Baggage Door Leak

[440justin]

Has anyone had issues with their baggage doors taking on water and all the wood on the back side getting wet?

I have never noticed or had any sings of water inside my baggage area, but I have found that both of my baggage doors are wet on the back side about half way up door.

At this point the only two things I can think of is water gets in through the lock cylinders as there was no sealing gasket around them, or it is getting in between the aluminum frame and the fiberglass, the bottom aluminum has three drain holes like they know water will get in between the fiberglass and frame.

As you can see in my pictures the water has worked its way up the wood as I pulled the backing off one of the doors today. I know it is not the door seals its self as my storage area stays dry and nothing has ever gotten wet, including the roll of paper tows I keep right by the door

So I am currently looking for replacement doors, e-bay has about 20 of them in my size, but they are all tan or gray . Trekwood has what I need listed so I requested a shipping quote, just sucks they are about 3 times as expensive as e-bay.

[ctbruce]

We're they wet when you took them off or is this old damage that you found? My air conditioner will drain down the side some times in this area as a possible water source. I have read of others who have had to replace the bead of sealant across to top of the door hinge. Good luck.

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[slow]

Sorry to see the damage you now have to deal with.

Here are a few observations you may want to consider when you install the new doors.

I was concerned with the latches and key locks not being sealed as well, so I siliconed them when I replaced the locks a few years ago. At that time, I also noticed that there are drain holes under the latch holes on the underside of the door frame. On one of my doors, the drain holes were not aligned with the latch holes so I drilled new ones so the water would drain.

BTW: the core of the door is foam. Is it possible to open up the aluminum frame enough to only replace the inner plywood with corrugated plastic sheet from HD?

[notanlines]

Justin, just as a thought, have you given consideration to leaving the wood off the back, cleaning them up and painting the back. Then seal up the lock sets and all this for "no cost?"

[JRTJH]

I would be very reluctant to replace the door with a new one. There are a number of manufacturers that supply doors, most of them aren't the same radius and many of them aren't the same thickness. So, even if a door has the same "height/length" measurements, often times it won't fit the hole properly.

Since aluminum isn't "damaged by water", I'd look at repairing the door you have by installing a new sheet of 1/8" or 3/16" luan (you can buy it at most hobby shops in 2'x4' or 4'x4' sheets) and then painting the surface of the new luan. That way, the exterior door remains the same and matches your trailer.

As for the leak, you'll probably find that it's not the door locks that are leaking, but rather the top "C" hinge is the source of the water intrusion. Run a bead of silicone along that hinge and it should stop the leak.

In this picture (originally posted by another member, not me) you can see where he applied a silicone bead to the crevice between the hinge and the door frame. It's the bead directly behind the screw that runs the entire length of the aluminum extrusion.

[slow]

That picture looks familiar.

Whatever route you go, be sure to drill out the drain holes at the bottom of the door frame since the outer cargo door skin is not sealed to the door frame.

[440justin]

All, Thanks for the replies and comments.

Do you know if anyone has ever been able to remove the Luan from the back of the baggage door to replace it? As for as I know the Luan is glued and vacuumed bonded to the door, so I think it might be hard to remove. I am kind of concerned about the Luan behind the fiberglass if that has taken on water as well.

As far as the fit of a replacement door, do you all think the ones from Trekwood would not match or fit right? They advertise they sell parts for Keystone. http://www.trekwood.com/products/181...x-16-Top-Hinge

Yesterday I I did seal around the lock cylinders and the edge of the aluminum frame around the door. The ideas on the drain holes are good, I think my first step will be to dry out the doors so I can be sure I have figured out how the water is getting in. I did look at the top hing and I am not sure how/if the water could get in that and cause only the bottom half of the door to be wet. Like I said the top of both doors are bone dry. Yesterday I did notice on one of the doors I had just a little bit of water sitting behind each lock on the inside edge of the frame.

I really wounder how many people this happens to. Kind of stinks when you find this, especially when you think you do a good job on checking all the seals and joints all the time.

[slow]

Check the keyhole to confirm there is Luan behind the fibreglass skin. I do not remember. If the cargo doors are built like the entrance door, there is no Luan behind the fibreglass skin, just fibreglass then foam.

Yeh, it stinks. Always a surprise, I mean learning experience!


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[440justin]

Well I know some of you recommend I try to fix my current doors, but since I park outside and didn't want to risk ripping one apart only to find I was in over my head I ordered two new doors through Trekwood. They had great customer service and confirm what I needed based on Vin number with keystone. The new doors showed to a week after I ordered and appear to have shipped directly from keystone.

It will be this weekend before I get to go out and verify everything, but they look to be the correct door and were only $125 each. I had received a quote from one company at over $1,000 for two doors!

I did notice the new doors are fiberglass on both the inside and outside. Makes you think I am not the first to have the issue!

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[slow]

Glad to read you found new doors at a price you are happy with.

Consider adding drain holes directly under the latch and lock locations. That is where mine are.


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[440justin]

Originally Posted by slow

Glad to read you found new doors at a price you are happy with.

Consider adding drain holes directly under the latch and lock locations. That is where mine are.


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Yes, I plan to add additional drain holes, as well as sealing the lock cylinders.

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[440justin]

I also do plan on trying to rebuild the old doors. Hopefully I don't need them, but if I can fix them I will add it to the RV parts shelf.

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[Joe592]

440justin,

I have the same exact problem on mine. I was going to repair myself but the thickness of the white foam in the middle is 5/16 and that is a odd size to find. Also that white foam never dries out it was like a sponge. My local dealer charged me $84 plus tax and shipping. I used silicone around the aluminum and fiberglass lip on the outside. Not sure if water was leaking through there or splashing up into the drain holes in the bottom.

[Steve S]

When the AC is on or it's raining the water spews off the gutters and straight onto my baggage doors. Water will accumulate in and around the seals but I've never had a leak or any water damage.
What I do with all of my seals is to run a thin bead of Vaseline on the seals as they tend to get dry and hard over the summer and me thinks that would let water seep in between the seals and the doors.

[lburbank]

i have a 2017 sprinter and my baggage door leaked and froze, now i dont know what to do

[CampNBrew2]

Both of my baggage doors are rotten by the locks, but luckily don't leak into the interior. I need to de-skin them and rebuild them.
It looks like the door frame can be opened up enough to replace the core. I'll get the old stuff off of the filon exterior skin and reuse that. I'll likely use plastic or aluminum blocking where the locks are, and blue or purple (very rigid) foam for the rest.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by lburbank

i have a 2017 sprinter and my baggage door leaked and froze, now i dont know what to do

First, I'd suppose, you need to determine the extent of damage. If it's minimal, possibly clean things up and reassemble the door??? If it's extensive, then replace damaged parts and/or replace the complete door ????

A more definitive assessment of what leaked, what froze, what's damaged and what the actual condition of the door would be a significant help in providing accurate (and meaningful) advice.