Water on floor next to slide out

Starwanderer · 11-03-2021, 10:49 PM

Ages ago someone mentioned installing drain panels at the side of your slide to let rain drain straight down. Anyone try this? Do you take drain panels off when you are traveling? Don't they get in the way of the slide? Believe I need go better level the trailer but it's not that catty wampus. Hrlp

SeaDog · 11-04-2021, 09:12 AM

Welcome to the forum its a great place to get your questions answered. First what rig do you have that would help in understanding what your are talking about. Many folks myself included have added slide toppers to the slides to keep trash and rain off the roof. If you have water on the floor you need to investigate your slide seals and chalking at the roof. JMHO

Starwanderer · 11-04-2021, 09:57 AM

Thanks Seadog

I have a keystone passport Elie, not a,forest river. I read a post dated 2017 that they added a long skinny panel to
Hang off the slide out. I wondered if this was to be taken off when traveling. Tried to get back to original post but forest river forum said the post was toonold.

Starwanderer · 11-04-2021, 09:59 AM

Rain continues but leak in stopped. I have a towel down there. How does the rain get under the wall on to the floor?

Big bird · 11-04-2021, 01:04 PM

You have a problem not to be ignored. A seal somewhere is leaking. Must be fixed by you or shop. Do no wait.

hikerjohn7 · 11-04-2021, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starwanderer

Rain continues but leak in stopped. I have a towel down there. How does the rain get under the wall on to the floor?

Water can slowly leak between the slid-out outer, vertical walls and the trim strips bordering the walls if the sealant along these slips has deteriorated. See photo. I had to have my sealant stripped off and replaced because it rotted the floor in one of my slid-outs.

Sebourn · 11-04-2021, 03:58 PM

We had some heavy rains a couple of weeks ago - about 6" in a short time. Our TT is parked at the side of our carport with the slide pulled in. I checked inside once the rain stopped and found a spot of water about the size of a silver dollar below the end of the schwinteck lower rail. It was the end furthest in from the outside wall. There was no water on the top or side of the slide. Feeling with my fingers, It felt though the bottom of the rail may have been a little damp. Blotting the rail with a paper towel showed no water though. I placed a paper towel below the end of the rail on the floor where I found the silver dollar size puddle. We have had light rain off and on since but paper towel has stayed dry. Since the slide is pulled in now where it is parked, I can only extend it out about a foot which I plan to do on a good day to see what is at the outer end of the rail to deflect any water and look at the seals above at the corner. Several years ago while still under warranty, the other end of the slide had a lot more water on the floor after a big rain. I took it to the dealer and they did some sealant at the top corner where the vertical seal met the horizontal seal (i think things lap over at that point). No more problem with that leak so I think that may be my problem this time also.

DAB2014 · 11-04-2021, 04:44 PM

Had similar problem. Water rotted out floor of slide. Eventually found out water was coming from leak on outside top side of dining window. Discovered by spaying with garden hose. Bottom to top and checking as spraying went up side of slide. Applied another bead of silicon to top edge of window. No more leak.

GFD47 · 11-04-2021, 06:32 PM

OP indicates the water is on the floor next to the slide out. This could be from a damaged slide out seal or one that is loose-fitting (slide out not closed all the way) but it could be something else. I had water on the floor next to my slide out and when I couldn't find any indication of a bad slide out seal I called my favorite local RV repair guy and had him do a house call. What I'd assumed to be a problem with the slide out turned out to be worn-out joint sealer at the horizontal joint between the acrylic siding panels...15 minute fix.
The tech who did the investigation and repair said the clue was that the water was next to the slide out and not on it. He didn't even check the slide out seals...went straight to the horizontal siding joint, found the cracked sealer, and I returned to being a happy camper.

SLU2 · 11-04-2021, 09:45 PM

I have my FR in a seasonal campground(stationary). The 1st couple of winters after we bought and placed it in the campground, I would put the slide-outs in for the winter. A couple of seasons ago I came back in April to find my carpet at the end of the slide-out wet and moldy. I cleaned the carpet and that winter, I never put the slide-outs back in during off season storage. Never had a leak again. Apparently water can get behind the slide-outs with nowhere to go where being left out the water just runs off! Just some food for thought...

mwdilday · 11-14-2021, 08:10 PM

We are currently dealing with rot in the bedroom slide floor on a Cedar Creek 38EL. Going to call Amish RV in the morning. Hopefully they can get us in to get it fixed.

mwdilday · 11-14-2021, 08:11 PM

Check your trim on the outside of the slides. The sealant can crack and allow water to enter the slide wall even with the slides in.

Gidyupgo · 11-25-2021, 11:03 AM

With the slides in, parked in the storage lot, I kept finding a small water stain on the floor that stopped at the inboard edge of the slide. Spent some time inside with a strong flashlight during a heavy rain and could see moisture where the outside wall of the slide meets the floor. This is directly below a window. There is only the foam seal on this type of window and no caulking. I checked and all the screws were tight. I ran a bead of Geocel Pro Flex Clear across the top and the top corners down about 6" and that took care of it. I then did the same to the rest of the windows.

hikerjohn7 · 11-26-2021, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gidyupgo

With the slides in, parked in the storage lot, I kept finding a small water stain on the floor that stopped at the inboard edge of the slide. Spent some time inside with a strong flashlight during a heavy rain and could see moisture where the outside wall of the slide meets the floor. This is directly below a window. There is only the foam seal on this type of window and no caulking. I checked and all the screws were tight. I ran a bead of Geocel Pro Flex Clear across the top and the top corners down about 6" and that took care of it. I then did the same to the rest of the windows.

Don't overlook the sealant sealing these slide outer wall trim strip joints. I found the same leakage signs on my floors near the slides and water was working its way past the Pro Flex sealant sealing these side trim strips to the outer wall. It slowly seeped into the slide floors and rotted one of them. It occurs when the slides are extended or retracted.

Gidyupgo · 11-26-2021, 10:27 PM

Thanks HikerJohn. I will definitely check all of those.

Brian Van Hook · 11-28-2021, 10:13 AM

I have a 2016 Advenger and I had the same problem. Well I found out what it was, and extensive damage . It was caused by the out side upper seal mount Trac. It was not properly sealed and water was getting in behind it and followings the header beam and down the wall and showed up at the floor carpet line. So check yours.

hikerjohn7 · 11-28-2021, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Van Hook

I have a 2016 Advenger and I had the same problem. Well I found out what it was, and extensive damage . It was caused by the out side upper seal mount Trac. It was not properly sealed and water was getting in behind it and followings the header beam and down the wall and showed up at the floor carpet line. So check yours.

I presume you are talking about the slide's upper gear track where it has sealant that seals it to the slide's outer, side wall.

If so, I can see how that could leak when the slide is extended. Mine was leaking when in the RV was in storage with the slide retracted. That's why mine was coming in where the sealant seals the slides outer trim strips to that outer wall. If the sealant has small voids in it, the water seeps down into inner metal flange at the bottom of the slide with screws that go into the plywood floor. The plywood is wrapped in plastic but I think the water seeps in past the screws and very slowly saturates the wood. After several years the floor can totally rot out. Another hint is if you smell mildew in the bedroom.

Brian Van Hook · 11-28-2021, 05:01 PM

No mine don't have a upper gear track. It's the upper seal that seals when closed. The plastic track it's connected to they never sealed it properly from the factory.

hikerjohn7 · 11-29-2021, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Van Hook

No mine don't have a upper gear track. It's the upper seal that seals when closed. The plastic track it's connected to they never sealed it properly from the factory.

It's scarry about the things they miss at the RV factories. I have had two bew RVs and both have had shoddy sealant applications. The attached photo shows what can happen over several years if you don't catch it.

Quality control is not definitely not one of their strong suits. It's more like harum-scarum in their shops. Another example is when you look behind the woodwork because they leave all kinds of manufacturing debris. Like, for instance, flammable wood chips and paper in the furnace compartment.

But, despite the quality nightmares, people keeping buying RVs like mad. Still... it can't be the manufacturers reputations with customers.

Karen T · 07-29-2022, 11:53 AM

The only time our slide seal has leaked is when I had the slide partially out during storage with no cover, and a hard, blowing rain. It wasn't much water, but I sure don't want more. We checked out the seals. They're in perfect condition, but there is a very small gap between the horizontal seal and the vertical seal where they meet at the top. Not sure how to keep sideways rain from coming in those gaps. It makes sense that the two seals aren't going to meet with a perfect overlap. Any thoughts?

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