Folding up beds in the rain...

[ebcobra93]

We just finished a two and a half week long camping trip (5 different campgrounds). Our 2016 Roo 183 held up very nicely.

During our last two days, it rained practically non-stop. I was happy to not find any leaks...until we put up the beds. I'm assuming that water trapped on top of the canvas came in through the zippers. When we got home, I set the camper back up and found that the mattresses are now wet around the edges.
Have others experienced this issue? I assume it's normal.

[Guzzi]

Great question. Been wondering same thing. We have new 21ss & just finished off a 2 week camp. Cut it short by a day when we heard storm was coming. Did not want to put bunks in during the rain.
Only input I can provide is read somewhere that ya need to pull the mattress before ya fold er up. Looking forward to experienced responses.

[Drenjoey]

Ws it raining on the way home !!!!

[MyFRGW26DBH]

Prior to getting our new TT we had a hybrid for 10 years. A big issue we noticed of course was with having to fold in our beds with rain, and debris. We of course tried our best to check the weather the day before we pack up. I know you said it had rained for 2 days which makes it very hard to pack hybrids up in the rain. I think in the 10 years we had it we only had to deal with packing during rain twice. As soon as we got home we would open it back up, wipe and dry it out. We would not pack it back up until it was 100% dry. Sadly I'm not sure that their is much to do in regards to preventing all moisture. I will say at the end of our 10 years with ours 1 of our beds would have needed total replacement due to moisture exposure. Our 2nd bed was in excellent condition.

[ebcobra93]

Originally Posted by Drenjoey

Ws it raining on the way home !!!!

It was raining on the way home also, but I've pulled the trailer in the rain without any leakage in the past. I'm pretty sure this was caused by putting the beds up while it was raining.

[ebcobra93]

Originally Posted by MyFRGW26DBH

A big issue we noticed of course was with having to fold in our beds with rain, and debris.

I purchased the much talked about PUGs for this trip and used them every time. They really helped with the debris (along with keeping things cool). Obviously, they don't do anything to prevent rain/moisture on the canvas.

[HappyTrails8888]

Yes, this happened to us on our first trip as well. Got home and read the manuals more thoroughly and found that FR tells you to move the mattresses to the cabin if you are folding up wet tents. Makes sense really.

[mbutts]

During our HTT years, we carried the cheapo plastic drop cloths from Home Depot (a couple of bucks apiece). During a wet fold up, we would wrap up the mattress with the plastic as the first step, then fold up the tent ends.

We still left the tent ends open for a day or so when we got home to dry out the canvas.

[rsdata]

Often during rainy weather, condensation collects on the inside of the vinyl tent tops. I towel dry off this moisture as much as possible, then kick/hit the top sharply to knock off as much water on the outside as possible. I then sometimes even give the outside of the tent ends a toweling, enough to get off most of the moisture... you have to use some common sense here... depending on how hard it is raining

When I get home or the next stop I do open the ends to prevent mold/mildew... I have found pooled water, maybe a cup full when I reopened,, but I have never experienced wet mattresses. Maybe I have just been lucky with my 183

[Celestep2k1]

Not sure if what we're going through will help, but I'll post in hopes that it does. We bought a 2007 21SS in the Spring. It was seriously in great shape, so we thought. We had to drive over 600-miles to get it and it was laden with bugs when we arrived home. Our first thought was to wash it. IMHO, that was a bad move and Forest River should have rubber-sealed those tent ends a whole lot better. Anyway, here's my Mr.'s post about his fix and my mend. So far, so good.
http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ix-115489.html

[ebcobra93]

Celestep, thank you, and everyone else for the responses thus far. Fortunately, our beds are holding up very well and I've never seen any leaks or unexpected condensation/moisture.

It was raining quite hard when we put up the beds, so I'm sure it was just leakage through the zippers. The recommendation to pull the mattresses before lifting the beds in the rain is probably a good one.

After setting the camper up and letting it air/dry out, everything looks good.

[Ron69]

Originally Posted by ebcobra93

We just finished a two and a half week long camping trip (5 different campgrounds). Our 2016 Roo 183 held up very nicely.

During our last two days, it rained practically non-stop. I was happy to not find any leaks...until we put up the beds. I'm assuming that water trapped on top of the canvas came in through the zippers. When we got home, I set the camper back up and found that the mattresses are now wet around the edges.
Have others experienced this issue? I assume it's normal.

My wife and I bought a Rockwood Roo 233s. And has leaked. Took it to warranty place and they said they thinks it is fixed. Nope still leaks going back again. One thing I noticed is that they do not have rain gutters above the tent beds like the older ones. Everyone I have talked to that has the similar campers say they have leaks too. I will ask the warranty company to put the rain gutters on like the older models have

[Hockeymom]

We recently had to fold up the beds in the rain and the tent ends did leak through the zipper. The mattresses did not get wet but the water did leak on the floor. We wiped everything down after folding up the beds and when we got home we opened everything up to dry for several days. We have never had an issue otherwise.