Bedroom slide leaking water again

[MarkEHansen]

We have a 2022 Cedar Creek Champagne 38EL 5th wheel trailer. Shortly after we purchased it, there was heavy rain and we took water into the bedroom from the area near the lower-rear corner of the bedroom slide.

This was covered under warranty and the tech said that one of the seals was installed incorrectly (backward or upside down - I can't remember).

Now, we find water getting into the bedroom again from what looks like the same area. So far, it's just wet carpet, but we would like to get this resolved as quickly as possible.

Looking at the bottom of the slide, I can see a difference in the wiper seals between the front of the slide (which is not leaking) and the rear of the slide.

I've attached two pictures of the front of the slide and two pictures of the rear. I believe the flat rubber strips which are making the corner around the slide room are the wiper seals. On the forward corner, the vertical and horizontal strips are attached to each other (I assuming using adhesive), while the pieces on the rear are not.

Is this how the water is getting in?

Should the vertical and horizontal pieces be attached to each other, as they are in the front?

What adhesive should I use for this? Any instructions on how to make this repair?

 

[MarkEHansen]

Does anyone have any advise for us? I'm thinking we just need to glue those two wiper strips together at the corner. I'm sure this isn't very easy, as it may be difficult to get the two pieces in place after applying the glue.

I would also sure like to hear if this may be causing our water leak or if we're barking up the wrong tree.

 

[jxnbbl]

My experience has been to look elsewhere. Water entry at the lower corner would be doubtful. Water travels to the low spot, settles and then exposes itself. In our case, although that was the symptoms the problem was the seal around the windows that looked fine but had to be totally resealed.

 

[chuckster57]

Try using 3M weatherstripping adhesive. Once glued use a pinch clamp to hold them while the adhesive sets up


https://www.harborfreight.com/hand-...1-inch-capacity-steel-spring-clamp-39569.html

 

[NH_Bulldog]

My slides are in for the winter, but I don't recall the bottom wiper seal on any slide I have had that sticks out past the side of the slide, but I doubt it is solely because you have a Forest River product. I would think that trimming that bottom wiper back about 1/2" would prevent it from catching any water that migrates down the side of your slide exterior.

 

[firestation12]

I found the source of my bedroom slide leak, to be the tape that covers the screw heads that fasten the slide out wall to the roof. Note the 3” white sealant strip running horizontal on the slide out roof. I’ve found that same failure point on other campers of friends.

 

[Sleeve66]

Check all of your seals from the top down

We live in Oregon and sometimes it just rains for days. I noticed a new leak under one of my slides and found it was coming from one of the windows and running down the wall to the floor. I removed the window frame and found that two areas in the weather stripping were completely crushed flat and no longer sealed. I bought some new weather stripping and reinstalled the window. I also shimmed the bottom of the window to center it in the hole. I don't care what RV manufacturer you have, they all build them as quickly as possible so the cutouts are usually oversized. I also had a leak coming from an AC unit. The hole cut out was too big for the foam seal that is used and one corner would fall in. Unfortunately, the only fix for this was to use caulk to fill the gap. Good luck and don't let a leak go, the damage can expand drastically.

 

[jxnbbl]

I should add to my post above. When I figured out the leak source we were on the road. I went out and bought good waterproof electrical tape and took the time to "seal" around the top and sides of the two large windows (they were both leaking a bit). Once that was done, even in the worse downpours....no water... This was in April and I didn't get to go through the task of removing/resealing the windows until the end of the summer.

My point is that sometimes the bandaid approach to confirm the fix actually works

 

[MarkEHansen]

Thank you all for the very helpful responses. My slide doesn't have a window, but it does have a top and I plan to go out and have a look at that as well and see if it looks like the tape is a potential leak source.

 

[MarkEHansen]

My bedroom slide doesn't have an external window.

I looked at the tape that runs along the outward-most edge of the top of the slide box and it looks perfect, except for one spot near the side of the slide that is leaking water. I've attached two pictures of this tape issue.

It may be hard to see, but stuck under the tape in the area where it is lifting are metal shavings, like residue from drilling a hole. I think that was there when the tape was installed and that's what caused the tape to lift there.

However, the lifting area is very small, and I don't see how it could be allowing any water to get all the way through the tape band.

I don't know if this will help (or hurt), but I added a little bit of Pro Flex RV sealant under that gap to plug it.

 

[firestation12]

That is exactly what I was trying to describe in post #6! The dirt stains in the surrounding area tell me water is pooling in that area. Ive learned that leaks that show up after a prolonged steady drizzle, may not manifest after a short deluge.

 

[MarkEHansen]

The other day we used the recommended adhesive and reattached the corners of those side/bottom wiper seals. Yesterday afternoon and all night we had pretty heavy rain. This morning we went out and checked and our bedroom carpet is nice and dry!

Yay! One problem down

Thanks again for all the responses. I have a lot of places around the trailer to check and repair, but I feel I'm on the right track.

 

[bmtsr]

Also if you look at the drip edge on bottom of slide you will see it sits above the floor and as your underbelly gets older it will start to let water in that is a huge design flaw I think they do on purpose!