes it and the slide guys get it from him when they need more. I can see if I can get a picture of the bottle on Monday to be sure, but the guy I asked was 99% sure it was just super glue.

[murraym]

Good deal. I will post the photo of the laminate here. Also, the Superglue makes sense. I will try that on the cable gaskets as rubber cement with the proper prep and primer as well as silicone has no effect. Did you get an answer on what they use to adhere the "C Channel" double swipe seal behind the D-Cell at the top to the outer Gel Coat wall?



Also, what is the bonding material sealing the screw holes and the awning rail that is screwed to the roof above the transition piece? Mine is looking pretty abused.

Thanks

[bclemens]

Check that...they clean the slides with alcohol, 802 Adhesion Promoter and then glue it with Cyberbond 2028. Which I think is still just superglue. (cyanoacrylate). They say it looks, smells and tastes just like normal super glue

[dlfishing]

Originally Posted by bclemens

Cable slide adjustment

Is this slide adjustment manual applicable to the 2014 DX3 as well? I’m also having problems.

[murraym]

So I first started by removing the awning. Watch the video in the earlier post, and make sure that you only remove the two larger allen head cap screws and not the 3 smaller cap screws per the video.


Do NOT remove these three.


Slide the catch to the left as per the video. Here mine and why I am removing my awning so that it can be cleaned and the material can be treated.

Then fold the topper cover up and over to expose all of the debris and to remove the cover. Once it is folded over, remove the top allen head cap screw and lower it down to the ground out of the way to be cleaned.


Next, roll the topper up and over away from you to unwind the topper from the spring loaded roller. It is definitely under tension since mine is pretty long, so you will need a friend to be on the other side also rolling it our to prepare to remove the topper.
The video shows that you need a pair of oil filter wrench vice grips. DO GET A PAIR. This photo shows the allen wrench stuck in the hole but it is pretty sketchy. I clamped a pair of welding vice grips on the back side but it is also sketchy and not as secure as a pair of the oil filter wrench vice grips would be.


If the allen wrench falls out and mine did, and you don't have something clamping it, that bastard is going to roll up really quick and damage something.

So I taped my allen wrench with electrical tape.


Next drill out the piping channel like the video says to with a 1/4" drill bit. Take your time and clean it up really well with the bit.


Next remove the topper piping screws from both ends of the topper. It is overwhelmingly obvious that the OEM installer used screws that were TOO DAMNED long as it is not only holding the piping, but it punched through the other side of the topper piping rail into the fiberglass roof!

[murraym]

Next make SURE that you use a file to clean up and smooth out the slot that you drilled into the the piping channel. Make sure there are no burrs. Then blow it out with a hose.
Then carefully slide the topper out of the channel and rail together making sure you are not snagging anything.





You can clearly see that my original assumption of the water running down behind the plastic C-channel double sweep slide seal and pooling inside the channel and then wicking up into the plywood on the inside of the coach wall AS WELL AS THE PLYWOOD THAT THE GELCOAT OUTER WALL IS BONDED TO!!!!!You can see the water stains as well as a small bead of black silicone of some sort that is a sad attempt to prevent this. The edges of the wood where they could possibly wick water up should have been cut back away from the inside of the C-Channel about a 1/4" so that if there was water sitting there, it wouldn't wick up because the wood would be elevated above the sitting water that would eventually exit the seals. Not to mention the edges of the plywood of the inner and outer wall of the slides SHOULD HAVE BEEN TREATED WITH SOMETHING TO PREVENT THE WATER FROM WICKING INTO IT IF IT WAS EXPOSED TO WATER.
I'm not sure why the C-Channel slide seal was not sealed to the coach wall cutout to prevent water from even getting in there in the first damned place.


The thin strip of black that you see makes my want to throat punch the installer as he 100% DID NOT DO HIS JOB! It was literally thinner than a damned rubber band with absolutely no chance in hell of ever preventing any water from getting in the C-Channel slide seal. This would explain why I noticed the rippling in that wall board above the slide almost as soon as I bought it used in September 2016. It was one year old which means the leaking was occurring as soon as it left the manufacturer.



So, basically I am screwed as far as the outer Gelcoat wall that is impossible to replace without removing the entire slide, and scrapping the the entire passenger side outer wall, replacing it, and repainting the coach. The water is wicking up into that plywood behind the Gelcoat. So unless Forrest River wants to make this right, which I doubt is going to happen since it is a 2015, I am going to have to hope that I can get it dried out and black mold doesn't develop. The other issue is that the slide seal C-Channel is screwed up into the wall cutout with self drilling screws. The installers drilled several of them into the damned plywood right behind the Gelcoat and not the aluminum frame of which they should be. I know this because when I pried the C-Channel D Cell back a little to see what was going on and the absolute pathetic attempt to seal it, some of the screws pulled out of the wood and are totally rusted out.

[murraym]

So the only thing I can do at this point is pack silica desiccant packs in the C-Channel wedged against the backing Gelcoat plywood and hope it dries out the plywood backed Gelcoat.

[murraym]

The inside wall plywood is wasted. Totally saturated and about as strong as wet cardboard which is exactly what it now is.


More to come tomorrow.

[murraym]

To remove the facia, put the slide mostly in, but leaving enough room to walk around and work. Using a #2 philips head on a driver, remove the 3 facia caps by placing the driver behind the facia to access them. Once each is removed, with a sharpie, mark an up arrow on if it is the left or right side to ensure that you aren't trying to put back together wrong as well as using the same holes.




Next, remove the facia left and right boards the same way.


Now using a square bit, remove the longer facia mounting plate screws using a square tipped bit. The one over the bunks was clearly installed prior to the bunks being fabricated in place as the angle prevents you from getting the driver in there. So use a flex extension.



Next comes the tedious part.
If you don't have one of these. You better have strong hands and wrists with an unlimited amount of patience. The screws that are holding the facia mounting plate to the actual top of the slide obviously face down and there are a lot of them. My driver is pretty small and it was too big to fit. So this worked perfectly.

[murraym]

Now this part is going to suck, but the person that installed this facia mounting plate knew what they were doing and it was done right. However, I had to destroy this guys perfection on this slide inner facia prematurely, because the *****#0Le that installed my not even 3 year old slide seals came to work drunk and didn't give two $#i^s about the quality of work he was getting paid to perform on a coach valued at $200,000.00 and then sent it down the line. Not his problem I guess. On a side note. For $200,000.00 EACH, EACH UNIT SHOULD HAVE IT'S OWN DESIGNATED MOTHERF()@%ER, AN ACTUAL FORREST RIVER TOP LEVEL POSITION! that does nothing but walks down the line while that particular unit is being constructed, and stays with it the entire time as it goes. This should be his only job!
MOTHERF()@%ER are you really going to install it like that!
MOTHERF()@%ER are you $#1tt1ng me with those screws!
MOTHERF()@%ER do you really think that is actually going to seal correctly!
MOTHERF()@%ER! Our customers are paying $200,000 for this, What the F()@% are you doing not sealing that slide seal c-channel!
MOTHERF()@%ER clean all that saw dust up that is under the bed, cabinets, and shower basin!
MOTHERF()@%ER if I have to tell you one more time to use the proper screws on that roof to fiberglass transition strip, you are fired!
Just sayen!
Anyway. The easiest way I can tell you how to destroy the properly sealed facia mounting plate is to verify again that you removed all of the screws, and then rock it back and forth by pushing the top and pulling the top with three people, nice and slow. Cut the silicon bead along the backside where the mounting plate sits on top of the slide. The slide top is fiberglass gelcoat, so don't go slicing away at it. It has what appears to be some black Proflex sealant right in the corner butted up against the seal corner as well as at the ends. It doesn't feel like silicone. The only silicone I found on it was a smeared bead at the back edge of the mounting plate against the top of the slide roof. There is also a significant amount of butyl tape that is adhering and sealing the mounting plate strip to the top of the slide roof where you removed the plethora of screws using the 90 degree driver. Once you get the mounting plate rocking back and forth which is stretching the butyl tape out into a stringy mess, and you can fold the mounting plate away from you on top of the slide roof, use a razor knife to further separate the butyl goo that is holding the mounting plate to the slide roof.

MG]

This shows the mounting plate folded over the top of the slide roof with the string cheese butyl tape still trying to hold it together.

Carefully cut it and don't cut into the fiberglass gelcoat roof.


Here you can see the gray butyl tape remnants on top of the roof fiberglass gelcoat that is bonded to the aluminum slide frame. The black bead on the aluminum is what I believe to be the Proflex which is the lat line of defense to the inner slide room if any water makes it past the butyl tape that is sandwiched below the facia mounting plate and the gelcoat roof.


The rotted, waterlogged, and preventable damage to the inner wall above the slide.

[murraym]

Now that the waterlogged cardboard has been removed, You need to clean the aluminum as well as the top slide seal c-Channel that has all the waterlogged wood fibers in it. If the inside of the wall which is luann plywood was this bad, I know for a fact the outside fiberglass to plywood bonded wall is just as bad. However, the only fix would be to remove the entire outside gelcoat wall and replace it. I don't see forrest river coming up off that type of repair even though it was the forrest river slide seal installer that totally Fu@#ed it up.

The only thing that I could think to do is to try and dry it out the best way I can.
I look around my garage and MacGyver'ed and science'd the s#1^ out of it. I got some 3/8" O.D. thin walled copper tuning, some 3/4" liquid-tight electrical conduit, conduit cutters, sheetmetal pliers, an 11/32" drill bit, and some electrical tape.

I cut off a piece of about 12' of the conduit, then drilled an 11/32" hole about every 6" in a straight line so that all the holes were at the same point on the lines axis. I then cut 21 pieces of the copper tubing into 6" long pieces. I rolled the pieces of copper over a small 6" diameter propane bottle to get the desired curve. I then used the sheetmetal pliers to flatten one end into a flat nozzle. I inserted the other end of the copper pieces into the 3/4 conduit about a 1/4" deep, then used the electrical tape to wrap and seal the copper tubing to the conduit tightly. I then used a piece of gorilla tape to plug/seal the end. I plugged the opposite end into my shopvac step down adapter. I then inserted the copper nozzles in between the slide seal and the aluminum frame where the inside wall luann used to be but has now been removed because of the a$$h0L# OEM slide seal installer.
I unplugged my shopvac hose from the OEM installer side, I mean the suck side of the shopvac, and plugged it into the exhaust side after removing the exhaust cap.
I then opened the shopvac and lowered the debris bag so it had better through and through air flow. I then turned on the shopvac and am now letting it run for over 24 hours to force air into the c-channel of the top slide seal hoping that it dries out the outer gelcoat 3/8" plywood that is bonded together and also waterlogged.

[murraym]

As for the outside gelcoat bonded luann wall with that is also waterlogged. I shoved the silica packs in between the outer seal which should have been sealed to prevent the water intrusion in the first place, then attached plastic to the roof to wall transition to the outer slide facia. I slightly closed the back end that is furthest from the fan so that it would create positive pressure, and then sealed the front end to the blower. This is forcing air down the line of the top of the slide and the slide seal with the inside blowing warm air through the nozzles.





Now I am about to go out and use adhesive remover to remove all of the butyl tape from the slide roof and prep the slide top as well as the 14' long facia mounting plate.

[CaptnJohn]

murraym I admire your tenacity and skill. No one should have to go through all that but when complete it will be better than new. Posting your work and especially the photos will probably be used for training at the factory and dealerships. It is unlikely the fine Amish craftsman stolen from the Hugo factory was only present during one build, may still be present performing such craftsmanship. Every model of every manufacturer is being put together as quickly as possible. GREED. QC is a thing of the past, anyone saying different is not reading the forums, all of them. Saying that is not so is simply bullsh!t. Wishing you the best.

[murraym]

Originally Posted by CaptnJohn

murraym I admire your tenacity and skill. No one should have to go through all that but when complete it will be better than new. Posting your work and especially the photos will probably be used for training at the factory and dealerships. It is unlikely the fine Amish craftsman stolen from the Hugo factory was only present during one build, may still be present performing such craftsmanship. Every model of every manufacturer is being put together as quickly as possible. GREED. QC is a thing of the past, anyone saying different is not reading the forums, all of them. Saying that is not so is simply bullsh!t. Wishing you the best.

I do concur on the point that it is greed that is forcing by these $200,000 units down the line at breakneck speeds. I am not even joking though. Each unit needs it’s very own assigned M0^#eRF\/cKe&! Get that guy a bullhorn and a whip! Walk around that bastard every second of its assembly and shame people for their stupidity. And when a GM walks up to ask what the hold up is, he has executive authority to throat punch him for whining about how long it is taking! And the thing is. The slide seal installer is already there. He is already going through the motions. All he has to do is take his damned time to ensure that it is sealed correctly. Now. Would I at this point not have purchased this unit. Not a chance in hell. I love it. It does exactly what I need it to. However. My advise to ANYONE who buys an RV. No matter what manufacturer it comes from. No matter how new or old. Immediately. And I mean immediately especially if it is a brand new unit. Buy some proflex and start hitting the slide seals, redo the slide topper roof rail with new butyl tape and a bead of proflex along the top, and if your unit has the steel compartments. Take the unit to LineX and have them LineX the entire inside of the compartments as well as have the basement compartments exterior and underneath sprayed with zeibart or an equivalent. My front right basement compartment leaks water inside like a siv. Last year it was rusted to hell even after adjusting the door and replacing the seal. I had to grind it completely down to bare metal and use POR15 to coat it and then sprayed a bed liner in the entire compartment to prevent it from rusting again. Not that rattle can crap. Actual bedliner that you spray on with a specific siphon sprayer. Now it still gets wet no matter what I do. But now I only keep cones, Highway triangles, and a tote with flares and two reflective hiviz traffic vests for a break down. Now the water just drains out of the holes and if it gets wet it is rubberized so whatever.
Now to the credit of Forrest River. Especiallly Bclemens. The fact that they even have this guy monitor and interact on the forums, and provide tech support is above and beyond. I would hate to be him on Monday mornings when he comes in and has to play catch-up on all of the weekend posts where owners have dove in head first on a project only to find such lazy and S#\^^y craftsmanship that obviously originated from the Manufacturing line is worse than they thought . I bet he carries around a bottle of pepto bismal and a flask of bourbon. Now Brian, If I may, locate a bottle of Elmer T Lee, or even some calming and less expensive Buffalo Trace namesake bourbon. And sip it slowly while reading these posts. You will thank me.