Water Leak 2011 Outback295RE

[dwright]

Purchased my Outback in April 2011, just spent the last 10 days in it. Noticed that everytime it rains hard I get water under the shower unit on the floor and also beside the fridge and the slideout. I get this with the slide open and closed. Checked the caulking on the roof drain vents and also the fridge vent on the roof, cracks and poor adhesion around all vents. Would you think the water is getting in these caulking cracks and ending up going down behind the fridge and on to the floor? I have contacted my local Outback dealer to have a look at it, but because I didn't buy the unit off him - he did not have this model in stock when we purchased, he wants to charge me for the work and then if Keystone accepts the warranty he will reinbuse me - seem kind of odd way of doing warranty business. But anyway I contacted Keystone Customer Service and they told me to go ahead and reseal and it will not affect warranty, so I am just looking for some opinions for anyone.

Thanks

[Bob Landry]

I just finished resealing three exterior access doors and did a lengthy post on this subject.

http://www.keystonerv.org/forums/showthread.php?t=3526

Water tightness around windows and baggage doors is almost non-existant. Open a pass-through door, pull gently on the door frame and you will see it and the bead of sealant pull away from the fiberglass wall. You maybe able to get the dealer to reseal everything under warranty if you can show that all of the caulking is bad, but my preference is to do it myself so it's done right and not just pushed out the door. Plus, while you're waiting for approval and for the dealer to do something, the delamination process is moving forward. It's my opinion that everything on these trailers need to be resealed based on what I've discovered so far. JMHO

[Festus2]

If you have inspected the roof and found caulking around all of your vents that is both cracked, loose or otherwise not adhering properly, that is likely the cause of your water problems. You can do the caulking yourself and save yourself some $$$ just in case you do not get reimbursed by Keystone.
Use an EPDM-compatible product like Dicor Self-Leveling Lap Sealant (501 LSW) after you have wiped off and cleaned the existing caulking.
After it has dried, you can use a hose to spray the affected areas to see if the leaking has stopped.
Leaking around the slide outs may be caused by poor rubber seals or lack of caulking in some of the gutters above the slides. YOu might have to remove the screws and put a small gob of sealant in the screw holes.

As Bob pointed out in his post, I would also reseal all of the windows while you are at it.
Hope this helps and welcome to the forum!!

[ktmracer]

We have a 295RE, that's been in some pretty ugly rainstorms and it's been tight as a drum. From your description of the problem and the state of the dicor on the roof, I'd look there first. the dicor on mine looks like new, no way it should be cracking or pealing after only a year. run a hose on the roof and see if you can see any water coming in. You've got a skylight, fridge vent, roof vent and sewer vent all in close proximity to the bathroom, any one or more could give you a problem.

I know Bob and some others have had bad seals, you might check those as well around the windows etc. I know on mine it would take an elephant to pull the baggage doors loose, and the sealant around the windows etc is stuck good. So it must be hit or miss on some of the sealing jobs.

[dwright]

I did do some emergency caulking when I was away and haven't had rain since. Maybe this weekend I will run the hose and check for any water. Have you taken the top off of your fridge vent, what kind of screwhead is on them - hard to tell with all the caulking they have piled into the holes. I would like to take it off to make sure I can get a good reseal job. This water was happening with the slide open or closed so I don't think it could be caused by that. I will let you know
I have attached a picture prior to repair

[ATTAC

H]555[/ATTACH]

[dwright]

So it rained again last night, hard rain with wind blowing and once again I have a wet carpet beside the fridge. I have opened up the panel accessing the furnace to see if I can see any water, can see or feel any dampness. I have also opened the fridge vent panel on the side of the trailer, on this unit it is located directly above the furnace and beside the carpet getting damp. It looks like the black caulking along the inside edge is wet. Is it possible that water getting in there may be leaking down the wall to the carpet? It seem to only be an issue when the wind is blowing. I also notice that the plastic frame kind of slopes inward.

[Bob Landry]

Originally Posted by dwright

I did do some emergency caulking when I was away and haven't had rain since. Maybe this weekend I will run the hose and check for any water. Have you taken the top off of your fridge vent, what kind of screwhead is on them - hard to tell with all the caulking they have piled into the holes. I would like to take it off to make sure I can get a good reseal job. This water was happening with the slide open or closed so I don't think it could be caused by that. I will let you know
I have attached a picture prior to repair

[ATTACAttachment 555

Attachment 556H]555[/ATTACH]

The phrase "Emergency Caulking" causes me to raise an eyebrow. I can't speak to Dicor because I havn't had to deal with it yet, but silicon is a different matter. In order to get a good seal with silicon, ALL of the old material must be removed. Fresh silicon will not bond with any that has already cured. If you just apply it over the existing stuff because it "looks" like it was leaking, you haven't fixed anything. The only way to insure the integrity of a new silicon seal is to remove every bit of the original sealant. After doing that, I go a step further and wipe everything down with denatured alcohol. When you apply the new stuff you have to put it on heavy enough that it squeezes out around the frame of whatever you are sealing. You will probably squeeze out as muh as you use. It's a PITA, but that's what it takes.

[Festus2]

If you are applying sealant around roof vents, skylights, antenna, or anything protruding from the rubber EPDM roof, you should not use silicone since it is not compatible with EPDM rubber. Dicor Self Leveling Lap Sealant is a good product that is compatible with today's EPDM rubber roofs.
Over time, silicone will react with the EPDM rubber and cause it to break down. The application of silicone to windows and other fixtures that are against fiberglass should be carried out as Bob described in the above post.

[CampJKL]

Originally Posted by dwright

So it rained again last night, hard rain with wind blowing and once again I have a wet carpet beside the fridge. I have opened up the panel accessing the furnace to see if I can see any water, can see or feel any dampness. I have also opened the fridge vent panel on the side of the trailer, on this unit it is located directly above the furnace and beside the carpet getting damp. It looks like the black caulking along the inside edge is wet. Is it possible that water getting in there may be leaking down the wall to the carpet? It seem to only be an issue when the wind is blowing. I also notice that the plastic frame kind of slopes inward.

It poured on us today and have the same issue with our 5er... wife ain't happy. I can't seem to find the cause but suspect the Dometic vent on the roof.

[dwright]

It poured rain again yesterday, went to check the trailer and no water. I had opened up the access door to the back of the fridge and caulked the interior edge of the plastic - looks like the plastic frame is sloped to take water in. Maybe this has solved the problem. Something for you to have a look at CampJKL. Seem I only got water in the trailer when the rain was coming down hard and usually with a wind blowing

[Bob Landry]

Everyone needs to keep in mind that you can not tell if you have a good seal around doors and windows by only a visual inspections. You need to open it, reach around the the back of the frame and very gently pull forward. If you see anything that looks like it's pulling away from the wall, no matter how slight, you do not have a good seal and you will get leaks there. My baggage doors looked great, but none of them were really sealed.

[wonderful]

Originally Posted by CampJKL

It poured on us today and have the same issue with our 5er... wife ain't happy. I can't seem to find the cause but suspect the Dometic vent on the roof.

Had the same issue on our Outback, drove me crazy everytime it rained with any wind. After many trails I founf out that rain was coming from the dometic vent on top of trailer. Solution, I took a piece of duct tape and put it over the side vent in my case the one facing west. Still plenty of air movement so no worry about ventelation. We have had monsoon rains since and not a drop. The rain before would come under vent from wind and go down behind fridge and come out right in front of fridge on the floor.

[CampJKL]

Originally Posted by wonderful

Had the same issue on our Outback, drove me crazy everytime it rained with any wind. After many trails I founf out that rain was coming from the dometic vent on top of trailer. Solution, I took a piece of duct tape and put it over the side vent in my case the one facing west. Still plenty of air movement so no worry about ventelation. We have had monsoon rains since and not a drop. The rain before would come under vent from wind and go down behind fridge and come out right in front of fridge on the floor.

I'll be darned...I was thinking of doing something similar to test it. But it's at our dealer for them to figure out. Hopefully...

Thanks