First rain since we got our 2007 Alfa See Ya Founder. Had the slides in. After one day of rain we discovered the rug was very wet behind the pilot seat and along the wall twoards the front. We put out the slide and found the wetness extended about three fee along the edge towards the back of the coach. But not as wet ast the front.
We blotted up s much as we could. Over night we had ery heavy rainfall. The wet area didn't seem to increase. Not leaking with the slide out?
We used a wet vac on it and I presently have a heater running to help it dry. More rain is expected in the next day or two.
Any suggestions. Can water run down thru the wall and make the floor wet if the leak is above? Ceiling does not show any leak, but it is slightly stained from some past event. The dealer re caulked the side of the slide and top edge of the drivers side on delivery day because we insisted.
Any advice is very welcome!
Merikay
The Bear II said
11:26 AM Oct 5, 2011
On our Alfa 5th Wheel slideout, we had a wet spot in the same area you describe. The solution by the factory was to run a 1/2" bead of silcone chaulk along the outside wall of the slideout. The bead starts about six inches above the bottom of the slideout and then angles out to the bottom edge of the slideout.
This provides a path for the rain water running down the side of the slideout. It forces the runoff away from the bottom inside corner of the slideout where the water was seeping in and wetting the carpet padding and carpet. It solved the problem.
Another possible cause is the seal around the windows if it has gone bad will allow water to run down inside the wall to get the carpet wet. As our 5th wheel got older I had to go around and reseal around all of the windows. We were getting wet spots beneath some of the windows during heavy rains.
By the way, I discovered microfiber towels work great to soak up the water from the carpet. I covered the are with a microfiber towel and then placed a heavy weight on the towel. I would wringe out the towel every 10 minutes. After about an hour very little water was coming out of the towel.
-- Edited by The Bear II on Wednesday 5th of October 2011 11:29:48 AM
Merikay said
03:11 PM Oct 5, 2011
Thank you for your information!
None of the gaskets look to be in either very good or very bad condition. Now that it has gotten wet, I can see that this is not the first time.
Did yours leak when it was open?
Merikay
RVRon said
03:46 PM Oct 5, 2011
Merikay wrote:
First rain since we got our 2007 Alfa See Ya Founder. Had the slides in. After one day of rain we discovered the rug was very wet behind the pilot seat and along the wall twoards the front. We put out the slide and found the wetness extended about three fee along the edge towards the back of the coach. But not as wet ast the front.
We blotted up s much as we could. Over night we had ery heavy rainfall. The wet area didn't seem to increase. Not leaking with the slide out?
Assuming your slides are the same design as ours you have 2 different sets of seals, depending on whether the slide is in or out. When the slide is retracted the seal is made on the outside of the coach when the outer lip of the slide contacts the outer perimeter of the slide opening. When you extend the slide the seal is made on the inside of the coach via the innermost lip of the slide contacting the interior wall around the slide opening.
Since it appears you have a leak only when the slide is retracted I'd check that outside gasket carefully - including the top for any breaks. Also you might check at night with a flashlight and the slide is retracted. You may be able to see a light leak where the water leak is. If you can see a gap between the gasket and the wall of the coach then you may have a slide alignment problem that the dealer would have to address.
The Bear II said
09:03 AM Oct 6, 2011
Leaked when the slide was out.
On ours there is a little cup in the floor at the junction of the slideout and wall. The intent of the cup is to catch any rain water that made it past the seals when the slide is out. The problem was that too much water was getting past the seal and the cup would overflow and then the carpet and padding would wick the water out away from the cup about 6 inches.
The bead of chalk forced the water away from the cup to the outside of the 5th wheel. Now the cup stays dry. Our year of 5th wheel was the first time Alfa had put a super slideout in an RV. So they were still learning how to do it right.
-- Edited by The Bear II on Thursday 6th of October 2011 09:04:25 AM
Merikay said
09:34 AM Oct 6, 2011
Can you see the cup? Our's is a 2007 motor home.
BVC said
07:53 PM Oct 6, 2011
We had a water problem and it took a few attempts by the dealer to finally fix. It turned out they had to remove the slide topper and do some caulking. I recall reading something on house truckin blog that he had a problem similar to my issue. He is on this forum as well and did an insurance presentation at the RV-Dreams rally. You might check his blog from a few months back for more info. Hope you find the leak soon. I'm trying to stop a front window leak now, it's always something.
First rain since we got our 2007 Alfa See Ya Founder. Had the slides in. After one day of rain we discovered the rug was very wet behind the pilot seat and along the wall twoards the front. We put out the slide and found the wetness extended about three fee along the edge towards the back of the coach. But not as wet ast the front.
We blotted up s much as we could. Over night we had ery heavy rainfall. The wet area didn't seem to increase. Not leaking with the slide out?
We used a wet vac on it and I presently have a heater running to help it dry. More rain is expected in the next day or two.
Any suggestions. Can water run down thru the wall and make the floor wet if the leak is above? Ceiling does not show any leak, but it is slightly stained from some past event. The dealer re caulked the side of the slide and top edge of the drivers side on delivery day because we insisted.
Any advice is very welcome!
Merikay
On our Alfa 5th Wheel slideout, we had a wet spot in the same area you describe. The solution by the factory was to run a 1/2" bead of silcone chaulk along the outside wall of the slideout. The bead starts about six inches above the bottom of the slideout and then angles out to the bottom edge of the slideout.
This provides a path for the rain water running down the side of the slideout. It forces the runoff away from the bottom inside corner of the slideout where the water was seeping in and wetting the carpet padding and carpet. It solved the problem.
Another possible cause is the seal around the windows if it has gone bad will allow water to run down inside the wall to get the carpet wet. As our 5th wheel got older I had to go around and reseal around all of the windows. We were getting wet spots beneath some of the windows during heavy rains.
By the way, I discovered microfiber towels work great to soak up the water from the carpet. I covered the are with a microfiber towel and then placed a heavy weight on the towel. I would wringe out the towel every 10 minutes. After about an hour very little water was coming out of the towel.
-- Edited by The Bear II on Wednesday 5th of October 2011 11:29:48 AM
None of the gaskets look to be in either very good or very bad condition.
Now that it has gotten wet, I can see that this is not the first time.
Did yours leak when it was open?
Merikay
Assuming your slides are the same design as ours you have 2 different sets of seals, depending on whether the slide is in or out. When the slide is retracted the seal is made on the outside of the coach when the outer lip of the slide contacts the outer perimeter of the slide opening. When you extend the slide the seal is made on the inside of the coach via the innermost lip of the slide contacting the interior wall around the slide opening.
Since it appears you have a leak only when the slide is retracted I'd check that outside gasket carefully - including the top for any breaks. Also you might check at night with a flashlight and the slide is retracted. You may be able to see a light leak where the water leak is. If you can see a gap between the gasket and the wall of the coach then you may have a slide alignment problem that the dealer would have to address.
Leaked when the slide was out.
On ours there is a little cup in the floor at the junction of the slideout and wall. The intent of the cup is to catch any rain water that made it past the seals when the slide is out. The problem was that too much water was getting past the seal and the cup would overflow and then the carpet and padding would wick the water out away from the cup about 6 inches.
The bead of chalk forced the water away from the cup to the outside of the 5th wheel. Now the cup stays dry. Our year of 5th wheel was the first time Alfa had put a super slideout in an RV. So they were still learning how to do it right.
-- Edited by The Bear II on Thursday 6th of October 2011 09:04:25 AM
We had a water problem and it took a few attempts by the dealer to finally fix. It turned out they had to remove the slide topper and do some caulking. I recall reading something on house truckin blog that he had a problem similar to my issue. He is on this forum as well and did an insurance presentation at the RV-Dreams rally. You might check his blog from a few months back for more info. Hope you find the leak soon. I'm trying to stop a front window leak now, it's always something.