First Trip Completed

swiggy65 · 11-27-2011, 08:19 PM

Finally got to take out the new Roo and had a great time except for a couple of problems. The first night the heater quit working good thing we brought a electric heater. The second problem came up after we closed up the tents. I noticed a lot of water dripping outside from under the area of the fridge. Inside of the cabinet under the bunk was wet. I put the bunk back down and the material at the hinged area was full of water and the ends of the mattress were wet. Long story short all three of the ends were like this. I had to take out all three of the mattresses at home to dry the ends.

This is a 233S with the attached bunk ends. It looks like water was trapped behind the bottom seal. We had rain all day Saturday. So when we closed up it forced the water to this area. Does this happen with the old style bunk ends or is this going to be a flaw with the new style? The wife will not be happy if this happens every time it rains.

biken201 · 11-27-2011, 09:21 PM

Was this the first time the bunk ends got wet? If the seams have not yet been seasoned and allowed to swell, you might be getting water from there. We had a similar issue with our new 233S on our inaugural trip when it rained, and I chalked it up to the unseasoned seams allowing for water intrusion. We haven't had it out in the rain since (we don't get much rain here in AZ), but I'm hoping that's all it was and won't be a recurring problem.

swiggy65 · 11-27-2011, 09:44 PM

This was the first time the ends got wet. I checked several times while it was raining and had some seepage and was dried when found. When the bunks were prepped for closing every thing was dry and no water was seen. after the water was noticed we opened and closed all of the bunks several times and you could see the water coming in at the bottom. We did this until the water stopped. We went through several towels mopping up the water. We took the mattresses out at home to dry and closed the bunks for an hour and then opened them and there was no water on the material in the hinge area. Also the mattresses had an oily feeling on the bottom where they were wet.

Some of our guests while camping

**bikendan** · 11-28-2011, 12:00 AM

with your owner's manual, there's a sheet from the canvas manufacturer, with instructions on seasoning the canvas seams. also instructions on care and cleaning.
having to "season" canvas is common in all new popups and hybrids.

and second, are you sure you didn't have condensation on the inside of the canvas. if you had the heat up and no ventilation and no PUGs or solar blankets, you'll get condensation.
it'll seem like the rain is seeping through the canvas.

**Terier** · 11-28-2011, 01:05 AM

Let's hope there's not a next time but if there is it wouldn't hurt to video tape the problem. A smart phone can come in handy to show the dealership what you are referring to.

swiggy65 · 11-28-2011, 04:03 PM

While it was raining I was checking for leaks and wiped up the water as I saw it. The was just a little seepage coming from a couple of the seams. The canvas was dry to the touch the whole time it was raining. The vents have not been closed since we purchased the trailer (max air covers). The bunk areas were dry to the touch before we put the tents in . The water was dripping almost a solid stream of water for 5 minutes before I went in and found where the water was coming from. I probably soaked up a 1/4 gallon of water from the bunk ends while opening and closing them.
I have some space blankets from REI to put on them next time. I didn't even think about doing a video/pictures of the water and I carry 2 smart phones. I talked to the dealer and they said bring it in and they will look in to the problem along with the heater not working. Thanks for the replies I will try and let you know what they find if I remember.

swiggy65 · 02-20-2012, 06:48 PM

Update brought the trailer back in for the same water problem when closing up the bunk ends. The service dept. manager told us they found the problem after the same thing happened to all of their Roo's that had the attached bunk ends. The water is being trapped where the tent is attached to the bunk ends. They drilled small holes in the bunk ends and the water poured out. He said Forest River is going to have a rep there Thursday to discuss this problem.

Triguy · 02-21-2012, 10:33 AM

Good to be aware of this with these new bunk ends. I have the old-style bungee connections but can really see the benefits of the newer attached style bunks. Hope they solve this as it seems to be a nicer system overall.

Please keep us informed of what the FR rep says and what FR decides to do to fix the issue.

swiggy65 · 03-10-2012, 05:53 PM

I picked up the Roo today. The service manager told me that Forest River said the problem was due to the tent/canvas being too tight.

Forest River sent a factory crew to the dealership to replace all of my canvas and bunk doors (3) on my Roo and the ones that had the same problem belonging the dealer. They also put some small weep holes in the bottom part of the hinge. I will see if the problem is solved when I go camping later this week if it rains.

jfguyer · 03-11-2012, 08:09 PM

Good to hear that FR got the problem figured out. Do you have pics of the areas you are referring to? The weep holes? Did they indicate when in their production process that this problem occurred and if they corrected it? Just picked up new 19 last week and this is the first heard of this type of problem with the attached bunk ends.

With regards to seasoning the stitching- would it be better to set up the bunk ends at home at thoroughly soak the stitching before going thru a rain event? Seems like there would be better control of any leaking issues while seasoning the seams this way.

**bikendan** · 03-11-2012, 08:31 PM

seasoning should be done at home, before camping.

nothing like new seam/threads dripping while trying to sleep in a rainstorm.

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